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Where
do we get new human bodies?
Mind
Transfer tends to, for obvious reasons, raise ethical issues in
society. These
issues are equally as important to the development of the
working technique, considering how just the process and
procedure actually are. Particularly,
one troubling idea is the question of obtaining donor bodies.
While human life is a fragile subject, there are three possible
ways to resolve this matter diplomatically:
1. Ones human identity can be transferred into the body of a
person who is brain-dead. On the surface, this solution seems to
be the simplest one. Organ
donation is already an accepted practice, so why not donate an
entire body? There are complications associated with this
process though. For
example, for those who wish to have their identity relocated,
they may request the donor body to fit within specific physical
guidelines. This is not entirely possible however if the need
for a speedy Mind Transfer is critical to the patient’s
survival.
2.
The human identity can also be transferred into a temporary
storage facility until the suitable donor body is obtained. This
would be the most expensive method.
This method would call for the creation of specialized
medical facilities that would support the brain’s functions.
Blood enrichment and transfer, nutrition, and possibly
even electrical stimulation to simulate the normal sensory input
in order to prevent cortical deterioration would all be
required. In other
words, medical materials and time would all be required and are
very expensive.
3.
The last method would be to relocate the identity into a cloned
body. In many respects, this is the best-case scenario and most
desired method by transfer patients.
The clone would be created using the transfer patients
own DNA, which would in turn mean that they would eventually be
themselves again. This
is extremely desirable because not only would the identity
remain the same but the genetics as well. In addition, the DNA
composition would make it possible for Physicians to either
adjust, add, or remove specific traits.
This would thus alter the person’s appearance as
desired while also preserving them in the most realistic form.
This method would also challenge the ethical dilemma of
cloning. No longer would society fuss about human duplication
because the identity would not just be copied but the mind would
also be ‘relocated’ to a new body.
With the old one discarded, this is the most humanized
method of cloning. The only drawback of this method would be
that Mind Transfer would destroy the new identity present in the
clone. This is a
serious ethical issue. It would of course take some time to
actually perfect cloning and be able to produce a clone with a
fully capable but ‘blank slate’ mind.
Just as with any
controversial issue, legal questions pertaining to Mind Transfer
are numerous. Some of them are listed below:
1. Will the donors be able
to donate their entire bodies instead of separate body organs?
2. Will the combination of
the relocated identity and the donor body be legally considered
the person that he or she was before the relocation?
3. If a viable Mind Transfer
procedure is developed, will this be reason enough to legalize
human cloning?
4. Will removing the
identity from the old body be considered homicide?
5. Will it be legally
possible to move identity from a body of one gender to the one
of an opposite one, if so requested by the patient?
7. Can Mind Transfer be used
as a type of radical cosmetic surgery?
8. If a donor body is not a
clone genetically identical to the patient, or if the clone’s
genetic code is altered to adjust the new body’s appearance,
how will the issue of the new DNA, fingerprints, and eye retinas
be handled by the law-enforcement organizations?
9. Will there be any
legislatively approved age restrictions (Example 1: No Mind
Transfer after a certain age. Example 2: A strict limit on the
age difference between the donor body and the patient) placed on
the procedure in order to eliminate the possibility of living
forever? Or, in other words, will the Mind Transfer be allowed
strictly as the last-ditch life-saving measure for people who
are still relatively young, rather than a luxury operation for
those who desire to extend their life beyond the normal human
lifespan?
10. What will be the legal
status of a body from which the identity has been removed?
Every one of these questions
will undoubtedly create heated debates between the supporters
and opponents of the procedure. However, all the debates will be
moot if the procedure itself is not developed.
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