Please feel free to skip questions or write your own responses! I'm betting that a strong pattern will emerge.
General Philosophy
Spoiler below!
1. Do you think consciousness is physical or nonphysical?
A. Physical.
B. Nonphysical.
C. Consciousness? What's that?
2. Would you use a Star Trek transporter (assuming it's in perfect condition)?
A. Yes.
B. Probably.
C. Probably not.
D. No.
3. Would you help a terminally ill person commit suicide (disregarding legal issues)?
A. Yes.
B. Probably.
C. Probably not.
D. No.
4. Are you religious?
A. Yes.
B. Unsure.
C. No.
SOMA: Continuity
Spoiler below!
5. How do you think your viewpoint changes throughout the game?
A. I play as Simon-1, then Simon-2, then Simon-3, then Simon-4.
B. I relive Simon-3's memories, then play as Simon-3, then play as Simon-4.
C. I play as a single Simon (ignoring the post-credits scene).
6. How do you feel about the "continuity enthusiasts" at Theta?
A. They had the right idea.
B. They were desperate people who took a risk.
C. They were stupid/delusional.
7. Do you think the WAU could restore a dead person's consciousness?
A. Yes. From the person's perspective, they would "close their eyes and then open them again".
B. No. It can only create a new consciousness.
8. In Simon's shoes, would you view the ARK as a possible escape route?
A. Yes. I'm guaranteed to get on the ARK.
B. Yes. I have a 50-50 shot at getting on the ARK.
C. Yes, but only if I kill myself (like the people at Theta).
D. No. There's no way for me to get on the ARK.
SOMA: Ethics
Spoiler below!
9. What value do you place on robot Carl Semken's life?
A. His life is as valuable as a human life.
B. His life is less valuable than a human life, but still valuable.
C. His life is no more valuable than a modern-day machine.
10. What value do you place on simulated Brandon Wan's life?
A. His life is as valuable as a human life.
B. His life is less valuable than a human life, but still valuable.
C. His life is no more valuable than a modern-day machine.
11. Before leaving Omicron, what's the right thing to do?
A. Spare Simon-2.
B. Kill Simon-2.
12. Is Johan Ross closer to a hero or a villain?
A. A hero.
B. A villain.
SOMA: The Fate of Mankind
Spoiler below!
13. How do you feel about the WAU?
A. The WAU is humanity's best shot at survival.
B. The WAU is unpredictable; it may or may not save humanity.
C. The WAU is an abomination that must be destroyed.
14. How do you feel about the ARK?
A. The ARK is humanity's best shot at survival.
B. The ARK is valuable as a record of human history.
C. The ARK is essentially a futile project.
If anyone's interested, here are my responses:
Spoiler below!
1. B
2. D
3. C
4. A
5. A
6. C
7. B
8. D
9. A
10. A
11. B
12. A
13. C
14. A
1. Do you think consciousness is physical or nonphysical?
B - I believe that, although the brain is just electronic impulses caused by physical instances, the consciousness is not physical. It's like saying a dream is real life to me.
2. Would you use a Star Trek transporter (assuming it's in perfect condition)?
X - Never watched Star Trek so I can't answer.
3. Would you help a terminally ill person commit suicide (disregarding legal issues)?
C - Probably not as I'd be looking for alternatives where possible. Not cutting it out as a final destination though.
4. Are you religious?
C - Not religious.
5. How do you think your viewpoint changes throughout the game?
A - I believe the game follows Simon's consciousness, regardless of which body it's located in. I don't believe in the memory of Simon-3 theory, since you're making your own choices along the way, and that the game changes focus to the specific gameplay-relative Simon copy.
6. How do you feel about the "continuity enthusiasts" at Theta?
C - They were stupid. There was nothing suggesting a transportation of minds would occur.
7. Do you think the WAU could restore a dead person's consciousness?
B - I think the WAU can only create new ones, as yours is done and gone when your brain shuts down. This relates to #1 where the mind is non-physical, because even if you reboot the brain, it won't have the consciousness from before.
8. In Simon's shoes, would you view the ARK as a possible escape route?
X - I'm conflicted about this one. I'd probably have to go with D, as the other three are straight up wrong. However I think it might be a possible escape route, but not for his current "life." It'd be a long-term escape route (though not long enough).
9. What value do you place on robot Carl Semken's life?
B - Carl Bot doesn't have a brain. Would that mean shutting him down and powering him up keep his consciousness? Would it reset? It would surely still be there (unless it's kept in RAM which would be strange). I'm guessing the scan is saved to some disk within him, and that what he experiences is stored in temporary memory. The issue here is that, even if he were "killed," you could still just upload another scan and have him "live" again. What are robots' purpose without humans? I value human lives over them.
