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Pf\f,1 I el- DCAN
61 FRAIP5TOMS nil- F055 msg.
17
Where Am I?
Now that I've won my suit under the Freedom of Information Act,I am at liberty to reveal for the first time a curious episode in my lifethat may be of interest not only to those engaged in research in thephilosophy of mind, artificial intelligence and neuroscience but also tothe general public.
Several years ago I was approached by Pentagon officials who askedme to volunteer for a highly dangerous and secret mission. In collab-oration with NASA and Howard Hughes, the Department of Defensewas spending billions to develop a Supersonic Tunneling UndergroundDevice, or STUD. It was supposed to tunnel through the earth's coreat great speed and deliver a specially designed atomic warhead "rightup the Red's missile silos," as one of the Pentagon brass put it.
The problem was that in an early test they had succeeded in lodginga warhead about a mile deep under Tulsa, Oklahoma, and they wantedme to retrieve it for them. "Why me? " I asked. Well, the missioninvolved some pioneering applications of current brain research, andthey had heard of my interest in brains and of course my Faustiancuriosity and great courage and so forth. . . . Well, how could I refuse?The difficulty that brought the Pentagon to my door was that thedevice I'd been asked to recover was fiercely radioactive, in a newway. According to monitoring instruments, something about thenature of the device and its complex interactions with pockets ofmaterial deep in the earth had produced radiation that could causesevere abnormalities in certain tissues of the brain. No way had beenfound to shield the brain from these deadly rays, which were appar-
Where Am I? 311
ently harmless to other tissues and organs of the body. So it had beendecided that the person sent to recover the device should leaue hisbrain behind. It would be kept in a safe place where it could executeits normal control functions by elaborate radio links. Would I submitto a surgical procedt}re that would completely remove my brain,which would then be 'placed in a life-support system at the MannedSpacecraft Center in Houston? Each input and output pathway, as itwas severed, would be restored by a pair of microminiaturized radiotransceivers, one attached precisely to the brain, the other to thenerve stumps in the empty cranium. No information would be lost, allthe connectivity would be preserved. At first I was a bit reluctant.Would it really work? The Houston brain surgeons encouraged me."Think of it," they said, "as a mere stretching of the nerves. If yourbrain were just moved over an inch in your skull, that would not alteror impair your mind. We're simply going to make the nerves indefi-nitely elastic by splicing radio links into them."
I was shown around the life-support lab in Houston and saw thesparkling new vat in which my brain would be placed, were I to agree.I met the large and brilliant support team of neurologists, hematolo-gists, biophysicists, and electrical engineers, and after several days ofdiscussions and demonstrations, I agreed to give it a try. I was sub-jected to an enormous array of blood tests, brain scans, experiments,interviews, and the like. They took down my autobiography at greatlength, recorded tedious lists of my beliefs, hopes, fears, and tastes.They even listed my favorite stereo recordings and gave me a crashsession of psychoanalysis.
The day for surgery arrived at last and of course I was anesthetizedand remember nothing of the operation itself. When I came out ofanesthesia, I opened my eyes, looked around, and asked the inevitable,the traditional, the lamentably hackneyed post-operative question:"Where am I?" The nurse smiled down at me. "You're in Houston,"she said, and I reflected that this still had a good chance of being thetruth one way or another. She handed me a mirror. Sure enough,there were the tiny antennae poking up through their titanium portscemented into my skull.
"I gather the operation was a success," I said, "I want to go see mybrain." They led me (I was a bit dizzy and unsteady) down a longcorridor and into the life-support lab. A cheer went up from theassembled support team, and I responded with what I hoped was ajaunty salute. Still feeling lightheaded, I was helped over to the life-
Where Am I? 313312 BRAINSTORMS
support vat. I peered through the glass. There, floating in what lookedlike ginger-ale, was undeniably a human brain, though it was almostcovered with printed circuit chips, plastic tubules, electrodes, andother paraphernalia. "Is that mine?" I asked. "Hit the output trans-mitter switch there on the side of the vat and see for yourself," theproject director replied. I moved the switch to OFF, and immediatelyslumped, groggy and nauseated, into the arms of the technicians, oneof whom kindly restored the switch to its ON position. While I recov-ered my equilibrium and composure, I thought to myself: "Well, hereI am, sitting on a folding chair, staring through a piece of plate glassat my own brain. . . . But wait," I said to myself, "shouldn't I havethought, 'Here I am, suspended in a bubbling fluid, being stared at bymy own eyes'?" I tried to think this latter thought. I tried to projectit into the tank, offering it hopefully to my brain, but I failed to carryoff the exercise with any conviction. I tried again. "Here am I, DanielDennett, suspended in a bubbling fluid, being stared at by my owneyes." No, it just didn't work. Most puzzling and confusing. Being aphilosopher of firm physicalist conviction, I believed unswervinglythat the tokening of my thoughts was occurring somewhere in mybrain: yet, when I thought "Here I am," where the thought occurredto me was here, outside the vat, where I, Dennett, was standingstaring at my brain.
I tried and tried to think myself into the vat, but to no avail. Itried to build up to the task by doing mental exercises. I thought tomyself, "The sun is shining over there," five times in rapid succession,each time mentally ostending a different place: in order, the sun-litcorner of the lab, the visible front lawn of the hospital, Houston,Mars, and Jupiter. I found I had little difficulty in getting my "there's"to hop all over the celestial map with their proper references. I couldloft a "there" in an instant through the farthest reaches of space, andthen aim the next "there" with pinpoint accuracy at the upper leftquadrant of a freckle on my arm. Why was I having such trouble with"here"? "Here in Houston" worked well enough, and so did "here inthe lab," and even "here in this part of the lab," but "here in the vat"always seemed merely an unmeant mental mouthing. I tried closingmy eyes while thinking it. This seemed to help, but still I couldn'tmanage to pull it off, except perhaps for a fleeting instant. I couldn'tbe sure. The discovery that I couldn't be sure was also unsettling. Howdid I know where I meant by "here" when I thought "here"? Could Ithink I meant one place when in fact I meant another? I didn't see
how that could be admitted without untying the few bonds of inti-macy between a person and his own mental life that had survived theonslaught of the brain scientists and philosophers, the physicalists andbehaviorists. Perhaps I was incorrigible about where I meant when Isaid "here." But in my present circumstances it seemed that either Iwas doomed by sheer force of mental habit to thinking systematicallyfalse indexical thoughts, or where a person is (and hence where histhoughts are tokened for purposes of semantic analysis) is not neces-sarily where his brain, the physical seat of his soul, resides. Nagged byconfusion, I attempted to orient myself by falling back on a favoritephilosopher's ploy. I began naming things.
"Yorick," I said aloud to my brain, "you are my brain. The rest ofmy body, seated in this chair, I dub 'Hamlet.'" So here we all are:Yorick's my brain, Hamlet's my body, and I am Dennett. Now, wheream I? And when I think "where am I?" where's that thought tokened?Is it tokened in my brain, lounging about in the vat, or right herebetween my ears where it seems to be tokened? Or nowhere? Its tem-poral coordinates give me no trouble; must it not have spatial coordi-nates as well? I began making a list of the alternatives.
(1) Where Hamlet goes, there goes Dennett. This principle waseasily refuted by appeal to the familiar brain transplant thought-experiments so enjoyed by philosophers. If Tom and Dick switchbrains, Tom is the fellow with Dick's former body—just ask him; he'llclaim to be Tom, and tell you the most intimate details of Tom'sautobiography. It was clear enough, then, that my current body and Icould part company, but not likely that I could be separated from mybrain. The rule of thumb that emerged so plainly from the thoughtexperiments was that in a brain-transplant operation, one wanted tobe the donor, not the recipient. Better to call such an operation abody-transplant, in fact. So perhaps the truth was,
(2) Where Yorick goes, there goes Dennett. This was not at allappealing, however. How. could I be in the vat and not about to goanywhere, when I was so obviously outside the vat looking in andbeginning to make guilty plans to return to my room for a substan-tial lunch? This begged the question I realized, but it still seemed tobe getting at something important. Casting about for some support formy intuition, I hit upon a legalistic sort of argument that might haveappealed to Locke.
