Keep in mind that The Matrix was pretty much completely inspired by a combination of the Ghost in the Shell manga and Arthur Koestler’s novel “The Ghost in the Machine”. There was also real heavy influence in the Anime “Megazone 23” that came out in the late 80’s.
In an interesting way all of the named above and Altered Carbon are interesting thought experiments that contribute to the debate of the mind-body problem, particularly on the aspect of Descarte’s argument toward Substance or Cartesian Dualism. The argument being that there are 2 kinds of foundations: mental and body. The mind can exist outside of the body, but that the body then cannot think. Historically speaking this is the philosophical corner stone behind modern theological views of the soul. The immortal soul can exist outside of the body in a realm separate from the physical realm.
It’s interesting to see these classical philosophical debates turned into theatre of the mind.
The biggest question i have is how does the stack work with the brain. Does it replace it, overwrite it? Is there the original consciousness still in there trapped in a body it cant control.
I’m pretty sure the stack load/unloads the soul into the body…there is a discussion in (ep 6 I think) about residual memories from the body, that’s why clones are better
What I got out of if is that it works like a backup. Located on the spinal cord it downloads all that is the person as all information is passed from the brain through the spinal cord. Thats why it needs constant “backups” with time. Hence the reason why they can transfer from skin to skin but only remember what they have backed up.
Right but does it overwrite the brain, sorry getting into the weeds here but does it remap neural pathways. Not all information goes down the spinal column. Vision for one.
Not sure if this was just a reference to those filthy rich who could afford a complete rebuild, even if their stack got destroyed, using off-site backup which only took backups on a timed schedule.
One point they keep bringing back up is that they could spin a stack back up in another sleeve, for someone who was murdered - to ask them how they died.
Its one of the central arguments against the Neo-Catholics.
It seems like it overrides the brain, or interfaces with it.
Difficult to figure out, especially when trying to cater for how it would work in their original body vs a later sleeve.
Yeah, they were the only with a “clean” re-sleeve. I noticed that a big conflicting point in the series is that this type of extension of life corrupts the soul. Making them bad which is what happened with Bancroft. Being filthy rich, he could re-sleeve but he had done so for so long he lost his humanity. We also see how the russian, which I forget his name, double sleeves and jumps back and forth which has caused him to lose his mind a little bit earlier. “Corrupting” his soul which is why he is so aggressive always. Its also shown that Tekashi was given his original body at some point and that was a big deal. It made me think that it resets the corruption caused to the stack. Ultimately, we see Rei, who has countless sleeves due to cloning but knows she is corrupt with how she acts as means to an end.
This is the big point of discussion…I think the reason that Takashi is a traitor is he was helping the “Rebels” with a plan that would end life…the divide between those that can afford endless life and those that cannot is huge. Their plan was the destroy/alter the tech that would allow for this endless life. The reasoning is that this god-like power of immortality causes those of that power to act without morality. Absolute power and such. I don’t think its the jumping is that death is the ultimate equalizer…at least in death we all are equal. Without RD then then life has no meaning and they feel less alive.
You can see that in the shit that the weirdos above the clouds get up to, both their wealth and effective immortality (or at least much longer lifespans) have led them to look for stranger and stranger things to keep their interest.
Trying to avoid spoilers here, we have a separate spoilers thread for that (I’m only on ep5 or something).
No worries, just thought I’d mention it before we veered too far.
I think this thread was already a little spoiler-y anyway - hence why the other thread was created.
A few ways:
Cloning - for uber rich
Sleeve Swap Supply house - people will rent out their bodies to be used as sleeves while their stack is put on ice for a few years. This allows them to make money without spending money. This is the “Middle Class” method… you can choose your sleeve for the right price… if you go economy you just get whatever is available… blah blah…
Penal Sleeve Removal - There are no jails. Your stack is put on ice, and you lose the rights to your sleeve for a given period of time. During this time your sleeve will be made available to anyone who cannot afford, but needs immediate re-sleeving (think murder victims whose bodies are lost, but stacks are fine). When you commit a crime and get put on ice the punishment is that your body gets to be used by someone else for anything they want, and they are going to run your bio-clock down… so when you are released in 100 years with a perceptive age of 35, your body could be 75, because it was used to the point in which no one wanted to use it any more… then put on ice.
Between these methods and other illegal methods not mentioned… it’s enough to get real confusing fast.