Philosophy Stack Exchange
Philosophy Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [cloning]

Problems of identity assuming exact copies

Various questions/problems about personal (and object) identity arise when you consider the possibility of generating exact copies of people (or objects).

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If I upload my brain into a computer is it still me?

I think the answer is yes but I know a lot of people disagree. So, I would like to ask these people when exactly does it stop being me. Let's say I want to upload my brain into a computer using the following procedure: I have each of my neurons…
digital brain
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Assuming a mind could be uploaded, how would we know if it worked?

Let's assume that all of the technology for uploading a mind actually exists. This is the hope held by some that we could one day transfer our brain contents onto digital media - in other words, become a machine of sorts. Now, assuming that all of…
Ampage Grietu
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The "Brain" of Theseus?

I'm sure everyone is familiar with the Ship of Theseus paradox, basically "If you replace parts of a ship over time until none of the original ship is left, is the end product still the same ship?" I just read pop philosophy books, so spare me if…
user41247
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On cloning minds, persons and selves

Consider a teleportation booth which exactly replicates ones body and mind in Mars, whilst destroying that on Earth; as in Parfits Reasons and Persons. There is only one you at any one time; so where you are is easily tracked - at one point you…
Mozibur Ullah
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Physicalistic alternatives to utilitarianism?

In one episode, Doctor Who finds out he's trapped on a horror-like island and he finds out his time machine he could escape with is frozen in the hardest rock on earth. He also finds out that every time he dies, some kind of machine makes another…
Probably
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If my body is cloned down to the state of each particle, in which body does my consciousness persist?

I have always had this thought experiment that troubled me. If I could clone my body and my mind down to the exact molecules and atoms (which means there are two of my bodies that are exactly the same, with the same memory and mind), which of the…
Johnson Zhou
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Cloning: Will you be the same person?

Imagine, in the future, we have mastered the technology of cloning. The rich and powerful have got their own cloning devices. They clone their bodies and keep the clones in a cryogenic environment to preserve them. A microchip is implanted into…
Peter Johnmeyer
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If a person makes himself a clone, would they begin to question whether they existed before that moment?

Suppose a man has a cloning machine. It has two chambers A and B. Any person who wants to make a clone of himself/herself enters in chamber A. Then, the machine does one of these two things: Teleport the original person to chamber B and make their…
Dove
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Does the cloning of worlds, like in Many Worlds interpretation, really give the standard interpretation of probabilities?

Copenhagen- Suppose I ask you to bet on the outcome of 100 spin measurements. And you believe in the Copenhagen interpretation for now. The odds given by the Born rule, for each experiment, are 50:50 for spin_up : spin_down. You are only allowed to…
Ryder Rude
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Cloning order paradox

Suppose there is a cloning device that could make exact copies of humans. It makes one person into two with the exactly same memory and other properties, with equal status and no one defined to be the original person or the copy. One person is to be…
user23013
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Would da Vinci still be a genius today?

A lot of people claim that if we somehow managed to clone da Vinci he (most likely) wouldn't be as unique and special today. They argue that such a genius personality is a sum of infinite conditions that somehow made a guy brilliant. Why would that…
leo
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Cloning my mind and a thought experiment

suppose scientists can clone any person both their body and mind. In one case I agree when I am sleep I am killed and cloned again. When I woke up I won't notice any difference. It is just like going to sleep and wake up again. I do not mind doing…
MOON
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Would a clone of myself be a different person than myself?

don't know if anyone will read this, but just a random thought I had: Try to imagine the following: you wake up in a hospital bed, with no recollection of how you got there. You look over at the bed next to you and see a person who looks identical…
Okopp
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