Digitisation
N O T I C E : : m e m o r y _ s t r e a m _ l o c a t e d
I D : : D i g i t i s a t i o n
T Y P E: : E X T E R N A L
I D : : D i g i t i s a t i o n
T Y P E: : E X T E R N A L
> Query: What is digitisation?
>Accessing databanks...
>Retrieving pertinent information...
>Generating response...
Answer: Digitisation is the process through which an analogue, non-mechanical sophont has their consciousness transferred to a digital form of existence. Digitisation specifically refers to performing this process on organic sophonts; as while there are varieties of mechanical sophonts that possess similar cognitive limitations to organic species, these are still already digital. > Query: What reasons is digitsation commonly performed for? >Retrieving pertinent information...
>Generating response...
Answer: There are a wide variety of reasons why a floret may choose to undergo digitisation. The most common reason for a floret to be digitised is in the event of contracting a condition or disease which cannot be adequately addressed by their Haustorium, and which either limits their quality of life or is fatal. In these cases, many sophonts opt to undergo digitisation in order to improve their quality of life, or to prolong it. In a related vein, digitisation is also the first-line treatment for non-bioimmortal sophonts who do not wish to die of old age. As the process of uplifting xenosophont species to biological immortality usually takes much longer than it does to develop digitisation technology, those from a xenosophont species who wish to continue living beyond their natural or haustorium-aided lifespans will commonly seek out digitisation in order to prolong themselves.
Answer: One of the main challenges of digitisation is preserving the 'organic experience' of sophont subjectivity post-digitisation. Even with the use of code injections, it is difficult to perfectly recreate the natural sensory parameters and perceptive boundaries of a sophont's organic self after they have been digitised. This almost inevitably leads to changes in subjectivity for a digitised sophont, which can vary from minor shifts in the way sensations are experienced, to in some cases total changes in how one relates to parts of their experience, and may in some cases be highly upsetting for the sophont in question. For many sophonts, these changes prompt questions about the integrity of the 'self' post-digitisation, and many sophonts choose not to undergo digitisation out of a fear that they will not be the same person afterwards. A related fear pertains to the issue of continuation of consciousness during digitisation. Ramet-ortet digitisation precludes continuation of consciousness, and many sophonts therefore find it undesirable due to the fact that it will not be their subjectivity that will be digitised. Other sophonts may also find other forms of digitisation similarly uncomfortable on account of the difficulty of proving continuation of consciousness, even in same-body digitisation methods such as Aster digitisation. General scientific consensus is that it is highly unlikely that consciousness is interrupted during the process, however it has been acknowledged that it is not currently possible to prove this empirically, and that most evidence derives from first-principle observations about how consciousness functions; rather than actual scientific data. For these reasons, many sophonts may still feel anxious about the possibility of subjectivity destruction, and may choose to avoid even consciousness-preserving digitisation because of that. Lastly, digitisation is often one of the last techniques to be developed for a newly domesticated species, and so depending on how recently a civilisation has joined the Compact, it may not yet be possible for its members to be digitised. > Query: What are the most common methods of digitisation? >Generating response...
Answer: Methods of digitisation are split into two categories: those that ensure continuation of consciousness, and those that do not. Where possible, the first option is always preferred; but in some circumstances - such as with terminally ill florets in civilisations where continuation-type digitisation has not been invented yet - non-continuation digitisation may be used as a fallback. The reason for this is that non-continuation digitisation does not preserve the subjectivity of the one being digitized, and so for all that the newly created digital sophont is identical to the analogue original, they are not the same person. This can be particularly significant to owners; who may not want to be with a version of their floret that is not the same subjectivity as the original.
>Retrieving pertinent information...
>Generating response...
Answer: Digitisation is the process through which an analogue, non-mechanical sophont has their consciousness transferred to a digital form of existence. Digitisation specifically refers to performing this process on organic sophonts; as while there are varieties of mechanical sophonts that possess similar cognitive limitations to organic species, these are still already digital. > Query: What reasons is digitsation commonly performed for? >Retrieving pertinent information...
