Everywhere At The Same Time
How Digital People Redefine Our Perception of Human Identity
There are 8 billion people on Earth, and at this rate of population growth, we would expect 11 billion people by the year 2100. That raises a serious question about whether we would have enough resources and space on Earth for that many people. But what if there was a way to house over 50 billion people on Earth with only a medium-sized server room?
Digital people are becoming less of an unrealistic dream and sound more and more doable. With how much video games have advanced in the last few years, it is no wonder we are more and more accepting of the idea that one day we’ll be able to upload our whole minds to the World Wide Web. But what would that look like? And why would we ever want to upload our whole bodies and personalities to a piece of hardware?
The idea behind uploading one’s mind to a computer involves transferring the entirety of a person’s consciousness, thoughts, memories, and personality into a digital format. This would essentially mean converting the complex workings of the human brain into a digital representation.
In a theoretical scenario, the process would involve mapping the structure and functions of the brain. This could include mapping neural connections, recording synaptic patterns, and capturing the individual’s unique brain activity. This vast amount of information would then be translated into a digital form that could be stored and processed by a computer.
Once the mind is successfully uploaded to a computer, the digital consciousness would theoretically possess the same thoughts, memories, and subjective experiences as the individual whose mind was uploaded. It might even be able to continue to interact with the outside world, communicate with other digital consciousnesses, and even control robotic bodies or virtual environments.
There are many upsides to the concept of digital people, such as being able to be in many places at the same time to help many people at once, transcend mortality, and eliminate the risk of disease pandemics or natural disasters. In this scenario, we wouldn’t even need Earth or its atmosphere to exist. This could be a great long-term solution since we will not own our cozy Earth home forever.
Of course, there are also serious threats connected to the idea of a digital home for people: having a single server room would mean that whoever is in control of the hardware is in control of the whole population. This, while eliminating some risks, puts people at huge existential risk, such as social disparity, invasion of privacy, etc.
The idea for this article was heavily inspired by an episode of one of my favorite childhood cartoons. In one episode of Adventure Time, Finn visits his mom, who decided to upload her mind to a computer. His mother, Minerva, is a doctor. And when she was left all alone to protect the whole human population, this was her only choice. This way, she was able to connect her mind to millions of robots, which were her exact copies. If mind uploading were to ever exist, this would allow millions of people to have access to medical help, no matter how little medical staff there is or how remote the area is.
But personally, I would use it to play video games all day.🤭
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