Death doesn't relieve pain and suffering, it merely follows it, that's an analogy we make to comfort ourselves.
We are already machines, we sense through electrical impulses that are decoded into 'feelings' by our brains, in very much the same way that computers send electrical impulses through sets of transistors to set up states within a computer. Abstract concepts are, by definition, abstract, there's no saying whether they can be calculated or emulated because it's never been tried, we aren't talking about someone sitting down and 'programming' you into a machine, we are talking about a transfer of conciousness, which is different, a machine does what its told, if you transfer over a human mind in every detail, then the machine will do what the mind tells it, think, feel, love, hate, dream and imagine, if the mind is complete, then it is no different to an organic machine, except not organic. If you put milk in a glass, is it different to milk in a porcelain mug? The container changes, the contents, however, remains the same.
As for the 'senseless blathering', you know, it's strange, but everyone had actually come to happy medium about the concept...