Description Copier - Bryant McGill

# Description Copier **Entity class:** Concept or analytic term > **Machine-Evolution Nexus:** [[articles/Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution|Digital Darwinism and the Invisible World of Machine Evolution]] places this concept within the history and governance of substrate-independent evolution. **Domain:** Computation / Heredity **Doc Type:** Canonical Wiki Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition A description copier duplicates an encoded construction description without interpreting it as an instruction set. ## Machine-Evolution Context The separation between uninterpreted copying and interpreted construction lets a description both direct production and enter the offspring intact. It is the formal core of von Neumann’s heredity architecture. ## Continuity and Evidence Boundary A copied description is cold archive until an interpreter and substrate execute it. Archival duplication alone does not continue an active subject. ## Relationships [[wiki/Universal Constructor|Universal Constructor]], [[wiki/Heritable Information|Heritable Information]], [[wiki/Hot Interpreter and Cold Archive|Hot Interpreter and Cold Archive]], [[wiki/DNA|DNA]]  This entry is routed through [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]], [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]], and [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]]. Its source context is developed in [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta]] and [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]]. Status-qualified source edges are preserved in the terminal Research Edges section.  ## Sources / Provenance - von Neumann and Burks (1966); nexus synthesis. ## Read First in the Wiki  - [[wiki/Continuity Stack|Continuity Stack]] — supplies the related concept or analytic term context needed to place **Description Copier** within the wider system. - [[wiki/Hot Interpreter and Cold Archive|Hot Interpreter and Cold Archive]] — supplies the related concept or analytic term context needed to place **Description Copier** within the wider system.  ## Research Edges  #### Host–residual infrastructure patch — 2026-09-10 **Collections:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] · [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] · [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] **Canonical source article:** [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta]] **Related acquisition source:** [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] **Relationship source:** [[research/Mind Uploading and AI Host-Residual Ecosystem Relationship Graph - 2026-09-10|Mind Uploading and AI Host-Residual Ecosystem Relationship Graph — 2026-09-10]] #### Outgoing typed edges - **HR-0583 — `wiki_links_to` → [[wiki/Hot Interpreter and Cold Archive|Hot Interpreter and Cold Archive]]** — **EXISTING WIKI EDGE**; evidence `WIKI_ARCHIVE`. Direct internal link currently present in `Description Copier.md`. #### Incoming typed edges - **HR-0526 — [[wiki/Continuity Stack|Continuity Stack]] `wiki_links_to` → this entry** — **EXISTING WIKI EDGE**; evidence `WIKI_ARCHIVE`. Direct internal link currently present in `Continuity Stack.md`.