Battlestar Galactica

If an artificial human were perfected to the point that you could not tell the difference from a natural human, is it a true human?

If a man receives an artificial organ (supposing this is in the future when technology is better), then after some time another, and another, until his brain starts to fail and his consciousness is downloaded into a computer. AT what point did the man stop being a human?

If you watch bsg....

Who do you think the final cylon is? My money is on Adama. why? Because he played the suspicious origami guy in Bladerunner (and that character must have been a replicant!).

Don't know what I'm talking about? don't worry, I confuse myself too
Voted for by Molzahn.
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- EverlastingGaze
  June 13
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  I think if an AI gained every trait we deem to be human...empathy, love, hate, intelligence etc. and it could be proved that said traits are the result of a natural progression in the lifeform and not just prior programming then I think they can be deemed human.
  I'll take the cylons as an example, I'm of the opinion that the humanoid models (skin jobs) are human. That is where the conflict in the show arises. As the lines begin to blur, we can no longer discern what is or is not human. If they are not fundamentaly different from us how can we condemn them? With the recent loss of the ressurection capabilities the lines have all but dissapeared. They are no longer different from humans.
  
  Bill Adama is not a cylon but Lee might be.
- - Molzahn
    June 16
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    So diana said that only 4 of the cylons were with the colonials, so that could either mean that one of the captives (like Roseline) is a cylon, or it could be someone from the past like Caine (which would be pretty kick ass).
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MID SEASON FINALE

So after the humans and cylons get to earth, they find it too has been destroyed by nukes. It leaves the viewer with an ominous feeling of the moral "you reap what you sew".

For those who watch, what's your thoughts?

Voted for by Molzahn.

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A human...

Is born, not created.

So if you are born from your mother's womb, and then you get a artificial heart, or numorous other organs of artificial design, you are still a human, capable of thinking by electricity in your brain (or you know what I mean, right?)

An android (which is pretty much what a cylon is) was never really born, was it? It was engineered, altered beyond being a human. Of course if you have alterations inthe womb to prevent deafness, etc. you are still human, but replacing parts and building one makes it not human.

So to answer your question, he never did stop being human. As long as he was BORN.

Voted for by Oral Fixation.

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TeChNoWC
June 16
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In secular humanist terms, even this statement is seemingly flawed.

If this were so, one would keep their humanity even after death (in this case the atheist comprehension of death). Yet, an android that reaches human status through the biological development of its components, therefore functioning, feeling and experiencing humanity, would not be human.

Let me remind you that on an atheistic plane, the elements of humanity are fairly basic and supposedly re-creatable.

I think someone hasn't watched Bicentennial Man.
Molzahn
June 16
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Oral
so was frankenstien's monster human or not?
Weydon
June 16
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Biologically, yes, only someone born a human cpould be a human. But by the means of HUMANITY, as an autonomous being with rights and even a soul, I think that could potentially be something earned or attributed to another species.
Oral Fixation
June 16
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Forgive, me let me rephrase a few things...
If you are born from your mother's womb, of your father's(or donors) sperm, you are human. Nature has created you, you are not engineered.

What makes it completely different from an android/cylon? They don't have to be programmed to feel pain, anger, sadness, etc. They don't have to be programmed to blink when they need to wet thier eyes.

When your life number is up, you die. Naturally. Or if you commit suicide, are murdered, have an accident, etc, you are dead. If you were to be brought back by CPR, or another kind of life-saving technique, you are human. If you are killed, brought back, and have an organ transplant, you are human. If you have some sort of brain transplant, human. If you are killed and rewired on some sort of software, you are not human. Your tissue, which you were born with, is human. YOU are not. If your tissue is man-made, engineered like your 'brain' or 'chip', you're not human.

So many different things divide humans from androids.
Molzahn
June 16
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what if...
you found out about androids that were built on the cellular level (Blade Runner! ), and you didn't know if you were one of them or not, how can you be sure what is human? What if everyone was manufactured?

So here's one for you, how about instead of downloading someone's mind onto software, we replace neurons piece by piece (in the exact likeness of the original) until his brain is completely composed of manufactured structures. Would he still be human if half his brain was original?

what if it got to the point that one true human cell remained, is he still biologically human?
Oral Fixation
June 19
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Touchet.
Your point has been made. I suppose there is somewhere we must draw the line in these circumstances. I guess it depends on what position you were in to make the decision. Personal opinion, mayhaps.