Suppose, I argued to myself, I were now to fly to California, rob abank, and be apprehended. In which state would I be tried: In
Where Am I? 315314 BRAINSTORMS
California, where the robbery took place, or in Texas, where thebrains of the outfit were located? Would I be a California felonwith an out-of-state brain, or a Texas felon remotely controlling anaccomplice of sorts in California? It seemed possible that I mightbeat such a rap just on the undecidability of that jurisdictional ques-tion, though perhaps it would be deemed an inter-state, and henceFederal, offense. In any event, suppose I were convicted. Was it likelythat California would be satisfied to throw Hamlet into the brig,knowing that Yorick was living the good life and luxuriously takingthe waters in Texas? Would Texas incarcerate Yorick, leaving Hamletfree to take the next boat to Rio? This alternative appealed to me.Barring capital punishment or other cruel and unusual punishment,the state would be obliged to maintain the life-support system forYorick though they might move him from Houston to Leavenworth,and aside from the unpleasantness of the opprobrium, I, for one,would not mind at all and would consider myself a free man underthose circumstances. If the state has an interest in forcibly relocatingpersons in institutions, it would fail to relocate me in any institu-tion by locating Yorick there. If this were true, it suggested a thirdalternative.
(3) Dennett is wherever he thinks he is. Generalized, the claim wasas follows: At any given time a person has a point of view, and thelocation of the point of view (which is determined internally by thecontent of the point of view) is also the location of the person.
Such a proposition is not without its perplexities, but to me itseemed a step in the right direction. The only trouble was that itseemed to place one in a heads-I-win/tails-you-lose situation ofunlikely infallibility as regards location. Hadn't I myself often beenwrong about where I was, and at least as often uncertain? Couldn'tone get lost? Of course, but getting lost geographically is not the onlyway one might get lost. If one were lost in the woods one couldattempt to reassure oneself with the consolation that at least oneknew where one was: one was right here in the familiar surroundingsof one's own body. Perhaps in this case one would not have drawnone's attention to much to be thankful for. Still, there were worseplights imaginable, and I wasn't sure I wasn't in such a plight rightnow.
Point of view clearly had something to do with personal location,but it was itself an unclear notion. It was obvious that the content ofone's point of view was not the same as or determined by the contentof one's beliefs or thoughts. For example, what should we say aboutthe point of view of the Cinerama viewer who shrieks and twists in
his seat as the roller-coaster footage overcomes his psychic distancing?Has he forgotten that he is safely seated in the theater? Here I wasinclined to say that the person is experiencing an illusory shift in pointof view. In other cases, my inclination to call such shifts illusory wasless strong. The workers in laboratories and plants who handle danger-ous materials by operating feedback-controlled mechanical arms andhands undergo a shift in point of view that is crisper and more pro-nounced than anything Cinerama can provoke. They can feel the heftand slipperiness of the containers they manipulate with their metalfingers. They know perfectly well where they are and are not fooledinto false beliefs by the experience, yet it is as if they were inside theisolation chamber they are peering into. With mental effort, they canmanage to shift their point of view back and forth, rather like makinga transparent Neckar cube or an Escher drawing change orientationbefore one's eyes. It does seem extravagant to suppose that in per-forming this bit of mental gymnastics, they are transporting them-selves back and forth.
Still their example gave me hope. If I was in fact in the vat in spiteof my intuitions, I might be able to train myself to adopt that point ofview even as a matter of habit. I should dwell on images of myselfcomfortably floating in my vat, beaming volitions to that familiarbody out there. I reflected that the ease or difficulty of this task waspresumably independent of the truth about the location of one'sbrain. Had I been practicing before the operation, I might now befinding it second nature. You might now yourself try such a trompl'oeil. Imagine you have written an inflammatory letter which hasbeen published in the Times, the result of which is that the Govern-ment has chosen to impound your brain for a probationary period ofthree years in its Dangerous Brain Clinic in Bethesda, Maryland. Yourbody of course is allowed freedom to earn a salary and thus to con-tinue its function of laying up income to be taxed. At this moment,however, your body is seated in an auditorium listening to a peculiaraccount by Daniel Dennett of his own similar experience. Try it.Think yourself to Bethesda, and then hark back longingly to yourbody, far away, and yet seeming so near. It is only with long-distancerestraint (yours? the Government's?) that you can control your im-pulse to get those hands clapping in polite applause before navigatingthe old body to the rest room and a well-deserved glass of eveningsherry in the lounge. The task of imagination is certainly difficult, butif you achieve your goal the results might be consoling.
Anyway, there I was in Houston, lost in thought as one might say,but not for long. My speculations were soon interrupted by the
316
BR
AIN
ST
OR
MS
Hou
ston
doc
tors
, wh
o w
ish
ed t
o te
st o
ut
my
new
pro
sth
etic
ner
vou
ssy
stem
bef
ore
sen
din
g m
e of
f on
my
haz
ard
ous
mis
sion
. As
I m
en-
tion
ed b
efor
e, I
was
a b
it d
izzy
at
firs
t, a
nd n
ot s
urpr
isin
gly,
alt
houg
hI
soon
hab
itua
ted
mys
elf
to m
y ne
w c
ircu
mst
ance
s (w
hich
wer
e, a
fter
all,
wel
l n
igh
in
dis
tin
guis
hab
le f
rom
my
old
cir
cum
stan
ces)
. My
acco
mm
odat
ion
was
not
per
fect
, how
ever
, and
to
this
day
I c
onti
nue
to b
e pl
ague
d by
min
or c
oord
inat
ion
diff
icul
ties
. The
spe
ed o
f lig
ht is
fast
, bu
t fi
nit
e, a
nd
as
my
bra
in a
nd
bod
y m
ove
fart
her
an
d f
arth
erap
art,
the
del
icat
e in
tera
ctio
n of
my
feed
back
sys
tem
s is
thr
own
into
disa
rray
by
the
tim
e la
gs. J
ust
as o
ne is
ren
dere
d cl
ose
to s
peec
hles
s by
a de
laye
d or
ech
oic
hear
ing
of o
ne's
spe
akin
g vo
ice
so, f
or in
stan
ce, I
am v
irtu
ally
una
ble
to t
rack
a m
ovin
g ob
ject
wit
h m
y ey
es w
hene
ver
my
brai
n an
d m
y bo
dy a
re m
ore
than
a f
ew m
iles
apar
t. I
n m
ost
mat
-te
rs m
y im
pair
men
t is
sca
rcel
y de
tect
able
, tho
ugh
I ca
n no
long
er h
ita
slow
cur
ve b
all w
ith
the
auth
orit
y of
yor
e. T
here
are
som
e co
mpe
n-sa
tion
s of
cou
rse.
Tho
ugh
liquo
r ta
stes
as
good
as
ever
, and
war
ms
my
gulle
t w
hile
cor
rodi
ng m
y liv
er, I
can
dri
nk it
in a
ny q
uant
ity
I pl
ease
,w
itho
ut b
ecom
ing
the
slig
htes
t bi
t in
ebri
ated
, a c
urio
sity
som
e of
my
clos
e fr
ien
ds
may
hav
e n
otic
ed (
thou
gh I
occ
asio
nal
ly h
ave
feig
ned
ineb
riat
ion,
so
as n
ot t
o dr
aw a
tten
tion
to
my
unus
ual c
ircu
mst
ance
s).
For
sim
ilar
reas
ons,
I t
ake
aspi
rin
oral
ly f
or a
spr
aine
d w
rist
, but
if t
hep
ain
per
sist
s I
ask
Hou
ston
to
adm
inis
ter
cod
ein
e to
me
in v
itro
. In
tim
es o
f ill
ness
the
pho
ne b
ill c
an b
e st
agge
ring
.B
ut
to r
etu
rn t
o m
y ad
vent
ure.
