Clones and Other Things

[HRacct]

I was just watching the director's commentary to the movie, The Island, and he mentioned something I was thinking for a while. Are clones MORE then the sum of their parts or are they just a collection of parts put together. From the movie, and his comments, he talked about the clones having a social conscience, or a soul of a sort. But some people I have talked with look down on my thots, as to immature. If you have seen the movie, there was a part where the lead character sees a motorcycle for the first time, and says, "I don't know what that is, but I have to get one." Now that was not part of his programming, but was a part of his sponsor's (purchaser's) makeup.

So, are clones just a collection of parts, or is their whole more then the sum of their parts?

This thot was also entertained when someone was trying to clone Kirk so they could use his clone to take over the Enterprise. He solved it by getting his clone to be racist against Spock, or something like that.

Other thots in this line are also mentioned in Blade Runner with Harrison Ford as well, plus other shows. Any thoughts?

 

[Mee_n_Mac]

Say we clone a baby. I have no reason to believe that clone won't grow up and be a human just like every other baby does. If we want to deal with the SF cloning of an adult then it gets tricky. I have no idea of how that clones brain will deal with external stimuli given it didn't grow up with them when it was more elastic. I suspect that in anything resembling real life such a clone would be some form of idiot. But I'll guess it'll be a human idiot, capable of some of the emotions of a normal person and likewise capable of some of our creativity.

 

[doom_shepherd]

Well, in reality, clones would be completely different than what we see in movies or TV, with clones being the same age as their 'donor.' In the real world, clones would be infant copies, not adults.

That just wouldn't happen, without some kind of "growth forcing" technology. But with that, there'd be no time to train the clone, so it would be little more than a "fully grown" person with the mind of an infant.

Unless there's also a "memory transfer" technology. In which case you almost leave the idea of a "clone" behind for something that is more a "xerox copy."

In the final case, and only the final case, does it make sense for the clone to behave like the original. Because it is essentially a carbon copy.

(Kirk's "clone" was actually an android, more of a robot than a clone. It was a machine built to look like the original, with memory transfer - that Kirk managed to subvert - to copy part of the personality.)

 

[StarRider1701]

I was just watching the director's commentary to the movie, The Island, and he mentioned something I was thinking for a while. Are clones MORE then the sum of their parts or are they just a collection of parts put together. So, are clones just a collection of parts, or is their whole more then the sum of their parts?

Maybe they did "The Island" movie differently, I have not seen it. But clones are not a collection of parts - that is Frankenstein. When cloning one takes genetic material from a person and induces it to grow what is essentially a copy of that person. As doom shepherd said, it would be born as a normal baby unless a way could be found to enhance or extend the growth time and force the clone to mature beyond infant stage. I see no reason why a clone would not have a soul.

 

[HRacct]

Say we clone a baby. I have no reason to believe that clone won't grow up and be a human just like every other baby does. If we want to deal with the SF cloning of an adult then it gets tricky. I have no idea of how that clones brain will deal with external stimuli given it didn't grow up with them when it was more elastic. I suspect that in anything resembling real life such a clone would be some form of idiot. But I'll guess it'll be a human idiot, capable of some of the emotions of a normal person and likewise capable of some of our creativity.

In other words then, he would be a great politician. You did hear the story about the man who wanted a different brain, so he went to the brains-r-us store and found out the most expensive ones were politicans. When asked the clerk said, do you know how many politicans we had to go thru to get an ounce of brains? Please excuse the spelling, I am ready for bed, but wanted to reply to this one.

But really, real life and real T.V. have always been two different things, but it does move the storyline along much better.