Sorry for being so brief, I'm not well read on the matter. It's been about a year since I've looked into it so sorry if I muck up. Basically the question is "Where is the mind?" If you believe in a soul than you'd suppose that the mind is ethereal and only connected and communicating through the flesh of the brain. The other opinion that I know of is Naturalism or something to that effect, which states that the mind is a representation of physical states of the flesh. Just the same way that digestion is done by the digestive tract and not etherically linked to it. This is the opinion I hold simply since I haven't read a convincing argument against it. Unfortunately if the mind and brain are one in the same, it is impossible to transfer, and any attempt at doing so would just be making a copy.
Wait, isn't it the opposite? If the mind was ethereal, we wouldn't be able to reach it, let alone transfer it. I have no idea what I'm talking about, but maybe in the naturalist model it could be possible to transfer the mind by gradually switching off certain parts of the brain one at a time and maintaining the continuity of consciousness?Unfortunately if the mind and brain are one in the same, it is impossible to transfer, and any attempt at doing so would just be making a copy.
>I have no idea what I'm talking about Don't worry man, no one does, that's the point of phylosophy The problem is that if the mind and brain are one in the same, then you can't transfer it without transferring the brain. You can't take something out of it self, you know? If you think differently, prove me wrong, I don't want to be right haha The idea is that if dualism is true then we can model the states that link the mind and brain in a machine and link it to the mind. No one really seems to believe in dualism so it's a moot point either way.