At
leng
th, b
oth
the
doct
ors
and
Iw
ere
sati
sfie
d th
at I
was
rea
dy t
o un
dert
ake
my
subt
erra
nean
mis
sion
.A
nd s
o I
left
my
brai
n in
Hou
ston
and
hea
ded
by h
elic
opte
r fo
r T
ulsa
.W
ell,
in a
ny c
ase,
tha
t's
the
way
it s
eem
ed t
o m
e. T
hat'
s ho
w I
wou
ldp
ut
it, j
ust
off
th
e to
p o
f m
y h
ead
as
it w
ere.
On
th
e tr
ip I
ref
lect
edfu
rth
er a
bou
t m
y ea
rlie
r an
xiet
ies
and
dec
ided
th
at m
y fi
rst
pos
t-op
erat
ive
spec
ulat
ions
had
bee
n ti
nged
wit
h pa
nic.
The
mat
ter
was
not
near
ly a
s st
rang
e or
met
aphy
sica
l as
I ha
d be
en s
uppo
sing
. Whe
re w
asI?
In
two
plac
es, c
lear
ly:
both
insi
de t
he v
at a
nd o
utsi
de it
. Jus
t as
one
can
stan
d w
ith
one
foot
in C
onne
ctic
ut a
nd t
he o
ther
in R
hode
Isl
and,
I w
as i
n t
wo
pla
ces
at o
nce
. I h
ad b
ecom
e on
e of
th
ose
scat
tere
din
div
idu
als
we
use
d t
o h
ear
so m
uch
ab
out.
Th
e m
ore
I co
nsi
der
edth
is a
nsw
er, t
he m
ore
obvi
ousl
y tr
ue it
app
eare
d. B
ut, s
tran
ge t
o sa
y,th
e m
ore
true
it a
ppea
red,
the
less
impo
rtan
t th
e qu
esti
on t
o w
hich
itco
uld
be t
he t
rue
answ
er s
eem
ed. A
sad
, but
not
unp
rece
dent
ed, f
ate
for
a ph
iloso
phic
al q
uest
ion
to s
uffe
r. T
his
answ
er d
id n
ot c
ompl
etel
ysa
tisf
y m
e, o
f co
urse
. The
re li
nger
ed s
ome
ques
tion
to
whi
ch I
sho
uld
have
like
d an
ans
wer
, whi
ch w
as n
eith
er "
Whe
re a
re a
ll m
y va
riou
s an
dsu
ndry
par
ts?"
nor
"W
hat
is m
y cu
rren
t po
int
of v
iew
?" O
r at
leas
t
Whe
re A
m I
? 31
7
ther
e se
emed
to
be s
uch
a qu
esti
on. F
or it
did
see
m u
nden
iabl
e th
atin
som
e se
nse
I a
nd
not
mer
ely
most
of
me
was
des
cend
ing
into
the
eart
h un
der
Tul
sa in
sea
rch
of a
n at
omic
war
head
.W
hen
I fo
und
the
war
head
, I w
as c
erta
inly
gla
d I
had
left
my
brai
nb
ehin
d, f
or t
he
poi
nte
r on
th
e sp
ecia
lly
bu
ilt
Gei
ger
cou
nte
r I
had
bro
ugh
t w
ith
me
was
off
th
e d
ial.
I ca
lled
Hou
ston
on
my
ord
inar
yra
dio
an
d t
old
th
e op
erat
ion
con
trol
cen
ter
of m
y p
osit
ion
an
d m
yp
rogr
ess.
In
ret
urn
, th
ey g
ave
me
inst
ruct
ion
s fo
r d
ism
antl
ing
the
veh
icle
, bas
ed u
pon
my
on-s
ite
obse
rvat
ion
s. I
had
set
to
wor
k w
ith
my
cutt
ing
torc
h w
hen
all
of
a su
dd
en a
ter
rib
le t
hin
g h
app
ened
. Iw
ent
ston
e d
eaf.
At
firs
t I
thou
ght
it w
as o
nly
my
rad
io e
arp
hon
esth
at h
ad b
rok
en, b
ut
wh
en I
tap
ped
on
my
hel
met
, I h
eard
not
hin
g.A
ppar
entl
y th
e au
dito
ry t
rans
ceiv
ers
had
gone
on
the
frit
z. I
cou
ld n
olo
nger
hea
r . H
oust
on o
r m
y ow
n vo
ice,
but
I c
ould
spe
ak, s
o I
star
ted
tell
ing
them
wha
t ha
d ha
ppen
ed. I
n m
id-s
ente
nce,
I k
new
som
ethi
ngel
se h
ad g
one
wro
ng. M
y vo
cal a
ppar
atus
had
bec
ome
para
lyze
d. T
hen
my
righ
t ha
nd w
ent
limp—
anot
her
tran
scei
ver
had
gone
. I w
as t
ruly
ind
eep
tro
ub
le. B
ut
wor
se w
as t
o fo
llow
. Aft
er a
few
mor
e m
inu
tes,
Iw
ent
blin
d. I
cur
sed
my
luck
, and
the
n I
curs
ed t
he s
cien
tist
s w
ho h
adle
d m
e in
to t
his
grav
e pe
ril.
The
re I
was
, dea
f, d
umb,
and
bli
nd, i
n a
rad
ioac
tive
hol
e m
ore
than
a m
ile
un
der
Tu
lsa.
Th
en t
he
last
of
my
cere
bral
rad
io li
nks
brok
e, a
nd s
udde
nly
I w
as f
aced
wit
h a
new
and
even
mor
e sh
ock
ing
pro
ble
m:
wh
erea
s an
inst
ant
bef
ore
I h
ad b
een
bu
ried
ali
ve in
Ok
lah
oma,
now
I w
as d
isem
bod
ied
in H
oust
on. M
yre
cogn
itio
n o
f m
y n
ew s
tatu
s w
as n
ot im
med
iate
. It
took
me
seve
ral
very
anx
ious
min
utes
bef
ore
it d
awne
d on
me
that
my
poor
bod
y la
yse
vera
l hun
dred
mile
s aw
ay, w
ith
hear
t pu
lsin
g an
d lu
ngs
resp
irat
ing,
bu
t ot
her
wis
e as
dea
d a
s th
e b
ody
of a
ny
hea
rt t
ran
spla
nt
don
or, i
tssk
ull p
acke
d w
ith
usel
ess,
bro
ken
elec
tron
ic g
ear.
The
shi
ft in
per
spec
-ti
ve I
had
ear
lier
foun
d w
ell n
igh
impo
ssib
le n
ow s
eem
ed q
uite
nat
ural
.T
hou
gh I
cou
ld t
hin
k m
ysel
f b
ack
into
my
bod
y in
th
e tu
nn
el u
nd
erT
ulsa
, it
took
som
e ef
fort
to
sust
ain
the
illu
sion
. For
sur
ely
it w
as a
nill
usio
n to
sup
pose
I w
as s
till
in O
klah
oma:
I h
ad lo
st a
ll co
ntac
t w
ith
that
bod
y.It
occ
urr
ed t
o m
e th
en, w
ith
on
e of
th
ose
rush
es o
f re
vela
tion
of
whi
ch w
e sh
ould
be
susp
icio
us, t
hat
I ha
d st
umbl
ed u
pon
an im
pres
-si
ve d
emon
stra
tion
of
the
imm
ater
ialit
y of
the
sou
l bas
ed u
pon
phys
i-ca
list
pri
nci
ple
s an
d p
rem
ises
. For
as
the
last
rad
io s
ign
al b
etw
een
Tul
sa a
nd H
oust
on d
ied
away
, had
I n
ot c
hang
ed lo
cati
on f
rom
Tul
sato
Hou
ston
at
the
spee
d o
f li
ght?
An
d h
ad I
not
acc
omp
lish
ed t
his
wit
hout
any
incr
ease
in m
ass?
