So I left Synth Shaun in the Institute to be blown up with the rest. My decision was in part due to my understanding (or misunderstanding) of how 3rd/4th gen synths work. They don't age. is this correct? If so then Synth Shaun WAS an abomination. I mean imagine if I had taken him back to Diamond City with Piper and I? He likely would befriend Nat....and then eventually Nat would grow up....and he would NOT. Forever a "10 year old boy" with all the people in his life (except for Uncle Nick Valentine)....growing older and older....and dying.

If I understand the tech right (and maybe I don't!) THAT is the true tragic legacy and evil of the Institute!

Right. Roboshaun won't age.

To be fair, it's not like Synth Shaun would remain mentally a 10 year old.

Even then, there's people who have that disability in real-life and get along just fine.

I actually had the headcanon the kid at the water pump is suffering from the real-life mutation of not aging physically and is probably an advlt.

They could also upload his consciousness into a new body, provided he's got a digital consciousness.

Well THAT kinda makes the tragedy worse! He will age emotionally and mentally....but NEVER go through puberty!

We've been over this. That just makes a copy of a copy.

Yeah, svcks to be him.

But immortality has it's own benefits.

Just look at the various ghouls.

Aside from Vault-Tech, quite a few of them have decent lives.

We should note, though, that Synth Children exist in the Commonwealth as is (See Covenant) and Shaun is supposed to be "Revolutionary" in some way. I wouldn't be surprised if Synth Shaun actually is going to age or some other change.

I think it'd be cool in Fallout 5, for example, to have Shaun be general of the Minutemen.

He would most likely start to have his human components decay over a few centuries but we just don't know, gen 3 synths are rellitively new. He would require maintenance eventually, everything suffers from ware and tare like arms and legs but as long as they are maintained properly he should be fine.

Yes, you've said that and it's still wrong.

Which is amazing because you usually are on the side of Synths=Machines.

If they're Machines, they're just programming.

If they're People, they have souls.

So which is it?

Either way, the consciousness of "Curie" seems to leave her Ms. Handy and enters into the Synth so it obviously doesn't work like RL computer programming anyway.

Upload data from a thumb drive to your computer.

It exists in two places.

And Curie? the doctor says she's shutting down systems. jesus wept. less straw grabbing please.

some people cannot get over them being made by man and not god but I think "weren't you made by your parents?" What is the difference?

You can't copy the data on my brain and put it elsewhere? You can't say one simple sentence and turn me off, or make me kill someone? You can't mass produce me?

You haven't made any rebuttal.
None of which has anything to do with data consciousnesses being transferred.

Yes, I did.

I said, very specifically, that the doctor shut Curie down as she performed the upload. I also said that every time you upload data you're just making a copy.

But I guess your line of thought is to be expected from someone who thinks that a clone of one's wife is literally the same thing as his wife.

Yes, you've said that.

None of which has any relevance to the subject at hand.

You can use it to clone a consciousness but that if you don't, it's not an issue.

Just as Curie in the Synth body is the "real" Curie.

Because her consciousness is digital.

And yes, you could make a copy of digital consciousness.

How are you so ignorant to how machines work? No program deletes data as it uploads it elsewhere. And it's still just copying the zeroes and ones down and pasting them elsewhere.

There is no argument to be had. Uploading data is just copy pasting it.

Yes.

I know this.

It doesn't mean a thing. But I think we're dealing with the issues of what you think qualifies as consciousness or not versus mine.

you can do many terrible things to people, the question you should be asking is "should you?" Also yes you can copy a brain with advanced 3D printers which may exist in the future , you can use hypnotysm to make a person kill themselves or others and yes, look at China for mass production of people.
It would not even need to copy your entire brain just the hippocampus the memory center of your brain to be sirgicly placed in another person.

Since according to in-game dialogue 3rd generation synths are indistinguishable from humans except via autopsy, they should age.

If the clone has the memories of your wife and cannot be distinguished from your wife in any way, then yes, functionally she is your wife. Identity of indiscernibles and all that.

Wow.

No, she is not.

If the wife is still alive she can stand right next to her.

I don't even.

Not if there is no way to tell which is which.

That you can't even has no bearing on a basic principle of ontology.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_of_indiscernibles

UGH.

It literally does not matter if you can't tell the difference. The world doesn't revolve around your perception of what is going on.

The reality of the situation is that one of them is the clone. One of them did not actually experience what the other had.

Yes, and they're both your wife.

They did if they both have the same memories and are indistinguishable from each other. Memory is identity.

It literally also doesn't matter what they think. Perception is not a factor in this debate.

One of them is the clone. That is a fact.

Mind you, if it was somehow possible to make an exact copy of your brain right now, and upload it to a construct that would be able to use it the way you use your own brain, would that construct be you? Even while you were standing right next to it, having your own thoughts and opinions?