Dr Jordan B Peterson What is substrate independence?

Atheists: here's a definition of a spirit for you: pattern independent of substrate.

If you want an example of substrate independence, look at how this information goes through a succession of forms: - ink on paper - light reflected from paper - characters recognized by brain - motions of the hand - motions of the telegraph - electrical output of the telegraph

@jordanbpeterson Could what we consider to be the mind instead be an “emergent property” in the same way that water is made up of hydrogen and oxygen molecules which, when arranged in a certain way, hierarchically have higher more abstract properties of wetness and fluidity?

@jordanbpeterson I appreciated your basic explanation of substrate independence. However, I question you assertion that the mind -or the spirit - is independent of it's substrate. Why should we believe this?

@jordanbpeterson 1. The mind is a type of program. 2. Programs are a type of information. 3. Information is substrate independent. 4. Therefore, the mind is substrate independent.

@jordanbpeterson If the mind can be perfectly emulated by a computer, pizza can be as well.

@jordanbpeterson Yeah, a digital you can eat a digital pizza. But, if your body is physical, you cannot eat a digital pizza.

@jordanbpeterson One note on human mind and substrate independence - I think in our case, consciousness is a property of the substrate. (slightly wackier - it may even _be_ the substrate, e.g Hoffman) in principle we may be able to port a mind to an unconscious substrate. But this would be bad!

@jordanbpeterson When a computer gets old we transfer the data to a new computer, not the computer. In our case we are the computer with data on it. How can you be sure that a mind is substrate independent? Making a mind is different to transferring one.

@jordanbpeterson The fallacy: we could, therefore we can, and therefore we should.

@jordanbpeterson 1 Corinthians 15 No point in trying to transplant your mind/spirit to another substrate of greater longevity if your mind is corrupted by sin. The criteria for successful transplantation of the spirit to another body is perfect righteousness not know-how.