And more’s the pity! ;-)

“. . . just that art often raises questions we find it hard to articulate though the logic of everyday discourse, but are still critical to understanding ourselves.”

True. But when discussing scifi, I think you need to distinguish clearly between what’s actually possible now versus what’s speculative. You spoke of Lain and GitS and those two clearly fall under the latter category. And a lot of what we discuss is inherently unknowable: I don’t think we’re gonna prove or disprove the existence of a soul anytime soon, much less demonstrate how you can load it into a SPARCstation. ;-)

But in general I agree that it’s fun to talk about the physical vs. non-physical aspects of identity et al…wouldn’t be here otherwise. :-)

“You have to talk and I just get to watch the show.”

Hmmm…suddenly wondering if I’m Punch or Judy.

That’s my point. I don’t mean to imply I think life is like anime, just that art often raises questions we find it hard to articulate though the logic of everyday discourse, but are still critical to understanding ourselves.

*sigh* Poor Bonnie! She keeps trying to elevate the level of discourse, we keep dragging it down"¦

Poor you two! You have to talk and I just get to watch the show.

THANK YOU! Tip your waitress! I’ll be back tomorrow night.

Actually, I meant to say, “And gets more respect” - subtle difference. :-)

“Porn also leaves one feeling less dirty than dealing with Dave Halverson, IGN or PC GAMER. ;)”

That’s because porn is still a step up from streetwalking.

;-P

*sigh* Poor Bonnie! She keeps trying to elevate the level of discourse, we keep dragging it down…

:-)

Because it’s fucking?

Porn pays better. And has more respect.

Porn also leaves one feeling less dirty than dealing with Dave Halverson, IGN or PC GAMER. ;)

I like scifi like that too, but we’re not there yet: we haven’t reached the state of true disembodied consciousnesses - either AI or human. So while it’s fun to speculate about such things in fiction, when we discuss what’s possible now, it’s kinda irrelevant, IMHO. One might as well discuss ghost stories, while we’re at it. :-)

[And to be pedantic, in such scifi, you usually haven’t completely severed ties with the physical world, just ties with your human body. You still have to exist inside machines, if nowhere else.]

Still, it does all lead back to that fundamental question: what makes us who we are? If we presume we are more than the sum of the chemical compounds which compose us - more than just ambulatory organic meatbags - then what defines who we are? And if we accept that our “true” essence is this noncorporeal thing we call a soul, of what relevance are our bodies? Do we still exist after our bodies die; or is all that we are gone from the moment we expire?

And if we have such high-falutin concepts, why on Earth are we all so obsessed with f*cking, anyway? ;-)

“The difference being"¦?”

Porn pays better. And has more respect.

The difference being…?

Now that my results are in the (modest) thousands, my family is less thrilled. Which is to say, no one mentions it. My mother thinks I write porn, not video game reviews. She sees the checks in the mail and doesn’t say a thing. I try to explain, but she doesn’t even want to know. It’s just funny, when we’re not ashamed of our online lives, other people do it for us.

“The physical and non-physical are always intertwined, because all perception still hinges on the brain.”
I guess what I have in mind during discussions like these are art works like Lain or Ghost in the Shell - things that suggest that self and identity is not necessary linked to the physical (but of course needs the physical to manifest itself). It’s like the idea of ghostly possession…

Ooh, hookah!