First of all, Avatar 4 questioned: "Alice, you just proved that if the consciousness uploaded to the computer by the scanning method is a replica, then the consciousness uploaded by the substitution method is also a replica, and you have not really proved that the consciousness scanned into the computer is exactly the same as the consciousness in your body." Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ”

Virtual Personality No. 5 also said: "Yes, after all, the accuracy of scanning is limited, and the computing power of computers is also limited, so it is impossible for us to simulate every atom in the brain when we simulate the brain, right?" In this way, is the thinking of the brain in the computer really the same as the original thinking of the uploader after the neural upload? I'm skeptical. ”

"That's right." Alice nodded and said, "With our current technology, we really can't scan and simulate with atomic accuracy, but uploading consciousness to a computer doesn't require simulating a completely real brain. Think about it from another angle, since the replacement method can unconsciously replace the neurons in your brain with artificial neurons when you are fully conscious, doesn't that mean that we only need to simulate such a brain composed of artificial neurons replaced by the replacement method in the computer? We don't need to simulate every atom in the brain at all. ”

Avatar Five: "I see, if that's the case, it's really feasible with our current human technology. ”

"Actually, that's exactly how I use scanning to upload my nerves," Alice says. Why is this technology called 'neural upload' instead of 'consciousness upload'? That's because the term 'neural upload' is closer to the essence of this technology. What I upload is not an ethereal consciousness, but all the neural behaviors, including the way neurons connect, nerve signals, the formation of synapses, and even the replacement of nerve cells. ”

"But there is another question, that is, does such a brain, which can be completely simulated by a computer, really have free will?" After all, the brain in the human body is made up of atoms and has unpredictable randomness, and computers only produce definite results based on certain inputs. ”

"Although neural uploads only simulate all the neural behaviors of a person in a computer, there is no doubt that it is they that make up the consciousness of a person," Alice said. Perhaps quantum random effects at the molecular or atomic level in the physical brain have some subtle effects on neurobehavior, but these effects are too subtle and will soon be corrected by the powerful error-correcting capacity of the nervous system itself. So-called free will, if it exists, is by no means determined by these microscopic random effects, which have little effect on neurobehavior. In fact, according to chaos theory, our external environment also has unpredictable randomness, such a random external environment is perceived by people through vision, hearing, touch, etc., and the random impact on neural behavior after being transmitted to the brain is far greater than the random effect at the atomic level. ”

Avatar Four: "But as you just said, what you upload is all the neurological behavior of people, not consciousness itself. So, you can't prove that the brain is really conscious, and it's possible that it's actually a philosophical zombie -- it reacts to things in the outside world and behaves like it's conscious, but it's not conscious. ”

Avatar Six immediately retorted, "Philosophical zombies? Do you think that consciousness is something higher than matter? If you have such an idea, then there is no need to discuss neural uploads with Ben, you are strong words! ”

Avatar No. 4: "I don't think that consciousness is immaterial, but the physical brain and the uploaded brain are completely different in terms of physical composition after all, and unless we have found the nature of consciousness and can measure it, we will never be able to prove whether the neural upload is a philosophical zombie." ”

Alice suddenly said, "Let me ask you a question first, what is this consciousness that only exists in the physical brain in your eyes?" ”

Avatar No. 4: "Because I don't know what it is, and I can't find its existence, I can't prove whether the simulated brain I got after uploading it is a philosophical zombie." ”

Alice said: "No, since you can generate the act of 'doubt', which is only found in the physical body and does not exist in the brain after uploading, then it must have some definite property that allows you to distinguish normal people from philosophical zombies, otherwise you would not be able to generate doubtful thoughts at all." ”

Avatar Four thought for a moment and said, "Well, I think the biggest difference between a normal person and a philosophical zombie should be whether or not they can monitor themselves. That is, you know what you are doing, what you are thinking, and you are able to control your own actions. ”

"In that case, let's do another thought experiment." Alice said with a smile.

At this time, the virtual personality No. 7 suddenly exaggerated and shouted: "Here you go again!" ”

Obviously, Alice's way of conducting thought experiments without saying a word has suppressed many people, and maybe Alice will have another title similar to "Thought Experiment Maniac" after the end of this Star Spirit Network Conference.

Alice said: "As for self-monitoring, if you exclude the state of the brain in the vat, I think that either you can self-monitor or you can't, there can't be some kind of state in between, you have no doubt about this, right?" ”

Avatar Four: "That's true. ”

Alice said, "Very well, then let's move on to the next step." I've shown in previous thought experiments that the essence of scanning and substitution is the same, and why I use scanning instead of substitution, but now, I'm going to use the substitution method to upload your nerves, and this time there is no 'pause' hypothesis, I'm going to replace your neurons with your full consciousness. According to you, if you were conscious before uploading, and you lose consciousness after uploading and become a philosophical zombie, then I ask you, if only one neuron is replaced, the person's consciousness will not disappear because of this, right? ”

Virtual Personality No. 4: "Yes, consciousness is distributed throughout the brain, and there is also the replacement of nerve cells in the human brain, and the replacement of only a small number of neurons will not have an effect on the existence of consciousness, but as you said, the replacement method will kill the original physical brain, so in this gradual replacement process, it is very likely that the consciousness in the brain will disappear at some point and become a philosophical zombie." ”

Alice said: "But considering that we are a neuronal replacement, and that self-monitoring ability can only exist or not exist, this means that your so-called consciousness must have disappeared at some point when we replaced a neuron in the brain. ”

Avatar No. 4: "Even if consciousness disappears by replacing a certain neuron, it's incredible, but what does that mean?" ”

Alice said: "Don't forget, there is another premise of the substitution method, that is, when uploading consciousness with the substitution method, in order to ensure that it does not affect the consciousness of the uploader, the neurons that are in an active state will not be replaced, that is, when we replace any neuron, it is in a state of isolation from other neurons, and will not have any effect on other neurons and the neural activity in the entire brain. Now the question arises, if consciousness is really produced by all the neurons and neurobehaviors in the whole brain, why does consciousness suddenly disappear when we do something that does not have any effect on the neural activity in the brain at all? ”

Avatar Four nodded, "You convinced me." ”

So Alice concluded again: "In other words, either human beings do not have this kind of consciousness, or they are still conscious after uploading!" Using this thought experiment, we can also draw another conclusion - that is, the consciousness remains the same before and after uploading, and you don't become another person or some kind of copy of you because of the neural upload. Since the scanning method and the substitution method are completely equivalent, that is, even if the scanning method is used for neural upload, the consciousness in the computer is also you! ”

Finally, Alice asked, "So is there anyone who still has doubts about the fact that neural uploading can upload a person's consciousness in its entirety?" ”

Alice looked around after speaking, and all the virtual personalities were quietly looking at her, and no one questioned them anymore.

At this point, the controversy over the feasibility of neural upload technology came to an end, and Alice used three thought experiments to end everyone's debate about whether neural upload was feasible.

Of course, not everyone was convinced by Alice, but those who were still skeptical were supporters of metaphysical views such as dualism or idealism, and their arguments were simply untenable in the judgment of the Star Spirit Network, and since there were only a few people who still held such views in this era, there were no virtual personalities to question them.

So Yang Hai stood up and said: "Since this is the case, let's go to the next link, discuss the impact of neural transmission on our human civilization, and discuss solutions." ”

Although Alice is an expert in terms of technology, it is time to discuss issues other than technology, and Yang Hai still has to appear.