Friday, December 19, 2008

Coffee break: From Dolly the embraceable ewe to a fully downloadable you?

Jason Rennie (whose science fiction and philosophy blog I have just added to the blogroll) offers
This weeks installment of Sci Phi Journal is the wonderful story, You Pretty Thing by Australian Author Lee Battersby. It is read by Rick Stringer of the variant Frequencies Podcast. I hope you like it.
The basic thesis is that a man has developed a plan to cheat death:
“This,” he said, indicating his body. “A clone, created from genetically manipulated junk stock. Download myself into it via a brain transplant at the point of death.”

“The cancer?”

“Not in my brain.” He tapped the side of his head. “All my memories, all my experiences. I’m me. The body is just a vessel.”

“Except?”

“Except I have to prove it. Beyond reasonable doubt.”
The questions you are invited to discuss in the comments are
I Do you think Rhodes has managed to achieve immortality ?

II Is this really still Jonathan Rhodes ?

III Does the test prove that ?
The story is available in available in a variety of sound, text, and palm reader formats.