Turing Machines

[Clarke]

Originally Posted by Human No More

The mind is just software, much like an OS. It can be transferred to other hardware if the profile is the same or it's within its capability to have a degree of abstraction for different ones. For that reason, emulation is also possible - reproduce the basic neural functions and with enough computing resources, you have something equal to or greater than a biological brain.

I think you need to go a couple of steps up if you want to use less than planets' worth of materials in said computer. You need to start directly executing the "program", not just blindly simulating hardware and hoping you've got everything hooked up right.

Originally Posted by Niri Te

Good Morning Hal.

Hal was just doing what he was told, if you read 2010. (The issue appeared because he was given contradictory orders.) He also saves the entire crew at one point in that story, so he's certainly not dead weight.