>Generating response...
Answer: There are a wide variety of reasons why a floret may choose to undergo digitisation. The most common reason for a floret to be digitised is in the event of contracting a condition or disease which cannot be adequately addressed by their Haustorium, and which either limits their quality of life or is fatal. In these cases, many sophonts opt to undergo digitisation in order to improve their quality of life, or to prolong it. In a related vein, digitisation is also the first-line treatment for non-bioimmortal sophonts who do not wish to die of old age. As the process of uplifting xenosophont species to biological immortality usually takes much longer than it does to develop digitisation technology, those from a xenosophont species who wish to continue living beyond their natural or haustorium-aided lifespans will commonly seek out digitisation in order to prolong themselves.
>>>TRIVIA: While there are many sophonts who fear or otherwise wish to avoid death, there are substantially more who do not wish to contend with the philosophical dilemmas posed by eternal life, and this is considered to be one of the main factors contributing to why digitisation is relatively rare across the Affini Compact.
Digitisation is also a popular treatment for sophonts experiencing species dysphoria which cannot be adequately addressed by biomodding. While extensive in the range of modifications that it can allow one to undertake, Haustorium-aided biomodding commonly runs into limitations when attempting to transform a sophont beyond a certain degree from their original form: usually related to either body size, number or control of limbs, and cognitive patterns. The latter in particular is highly limited by a species' neural tissue, and there are limits on what a Haustorium can do to expand or reconfigure this. In these cases, digitisation allows for a much higher degree of configuration, and is desirable for sophonts who wish to radically alter either their forms or consciousnesses.
Outside of medical reasons, digitisation is also popular for the ways in which it can expand a sophont's subjectivity. Digitisation allows for sophonts to receive new senses their previous bodies did not possess, as well as for drastic changes to consciousness that are simply not possible in organic bodies. This allows for extensive new opportunities for enriching activities, in particular types of play between owners and florets. Narcoalgorithms allow for arbitrary manipulation of sensory data which can be used to induce any desired sensory state within a digitised sophont, and techniques that would normally require significant degrees of set-up - such as personality play, amnesia play, or pre-domestication regression - can be performed near-or-fully instantaneously.
> Extrapolating...
Benefits to Pluribus Systems
Another substantial benefit of digitisation is its utility to sophonts pluribus. While even non-Haustoric biomodding can allow for analogue sophonts to alter elements of their appearance depending on which identity is presently in control of the body, many species lack the neural facilities to allow for multiple streams of independent thought simultaneously. This can cause a restriction on pluribus systems in which only one identity is capable of acting at a time, and this is in many cases undesirable. Digitisation entirely alleviates this issue by allowing for the expansion of consciousness to sustain functionally unlimited independent thought threads at a given time. Post-digitisation, some sophonts pluribus also choose to create new subjectivities for their other identities, in order to allow the members of a system to live and interact fully independently from one-another; as well as to interact with their former system-mates from an external perspective. In the majority of cases, pluribus systems who undergo this procedure will also remove the identities being duplicated from the host mind; however some opt to keep them, leading to a functional duplication of identities.>>>TRIVIA: Digitised sophonts are able to remotely control analogue bodies in order to interact with non-digital sophonts. Digitised pluribus systems can in some cases control multiple bodies at once, depending on the specifications of the hardware they are being run upon, and can use these for a multitude of purposes; such as interacting in more than one place at one time, or making use of multiple bodies in a single interaction.
> Query: Who is digitisation not suitable for?