Wha
t m
oved
fro
m A
to
B a
t su
ch s
peed
was
sur
ely
mys
elf,
or
at a
ny r
ate
my
soul
or
min
d—th
e m
assl
ess
cent
er
316
BR
AIN
ST
OR
MS
Whe
re A
m I
? 31
7
Hou
ston
doc
tors
, wh
o w
ish
ed t
o te
st o
ut
my
new
pro
sth
etic
ner
vou
ssy
stem
bef
ore
sen
din
g m
e of
f on
my
haz
ard
ous
mis
sion
. As
I m
en-
tion
ed b
efor
e, I
was
a b
it d
izzy
at
firs
t, a
nd n
ot s
urpr
isin
gly,
alt
houg
hI
soon
hab
itua
ted
mys
elf
to m
y ne
w c
ircu
mst
ance
s (w
hich
wer
e, a
fter
all,
wel
l n
igh
in
dis
tin
guis
hab
le f
rom
my
old
cir
cum
stan
ces)
. My
acco
mm
odat
ion
was
not
per
fect
, how
ever
, and
to
this
day
I c
onti
nue
to b
e pl
ague
d by
min
or c
oord
inat
ion
diff
icul
ties
. The
spe
ed o
f lig
ht is
fast
, bu
t fi
nit
e, a
nd
as
my
bra
in a
nd
bod
y m
ove
fart
her
an
d f
arth
erap
art,
the
del
icat
e in
tera
ctio
n of
my
feed
back
sys
tem
s is
thr
own
into
disa
rray
by
the
tim
e la
gs. J
ust
as o
ne is
ren
dere
d cl
ose
to s
peec
hles
s by
a de
laye
d or
ech
oic
hear
ing
of o
ne's
spe
akin
g vo
ice
so, f
or in
stan
ce, I
am v
irtu
ally
una
ble
to t
rack
a m
ovin
g ob
ject
wit
h m
y ey
es w
hene
ver
my
brai
n an
d m
y bo
dy a
re m
ore
than
a f
ew m
iles
apar
t. I
n m
ost
mat
-te
rs m
y im
pair
men
t is
sca
rcel
y de
tect
able
, tho
ugh
I ca
n no
long
er h
ita
slow
cur
ve b
all w
ith
the
auth
orit
y of
yor
e. T
here
are
som
e co
mpe
n-sa
tion
s of
cou
rse.
Tho
ugh
liquo
r ta
stes
as
good
as
ever
, and
war
ms
my
gulle
t w
hile
cor
rodi
ng m
y liv
er, I
can
dri
nk it
in a
ny q
uant
ity
I pl
ease
,w
itho
ut b
ecom
ing
the
slig
htes
t bi
t in
ebri
ated
, a c
urio
sity
som
e of
my
clos
e fr
ien
ds
may
hav
e n
otic
ed (
thou
gh I
occ
asio
nal
ly h
ave
feig
ned
ineb
riat
ion,
so
as n
ot t
o dr
aw a
tten
tion
to
my
unus
ual c
ircu
mst
ance
s).
For
sim
ilar
reas
ons,
I t
ake
aspi
rin
oral
ly f
or a
spr
aine
d w
rist
, but
if t
hep
ain
per
sist
s I
ask
Hou
ston
to
adm
inis
ter
cod
ein
e to
me
in v
itro
. In
tim
es o
f ill
ness
the
pho
ne b
ill c
an b
e st
agge
ring
.B
ut
to r
etu
rn t
o m
y ad
vent
ure.
At
leng
th, b
oth
the
doct
ors
and
Iw
ere
sati
sfie
d th
at I
was
rea
dy t
o un
dert
ake
my
subt
erra
nean
mis
sion
.A
nd s
o I
left
my
brai
n in
Hou
ston
and
hea
ded
by h
elic
opte
r fo
r T
ulsa
.W
ell,
in a
ny c
ase,
tha
t's
the
way
it s
eem
ed t
o m
e. T
hat'
s ho
w I
wou
ldp
ut
it, j
ust
off
th
e to
p o
f m
y h
ead
as
it w
ere.
On
th
e tr
ip I
ref
lect
edfu
rth
er a
bou
t m
y ea
rlie
r an
xiet
ies
and
dec
ided
th
at m
y fi
rst
pos
t-op
erat
ive
spec
ulat
ions
had
bee
n ti
nged
wit
h pa
nic.
The
mat
ter
was
not
near
ly a
s st
rang
e or
met
aphy
sica
l as
I ha
d be
en s
uppo
sing
. Whe
re w
asI?
In
two
plac
es, c
lear
ly:
both
insi
de t
he v
at a
nd o
utsi
de it
. Jus
t as
one
can
stan
d w
ith
one
foot
in C
onne
ctic
ut a
nd t
he o
ther
in R
hode
Isl
and,
I w
as i
n t
wo
pla
ces
at o
nce
. I h
ad b
ecom
e on
e of
th
ose
scat
tere
din
div
idu
als
we
use
d t
o h
ear
so m
uch
ab
out.
Th
e m
ore
I co
nsi
der
edth
is a
nsw
er, t
he m
ore
obvi
ousl
y tr
ue it
app
eare
d. B
ut, s
tran
ge t
o sa
y,th
e m
ore
true
it a
ppea
red,
the
less
impo
rtan
t th
e qu
esti
on t
o w
hich
itco
uld
be t
he t
rue
answ
er s
eem
ed. A
sad
, but
not
unp
rece
dent
ed, f
ate
for
a ph
iloso
phic
al q
uest
ion
to s
uffe
r. T
his
answ
er d
id n
ot c
ompl
etel
ysa
tisf
y m
e, o
f co
urse
. The
re li
nger
ed s
ome
ques
tion
to
whi
ch I
sho
uld
have
like
d an
ans
wer
, whi
ch w
as n
eith
er "
Whe
re a
re a
ll m
y va
riou
s an
dsu
ndry
par
ts?"
nor
"W
hat
is m
y cu
rren
t po
int
of v
iew
?" O
r at
leas
t
ther
e se
emed
to
be s
uch
a qu
esti
on. F
or it
did
see
m u
nden
iabl
e th
atin
som
e se
nse
I a
nd
not
mer
ely
most
of
me
was
des
cend
ing
into
the
eart
h un
der
Tul
sa in
sea
rch
of a
n at
omic
war
head
.W
hen
I fo
und
the
war
head
, I w
as c
erta
inly
gla
d I
had
left
my
brai
nb
ehin
d, f
or t
he
poi
nte
r on
th
e sp
ecia
lly
bu
ilt
Gei
ger
cou
nte
r I
had
bro
ugh
t w
ith
me
was
off
th
e d
ial.
I ca
lled
Hou
ston
on
my
ord
inar
yra
dio
an
d t
old
th
e op
erat
ion
con
trol
cen
ter
of m
y p
osit
ion
an
d m
yp
rogr
ess.
In
ret
urn
, th
ey g
ave
me
inst
ruct
ion
s fo
r d
ism
antl
ing
the
veh
icle
, bas
ed u
pon
my
on-s
ite
obse
rvat
ion
s. I
had
set
to
wor
k w
ith
my
cutt
ing
torc
h w
hen
all
of
a su
dd
en a
ter
rib
le t
hin
g h
app
ened
. Iw
ent
ston
e d
eaf.
At
firs
t I
thou
ght
it w
as o
nly
my
rad
io e
arp
hon
esth
at h
ad b
rok
en, b
ut
wh
en I
tap
ped
on
my
hel
met
, I h
eard
not
hin
g.A
ppar
entl
y th
e au
dito
ry t
rans
ceiv
ers
had
gone
on
the
frit
z. I
cou
ld n
olo
nger
hea
r . H
oust
on o
r m
y ow
n vo
ice,
but
I c
ould
spe
ak, s
o I
star
ted
tell
ing
them
wha
t ha
d ha
ppen
ed. I
n m
id-s
ente
nce,
I k
new
som
ethi
ngel
se h
ad g
one
wro
ng. M
y vo
cal a
ppar
atus
had
bec
ome
para
lyze
d. T
hen
my
righ
t ha
nd w
ent
limp—
anot
her
tran
scei
ver
had
gone
. I w
as t
ruly
ind
eep
tro
ub
le. B
ut
wor
se w
as t
o fo
llow
. Aft
er a
few
mor
e m
inu
tes,
Iw
ent
blin
d. I
cur
sed
my
luck
, and
the
n I
curs
ed t
he s
cien
tist
s w
ho h
adle
d m
e in
to t
his
grav
e pe
ril.
