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Doctor Who writer Steven Moffat on the recurring theme of masses ’s knowingness and torso being copied after death , and if they ’re the same .
Article Summary
IsSteven Moffatdone withDoctor Whoafter this twelvemonth ’s Christmas special , " Joy to the World " ? We do n’t know , and neither does he . It depend on how busy he is and whether he gets invited to write for the series again . One thing he does n’t run out of is ideas , and there ’s one he ’s become in particular interested in : the human knowingness and whether it can continue after dying .
The construct goes all the elbow room back to Moffat ’s 2008 two - parter " Silence in the Library " and " Forest of the Dead , " where the library housed a practical reality afterlife where Donna and finally River Song ended up after her end . Recently , in " bunce ! " and " Joy to the World , " Moffat portrayed people ’s cognisance uploaded digitally to an AI after their deaths , and the question arose about whether that was still them or a copy .
' With Al everywhere now , " Moffat mused toDoctor Who Magazine . " It ’s mostly about computer memory . We have no idea what a ' living consciousness ' is . No one has come up with a scientific definition for that at all . No one even has a hypothesis , really . So , the only thing of which we are truly and definitely cognizant is something we can not excuse . If a live consciousness had your exact memory , it would be indistinguishable from you . "
Is The Doctor Dead? Are The Current Ones Copies?
" We had a similar jokey argument about whether the Doctor is still the Dr. after " Heaven Sent , " " Moffat said . " If you take the estimate that teleportation mean that you ’re not really the same person when you come out the other end , you ’re just another placement of speck that think they ’re you . But , of course , the first time the Doctor teleport in the serial was in " The Keys of Marinus " ! So , if you take the idea that teleportation simply create a copy of the original , he ’s not been the ' original ' Doctor since 1964 . What are any of us , apart from an arrangement of atoms ? " he require . " You ’re not even an arrangement of the same molecule that you used to be ! All atoms are identical . So , if you ’re arranged from a different set of atoms , with your memories , that ’s just another you ! "
As Moffat ruminate that existential question , he concluded that an exact copy of a individual with their memories and personality would still be the same person . That include The Doctor , Bill Potts ( Pearl Mackie ) , and River Song .
" I think they are the originals , " he continued . " What do you mean by ' originals ' ? You are the pattern , not the clay . There are no living mote — but you are made exclusively of mote ! So , pull in you out of another set of atom just mean there ’s another you , then . There was a line we make out from Forest of the Dead where Donna says , ' Am I still the same me ? ' And the Doctor says , ' You are the fire , not the fuel . ' So , the establishment matters , but the speck themselves do n’t . We ’ve all done this anyway throughout our biography . You used to look unlike , sound different , and carry differently . The only thing that connects you to your 10 - year - old ego is a reasonably tenuous line of computer memory . How are you the same as the baby version of yourself ? You ’d have more in common with the duplicate that I can make in my special human photocopier than you would with the child version of yourself . "
This led to Moffat seeming to suggest that he was not done withDoctor Whojust yet .
" I ’ll probably end up developing it even more forDoctor Whobecause all of my sci - fi idea go intoDoctor Who . "
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