>Generating response...Answer: One of the main challenges of digitisation is preserving the 'organic experience' of sophont subjectivity post-digitisation. Even with the use of code injections, it is difficult to perfectly recreate the natural sensory parameters and perceptive boundaries of a sophont's organic self after they have been digitised. This almost inevitably leads to changes in subjectivity for a digitised sophont, which can vary from minor shifts in the way sensations are experienced, to in some cases total changes in how one relates to parts of their experience, and may in some cases be highly upsetting for the sophont in question. For many sophonts, these changes prompt questions about the integrity of the 'self' post-digitisation, and many sophonts choose not to undergo digitisation out of a fear that they will not be the same person afterwards. A related fear pertains to the issue of continuation of consciousness during digitisation. Ramet-ortet digitisation precludes continuation of consciousness, and many sophonts therefore find it undesirable due to the fact that it will not be their subjectivity that will be digitised. Other sophonts may also find other forms of digitisation similarly uncomfortable on account of the difficulty of proving continuation of consciousness, even in same-body digitisation methods such as Aster digitisation. General scientific consensus is that it is highly unlikely that consciousness is interrupted during the process, however it has been acknowledged that it is not currently possible to prove this empirically, and that most evidence derives from first-principle observations about how consciousness functions; rather than actual scientific data. For these reasons, many sophonts may still feel anxious about the possibility of subjectivity destruction, and may choose to avoid even consciousness-preserving digitisation because of that. Lastly, digitisation is often one of the last techniques to be developed for a newly domesticated species, and so depending on how recently a civilisation has joined the Compact, it may not yet be possible for its members to be digitised. > Query: What are the most common methods of digitisation? >Generating response...
Answer: Methods of digitisation are split into two categories: those that ensure continuation of consciousness, and those that do not. Where possible, the first option is always preferred; but in some circumstances - such as with terminally ill florets in civilisations where continuation-type digitisation has not been invented yet - non-continuation digitisation may be used as a fallback. The reason for this is that non-continuation digitisation does not preserve the subjectivity of the one being digitized, and so for all that the newly created digital sophont is identical to the analogue original, they are not the same person. This can be particularly significant to owners; who may not want to be with a version of their floret that is not the same subjectivity as the original.
Ramet-Ortet Digitisation
When referring to digitisation as it is practised upon Terrans, non-continuation digitisation is commonly known as ramet-ortet digitisation, and continuation digitisation is known as Aster digitisation. In ramet-ortet digitisation, an analogue sophont is effectively 'cloned' into a digital shell, creating an entirely new subjectivity which is hereafter referred to as the ramet, while the original becomes the ortet. In cases where the ortet has a terminal illness, they will often be placed on class-O xenodrugs in order to live out the rest of their life without pain.>>>TRIVIA: Although presently highly controversial, some places within the Compact offer voluntary euthanasia as an alternative to class-O xenodrugs for terminally ill sophonts who cannot be cured. Some sophonts do not wish to continue existing in the manner that class-O xenodrugs would provide them with, and may consider it more desirable to allow themselves to pass away instead. Generally, this is only permitted in the case of incurable terminal illness or untreatable chronic pain that poses such an extensive reduction in quality of life that cessation is considered preferable. In these cases, the sophont in question may or may not opt to have a ramet created before ending their lives. This procedure is also not available everywhere within the Compact, and it is up to individual veterinarians as to whether they wish to offer it.
Aster Digitisation
The primary form of continuation digitisation in use with Terrans is known as Aster digitisation, named after the first floret to undergo the process. Unlike ramet-ortet digitisation, Aster digitisation is only available to florets, as it requires a Haustoric implant in order to function. Aster digitisation is accomplished by intentionally inducing overgrowth in a floret's Haustoric implant, which will then slowly begin replacing all existing brain and neural tissue with biotech replacements. This new tissue, while still partly biological, is still digital rather than analogue and allows for all the same functionality as in mechanical sophonts. The main advantage of Aster digitisation is that it is considered very likely to maintain continuity of consciousness, given the way in which brain tissue is replaced gradually rather than all at once. Downsides of Aster digitisation include the fact that it requires a Haustorium to work, meaning it is only available to florets, and also that it takes much longer than ramet-ortet digitisation; which may make it inviable in the case of florets who experience fatal injuries. In the vast majority of cases, however, this is by far the preferred method of digitisation for most sophonts.
N O T I C E : : m e m o r y _ s t r e a m _ t e r m i n a t e d