144 – Existential
Posted on January 17, 2021 at 12:04 pm by Zedrin
Chapter: [8]Sigma
Well, that’s heavy.
Btw, I figured I’d plug this a bit more. If you like my comic but don’t wanna sign up for a patreon subscription, I also have a ko-fi if you wanna toss me a buck or two!
Also, I’m debating switching to uploading on the 1st and 16th of each month, instead of every other week. This might make it easier for people to keep up with, since I’m on a 14-day schedule currently.
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soooooooo am i too early oooor what?
Guys, I just realized something big!!! Hivemind is not dead. Alright listen, if you look closely Hivemind is hinted to be the main antagonist and him dying so soon and so easily kinda put me off. But then I remembered the vessel from the factory, the one that looked like Pivot, and how Hive said he made her. So with that, other evidence I gathered, and the fact his name is HIVEMIND, I came to the conclusion that he has more vessels of him and that he has his own instantaneous back-up system and that he is still alive.
Also I’m pretty sure he hinted to it in chapter 7 right before Pivot crushed him. “I’ll see you soon.”
Oh, I just though that was just a random drone controlled remotely.
I assume the guy is human, or some sort of organic, not a robot.
or some form of cybernetic singularity.
welllll i kinda put 2 and 2 together from the get go soooooo oof to ye
E
Their conversation makes me think of the game SOMA
And these are the two sides of the Ship of Theseus argument.
Clones with your memories aren’t you. I stand by this.
Hmm… I wonder if this is cluing us in on how it works in this story, or setting up for the eventual conflict when Socket’s views are challenged?
I know my personal thoughts on the matter, and Socket isn’t going to like them! XD While I do believe in the notion of an eternal aspect of a human being: a spirit or soul. My memories shape me, but they aren’t the entirety of me. If I suddenly lost them, it would damage me, but it would be like losing an arm or a leg; I’m still me, just different.
Without such metaphysical concepts, the next logical steps – at least, to the best of my meager comprehension – would be that we don’t really exist in the sense we think we do, or we’re an even more fragile mix of body and mind. The latter means a copy of your mind isn’t you, and neither is a copy of your body… even if one is paired with the opposite of the original!
Regardless of the author’s approach to this, it should be a great story. I mean, it isn’t like this question wasn’t brought up early on in the story. 🙂
Man, if it was that easy for humans, someone would have just flat out revived Bob Ross
this pfp is just beautiful, idk what it is but it reminds me of a penis and that’s funny
i made fast time then 2 days of reading and i made it ill wait till the next one
wtf is my pfp lol (im new here)
im semi new here and i have no idea how you got a profile pic
well oof lets wait fer the next page eh?
Are you the TreeDeDe from AH?
eh?????
yeah i am, are you the rat?
Can’t wait for the evil clone arc.
i really like how laid back Socket is
Seeing this page, Pivot is just pulling a philosophical me moment but then Socket is saying exactly what I would say in this situation. What Pivot is saying does hit a lot of interesting points but however in the end, even this type of debate really ends up being different to each person. To some not having their memories backed up to make a copy may seem like it isn’t them but why does it matter? If you look at a certain scientific railgun and her sisters, they are all being given a chance to live their own life. So even if our current self should end, it shouldn’t mean they can’t live the life they wish to have even if it is based on your memories. There is nothing wrong with the way Socket views this either, to have a part of her remain even if she should perish means she won’t be forgotten or left alone or even have to leave her friends and family without her.
Although preferably I don’t wish to see Socket perish at all, she is too lovable and caring that she must be protected. So Pivot if you can hear me, you protect that girl with everything you got but no dying either, it would make her sad too.
Whether the original goes obsolete, Socket can always be up-to-date on her new body. No worries on that.
I mean, I understand Pivot’s got a point here, but I have to side with Socket. If it’s an exact copy of yourself, with exact memories and personality, it’s *you*. You are just a culmination of your experiences and decisions, your morals and ethics, your good and your bad. The only difference is that robots can actually pull that off, unlike humans.
On a less deep note, found this comic 2 days ago and churned through the whole thing in a few hours. Love the work dude, keep it up.
Well, and what happens if suddenly one transfered your memories and personality to a diferent vessel? Would that person still be you? And which one of the two would be you? The moment the second one appears, the two of you start to diverge, who is the original then?
I have my answers, but that’s because I define me in a diferent manner than just my memories and personalities (my physical body is as much as me as my mental processes are). But seriously, I’m genuinely curious what your responses are to those specific situations. Also, would you voluntarely submit to uploading your mind to a computer or a diferent body and go around swapping bodies like they were diferent sets of clothes? Again, very curious
Or say, for the sake of argument, that you are changed to a female version of yourself. The effect lasts for a month, or there is this artifact that can split you from the effect, but in doing so, the “effect” becomes a female clone of you, memories intact. Would that be considered you? Or are they a wholly unique person?
Bonus points for guessing where I got that quandary from.
I mean, I’m not him/her/them but if the conciusness is what matter, then I assume those would be all he/she/they.
If you were asking about me, well. If the change sex was progressive and there was a continuity (of either mind or body) I would still be me. In the split one, since continuity is not broken, then both would be me, but since they both are diferent continuities they would also be two diferent people. They would be me, but they would be diferent people. But the sexswapped version is probably going to be the most diferent from the original since the diferences on sexual characteristics have a greater potential on creating diferent patterns of though due to the diferent nature of their body. Same thing with a mental clone with an android body. I’m also not contrary to the idea of replacing my entire body with things like cibernetics augmentations, as long as they were installed piece by piece and the conciusness remained constant through the process.
All of this is so very interesting…
…and long
A fellow adept of the mechanicus I see!
You go that from El Goonish Shive with Elliot and Ellen, right?
And we have a winner!
Identity is pretty complicated and nuanced, as the story of the ship of Theseus illustrates. Pattern identity might be the most sensible way of looking at it.
Oh my goshhh Socket’s feelings are so wholesome
I have a romantic partner and I can completely understand how they both feel, this is just…so good.
I’m happy with the turn the discussion took and it made my Sunday.
That does remind me of the… thought experiment saying that whenever we wake up, we have no way of telling if we who woken up are the same person who went to sleep. Because once our consciousness is lost as we drift away, we no longer can recognise ourselves. There’s no longer “me” who is me. And it’s a fancy thought that androids would have to deal with similar existential problem, only with hardware shutdown rather than mere “low power” standby sleep process.
…high time for Piv to open up on her construction’s origin to her girlfriend