10. What value do you place on simulated Brandon Wan's life?
B - I hold a similar approach to this as the one above. He's reset every time it boots, so he forgets the pain he goes through. Since he's purely digital at that point, he won't have any actual artificial nerves connected to him, so I believe any physical pain is out of the question. He's like an in-game player. He doesn't hold up to his human self in my opinion.
11. Before leaving Omicron, what's the right thing to do?
X - I don't believe there is a "right" thing to do here. But if Simon-2's consciousness is like Brandon's, then shutting him down (AKA kill him) would reset his consciousness to that of when he woke up at Upsilon. Keeping him alive could lead his fate into the claws of the WAU creatures. However, the WAU created Simon-2 to begin with, because it was getting better at creating "humans." If he's kept alive, the WAU might also help keep Simon-2 alive, should he be in danger or die, similar to how Ross is kept alive.
12. Is Johan Ross closer to a hero or a villain?
X - I'm going to stay neutral on this one. He has good intentions, and not all heroes are nice, but he's also biased. He refuses to change his mind and only thinks about his objective. He's one sided and irrational. The WAU has done horrible things, however it is also improving, which he fails to see. Strange, since he's a direct example of the WAUs skills.
13. How do you feel about the WAU?
B - The WAU is unpredictable, and I believe that if it stays alive, it will create many abominations before being useful. However, eventually it will get to the point that it can create acceptable and great things. The abominations should wither with time, and there might be a future for the robots that are created. Perhaps, if they maintain their human self awareness, they can help support the life that will resurrect on the dead Earth.
14. How do you feel about the ARK?
B - The ARK is great, but can only contribute as proof of existance. It didn't save anyone. All it did was create new "life" in digital form that could live in a paradise. The people on the outside won't even know if it worked. The only good thing, or great rather, is that the people living inside were once outside, even if the people outside don't know. But at some point, all it really is is a piece of electronic metal.
1.) None, I don't see how you can ask something like that, we're still a long way
off from understanding what 'consciousness' actually is. I personally believe
that the soul or consciousness is the pilot of the body, the brain, spine and nervous system being the de facto CPU and the heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and digestive system being the engine. Of course, I could be very wrong.
2.) D. No freaking way, it digitises you and clones you basically.
3.) A. If they really wanted to and were adamant about it.
4.) C. I'm not a fan of organised religion.
5.) B. There's no doubt about this one, the entire game is played from the perspective of Simon-3 although I have my own questions and doubts about SOMA's technology.
6.) B. I can see why they went mad, their theory was simply wrong but I understand why they were pushed to that kind of desperation.
7.) Neither, if it was able to 'upgrade' a human body to survive in the new ocean environment then it wouldn't need to kill them or stick them to the wall to begin with. How do we know that Johann Ross had not been reawakened for real somehow?
8.) None of them, the ARK isn't any kind of escape route, it's a digital tombstone, another remnant of 21st century human culture, that's all it is.
9.) B. I wouldn't want to distress him, but I unintentionally pulled the plug on him in my first playthrough, although i'd do it again for his sake.
10.) A. It was an incredibly good simulation.
11.) A. At this point Simon-3 did not know that he would become trapped at Phi, so they could learn to get along and understand each other if he did survive.
12.) Neither, he's an anti-villian, I have some theories about him, Carthage and the WAU.
13.) B. The WAU is made out to be much worse than it could or should have been by the writers and developers of the game in order to increase the horror aspect. It creates monsters for us to hide and run away from in order to keep the player excited and on their toes (or under a table in some cases).
14.) B. No question.
Why are you so optimistic about the ARK plot anyway?
1. Do you think consciousness is physical or nonphysical?
A. Physical.
I believe that for consciousness to appear, no matter how primitive, some sorts of physical container is required, whether it's organic matter like brain, or some sorts of a device able to send and receive impulses accordingly.
2. Would you use a Star Trek transporter (assuming it's in perfect condition)?
A. Yes.
3. Would you help a terminally ill person commit suicide (disregarding legal issues)?
A. Yes.
If they wanted to
4. Are you religious?
C. No.
5. How do you think your viewpoint changes throughout the game?
C. I play as a single Simon (ignoring the post-credits scene).
To each of those Simons we encounter or hear of, they were the "one true Simon" based on their POV. The story is integral and unbroken to us just like it would be to them.
6. How do you feel about the "continuity enthusiasts" at Theta?
A. They had the right idea.
I think that Sarang had a brilliant idea about this, that was at the same time impossible to work. Considering theories like Shroedinger's cat, there is a possibility that for a single, impossibly short amount of time, our consciousness exists simultaneously both as a scan and on Earth at once. If we were to choose just a single outcome in that short moment, we could potentially end up on the Ark like Sarang said we would, but of course in real life we have no control over it. So good thought experiment, not possible to be accomplished.
