[MURG] Mind Uploading in the U.S. Government NBIC report

[Joseph J. Strout]

The NSF and Department of Commerce organized a workshop on 
"Converging Technologies" which produced a report called "Converging 
Technologies for Improving Human Performance."  It's available in 
hardcopy form (for $167) but also online as a PDF: 
<http://wtec.org/ConvergingTechnologies/>

Check out the remarkable text on p. 98:

"1. The Human Cognome Project

"It is time to launch a Human Cognome Project, comparable to the 
successful  Human Genome Project, to chart the structure and 
functions of the human mind. No  project would be more fundamental to 
progress throughout science and engineering  or would require a more 
complete unification of NBIC sciences. Success in the  Human Cognome 
Project would allow human beings to understand themselves far  better 
than before and therefore would enhance performance in all areas of 
human  life.

"While the research would include a complete mapping of the 
connections in the  human brain, it would be far more extensive than 
neuroscience. The archaeological  record indicates that anatomically 
modern humans existed tens of thousands of years  before the earliest 
examples of art, a fact that suggests that the human mind was not 
merely the result of brain evolution but also required substantial 
evolution in culture  and personality. Central to the Human Cognome 
Project would be wholly new kinds  of rigorous research on the nature 
of both culture and personality, in addition to  fundamental advances 
in cognitive science.

"The results would revolutionize many fields of human endeavor, 
including  education, mental health, communications, and most of the 
domains of human  activity covered by the social and behavioral 
sciences. Some participants in the  human cognition and communication 
working group were impressed by the longterm potential for uploading 
aspects of individual personality to computers and  robots, thereby 
expanding the scope of human experience, action, and longevity. But 
at the very least, greater understanding of the human mind would 
allow engineers to  design technologies that are well suited to human 
control and able to accomplish  desired goals most effectively and 
efficiently. Success in the Human Cognome  Project would greatly 
facilitate success in the other four areas identified by this 
working group."

Let me just pick out the amazing sentence, in case you missed it: 
"Some participants in the  human cognition and communication working 
group were impressed by the longterm potential for uploading aspects 
of individual personality to computers and  robots, thereby expanding 
the scope of human experience, action, and longevity."

This is not only a description of mind uploading, it is even using 
the correct terminology!  This is an important first; never before 
have I seen any reference to the possibility of uploading in any 
serious scientific work.

We should not get complacent; there is still a high risk of being 
considered pseudoscientific kooks.  Remember, cryonics (then called 
cryogenics) was considered a respectable scientific pursuit back in 
the 1960s, but then sentiment turned against it, and it has still not 
recovered that status yet -- for example, this report makes no 
mention whatsoever of reviving cryonics patients, despite speculation 
about far more difficult technologies.  The same could happen to 
proponents of uploading.  So always, always, tread with caution, 
speak with rigor, think in medical terms, and avoid pseudoscience and 
hyperbole when talking about uploading.

But still: this is highly encouraging.  We should keep an eye out for 
more about this "Human Cognome Project" idea and support it in any 
way we can.

Best,
- Joe

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|    Joseph J. Strout         Check out the Mac Web Directory:     |
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