# A Copy Made of Other Materials Would Think It Was You by Clifford Pickover > “If our thoughts and consciousness do not depend on the actual substances in our brains but rather on the structures, patterns, and relationships between parts, then Tinkertoy minds could think. If you could make a copy of your brain with the same structure but using different materials, the copy would think it was you.” > **— Clifford Pickover**, *2005, Edge Annual Question: “WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS TRUE EVEN THOUGH YOU CANNOT PROVE IT?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [Computer scientist, IBM's T. J. Watson Research Center; Author, Calculus and Pizza](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/11600) — the official response page preserves this exact, continuous passage and its surrounding argument. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2005 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2005 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the response object and all canonical reminder links derived from it. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] - **Article:** [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Host Infrastructure Overview]] - **Article:** [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Organic-Synthetic Brain Atlas|Organic-Synthetic Brain Atlas]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Mind Uploading|Mind Uploading]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Mind Uploading|Mind Uploading]] - [[wiki/Memory Continuity|Memory Continuity]] - [[wiki/Personal Identity|Personal Identity]] - [[wiki/Substrate Independence|Substrate Independence]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “If our thoughts and consciousness do not depend on the actual substances in our brains but rather on the structures, patterns, and relationships between parts, then Tinkertoy minds could think. If you could make a copy of your brain with the same structure but using different materials, the copy would think it was you.” — Clifford Pickover, 2005, Edge Annual Question: “WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE IS TRUE EVEN THOUGH YOU CANNOT PROVE IT?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-clifford-pickover-copy-would-think-it-was-you ```