Cloning just seems wrong to me. I can't put my finger on it really well, but I don't like the concept. Even if the subject grants you permission, you're telling me you're cloning that person's behavior? Memories? C'mon....you'll have a shell of a human being that's a blank slate. How do you clone knowledge, ethics, morals,etc.? A clone isn't a clone as much as an intellectually and emotionally hollow physical reproduction.
This ties slightly into whether an AI can be human but that's a whole different can of worms.
However our knowledge and memories aren't stored in an exact place per say, and are instead encoded in bits and pieces onto the various neurons that occupy a specific place in the brain that initiated said memory (i.e. sight, smell, feel, etc.). I think you can compare how our brain works to sort of how a 3D real life Google search engine would work. Our brain "searches" for said memories by combining key words (i.e. previously encoded stimuli) until it comes up with what you were trying to remember or simply something your brain randomly recalled from your past.
However the big debate is whether or not Morality and Ethics are a biologically developed trait or if it's learned through social instruction and interaction, personally I believe it's developed through social interaction and instruction (i.e. Nature vs. Nurture), if you're wanting to go down that rabbit hole just Google-fu your way their.
So in theory, if memories and knowledge are stored along your neural network it would make sense that a clone would have the same memories and experiences as you..
In theory, I think the only thing you could compare it too is creating a backup disk like you would on a computer.
If you want to go even further down the rabbit hole you could try and figure out whether or not the cloned person is even you at that point. For example, say someone cloned me so their would be two Ryan's, "me" and then the exact DNA replica and for the sake of argument had the same memories and knowledge as myself. As soon as the replica is created is it really "me" at that point? It's experiencing an entirely different existence than my own. Is it morally right to terminate for "me" to terminate the replica even if it's a copy of myself? But you have to go back to the fact of the matter is, the replica even "me" at this point or an entirely new being that shares the same memories as myself.
I'm not particularly religious and there's just something wrong about it all in my opinion. I don't like it no matter how much I would love two Selena Gomez's
and fuck you Sean Penn) won't turn out to be some whacked out Manson chick.