7. Do you think the WAU could restore a dead person's consciousness?
B. No. It can only create a new consciousness.
Although there isn't enough information to definitely say what WAU can and cannot do, I doubt it would be able to extract consciousness from corpses that already had the time to decompose completely
8. In Simon's shoes, would you view the ARK as a possible escape route?
A. Yes. I'm guaranteed to get on the ARK.
9. What value do you place on robot Carl Semken's life?
A. His life is as valuable as a human life.
He was thinking, speaking, interacting. It was him, just with a piece of machinery as his physical container
10. What value do you place on simulated Brandon Wan's life?
A. His life is as valuable as a human life.
11. Before leaving Omicron, what's the right thing to do?
B. Kill Simon-2.
No right thing to do.
12. Is Johan Ross closer to a hero or a villain?
Neither. He was a man pursuing his idea of morality and view on human life; he had solid reasons to destroy WAU
13. How do you feel about the WAU?
A. The WAU is humanity's best shot at survival.
B. The WAU is unpredictable; it may or may not save humanity.
Both conclude to A. A tiny percentage of chance it will save us is still humanity's best shot. Being an artificial intelligence learning from pretty much nothing, the more iterations it would go through, the best it would become on recreating life as it is supposed to be. It's like all those programs that learn to walk, except smarter.
14. How do you feel about the ARK?
B. The ARK is valuable as a record of human history.
It's more of a record really, there's just that much the ARK is able to do with its limited memory and capabilities, and we don't know if it's possible for those people to ever reach out beyond their virtual world to, for example, establish contact.
Fascinating! Three very different responses. I would have lost that bet.
-----
Slacker: Even though I disagree, I like your description of the ARK as a digital tombstone.
There are two main criticisms of the ARK. One is that "it's just data". Since your answer to question 10 was A, I assume that you wouldn't agree with this. The other criticism is that the ARK has a limited lifespan. My response is that humanity has a limited lifespan anyway - it won't go on forever, no matter what happens. Maybe the ARK has a shorter lifespan, but several thousand years is still pretty good.
(This post was last modified: 11-26-2015, 03:49 AM by GhylTarvoke.)
(11-26-2015, 03:36 AM)GhylTarvoke Wrote: Fascinating! Three very different responses. I would have lost that bet.
-----
Slacker: Even though I disagree, I like your description of the ARK as a digital tombstone.
There are two main criticisms of the ARK. One is that "it's just data". Since your answer to question 10 was A, I assume that you wouldn't agree with this. The other criticism is that the ARK has a limited lifespan. My response is that humanity has a limited lifespan anyway - it won't go on forever, no matter what happens. Maybe the ARK has a shorter lifespan, but several thousand years is still pretty good.
Thanks, but I didn't come up with that term, another, smarter forum member did.
You've mentioned this thought before, that humanity always has a limited lifespan. That really depends on your point of view on the human race and the limits of human technology and ingenuity, the ARK has a limited lifespan that it can do nothing about as it is just one solitary device incapable of making any significant physical interactions with the outside universe, it is literally just one small world in a bottle, there's nothing its digital inhabitants can do to prevent the eventual death of the ARK. However, the human race, barring any unforeseen major apocalypse like the one in SOMA, has the capability to prevent its eventual extinction through the advancement of technology, according to some people phenomena such as faster than light travel is impossible, but I won't believe that until it is proven.
5. How do you think your viewpoint changes throughout the game?
C. I play as a single Simon (ignoring the post-credits scene).
6. How do you feel about the "continuity enthusiasts" at Theta?
B. They were desperate people who took a risk.
7. Do you think the WAU could restore a dead person's consciousness?
A. Yes. From the person's perspective, they would "close their eyes and then open them again".
8. In Simon's shoes, would you view the ARK as a possible escape route?
B. Yes. I have a 50-50 shot at getting on the ARK.
SOMA: Ethics
Spoiler below!
9. What value do you place on robot Carl Semken's life?
A. His life is as valuable as a human life.
10. What value do you place on simulated Brandon Wan's life?
B. His life is less valuable than a human life, but still valuable.
11. Before leaving Omicron, what's the right thing to do?
A. Spare Simon-2.
12. Is Johan Ross closer to a hero or a villain?
B. A villain.
SOMA: The Fate of Mankind
Spoiler below!
13. How do you feel about the WAU?
B. The WAU is unpredictable; it may or may not save humanity.
14. How do you feel about the ARK?
B. The ARK is valuable as a record of human history.
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