Came across this great article about Caprica, and the concept of an immortal digital version of oneself:
That was an interesting article. I think the concept of our digital footprints is frightening when I consider how much is out there. We have have an online, electronic self, it’s unavoidable. When we first started playing online, we felt like we were free. Little did we know.
I feel so connected to the electronic word, that I carve non-electronic time, most especially with a real book. But we’re almost at the point of being plugged in 24/7. Most of us are already.
Awesome. I think that article does a good job explaining why I’m loving Caprica even though it’s a much slower show than a lot of the stuff out there. It’s taking the time to really explore some complex issues on the nature of consciousness and the soul in a way that only a Sci-Fi show can. Without a constructed world of robots, VR, and living programs, it’s hard to talk abot transferred consciousness and immortality.
Knowing what the Cylons become only makes it more intricate: at what point in the move from biological consciousness to digital consciousness does the programmed soul consider itself different? For Zoe, it’s relatively simple, since it’s always known that it’s a program. As for Adama’s daughter, that’s an entirely different question: she had to come to the hard realization that her consciousness has been moved, recreated. But she’s still not the same person, either, not a complete transfer of consciousness.
I can’t wait to see where this show goes with these ideas.
Thanks for the link. Interesting article.
Even if we assume a digital self is an exact copy of a analog self, it seems that the presence of a life after death in virtual space changes the concept and meaning of life to that person. I mean, if one day you became invincible and perhaps immortal. (which is the case with Tamara and Zoe in VR), you will alter the way you conduct life, what you do, and how you think about life (and death) itself because it’s no longer the concept you’ve known your whole life. And that changes who you are, even if your DNA copy is exactly the same.
Slightly tangential, but related:
And then with Zoe, there’s the added loss of identity when she was loaded into a metal cylon. We associate ourselves with our phyiscal body - what we look like, our ethnicity, our height, our weight, what our voices sound like, whether you’re colorblind or not, etc - our physicality is as much part of our identity as our thoughts are.
Putting it in real life perspective, if I gained 100 pounds or had a nose job, I’d probably feel different and act differently. Something as trivial as a makeover, a different outfit, a different hairstyle, can make a person feel more confident (or less), and because of that, change the way they act. I’m still the same person and have the same ‘soul’, but the change in physicality changes the way I feel about myself or change the way others perceive me (which in turn changes the way I feel) or how I perceive the world.
And that’s a completely trivial change compared to suddenly becoming a non human metal cylon.
So yeah, Caprica always intrigues me, even if it’s not a perfect show.
“I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work… I want to achieve it through digital imortality.” - Sister Clarice