I disagree completely. I am defined by my choices, my decisions and my opinions, not by the complicated strip of acid in each of my cells which itself is just a careful high-fidelity copy of the one that occupied my original body which in any case became an interesting smear of organic compounds on the leading edge of a smartbomb detonation about seven years ago.

Every time a pilot clones, they prove that the body and the DNA contained with in it are completely unimportant. It's the brain-state that matters, and there is nothing stopping me from using a blank "stock" clone not seeded with my genetic profile, if I so wish. The result would be functionally identical - Verin Hakatain, the infomorph would still be walking around and doing what he does, but instead of the handsome and hirsute appearance I have chosen to maintain (which is, I freely admit, an... "enhanced" version of the original),

I'd be a pale featureless everyman.

Now, I have considerable respect for my ancestors, as should all Caldari. But if I don't consider my DNA to be important for anything more than maintaining a certain physical appearance that I have, again, chosen to retain, then my regard for my ancestors is NOT for the DNA they contributed to my birth body, but instead for the culture they built, the history they wrote and the legacy I'm trying to find a place in.

As I said - it's the brain-state that matters, and I've even tweaked that with neural remapping technology in the last few years. There is nothing about my physical being that is not open to modification, augmentation and improvement. Has that changed me as a person? I would argue no more so than living from day to day did. A person is not a static and unchanging thing, our reality is an ever-moving moment of subjectivity, and I'm privileged to have a tighter and more direct control over that moment than is afforded to most people. I have greater freedom to choose who I am and wish to be, and have exercised it.

I would expect a fellow infomorph to at least grasp the concept of mind/body dualism and to recognise that it is the FORMER that matters.

Down with this sort of thing. There is a science in the bedroom all its own, and it is beautiful. Not saying those born in tubes or whatever are less worthy, but if I'm to bring a child into this world I'd rather bear it myself. Personal preference, of course.

Your abilities and limitations, gifts and flaws, both physical and mental, all are encoded in these strips of acid.

Mind and body are bound together. Your mind can't think when there is no body: it is just data.

Incorrect.

We Return

Maybe at first, when we are still developing. But I am no longer an embryonic being. I could choose to abandon my DNA if I so chose, and doing so would have zero noticeable impact upon my abilities, limitations, gifts and flaws.

You can continue to assert that genes are important if you wish, but repeated assertion is not a route to factual accuracy. I can demonstrate through argument and reason why my genetic heritage simply isn't important. The best you can do is continue to assert your irrational belief that it is.

The only hardware that counts is the brain, and that gets precisely copied and reassembled upon cloning without regard for the genetic composition of the body around it.

I find it entertaining to be told we have a problem, its like being a celebrity on GalNet, if there is drama, we are there as stars...

What better outcome for a Gallentean than to always be the center of people's focus!

Incorrect.

We Return

your phenotype is based on... a very tiny and insignificant part of your genotype!

...

That's why we are way more efficient than gallentean grey masses.

One of the women responsible for the modern starship jump drive can only speak thanks to the medical implants in the speech centers of her brain.

You are thus both correct in your own way. Verin-haan is very correct in saying that the shape of his thoughts are the same regardless of his genetics, because the shape of his neurons is already determined. Kim-haani is likewise correct in stating that the day-to-day changes of her mind are heavily influenced by her genetics, which play part in how her neurons branch and develop new synapses.

Indeed, though the differences between ethnic groups are so minute that if I were to, for example, have myself a genetically Thukker body assembled and were to move into it for a year, I very much doubt there would be any detectable difference in my personality after one year that was statistically distinguishable from the changes brought on by simply being alive for one year.

Not that I plan to try such an experiment. I'm not that liberal.

You said it yourself - the phenotype is a tiny and insignificant part of the genome. Given that it is only the phenotype which actually distinguishes the difference between any two ethnic groups, it follows that the difference between ethnic groups is also tiny and insignificant.

How your phenotypes are different, your other functions differ as well. Although in terms of sequences these differences are tiny and minimal, they still form your phenotype, they form rate of chemical reactions, catalyzed by your enzymes. Even a single aminoacid in enzyme can change reaction rate greatly, making it faster or slower. Or completely stopping it.
Visual differences is only the tip of the iceberg.

uh... no. They just infect the body with a genegineering retrovirus cultured from your stock DNA when you move into it. It takes a few months to completely finish working.

*Throws a slim volume of "Basic Biochemistry for Foot Soldiers" at camera drone and slams a door*

Syntax error.

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