The
re I
was
, dea
f, d
umb,
and
bli
nd, i
n a
rad
ioac
tive
hol
e m
ore
than
a m
ile
un
der
Tu
lsa.
Th
en t
he
last
of
my
cere
bral
rad
io li
nks
brok
e, a
nd s
udde
nly
I w
as f
aced
wit
h a
new
and
even
mor
e sh
ock
ing
pro
ble
m:
wh
erea
s an
inst
ant
bef
ore
I h
ad b
een
bu
ried
ali
ve in
Ok
lah
oma,
now
I w
as d
isem
bod
ied
in H
oust
on. M
yre
cogn
itio
n o
f m
y n
ew s
tatu
s w
as n
ot im
med
iate
. It
took
me
seve
ral
very
anx
ious
min
utes
bef
ore
it d
awne
d on
me
that
my
poor
bod
y la
yse
vera
l hun
dred
mile
s aw
ay, w
ith
hear
t pu
lsin
g an
d lu
ngs
resp
irat
ing,
bu
t ot
her
wis
e as
dea
d a
s th
e b
ody
of a
ny
hea
rt t
ran
spla
nt
don
or, i
tssk
ull p
acke
d w
ith
usel
ess,
bro
ken
elec
tron
ic g
ear.
The
shi
ft in
per
spec
-ti
ve I
had
ear
lier
foun
d w
ell n
igh
impo
ssib
le n
ow s
eem
ed q
uite
nat
ural
.T
hou
gh I
cou
ld t
hin
k m
ysel
f b
ack
into
my
bod
y in
th
e tu
nn
el u
nd
erT
ulsa
, it
took
som
e ef
fort
to
sust
ain
the
illu
sion
. For
sur
ely
it w
as a
nill
usio
n to
sup
pose
I w
as s
till
in O
klah
oma:
I h
ad lo
st a
ll co
ntac
t w
ith
that
bod
y.It
occ
urr
ed t
o m
e th
en, w
ith
on
e of
th
ose
rush
es o
f re
vela
tion
of
whi
ch w
e sh
ould
be
susp
icio
us, t
hat
I ha
d st
umbl
ed u
pon
an im
pres
-si
ve d
emon
stra
tion
of
the
imm
ater
ialit
y of
the
sou
l bas
ed u
pon
phys
i-ca
list
pri
nci
ple
s an
d p
rem
ises
. For
as
the
last
rad
io s
ign
al b
etw
een
Tul
sa a
nd H
oust
on d
ied
away
, had
I n
ot c
hang
ed lo
cati
on f
rom
Tul
sato
Hou
ston
at
the
spee
d o
f li
ght?
An
d h
ad I
not
acc
omp
lish
ed t
his
wit
hout
any
incr
ease
in m
ass?
Wha
t m
oved
fro
m A
to
B a
t su
ch s
peed
was
sur
ely
mys
elf,
or
at a
ny r
ate
my
soul
or
min
d—th
e m
assl
ess
cent
er
Where Am I? 319318 BRAINSTORMS
of my being and home of my consciousness. My point of view hadlagged somewhat behind, but I had already noted the indirect bearingof point of view on personal location. I could not see how a physical-ist philosopher could quarrel with this except by taking the dire andcounter-intuitive route of banishing all talk of persons. Yet the notionof personhood was so well entrenched in everyone's world view, or soit seemed to me, that any denial would be as curiously unconvincing,as systematically disingenuous, as the Cartesian negation, "non sum."'
The joy of philosophic discovery thus tided me over some very badminutes or perhaps hours as the helplessness and hopelessness of mysituation became more apparent to me. Waves of panic and even nau-sea swept over me, made all the more horrible by the absence of theirnormal body-dependent phenomenology. No adrenalin rush of tinglesin the arms, no pounding heart, no premonitory salivation. I did feel adread sinking feeling in my bowels at one point, and this tricked memomentarily into the false hope that I was undergoing a reversal ofthe process that landed me in this fix—a gradual undisembodiment. Butthe isolation and uniqueness of that twinge soon convinced me that itwas simply the first of a plague of phantom body hallucinations thatI, like any other amputee, would be all too likely to suffer.
My mood then was chaotic. On the one hand, I was fired up withelation at my philosophic discovery and was wracking my brain (oneof the few familiar things I could still do), trying to figure out how tocommunicate my discovery to the journals; while on the other, I wasbitter, lonely, and filled with dread and uncertainty. Fortunately, thisdid not last long, for my technical support team sedated me into adreamless sleep from which I awoke, hearing with magnificent fidelitythe familiar opening strains of my favorite Brahms piano trio. So thatwas why they had wanted a list of my favorite recordings! It did nottake me long to realize that I was hearing the music without ears. Theoutput from the stereo stylus was being fed through some fancy rec-tification circuitry directly into my auditory nerve. I was mainliningBrahms, an unforgettable experience for any stereo buff. At the endof the record it did not surprise me to hear the reassuring voice of theproject director speaking into a microphone that was now my pros-thetic ear. He confirmed my analysis of what had gone wrong andassured me that steps were being taken to re-embody me. He did notelaborate, and after a few more recordings, I found myself drifting offto sleep. My sleep lasted, I later learned, for the better part of a year,and when I awoke, it was to find myself fully restored to my senses.When I looked into the mirror, though, I was a bit startled to see anunfamiliar face. Bearded and a bit heavier, bearing no doubt a family
resemblance to my former face, and with the same look of spritelyintelligence and resolute character, but definitely a new face. Furtherself-explorations of an intimate nature left me no doubt that this wasa new body and the project director confirmed my conclusions. Hedid not volunteer any information on the past history of my newbody and I decided (wisely, I think in retrospect) not to pry. Asmany philosophers unfamiliar with my ordeal have more recentlyspeculated, the acquisition of a new body leaves one's person intact.And after a period of adjustment to a new voice, new muscularstrengths and weaknesses, and so forth, one's personality is by andlarge also preserved. More dramatic changes in personality have beenroutinely observed in people who have undergone extensive plasticsurgery, to say nothing of sex change operations, and I think no onecontests the survival of the person in such cases. In any event I soonaccommodated to my new body, to the point of being unable torecover any of its novelties to my consciousness or even memory. Theview in the mirror soon became utterly familiar. That view, by theway, still revealed antennae, and so I was not surprised to learn thatmy brain had not been moved from its haven in the life-support lab.
I decided that good old Yorick deserved a visit. I and my new body,whom we might as well call Fortinbras, strode into the familiar labto another round of applause from the technicians, who were ofcourse congratulating themselves, not me. Once more I stood beforethe vat and contemplated poor Yorick, and on a whim I once againcavalierly flicked off the output transmitter switch. Imagine mysurprise when nothing unusual happened. No fainting spell, no nausea,no noticeable change. A technician hurried to restore the switchto ON, but still I felt nothing. I demanded an explanation, whichthe project director hastened to provide. It seems that before theyhad even operated on the first occasion, they had constructed acomputer duplicate of my brain, reproducing both the completeinformation processing structure and the computational speed ofmy brain in a giant computer program. After the operation, butbefore they had dared to send me off on my mission to Oklahoma,they had run this computer system and Yorick side by side. Theincoming signals from Hamlet were sent simultaneously to Yorick'stransceivers and to the computer's array of inputs. And the out-puts from Yorick were not only beamed back to Hamlet, my body;they were recorded and checked against the simultaneous outputof the computer program, which was called "Hubert" for reasonsobscure to me. Over days and even weeks, the outputs were iden-tical and synchronous, which of course did not prove that they
320
BR
AIN
ST
OR
MS
had
succ
eede
d in
cop
ying
the
bra
in's
fun
ctio
nal s
truc
ture
, but
the
empi
rica
l sup
port
was
gre
atly
enc
oura
ging
.H
uber
t's
inpu
t, a
nd h
ence
act
ivit
y, h
ad b
een
kept
par
alle
l wit
hY
oric
k's
duri
ng m
y di
sem
bodi
ed d
ays.
And
now
, to
dem
onst
rate
this
,th
ey h
ad a
ctua
lly th
row
n th
e m
aste
r sw
itch
that
put
Hub
ert f
or th
efi
rst t
ime
in o
n-lin
e co
ntro
l of m
y bo
dy—
not H
amle
t, of
cou
rse,
but
For
tinb
ras.
