true, though what makes us who we are is our memories right? & fake memories are valid? As are memories from VR or video games.
I do not make the claim that our memories is what makes us who we are, I think that memories has a comparatively small effect on who we are.
But if I grant that we are our memories, then we are the games we play and all the other fuzz we do, we are the dreams we remember as well, implanted memories would be the same.
And it raises the question if it is fair to punish anyone for something they can not remember having done, or in the case of a total episodic memory loss.
I thought memories making us who we are was one of the points of gits 1995. in that world memories are the only thing that can differentiate individuals (can buy any body you want)
You can buy the memories as well, the question Major had was if she had a ghost or not, the part of the original brain intact that differed here from just being a machine.
The trash collectors had fake memories implanted, and they where bags of meat, they had their ghosts hacked but they never doubted that they had ghosts in the first place.
And that was the reason she was drawn to Project 2501 because she intuitively understood that they where in the same situation, the ghost was not the original brain/human itself.
hmm maybe I'm thinking of an intermediate conclusion in the movie. have to watch again, lol! but Project 2501 didn't have a ghost but made a convincing case for being sentient/living.
What did he have other than memories?
The only thing it (project 2501), Major and Tachikoma (arguably) had in common was a subjective experience, which was why Major ordered the Tachikoma to be killed despite them no ghost
That is up for interpretation of course, the author never directly states it, part of the charm of the series as a whole is that nobody including us knows for sure whats going on.
The reason Major hesitated (for a minute) to merge with 2501 was because Major was worried about changing her nature, not because she was afraid of forgetting her memories.
yeah, I got that she was hesitant to merge. the film kind of suggests sentience could emerge from just patterns (project 2501). so nothing but patterns/memories makes us human.
Another way to put it, there is nothing there except for the pattern of information/data, our evolutionary process started out in the physical sea and 2501 in the informational sea.
Both Major and 2501 sought after what the other entity had, a bit like the first and only time mitochondria merged with a protective shell (cell) once some billion years ago.
Very curious about the Angel that comes down though, that trow a hint towards there being something that is other than the physical and informational (net) world.
ok thanks that cleared it up a bit. didn't see the parallels between the two evolutionary processes, but I like it.
if the brain can be so easily manipulated and reality faked then it's it more likely we are living in a simulation than in the base reality (assuming one exists)?
yeah if it is so easy seems quite possible its a simulation. being in a simulation wouldn't be so bad.
would be a pretty cruel simulation though. unless base reality is worse. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
it's hard for a program to execute something as cruel like it's hard for a math equation to be cruel.
guess the assumption is we would be brains in the simulation. in that case the simulation could be cruelly designed (to us).
if the brains are part of the simulation cruelty loses meaning like you say
Simulation would explain many concepts like quantum states, uncertainty principle or multiverse. For me it's above comprehension how can this be true if it's not "programmed"
