If (as a thought experiment) you copied a brain and body exactly, you would get two of that person. At that point, both personalities would begin to diverge, but there would be absolutely no way for any outside observer to tell after the fact which was the original. If the copying process was masked in some way, both would, of course, honestly claim to be the original.

We might get a surprise. A single mind looking out through four eyes or something. But I doubt it.

In another thought experiment, it seems obvious that if you simply transplant a brain into another body, the self-awareness would go with it. It's all in the brain, right? What about part of a brain? If you replaced five percent of your brain with hypothetical circuitry, would it still be you? Seems like it would be. Fifteen percent? How far can you go with that? This might be a way to test consciousness...the person getting this done incrementally might notice a "fading" of self.

There is nothing more subjective than self-awareness, and I don't think there's a way to "move" it around apart from the physical brain. But we're charting unknown waters. Frankly, the existence of a soul would make the whole thing a lot easier to work out.

So, the big question: what WOULD happen if you cut Wolverine EXACTLY IN HALF?

(picture no. 206 from the old board's gallery, not restored)