(Ham
let,
I le
arne
d, h
ad n
ever
bee
n re
cove
red
from
its
unde
rgro
und
tom
b an
d co
uld
be a
ssum
ed b
y th
is ti
me
to h
ave
larg
ely
retu
rned
to th
e du
st. A
t the
hea
d of
my
grav
e st
ill la
y th
e m
agni
ficen
tbu
lk o
f the
aba
ndon
ed d
evic
e, w
ith th
e w
ord
STU
D e
mbl
azon
ed o
n its
side
in la
rge
lett
ers—
a ci
rcum
stan
ce w
hich
may
pro
vide
arc
heol
ogis
tsof
the
next
cen
tury
wit
h a
curi
ous
insi
ght i
nto
the
buri
al r
ites
of t
heir
ance
stor
s.)T
he la
bora
tory
tec
hnic
ians
now
sho
wed
me
the
mas
ter
swit
ch,
whi
ch h
ad tw
o po
siti
ons,
labe
led
B, f
or B
rain
(the
y di
dn't
kno
w m
ybr
ain'
s na
me
was
Yor
ick)
and
H,
for
Hub
ert.
The
sw
itch
did
inde
edpo
int
to H
, and
they
exp
lain
ed to
me
that
if I
wis
hed,
I c
ould
sw
itch
it b
ack
to B
. Wit
h m
y he
art i
n m
y m
outh
(and
my
brai
n in
its
vat)
, Idi
d th
is. N
othi
ng h
appe
ned.
A c
lick,
that
was
all.
To
test
thei
r cl
aim
,an
d w
ith
the
mas
ter
swit
ch n
ow s
et a
t B
, I
hit Y
oric
k's
outp
ut tr
ans-
mit
ter
swit
ch o
n th
e va
t and
sur
e en
ough
, I b
egan
to fa
int.
Onc
e th
eou
tput
sw
itch
was
turn
ed b
ack
on a
nd I
had
rec
over
ed m
y w
its,
so
tosp
eak,
I c
ontin
ued
to p
lay
with
the
mas
ter
switc
h, fl
ippi
ng it
bac
k an
dfo
rth.
I fo
und
that
wit
h th
e ex
cept
ion
of th
e tr
ansi
tion
al c
lick,
I c
ould
dete
ct n
o tr
ace
of a
dif
fere
nce.
I c
ould
sw
itch
in m
id-u
tter
ance
, and
the
sent
ence
I h
ad b
egun
spe
akin
g un
der
the
cont
rol o
f Yor
ick
was
fini
shed
wit
hout
a p
ause
or
hitc
h of
any
kin
d un
der
the
cont
rol o
fH
uber
t. I
had
a sp
are
brai
n, a
pro
sthe
tic d
evic
e w
hich
mig
ht s
ome
day
stan
d m
e in
ver
y go
od s
tead
, wer
e so
me
mis
hap
to b
efal
l Yor
ick.
Or
alte
rnat
ivel
y, I
cou
ld k
eep
Yor
ick
as a
spa
re a
nd u
se H
uber
t. It
did
n't
seem
to m
ake
any
diff
eren
ce w
hich
I c
hose
, for
the
wea
r an
d te
ar a
ndfa
tigu
e on
my
body
did
not
hav
e an
y de
bilit
atin
g ef
fect
on
eith
erbr
ain,
whe
ther
or
not i
t was
act
ually
cau
sing
the
mot
ions
of m
y bo
dy,
or m
erel
y sp
illin
g its
out
put i
nto
thin
air
.T
he o
ne tr
uly
unse
ttlin
g as
pect
of t
his
new
dev
elop
men
t was
the
pros
pect
, whi
ch w
as n
ot lo
ng in
daw
ning
on
me,
of s
omeo
ne d
etac
hing
the
spar
e—H
uber
t or
Yor
ick,
as
the
case
mig
ht b
e—fr
om F
orti
nbra
san
d hi
tchi
ng it
to
yet a
noth
er b
ody—
som
e Jo
hnny
-com
e-la
tely
Ros
en-
cran
tz o
r G
uild
enst
ern.
The
n (i
f no
t be
fore
) th
ere
wou
ld b
e tw
ope
ople
, tha
t muc
h w
as c
lear
. One
wou
ld b
e m
e, a
nd th
e ot
her
wou
ldbe
a s
ort o
f sup
er-t
win
bro
ther
. If t
here
wer
e tw
o bo
dies
, one
und
erth
e co
ntro
l of H
uber
t and
the
othe
r be
ing
cont
rolle
d by
Yor
ick,
then
Wh
ere
Am
I?
321
whi
ch w
ould
the
wor
ld r
ecog
nize
as
the
true
Den
nett
? A
nd w
hate
ver
the
rest
of
the
wor
ld d
ecid
ed, w
hich
one
wou
ld b
e m
e? W
ould
I b
eth
e Y
oric
k-br
aine
d- on
e, in
vir
tue
of Y
oric
k's
caus
al p
rior
ity
and
for-
mer
inti
mat
e re
lati
onsh
ip w
ith
• the
ori
gina
l Den
nett
bod
y, H
amle
t?T
hat s
eem
ed a
bit
lega
listi
c, a
bit
too
redo
lent
of t
he a
rbit
rari
ness
of
cons
angu
inity
and
lega
l pos
sess
ion,
to b
e co
nvin
cing
at t
he m
etap
hysi
-ca
l lev
el. F
or, s
uppo
se th
at b
efor
e th
e ar
riva
l of t
he s
econ
d bo
dy o
nth
e sc
ene,
I h
ad b
een
keep
ing
Yor
ick
as th
e sp
are
for
year
s, a
nd le
ttin
gH
uber
t's o
utpu
t dri
ve m
y bo
dy—
that
is, F
ortin
bras
—al
l tha
t tim
e. T
heH
uber
t-F
orti
nbra
s co
uple
wou
ld s
eem
then
by
squa
tter
's r
ight
s (t
oco
mba
t one
lega
l int
uiti
on w
ith
anot
her)
to b
e th
e tr
ue D
enne
tt a
ndth
e la
wfu
l inh
erit
or o
f ev
eryt
hing
tha
t w
as D
enne
tt's
. Thi
s w
as a
nin
tere
stin
g qu
esti
on, c
erta
inly
, but
not
nea
rly
so p
ress
ing
as a
noth
erqu
esti
on th
at b
othe
red
me.
My
stro
nges
t int
uiti
on w
as th
at in
suc
h an
even
tual
ity I
wou
ld s
urvi
ve s
o lo
ng a
s ei
ther
bra
in-b
ody
coup
le r
e-m
aine
d in
tact
, but
I h
ad m
ixed
em
otio
ns a
bout
whe
ther
I s
houl
d w
ant
both
to s
urvi
ve.
I di
scus
sed
my
wor
ries
wit
h th
e te
chni
cian
s an
d th
e pr
ojec
t dir
ec-
tor.
The
pro
spec
t of t
wo
Den
nett
s w
as a
bhor
rent
to m
e, I
exp
lain
ed,
larg
ely
for
soci
al r
easo
ns. I
did
n't
wan
t to
be
my
own
riva
l for
the
affe
ctio
ns o
f my
wif
e, n
or d
id I
like
the
pros
pect
of t
he tw
o D
enne
tts
shar
ing
my
mod
est p
rofe
ssor
's s
alar
y. S
till
mor
e ve
rtig
inou
s an
d di
s-ta
stef
ul, t
houg
h, w
as t
he id
ea o
f kn
owin
g th
at
mu
ch a
bout
ano
ther
pers
on, w
hile
he
had
the
very
sam
e go
ods
on m
e. H
ow c
ould
we
ever
face
eac
h ot
her?
My
colle
ague
s in
the
lab
argu
ed th
at I
was
igno
ring
the
brig
ht s
ide
of th
e m
atte
r. W
eren
't th
ere
man
y th
ings
I w
ante
d to
do b
ut, b
eing
onl
y on
e pe
rson
, had
bee
n un
able
to
do?
