The Soul Recorder

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http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Shadowlands/6583/project108.html

Could such a thing even remotely be considered a good idea? Bringing people back from the dead, sure, may sound like a good idea in theory, but do we really need these people alive again, with an already abundant population? And to me, giving someone someone else's experiences doesn't sound like such a brilliant idea either, much potential for abuse.
It would, however, be ptentially useful for things such as finding out criminals, but that would require most people to have them.

Still, it would make a good plot for a sci-fi novel

 

Scary. Just imagine the potential for infringement upon an individual's rights.

 

Well, I suspect if they play-back someone's memories to a baby, and they can do it really-really-really fast, the kid is going to be messed up, but not the original person. We can brainwash the baby sure, but we cannot make it something it is not, it has not experienced those things itself, and it is more than the sum of it's parts, it's memories, as are we all, or else an amnesiac would no longer be a man.

Nevertheless, if they want to solve crimes better they should employ psychics. They used to, some still do. Too much pride I think.

It won't work. Can't make a man. I do not think those figures understand what a man truly is.

But I would like to read the novel

 

A novel with a similar vein is Armor by John Steakley. The theory is that objects maintain an aura/harmony that can be read to see what happened.

It is a really good book.

 

Wasn't a chip of this sort what got Ralph Fiennes <sigh> into trouble in "Strange Days"?

Fiction aside, why would anyone want to live someone else's life instead of their own?

Imposing such a choice on a baby seems downright cruel. There's no way that the infantile mind could process all the experiences of someone else's lifetime, and even if it could you still wouldn't end up with the next Einstein, or Balanchine, or... By the time the baby had developed the physical and communication skills required to make use of the experiences locked inside its mind, who know what would have happened?

Ick. I hope this never comes to pass.

 

Actually this is not completely true. There HAVE been cases where the governement has spent resources researching things like "remote viewing" only to realize the claims were unfounded and unwarranted. Also there have been times in the past when police, desperate for ANY sort of lead at all have solicited information from people claiming to possess such insights, whether they claim to be psychics, holymen, voodoo priestesses or what have you.

To date there has never been a shred of evidence to warrant the claims of ANY psychic. No controlled tests...no peer-reviewed articles...nada.

Most psychics employ an age old stage magicians' technique called cold reading. It is remarkably simple to do if you have the balls to stand in front of someone and claim to be a psychic guru or somesuch and you have a willing "readee". That is why people like John Edward and Sylvia Browne have ridiculous clauses in their contracts about not appearing on the same set at the same time with the likes of Ian Rowlands, James Randi or Michael Shermer. These guys know all their tricks and can reproduce them at the drop of the hat(rabbit firmly stuffed within).

I agree that the OP article is creepy btw.

 

I'm not talking about John Edwards, or anyone similar.

Yes, there have been tests proven and recorded. Scientifically conducted tests with control groups as well, btw.

Also, in WWII there was *extensive* use of psychics by all sides involved.

There have been tests, it is not false, and nor do you need those tests to validate anything.

Look for the actual tests before you say there aren't any, I know there are because I have read them.

I have had this argument before so I shall repeat myself. I have had experience in this field, both personal, and with friends and family, so please do not refute my claim as I have to be the more knowlegeable in this particular area.

 

@Manus


You can hoop and holler all you want and repeat a thousand times that there have been controlled tests done which demonstrate psi/psychic ability but the truth is...no, not a single one exists.

Of course providing a cite/reference to back up your claims is always a good idea...


BTW, I dare say I have done far more extensive study than yourself on this subject, from both the perspective of a believer as well as a skeptic. No proponent of "psi" has ever published anything in a scientifically peer-reviewed journal and even the tests which HAVE been conducted by paranormalists/parapsychologists have been VERY flawed and by the tester's own admissions(in most cases) not acceptable by the standards of science(there is almost always a piece of tech/equipment that goes on the fritz or someone falling asleep when they were on monitor duty etc. and that is the LEAST of the problems with these alleged tests).

It would be rather simple to conduct a fair test with proper controls which warranted the claims made by alleged telepaths, remote viewers, precog's, mediums etc.

So far few have stepped to the plate and NONE have succeded.

[ January 19, 2004, 09:29: Message edited by: RuneQuester ]

 

Interesting... so, if you can record your life and smack it on someone elkse, why not smack it into your clone after you die? Eternal life, of a kind...

 

Technically, it's possible to transfer the data so long as we know where they are, where they are to be put and have proper media for the transfer.

However, transferring memories into another individual with leaving his genes as they are, may cause trouble we can't imagine before it happens. Half-Jim, half-Jack, if we may say so. The memories will not match the properties of an individual - so for example the person could remember being 10 inches taller than he in reality is. Scary. If you ask me, mental disorder is on the way. Besides, the product is a human entity and therefore has rights which would be thereby violated, irrespectively of the original's consent or lack thereof.

Full transfer of the genes will take any effect only through methods used in cloning. Therefore, everything would begin at foetal stage. Therefore, a perfect, or practically perfect, image of a given individual would be created. With full adult memories in early childhood. Read Dune? Remember Alia Atreides? However, the replica will acquire its own memories over time in addition to the initial material implemented in the process of creation.

Cloning on its own will not succeed here either. Genes and only genes, no memories. Thus, the replica would have a relatively equal start with the original, that's all. Due to genetic predispositions it might even have a similar life, exhibit certain patterns, but nonetheless will not have any record of any happenings in the original individual's life. Heh, this reminds me of all those subsequent gholas of Duncan Idaho in the Dune series, requiring a strong impulse, ie massive input of data related to the original's life, to awaken dormant memories

Thus, it is impossible to replicate an individual fully. The problem of the death of the original in relation to the original memories contained in the replica still remains open, too.