Dr. Rebecca Malone and Dr. Jared Sellers co-invented ''The Self Duplicator.'' A device and method to ''copy consciousness'' from a human mind into a digital metaverse.


    A science blog reporter interviewed them.


    "What''s the goal here, Dr. Malone?" asked the reporter.


    "Immortality, of course." Rebecca smiled.


    "Do you agree, Dr. Sellers?" asked the reporter.


    "Well, I''m not so sure … I mean, it appears the self is merely an illusion, a compiled personality based on experience, cognition, and biology, limited to brain function, so how can a copy become the same immortal version of the self?"


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    "Exactly, Jared," Rebecca raised her hand. "If we assume the self is just an illusion, that is all the more reason to think immortality is obtainable by copying consciousness since the self does not intrinsically exist."


    "I don''t quite get it," said the reporter.


    "Let me put it this way. What is one plus one?" asked Rebecca.


    "Two, obviously," said the reporter.


    "Is it true? Are both objects or concepts sharing exactly the same spacetime? Are they absolutely identical in that regard?"


    "No, I suppose they are not, but they are the same for all intents and purposes."


    "Precisely," said Rebecca. "For all intents and purposes, a copy of the self is the same."


    "I see what you mean, Dr. Malone." The reporter paused. "The self is more like a mathematical construct."