Is uploading feasible?

[Peter Alexander Merel]

WilsonR at LILHD.Logica.com (Richard Wilson)  writes:
>The fact of choice is experiential evidence: of course we don't know
>yet how reliable that evidence is. That there is no adequate model of
>choice points to either choice being an illusion or to the limitations of
>our current thinking. If, as I believe, choice is a real phenomenon then
>it cannot, in principle, be modelled by an FSA.

It might be a simple matter to augment FSAs with a random source, especially 
if those FSAs were implemented by the sort of nanomachines most folks fancy
would be useful for uploading. This would provide a source of nondeterminism.

Of course, it has not been established that nondeterminism is required for
a mechanism to possess the power of choice. Looking at the situation 
simplistically, computers make choices based on their input all the time -
is that what you mean by choice? 

>>suggestions in 'The Emperor's New Mind' have already been refuted in the
>>course of this thread.

>As I understand his position, he is saying that some human qualities are
>non-computable and these require new, as yet undiscovered, mathematics to
>enable us to model them. I know of no evidence which refutes this position:
>there are plenty of contrary claims but where is the evidence?

There were a couple of papers refuting Penrose's speculations were
cited earlier in the thread - I'm afraid I didn't save them away. A
quick trip to the library to look in the science citation index should
produce them if the fellow who brought them up before doesn't bring
them up again.
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