Now
one
Den
nett
cou
ld s
tay
at h
ome
and
be t
he p
rofe
ssor
and
fam
ily m
an,
whi
le th
e ot
her
coul
d st
rike
out
on
a lif
e of
trav
el a
nd a
dven
ture
—m
issi
ng t
he f
amily
of
cour
se, b
ut h
appy
in t
he k
now
ledg
e th
at t
heot
her
Den
nett
was
kee
ping
the
hom
e fi
res
burn
ing.
I c
ould
be
fait
hful
and
adul
tero
us a
t the
sam
e ti
me.
I c
ould
eve
n cu
ckol
d m
ysel
f—to
say
noth
ing
of o
ther
mor
e lu
rid
poss
ibili
ties
my
colle
ague
s w
ere
all t
oore
ady
to f
orce
upo
n m
y ov
erta
xed
imag
inat
ion.
But
my
orde
al in
Okl
ahom
a (o
r w
as it
Hou
ston
?) h
ad m
ade
me
less
adv
entu
rous
, and
Ish
rank
from
this
opp
ortu
nity
that
was
bei
ng o
ffer
ed (t
houg
h of
cou
rse
I w
as n
ever
qui
te. s
ure
it w
as b
eing
off
ered
to m
e in
the
firs
t pla
ce).
The
re w
as a
noth
er p
rosp
ect e
ven
mor
e di
sagr
eeab
le—
that
the
spar
e,H
uber
t or
Yor
ick
as th
e ca
se m
ight
be,
wou
ld b
e de
tach
ed fr
om a
nyin
put f
rom
For
tinb
ras
and
just
left
det
ache
d. T
hen,
as
in th
e ot
her
case
, the
re w
ould
be
two
Den
nett
s, o
r at
leas
t tw
o cl
aim
ants
to
my
nam
e an
d po
sses
sion
s, o
ne e
mbo
died
in F
orti
nbra
s, a
nd t
he o
ther
320
BR
AIN
ST
OR
MS
Wh
ere
Am
I?
321
had
succ
eede
d in
cop
ying
the
bra
in's
fun
ctio
nal s
truc
ture
, but
the
empi
rica
l sup
port
was
gre
atly
enc
oura
ging
.H
uber
t's
inpu
t, a
nd h
ence
act
ivit
y, h
ad b
een
kept
par
alle
l wit
hY
oric
k's
duri
ng m
y di
sem
bodi
ed d
ays.
And
now
, to
dem
onst
rate
this
,th
ey h
ad a
ctua
lly th
row
n th
e m
aste
r sw
itch
that
put
Hub
ert f
or th
efi
rst t
ime
in o
n-lin
e co
ntro
l of m
y bo
dy—
not H
amle
t, of
cou
rse,
but
For
tinb
ras.
(Ham
let,
I le
arne
d, h
ad n
ever
bee
n re
cove
red
from
its
unde
rgro
und
tom
b an
d co
uld
be a
ssum
ed b
y th
is ti
me
to h
ave
larg
ely
retu
rned
to th
e du
st. A
t the
hea
d of
my
grav
e st
ill la
y th
e m
agni
ficen
tbu
lk o
f the
aba
ndon
ed d
evic
e, w
ith th
e w
ord
STU
D e
mbl
azon
ed o
n its
side
in la
rge
lett
ers—
a ci
rcum
stan
ce w
hich
may
pro
vide
arc
heol
ogis
tsof
the
next
cen
tury
wit
h a
curi
ous
insi
ght i
nto
the
buri
al r
ites
of t
heir
ance
stor
s.)T
he la
bora
tory
tec
hnic
ians
now
sho
wed
me
the
mas
ter
swit
ch,
whi
ch h
ad tw
o po
siti
ons,
labe
led
B, f
or B
rain
(the
y di
dn't
kno
w m
ybr
ain'
s na
me
was
Yor
ick)
and
H,
for
Hub
ert.
The
sw
itch
did
inde
edpo
int
to H
, and
they
exp
lain
ed to
me
that
if I
wis
hed,
I c
ould
sw
itch
it b
ack
to B
. Wit
h m
y he
art i
n m
y m
outh
(and
my
brai
n in
its
vat)
, Idi
d th
is. N
othi
ng h
appe
ned.
A c
lick,
that
was
all.
To
test
thei
r cl
aim
,an
d w
ith
the
mas
ter
swit
ch n
ow s
et a
t B
, I
hit Y
oric
k's
outp
ut tr
ans-
mit
ter
swit
ch o
n th
e va
t and
sur
e en
ough
, I b
egan
to fa
int.
Onc
e th
eou
tput
sw
itch
was
turn
ed b
ack
on a
nd I
had
rec
over
ed m
y w
its,
so
tosp
eak,
I c
ontin
ued
to p
lay
with
the
mas
ter
switc
h, fl
ippi
ng it
bac
k an
dfo
rth.
I fo
und
that
wit
h th
e ex
cept
ion
of th
e tr
ansi
tion
al c
lick,
I c
ould
dete
ct n
o tr
ace
of a
dif
fere
nce.
I c
ould
sw
itch
in m
id-u
tter
ance
, and
the
sent
ence
I h
ad b
egun
spe
akin
g un
der
the
cont
rol o
f Yor
ick
was
fini
shed
wit
hout
a p
ause
or
hitc
h of
any
kin
d un
der
the
cont
rol o
fH
uber
t. I
had
a sp
are
brai
n, a
pro
sthe
tic d
evic
e w
hich
mig
ht s
ome
day
stan
d m
e in
ver
y go
od s
tead
, wer
e so
me
mis
hap
to b
efal
l Yor
ick.
Or
alte
rnat
ivel
y, I
cou
ld k
eep
Yor
ick
as a
spa
re a
nd u
se H
uber
t. It
did
n't
seem
to m
ake
any
diff
eren
ce w
hich
I c
hose
, for
the
wea
r an
d te
ar a
ndfa
tigu
e on
my
body
did
not
hav
e an
y de
bilit
atin
g ef
fect
on
eith
erbr
ain,
whe
ther
or
not i
t was
act
ually
cau
sing
the
mot
ions
of m
y bo
dy,
or m
erel
y sp
illin
g its
out
put i
nto
thin
air
.T
he o
ne tr
uly
unse
ttlin
g as
pect
of t
his
new
dev
elop
men
t was
the
pros
pect
, whi
ch w
as n
ot lo
ng in
daw
ning
on
me,
of s
omeo
ne d
etac
hing
the
spar
e—H
uber
t or
Yor
ick,
as
the
case
mig
ht b
e—fr
om F
orti
nbra
san
d hi
tchi
ng it
to
yet a
noth
er b
ody—
som
e Jo
hnny
-com
e-la
tely
Ros
en-
cran
tz o
r G
uild
enst
ern.
The
n (i
f no
t be
fore
) th
ere
wou
ld b
e tw
ope
ople
, tha
t muc
h w
as c
lear
. One
wou
ld b
e m
e, a
nd th
e ot
her
wou
ldbe
a s
ort o
f sup
er-t
win
bro
ther
. If t
here
wer
e tw
o bo
dies
, one
und
erth
e co
ntro
l of H
uber
t and
the
othe
r be
ing
cont
rolle
d by
Yor
ick,
then
whi
ch w
ould
the
wor
ld r
ecog
nize
as
the
true
Den
nett
? A
nd w
hate
ver
the
rest
of
the
wor
ld d
ecid
ed, w
hich
one
wou
ld b
e m
e? W
ould
I b
eth
e Y
oric
k-br
aine
d- on
e, in
vir
tue
of Y
oric
k's
caus
al p
rior
ity
and
for-
mer
inti
mat
e re
lati
onsh
ip w
ith
• the
ori
gina
l Den
nett
bod
y, H
amle
t?T
hat s
eem
ed a
bit
lega
listi
c, a
bit
too
redo
lent
of t
he a
rbit
rari
ness
of
cons
angu
inity
and
lega
l pos
sess
ion,
to b
e co
nvin
cing
at t
he m
etap
hysi
-ca
l lev
el. F
or, s
uppo
se th
at b
efor
e th
e ar
riva
l of t
he s
econ
d bo
dy o
nth
e sc
ene,
I h
ad b
een
keep
ing
Yor
ick
as th
e sp
are
for
year
s, a
nd le
ttin
gH
uber
t's o
utpu
t dri
ve m
y bo
dy—
that
is, F
ortin
bras
—al
l tha
t tim
e. T
heH
uber
t-F
orti
nbra
s co
uple
wou
ld s
eem
then
by
squa
tter
's r
ight
s (t
oco
mba
t one
lega
l int
uiti
on w
ith
anot
her)
to b
e th
e tr
ue D
enne
tt a
ndth
e la
wfu
l inh
erit
or o
f ev
eryt
hing
tha
t w
as D
enne
tt's
. Thi
s w
as a
nin
tere
stin
g qu
esti
on, c
erta
inly
, but
not
nea
rly
so p
ress
ing
as a
noth
erqu
esti
on th
at b
othe
red
me.
