A philosophical question of sorts…

How many (and which body parts) prosthetics would be needed to make you a different person? Most people have no issue with people with prosthetic limbs or an artificial heart. But what if you have both? Or what if all your bones were artificial?

What if artificial brains were a thing? Would having a prosthetic/artificial brain and/or head make you a fundamentally different person? Or what if your entire body EXCEPT your brain was artificial? What if you donated your brain to a different person? Would that person still be that person, but with your brain, or would they be YOU…and you had someone else’s body?

Or is it the idea that your brain is what makes you *you* and gives you value/identity an erroneous idea?

🤔

This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »

Abstraction · 61-69, M

It comes down to a definition of consciousness and identity. Science is struggling with consciousness, interesting topic.
Sorry on the run so my terminology will be loose here.
My view is that there is a 'self' that is unique that goes beyond computation power of a computer and corresponds roughly to the, 'I think and therefore I am.' As long as that person, that consciousness, exists, even if they underwent personality changes or forgot things from their past - it's the same person, same existence.

There is a lot more behind my answer in terms of neuroscience, philosophy and world view than I've expounded on.