Dhamma Wheel Buddhist Forum

Has anyone seen this animated film or the manga the film was based on? It was just on TV tonight -- I'd heard of it before -- and it was very good.

The Ghost in the Shell is an animated Japanese film and manga based in a futuristic world with highly advanced neurotechnology. It was such a strong influence on The Matrix that some have called it plagiarism.

In the film, a person's consciousness (the information and neural patterns that define them) is referred to as their "ghost" and the body they inhabit is referred to as their "shell", hence the title of the film. The story centers around a cyborg who tries to come to terms with their personal identity, with what it means to be a conscious, sentient being, despite being merely made up of various components, 99% of which are artificial. This cyborg works for a secret intelligence organization in Japan, who is trying to track a terrorist called the Puppetmaster. He is nicknamed the Puppetmaster because of his method of hacking people's minds (their "ghosts") in order to control them, even using one "puppet" to hack another.

Do you believe this kind of technology is possible and, if it is one day possible, would you have reservations about uploading your mind to a new body?

Individual wrote: Do you believe this kind of technology is possible

No

Individual wrote: would you have reservations about uploading your mind to a new body?

Well, one could argue we do this already when we die and arise again in samsara.
Rather than taking advantage of such 'fantastic' technology to extend my life (if it existed), I would be more inclined to spend my time on my spiritual aspirations.
Metta

Ben

Do you believe this kind of technology is possible

Hard to say, depends on how the mind/body problem turns out and the issue of moving V copying. I wouldnt say its a dead no, something that seems impossible has a habit of becoming possible in science

and, if it is one day possible, would you have reservations about uploading your mind to a new body?

I would want it done if it were possible

Ghost in the Shell - Official Trailer 1 - (2017)

would you have reservations about uploading your mind to a new body?
Yes, becoming, again and again, is such a nuisance...
It's been a while Individual...I hope you have been well and happy..wherever you are RIP

These sorts of ideas crop up fairly often in SF. If anyone wants to explore further, try ...
Gibson Neuromancer and others
Egan Zendegi https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zendegi (Very good indeed - serious exploration of the issues)
McCaffrey The Ship Who Sang (very lightweight)
There are lots more recommendations on this page https://www.quora.com/Which-science-fic ... -uploading which I found when I was looking for something to remind me about others I've read/seen.

If you prefer facts, Wikipedia has a page on the technology - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_uploading





Kim

Who influenced all of them?

The Buddha?!




Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, it makes us see. Paul Klee

Lucas Oliveira wrote:Who influenced all of them?

The Buddha?!




Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, it makes us see. Paul Klee

The serious answer to your jokey question is probably Descartes, who really made the mind-body dualism central to the way westerners understand themselves. After all, if the 'mind' is truly part of the 'body', it's pretty hard to imagine separating it and putting it in another (artificial) body.

One of the deepest and most lasting legacies of Descartes’ philosophy is his thesis that mind and body are really distinct—a thesis now called "mind-body dualism." He reaches this conclusion by arguing that the nature of the mind (that is, a thinking, non-extended thing) is completely different from that of the body (that is, an extended, non-thinking thing), and therefore it is possible for one to exist without the other.

That's from http://www.iep.utm.edu/descmind/, which quickly gets very technical but there's plenty more to turn up with an internet search.


Kim

Descartes is quoted in "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence"

In this video in time: 7:55


Who influenced who? Some researchers claim that the doctrine of the Buddha greatly influenced Western philosophy.

Just look for the sources of this statement on the net.

I love Ghost in the Shell, my fear, having seen American-made trailers for the upcoming American film, is that the upcoming adaption's plot is only vaguely related to the original's.

I'm a big fan of serious anime. Some of the most affecting stories and themes I've watched has been in Anime. Particularly existential themes like in Cowboy Bebop, Mushishi, Samurai Champloo, FMA brotherhood etc.

I've always wanted to get into this series, BUT the sequence of stories is quite complicated. Can someone tell me what order I should watch the shows and movies?

Cheers
Jack

BlackBird wrote:I'm a big fan of serious anime. Some of the most affecting stories and themes I've watched has been in Anime. Particularly existential themes like in Cowboy Bebop, Mushishi, Samurai Champloo, FMA brotherhood etc.

I've always wanted to get into this series, BUT the sequence of stories is quite complicated. Can someone tell me what order I should watch the shows and movies?

Cheers
Jack

Each reboot of Ghost in the Shell is more or less self-contained. You can watch them in any order you like. IMO the 1995 Mamoru Oshii adaption is by far the best, because Mamoru Oshi dramatically changes the somewhat comic and teenagery tone of the original manga to make an introspective, sophisticated, and existential film that, IMO, transcends it's genre.