philosophy
I've just thinking about one or two ideas
that came up in last Tuesday’s philosophy
session (which was a rambling discussion on
certain themes – just like this blog). We
were talking about what is the basis for a
person’s identity, from your bank details to
your consciousness.
If I had an identical twin brother, with an
identical genetic make-up, what would make
him different from me as a person? I remember
watching an interesting TV documentary a few
years ago, which looked at pairs of identical
twins separated at birth and brought up in
different families – I was amazed by a couple
of twin brothers, who were raised in different
continents but who had very similar tastes in
clothing and other lifestyle choices, and in
choice of career.
In the session we went on to talk about
cloning, and whether we would like to achieve
immortality by doing so. Well I guess most
people would like to become immortal, given
the option of either that or being reduced to
a pile of dust/old bones one day. I would
wish to stop or reverse the ageing process,
or we would become a nation of crippled
zombies.
But cloning myself ... bringing up a little
version of me, running around this house? Or
finding Junior snuggling up to Mrs C in bed
together at night, as Junior couldn’t sleep.
Or Mrs C being more affectionate towards
Junior than to me. Or worse still, Mrs C and
I separating and then fighting in the court
over custody of the child .... dreadful.
The idea of cloning people sounds ghoulish to
me.... what do you think?
How about having a brain transplant instead,
into the body of a beautiful young person ...
Jake Gyllenhaal or Scarlett Johanson, say?
that came up in last Tuesday’s philosophy
session (which was a rambling discussion on
certain themes – just like this blog). We
were talking about what is the basis for a
person’s identity, from your bank details to
your consciousness.
If I had an identical twin brother, with an
identical genetic make-up, what would make
him different from me as a person? I remember
watching an interesting TV documentary a few
years ago, which looked at pairs of identical
twins separated at birth and brought up in
different families – I was amazed by a couple
of twin brothers, who were raised in different
continents but who had very similar tastes in
clothing and other lifestyle choices, and in
choice of career.
In the session we went on to talk about
cloning, and whether we would like to achieve
immortality by doing so. Well I guess most
people would like to become immortal, given
the option of either that or being reduced to
a pile of dust/old bones one day. I would
wish to stop or reverse the ageing process,
or we would become a nation of crippled
zombies.
But cloning myself ... bringing up a little
version of me, running around this house? Or
finding Junior snuggling up to Mrs C in bed
together at night, as Junior couldn’t sleep.
Or Mrs C being more affectionate towards
Junior than to me. Or worse still, Mrs C and
I separating and then fighting in the court
over custody of the child .... dreadful.
The idea of cloning people sounds ghoulish to
me.... what do you think?
How about having a brain transplant instead,
into the body of a beautiful young person ...
Jake Gyllenhaal or Scarlett Johanson, say?
posted by justin at 9:10 am
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4 Comments:
I got it right if you want to go have a look. I forgot about you so i went to look you up and added you to my favourites so I wont forget again
I love that last suggestion!
I once had a very heated argument with my boyfriend at the time, who
insisted that he would like to have his whole consciousness uploaded into a
computer, and then live a virtual life while his body withered and died. He
reckon he would be immortal and never have to worry about such mundane
things as food and shelter ever again. He called it "losing the monkey
suit."
I thought it was nonsense. I thought it was bleedin' obvious that he would
die when his body died, and would never have any awareness of the "other
him" that was running around inside a computer.
For this reason I've never been able to see the point of cloning and the
like. Although, like you, I am utterly fascinated by what birth-separated
twins do and do not have in common.
(N.B. I've been trying to post this comment for two days now! Glad to see your comments box working again)
Good to hear from you, Clare.
I know this is pure "flight of fancy", but what if your ex produced a clone of himself, who would take over the blog when your ex died.
He would be the immortal blogger!
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