Naming of Computers

It appears that I’ll be switching around some of my computer hardware again shortly, so this issue comes up again.

I name my computers, and develop little epic stories about their desires, dreams, sorrows and deaths.

I’ve been pondering, recently, what identifies a particular machine’s character. That is, given that these entities can be modified with simple tools, and augmented with new parts, what element is the original, and what is something wholly different?

Take an example human, his name is Bob. Bob was in an accident, and lost use of his left leg. After a year, he was outfitted with a prosthetic limb. Some aspects of Bob remain exactly the same, such as his mind, memory, and possibly his soul. Others are slightly altered, as his physical appearance. He’s still Bob.

Take a slightly less fortunate human, Ralph. Ralph had second-degree burns to most of his body, and underwent intensive reconstructive surgery. By the graces of human engineering, the end result is very human-looking, but doesn’t bear much visual resemblance to the Ralph we knew. He holds the same memories, his mind is still there. He’s still Ralph.

Take another human, this one old, named Betty. She may be someone’s grandmother, in a retirement home, and has lost her memory. She no longer recognizes her grandchildren when they come to visit, though they easily recognize her. She holds the same visual appearance and soul, she’s still Betty.

Another human, in another terrible accident, burnt and battered, visually unidentifiable, serious brain damage, no memory of his past, and dependent on new machine components for further survival. Maybe with no known family.

I don’t think that anyone would argue that these human entities ceased to be one, and became another, as a result of their experiences. However, let’s apply the above logic to a computer.

Lets take a machine. Her name is Reki. She’s been working hard for many years. From time to time things have changed. Got a new DVD reader. Got a new CPU fan. A new can of paint. She doesn’t really look the same as she originally did. Her nails are painted blue, the cut of her chassis is custom made. But these are augmentative changes, not really affecting the core of her person.

So I added another harddrive. She’s gained more long-term memory, but is essentially the same person.

So after some problem, I format the system/OS harddrive, reinstalling the same OS and applications, configuring everything pretty much the same. I consider her the same machine still, she still has the same long-term data stored, the same outward visual appearance, the same purpose in life.

I reconfigured the machine at a later date, now dualbooting. The same OS on both sides, in fact a mirror copy of the same partition, with one used for programming and the other used for video editing. They continue to share the same long-term storage filesystem. These I consider fragments of the same person, multiple personalities selected at boot-time.

Now I’m considering something a little more drastic, that is moving the Purpose of the machine, and the Memories of the machine, into a completely new set of hardware. I don’t think this new machine will be the same Reki, but rather this new girl will take some of Reki’s burden, and Reki will do something new.

I’ve come to think that the Essence of the machine is not in the hardware, nor in the OS, nor in the applications or data it cares for, but rather the purpose it serves.

So if Reki, a Athlon900 with 10+160gig of disc, ceases to be a desktop machine, and has lost all purposes that entails, there’s no real reason for her to continue running windows XP. In fact, there’s no reason for me to keep the current install of anything on the machine. So if I format it, and build a webserver or something, is she the same entity? Or something new? Have I killed her in the process, set her free, or merely wiped her mind and continued this trial of service.