My
stro
nges
t int
uiti
on w
as th
at in
suc
h an
even
tual
ity I
wou
ld s
urvi
ve s
o lo
ng a
s ei
ther
bra
in-b
ody
coup
le r
e-m
aine
d in
tact
, but
I h
ad m
ixed
em
otio
ns a
bout
whe
ther
I s
houl
d w
ant
both
to s
urvi
ve.
I di
scus
sed
my
wor
ries
wit
h th
e te
chni
cian
s an
d th
e pr
ojec
t dir
ec-
tor.
The
pro
spec
t of t
wo
Den
nett
s w
as a
bhor
rent
to m
e, I
exp
lain
ed,
larg
ely
for
soci
al r
easo
ns. I
did
n't
wan
t to
be
my
own
riva
l for
the
affe
ctio
ns o
f my
wif
e, n
or d
id I
like
the
pros
pect
of t
he tw
o D
enne
tts
shar
ing
my
mod
est p
rofe
ssor
's s
alar
y. S
till
mor
e ve
rtig
inou
s an
d di
s-ta
stef
ul, t
houg
h, w
as t
he id
ea o
f kn
owin
g th
at
mu
ch a
bout
ano
ther
pers
on, w
hile
he
had
the
very
sam
e go
ods
on m
e. H
ow c
ould
we
ever
face
eac
h ot
her?
My
colle
ague
s in
the
lab
argu
ed th
at I
was
igno
ring
the
brig
ht s
ide
of th
e m
atte
r. W
eren
't th
ere
man
y th
ings
I w
ante
d to
do b
ut, b
eing
onl
y on
e pe
rson
, had
bee
n un
able
to
do?
Now
one
Den
nett
cou
ld s
tay
at h
ome
and
be t
he p
rofe
ssor
and
fam
ily m
an,
whi
le th
e ot
her
coul
d st
rike
out
on
a lif
e of
trav
el a
nd a
dven
ture
—m
issi
ng t
he f
amily
of
cour
se, b
ut h
appy
in t
he k
now
ledg
e th
at t
heot
her
Den
nett
was
kee
ping
the
hom
e fi
res
burn
ing.
I c
ould
be
fait
hful
and
adul
tero
us a
t the
sam
e ti
me.
I c
ould
eve
n cu
ckol
d m
ysel
f—to
say
noth
ing
of o
ther
mor
e lu
rid
poss
ibili
ties
my
colle
ague
s w
ere
all t
oore
ady
to f
orce
upo
n m
y ov
erta
xed
imag
inat
ion.
But
my
orde
al in
Okl
ahom
a (o
r w
as it
Hou
ston
?) h
ad m
ade
me
less
adv
entu
rous
, and
Ish
rank
from
this
opp
ortu
nity
that
was
bei
ng o
ffer
ed (t
houg
h of
cou
rse
I w
as n
ever
qui
te. s
ure
it w
as b
eing
off
ered
to m
e in
the
firs
t pla
ce).
The
re w
as a
noth
er p
rosp
ect e
ven
mor
e di
sagr
eeab
le—
that
the
spar
e,H
uber
t or
Yor
ick
as th
e ca
se m
ight
be,
wou
ld b
e de
tach
ed fr
om a
nyin
put f
rom
For
tinb
ras
and
just
left
det
ache
d. T
hen,
as
in th
e ot
her
case
, the
re w
ould
be
two
Den
nett
s, o
r at
leas
t tw
o cl
aim
ants
to
my
nam
e an
d po
sses
sion
s, o
ne e
mbo
died
in F
orti
nbra
s, a
nd t
he o
ther
322 BRAINSTORMS Where Am I? 323
sadly, miserably disembodied. Both selfishness and altruism bade metake steps to prevent this from happening. So I asked that measures betaken to ensure that no one could ever tamper with the transceiverconnections or the master switch without my (our? no, my) knowl-edge and consent. Since I had no desire to spend my life guarding theequipment in Houston, it was mutually decided that all the electronicconnections in the lab would be carefully locked: both those that con-trolled the life-support system for Yorick and those that controlledthe power supply for Hubert would be guarded with fail-safe devices,and I would take the only master switch, outfitted for radio remotecontrol, with me wherever I went. I carry it strapped around my waistand—wait a moment—here it is. Every few months I reconnoiter thesituation by switching channels. I do this only in the presence offriends of course, for if the other channel were, heaven forbid, eitherdead or otherwise occupied, there would have to be somebody whohad my interests at heart to switch it back, to bring me back from thevoid. For while I could feel, see, hear and otherwise sense whateverbefell my body, subsequent to such a switch, I'd be unable to con-trol it. By the way, the two positions on the switch are intentionallyunmarked, so I never have the faintest idea whether I am switchingfrom Hubert to Yorick or vice versa. (Some of you may think that inthis case I really don't know who I am, let alone where I am. But suchreflections no longer make much of a dent on my essential Dennett-ness, on my own sense of who I am. If it is true that in one sense Idon't know who I am then that's another one of your philosophicaltruths of underwhelming significance.)
In any case, every time I've flipped the switch so far, nothing hashappened. So let's give it a try. . . .
"THANK GOD! I THOUGHT YOU'D NEVER FLIP THAT SWITCH!You can't imagine how horrible it's been these last two weeks—butnow you know, it's your turn in purgatory. How I've longed for thismoment! You see, about two weeks ago—excuse me, ladies and gentle-men, but I've got to explain this to my . . . urn, brother, I guess youcould say, but he's just told you the facts, so you'll understand—about two weeks ago our two brains drifted just a bit out of synch. Idon't know whether my brain is now Hubert or Yorick, any morethan you do, but in any case, the two brains drifted apart, and ofcourse once the process started, it snowballed, for I was in a slightlydifferent receptive state for the input we both received, a differencethat was soon magnified. In no time at all the illusion that I was incontrol of my body—our body—was completely dissipated. There wasnothing I could do—no way to call you. YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW
I EXISTED! It's been like being carried around in a cage, or better,like being possessed—hearing my own voice say things I didn't mean tosay, watching in frustration as my own hands performed deeds Ihadn't intended. You'd scratch our itches, but not the way I wouldhave, and you kept me awake, with your tossing and turning. I've beentotally exhausted, on the verge of a nervous breakdown, carriedaround helplessly by your frantic round of activities, sustained onlyby the knowledge that some day you'd throw the switch.
"Now it's your turn, but at least you'll have the comfort of know-ing I know you're in there. Like an expectant mother, I'm eating—orat any rate tasting, smelling, seeing—for two now, and I'll try to makeit easy for you. Don't worry. Just as soon as this colloquium is over,you and I will fly to Houston, and we'll see what can be done to getone of us another body. You can have a female body—your bodycould be any color you like. But let's think it over. I tell you what—tobe fair, if we both want this body, I promise I'll let the project direc-tor flip a coin to settle which of us gets to keep it and which then getsto choose a new body. That should guarantee justice, shouldn't it? Inany case, I'll take care of you, I promise. These people are my wit-nesses.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this talk we have just heard is not exactlythe talk I would have given, but I assure you that everything he saidwas perfectly true. And now if you'll excuse me, I think I'd—we'd-better sit down."'