I've watched movies, Sci-fi especially, and I see some of the insane and unimaginable things that happen. I guess superhero movies too. What we see there are things that we know are clearly impossible and are not real as they're works of fiction produced into movies. Even at that, especially as kids, we get lost in the unreal reality of these things we see, and we desire to have them or be like the characters, with some of us even identifying as them.
I think some of the things I've seen in this Sci-fi related movies are the ability to clone humans. Through scientific research, efforts and technological resources, as explained in them, the cloning of humans was possible. Now let's take it to real life. If it were possible to make a clone of myself, would I consider it? I mean, my memory would be transferred to the clone and it would continue from where I stopped in my natural and real body.
The idea sounds appealing in some ways. If I could have this clone, it would help in doing some of my tasks while I focus on others, saving me time and energy. I could have it do some of my chores, go on errands, and other things I might be too busy to do at that moment. Since it has my memories, it basically understands how to do those things, or rather, how I would do them. That among other possible reasons, makes it appealing, right?
What I can't understand is how far-reaching the effects of that will be. What if it goes on to do things I wouldn't normally do? It looks just like me and it has my memory, but there's the tendency for it to do its thing. And they could be things I wouldn't even recommend let alone talk about doing. Something like that leaves me sceptical about the far-reaching effects that might not be seen or usually considered. This makes the idea of making a clone of myself concerning.
Absurd even is having my memories in that clone, making it more like an impersonation of me. There's only one me, and there won't be any on earth as uniquely aligned to my peculiarities. That's what makes me different from every person that makes up the billions of people on earth. No one has my exact memories except me, and it's something to cherish. Having a clone with my memories transferred into it takes away that, and I don't find it really appealing.
So no, I won't be buying into that. Whatever the process of this cloning would be, I don't find it as a route to take. Things to do with genetic engineering or so are something I find questionable in some ways. I'm also looking at what this would mean for originality and authenticity. If I could have a clone that looks just like me, with my memories, but then it's still not me and there can't be more than one me, what does it say about being real and authentic?
What if others desire access to this technology, what would that mean to society? Would they not have their clones roaming around too? How then can we know the natural and the cloned? I wouldn't be considering that, even with the few reasons that such could be found appealing. I value authenticity, I value real. I wouldn't like to consider having a non-human version of me with my memories, walking around and doing this I might do or not do. Natural me is okay.
Image is AI generated.
