# Self-Modification **Entity class:** Concept or analytic term ## Definition **Self-Modification** is the capacity of an agent or system to alter its own parameters, rules, representations, goals, or operating procedures. ## Relationships **Related concepts:** [[wiki/Choice vs Loop|Choice vs Loop]] · [[wiki/transform function|Transform Function]] · [[wiki/Personal Authoritative State|Personal Authoritative State]] · [[wiki/Longitudinal Drift|Longitudinal Drift]] **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]] These links record conceptual dependencies and contrasts. Institutional control, technology transfer, and empirical continuity are tracked as separate relationship types. <!-- BEGIN HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> This entry's documented connections are expressed in its definition and related-work routes, with provenance retained in the source-linked material. <!-- END HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> - **Edge source route:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] connects this topic to exact Annual Question passages promoted into the Simple Reminders archive. ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “As exquisite as this array of emotions is, even more sublime is the ability to turn it off.” > **— Robert Ford**, *Westworld, Season 1, Episode 8, “Trace Decay” (2016)* [[reminders/Westworld/The Most Sublime Emotion Is the Ability to Turn It Off by Robert Ford|The Most Sublime Emotion Is the Ability to Turn It Off by Robert Ford]] > “What is the upper limit for how malleable the human mind and our emotions can actually be?” > **— June Gruber**, *2018, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT IS THE LAST QUESTION?”* [[reminders/Identity/How Malleable Can the Human Mind and Its Emotions Become by June Gruber|How Malleable Can the Human Mind and Its Emotions Become by June Gruber]] > “Does something unprecedented happen when we finally learn our own source code?” > **— Eric R. Weinstein**, *2018, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT IS THE LAST QUESTION?”* [[reminders/Identity/What Happens When We Learn Our Own Source Code by Eric R. Weinstein|What Happens When We Learn Our Own Source Code by Eric R. Weinstein]]