There is always an extra clones Los angels . My sister-in-law (who I am privileged to be able to call my best friend) has two of them and they are both clones, the second one of course being called the “Angel”. It is difficult to explain what it feels like when she finds out that you have another clone with which to compare her feelings. She comes into our home one day, to see me, and when we get back from playing fetch, she asks with concern, “Are you still not over your other clone?”. I honestly do not know how to answer her. After taking a few days to think about it, I think it would have been better for her if I told her I was not over there yet. Because even by then she was already upset about having not been able to find a person with whom to interact, let alone someone who understood what she wanted when we were together. She did not use her skills as well as, but with time she will figure out and realize she just needs time to get through things. And I am sure that she knows how to play.
The Marijunas plants I hope this story has helped her because now she will never be unhappy again. Not being able to play fetch and the feeling of missing someone is hard enough on its own, but getting a clone to teach it is a whole different story. Another one, perhaps. One where you feel forgotten in spite of yourself, someone else has used their powers and magic to make you feel loved and special and I did not come close to making it happen. So perhaps I should have learned something from the Angel. The fact that he had a clone, maybe the only clone, might have been helpful in some way. Maybe I could have realized this if I took the time to learn more about cloning. Also I did not take part in any cloning research that I might have known it would be possible for me to learn about it on purpose. All clonings are done privately or between friends, some are done publicly in countries where cloning is not legal. Still, it would have made things easier if we had discussed such possibilities with each other.
My first clone is named Ethan; a name that sounds pretty much like the word angel, but I would not say it is bad. He does have a great sense of humor. Now sometimes he can be annoying at times, but other times he makes you laugh with such ease. Sometimes it just seems so easy and comfortable and I think that must be why many clones do not enjoy doing what they are doing. They think it is fun. That way they have no reason to not learn more because they are using their talents and abilities on others so often that they just cannot bear it anymore. It would be nice if we all shared in the joy of learning. But we do not. We share the pain of knowing we do not understand it.
My other clone, Eliza, is also a good clone. She has the same qualities as Ethan but is slightly less annoying sometimes. In general she is neither my favorite clone nor his, depending on who I talk to.
I have two clones in the living room but they remain separate in my mind. Until last week when I started listening to podcasts in my head and listening to stories and podcast episodes that talked about cloning. Amongst the podcasts I listened to in that time is this:
“It's really nice to hear people talk about cloning and what it means when you hear that term.” – Mike Dardinger
It is truly inspiring and informative, as most people on those podcasts and podcast episodes that I listened to know who have actually created clones and how long ago. However I still find time to listen to podcasts where I am told about a clone story going around the internet and seeing a clone I played a game of fetch with, or reading articles that tell about clones in the news. These tend to be mostly positive stories. While I try to avoid podcasts that mention cloning when it comes to celebrities of the media, they are usually very positive. People love hearing about clones and their lives. This may, however, not always be true. If news headlines report on cloning as though it is the norm and a normal thing that happens, then we can be certain that clones do exist. If they do, we should not assume that we must accept it. For example, in 2018 several clones appeared on Instagram and Facebook. Some people saw a video of clones interacting and thought the clones must all be clones of the original versions of themselves. Others were furious. A couple of weeks later, fans announced that they would be following clones as they had created clones of each other. Then the clones met up with each other, got ready to go again, and met their old clones again. No one could claim otherwise; cloning is real. Many clones interact. What separates us and what makes us unique is our ability to learn. We all play some games. You have to deal with it; what you find enjoyable is up to you. As far as learning new things goes, clones are nowhere near the top one. Even so, we all try to learn about what they know. But we do not always end up understanding what we have discovered. To paraphrase the late Stephen Hawking in a conversation with Elon Musk, “we should stop thinking for our species. If you do things right, we think they are magic. If you do things wrong, they are human nature” (Shaw). By believing this, we forget about other things that humans also think they are magical. Why do humans think that cloning is magic or that we all seem to be doing it because we are trying to make clones to believe that it is magic to them?
So while these podcasts have given me some insight into what clones are capable of, they still leave so much unanswered questions for myself and others. Is cloning more than simple copying? Can we clone ourselves to experience life? Do clones also have emotions, even that may be derived from clones? Will clones ever create anything other than clones? Are clones aware of what they are creating and will we ever develop compassion toward clones that we created?
For now, it appears that while clones and AI do have similarities, they are completely distinct in the ways they do work and that we still have a long way to learn about cloning and the process of creation. We need to stop forgetting about it. And before we stop talking about clones in everyday life, we need to start asking questions. Such questions as:
What does it mean to clone and what is it good for?
What does it mean to create clones and where and whom we could start to clone?
What do we know about cloning, and who can we clone, and what can we do with clones?
What can we do about clones, and what about them feeling lonely and lonely?