Quote Originally Posted by Mith View Post
I understood the problem to be not the psychological impact of being in a different body meaning you act differently, but being able to actually physically function with operating a completely different body then our brains were designed to handle.
Hmm. good points. From one point of view, we actually do both rather regularly. While driving we expand our sense of self to encompass the vehicle, "you almost hit me!" rather than "your car nearly hit my car" Also we don't think about the steering wheel or pedals any more than we think about our feet when walking. The human brain can shift it's "self" to almost anything that even indirectly responds to thoughts.

We act completely differently behind the wheel than when we are pedestrians too. Human beings are known to change their speed to keep from matching a stranger's pace. While driving cars, we unconsciously speed up when passed, then return to our old speed later. That is more like the behavior of a pack animal. A human uses it's voice to warn or greet others. In a car we use the horn mostly for yelling displeasure at strangers, which is uncommon (outside of the internet anyway). I guess we don't feel like we have a human body on the internet too.
I wonder what other ways operating different sized or shaped bodies changes how we think, and how long the effects linger. Big questions for transhumanists.