Random Story :
End of the Universe Theories
Author : James Bambury V pricked the side of the …
Whose Who
Author: Majoki
“I think therefore I am. Screw Descartes and his cogito ergo sum. That’s the kind of philosophical crap that’s going to bust us, Shannyn. If we want to capitalize on this breakthrough, we need to make every last person on earth damn well believe: I am because IDco tells me so.”
Terry Black pounded a meaty fist on the table and glared at his partners, Shannyn Atskova and Galen Jiao, the other founding members of IDco “We’ve got a proven, portable neural scanner that can definitively ID any person. It’ll make the world a hundred times safer from terrorists, criminals, and malcontents. When we started this project, the two of you swore this wasn’t all about making a buck. It was about making the world better. Look, we’re in a position to do both. Why the second thoughts?”
Having failed with Descartes, Shannyn tried a different approach. “Terry, how do you know who you are?”
Terry blinked rapidly. “Whaddya mean?”
“What makes you Terry Black?”
“This still sounds suspiciously philosophical,” Terry growled.
Shannyn purred back. “On the most practical level of consciousness, what makes you you?”
Terry closed his eyes and was quiet for a few moments. “All the stuff crammed in my brain: knowledge, experiences, emotions, memories, thoughts. But that’s essentially the whole idea of what we’re doing with IDco. We ‘fingerprint’ the brain, we make a hyper-detailed neural map.”
Shannyn nodded. And Galen jumped in. “That’s right, but it doesn’t get to the crux of how your knowledge, experiences, emotions, memories, and thoughts are processed into your unique consciousness. We don’t really know how consciousness works. Or the subconscious. When you’re sleeping, are you still Terry Black? You’re not fully conscious. You’re not aware of yourself in the same sense you are when you’re awake. You dream, but we don’t really understand its connection to consciousness. Consciousness is still a huge mystery, yet it’s the key to one’s identity. What makes you you.”
“I get what you’re saying. I’m just not sure how it changes anything for IDco. We’ve totally leap-frogged current biometrics. We have the means to neurally ID people fairly cheaply. We’ve got lots of clients lining up to buy our scanners. Why are you two balking now?”
Galen glanced at Shannyn. “We’ve started to realize our thinking behind IDco might be too limited. We suspect that at some point in the not-too-distant future AI will be able to map and simulate an individual’s neural activity.”
“Machine consciousness,” Shannyn said.
“Exactly,” Galen said. “The ability to upload and download one’s consciousness into machines. It’ll make what we’re doing now irrelevant. If a person has copies of their consciousness stored in various locations, then what is identity and how do we verify it?”
Terry’s thick fingers massaged his temples. “Yeah. I see a hypothetical problem far down the road that may never happen. Screw that. Why should we worry about it now?”
“What we’re doing will make it happen faster,” Shannyn warned. “This is like Oppenheimer and the bomb. It’s in our lap. It’s our call. We have a choice.”
“Someone else will do it, if we don’t!” Terry snapped back. “We’re in prime position to lead and shape events. Build the future we want.”.
“Exactly our thoughts, Terry. That’s why Galen and I believe we can position IDco beyond neural mapping and questions of consciousness. We want to get to the heart of what makes each of us supremely unique.”
“What are you talking about?”
“We’re talking about the heart and soul of humanity,” Galen explained. “We want IDco to define and control the essence of human individuality. From the physical to the metaphysical. We want IDco to become the final arbiter of who’s who.”
Terry lurched. “The soul? You want to isolate, monetize and market the soul?”
“For the good, Terry, for the greater good,” Shannyn reassured him.
Terry Black stared gobsmacked at Galen Jiao and Shannyn Atskova, his long-time partners, and very philosophically pondered, “Who are these people?”