Uploading

Upload, v.i., v.t. To become a figment of your computer's imagination.
From Godling's Glossary by David Victor de Transend.

Uploading isn't a >H goal because it's one step closer to some mythical and unknowable perfection, but because it'll be jolly practical. - Dr. Rich Artym

Uploading is the (so far hypothetical) process of transferring the mental structure and consciousness of a person to an external carrier, like a computer. This would make it possible to completely avoid biological deterioration (aging, damage), allow the creation of backup copies of the mind, very profound modifications and postbiological existence.

Sections

Introduction
Philosophy
Neuroscience
Methods
Miscellanous
Other Sites
Books
See Also

Introduction

An Introduction to Mind Uploading and its Concepts by Randal Koene.
Death by Instalments by Peter Cochrane. What if we replace more and more of ourselves with technology?
British Telecom und der Unsterblichkeitschip by Basil Gelpke (in German).
Ghosts, computers, and Chinese Whispers by Toby Howard (Personal Computer World magazine, November 1996). About uploading and the media rumor about the BT "soulcatcher chip".
Traum von der Ewigkeit, by Florian Rötzer (in Telepolis, in German).
Losing your mind? Upload your brain and gain eternal life by Kathy Zucca.
Philosophy and technology of Mind Uploading by Joseph Strout (In PDF).
Cybernetic Immortality node in Principia Cybernetica.

Philosophy

Beside the obvious technological difficulties achieving uploading, there are also hotly debated philosophical aspects of the process. Among the most central questions are the strong AI postulate (is intelligence and consciousness possible in a computer?) and the identity problem (is the upload you or an impostor?).

The Prospect of Mind Uploading by Graham Hearn.
Has Penrose Disproved A.I.? by Robin Hanson. A critique o f Roger Penrose's critique of AI.
Conscious Machines by Marvin Minsky. Can machines be conscious? Can humans?
Of Man, Mind and Machine. Meme-Based Models of Mind and the Possibility for Consciousnes s in Alternate Media, by Joshua S. Latenier.
Dualism Through Reductionism by Hans Moravec (Truth Journal). Does personhood, consciousness and intelligence reside in the pattern or substrate?
Drifting Identities by Alexander Chislenko Discusses the questions of self-transformation contra identity, and introduces the idea of an "identity space".
Forum on Personal Identity
Albert-Jan Brouwer on Personal Identity
Absent Qualia, Fading Qualia, Dancing Qualia by David J. Chalmers. About the problem of qualia and the nature of consciousness.
Dalai Lama on Computer Consciousness (post from the Omega Point Theory mailing list). A bit surprising.

Neuroscience

Energy Limits to the Computational Power of the Human Brain by Ralph C. Merkle. An attempt to estimate the computational power of the brain.
How Many Bytes in Human Memory? by Ralph C. Merkle.

Methods

Gradual Uploading as a Cognition of Mind by Algimantas Malickas. A process of gradual enhancement and extension, leading to an uploaded state.
Automated Reconstruction of Neural Elements from Transmission Electron Microscope Images, K. Montgomery, Dissertation, University of California.
Brain Scan Cryomsgs, from the Cryonics mailing list 1992.
Methods of Uploading by Richard Kennaway.
Cryonic Suspension and Uploading by Eugen Leitl. Discusses neurosuspension from an uploading perspective, with some ideas for scanning and storage.
Large Scale Analysis of Neural Structures by Ralph C. Merkle. Discusses the possibility of analyzing the structure of the brain at a cellular level.
Describing the Brain at the Molecular Level by Ralph C. Merkle.
Proposed methods, from the Mind Uploading Home Page

Uploading by the Microtome Procedure
Uploading by the Nanoreplacement Procedure
Uploading by the Moravec Procedure
Nondestructive Uploading Procedures

Miscellanous

Cartoon about the problems of uploading.
Uploading - A Little Wishful Fiction by obert Munafo.

Other Sites

Mind Uploading Home Page of Joe Strout. A very good introduction to the problems and possibilities of Uploading.

Whole Brain Emulation Research. A central repository for the open dissemination of information for the Whole Brain Emulation research project, as well as the official site of the Mind Uploading Research Group (MURG) and its affiliates.

Mind Uploading: Get Involved! A page about the Mind Uploading Research Group.

Books

Hans Moravec, Mind Children (1990) Harvard Univ. Pr. Discusses several methods of uploading.

Greg Egan, Permutation City (1995) Harper. Fiction, deals with the metaphysical questions caused by uploading. Other books by Egan mainly dealing with uploading are Diaspora and the short stories Learning to be Me , Closer (in Axiomatic).