Pretty sure babies aren't self-aware, while chimpanzees are. Yet the majority opinion is that the former has human rights and the latter doesn't.
Right, we extend "human rights" to potentially self-aware humans (sometimes including fetuses) and no-longer-self-aware humans, and generally anything with human DNA which appears human, but that's where the majority gets thinner. In actuality the Schelling point is more like a fading line than a point.
Do Virtual Humans deserve human rights?
Slate Article
I think the idea of storing our minds in a machine so that we can keep on "living" (and I use that term loosely) is fascinating and certainly and oft discussed topic around here. However, in thinking about keeping our brains on a hard drive we have to think about rights and how that all works together. Indeed the technology may be here before we know it so I think its important to think about mindclones. If I create a little version of myself that can answer my emails for me, can I delete him when I'm done with him or just turn him in for a new model like I do iPhones?
I look forward to the discussion.