So this happened almost exactly a year ago and I missed it entirely. Fortunately it's still making the Facebook rounds so someone on my feed today informed me that last July the nation of India declared dolphins to be "non human persons". If you're as surprised as I was it's cool, the great nation of India did no such thing.
With that aside I wondered about the term "non human persons", is that even a thing? Turns out it is.
Some real quick googling reveals at least one seemingly well established non profit, the Nonhuman Rights Project has been out there working to get the legal rights of personhood extended to some types of "nonhuman animals", (their words) in one form or another for almost twenty years.
But the phrase "nonhuman person" from the first (incorrect) post got me wondering if there is anyone pushing this effort in a nerdier direction. Turns out there is.
These guys also seemingly well established are solidly in the corner of those seeking to grant nonhuman animals personhood rights, but they don't limit the scope to animals. Their literature explicitly states "nonhuman persons" as the target of their attention, while their primary stated agenda is to "is to stimulate and support constructive study of ethical issues connected with these powerful emerging technologies".
What I'm trying to say is that the groundwork is already being laid to establish the legal right not to be formatted for a theoretically uploaded human mind.
