Brain of Theseus.
This is the correct way IMO. “Uploading” your mind to a computer is making a clone/copy, but the original dies the same.
Maintaining continuity of consciousness is the only thing that would make me feel comfortable with converting myself to a machine intelligence.
I hate to break it to you, but our meat brains don’t even have continuity of consciousness. We become unconscious all the time. The only real constant is the “hardware” our consciousness emerges from, but even that is always changing.
Except our brains are still functioning. If they didn’t keep functioning, we’d be brain dead. The point is that there’s a common thread that connects every waking moment together.
I don’t get the down votes. Did y’all forget about sleep? No one vividly dreams every night all night long. Often it’s the fade to black going to sleep then the sudden awakening.
You do not die every night.
How would you know?
How do you know you’re not a copy of yesterday’s you? If a clone has your memories and you’re not around anymore, then what’s the difference?
Don’t try to get philosophical about this. There is a hard difference between copying a brain and actually transferring consciousness.
Don’t try to get philosophical about this.
Er? It’s a philosophical conversation since, you know, brain uploading is not a thing.
If you don’t want to engage in philosophy, you’re in the wrong place.
That’s not what he means and you know it.
I think the only way we know it is us for sure is if we are conscious in both the original and clone at the same time. Like… okay… I know this is me in the new brain, I’ll shut down the other one.
Like… okay… I know this is me in the new brain, I’ll shut down the other one.
the other one: i’m pretty sure you’ve got it backwards, pal
No, no… you misunderstood. We’re just taking a trip to the brain farm up north. You’ll be able to think with the other brains up there. It’ll be fun.
Read Old Man’s War.
reading this comment suddenly reminded me of the “Pantheon” show.
Man I can’t get that brain laser out of my memory. So brutal
I agree.
But here is an interesting thing to think about:
What is the perceived difference between falling asleep and waking up the next day, vs going to sleep and copying your consciousness to a machine/new body.
Your brain is still functioning while you’re asleep. If it turned off all the way then you’d become brain-dead.
But would you notice?
Probably. If you’ve ever been under anesthesia then you’ve probably noticed the difference between sleeping under anesthesia and sleeping under normal conditions. Personally, I normally get the feeling that time has passed when I sleep, I didn’t have that feeling when I had my wisdom teeth removed; and anesthesia still doesn’t turn your brain all the way off. I’m pretty sure if your brain actually turned off all the way and then turned back on again, then you’d probably feel like you’re a different person.
You wouldn’t notice because you’d be dead. Your clone wouldn’t notice because it would think it was you. Your friends and family wouldn’t notice because they’d think your clone was you.
Some sleep is conscious (dreaming) but they’re easily forgotten. Perhaps being unconscious still always has a grain of consciousness (but is just forgotten).
It seems there is a grain of reduced experience while sleeping. Copying seems to imply it’s always a clone (a different ego, a different person).
As long as it’s made mandatory to cover with insurance so it’s available to everyone. The last thing we need is an immortal ruling class.
Hoping real hard that Alternate Carbon is not becoming reality.
I see that you too have heard the prophecy.
Don’t worry, going by past history this will be available to any and…uhh, [checks notes] oh, uh-oh.
Oh at this point it seems like we’re treating dystopian science fiction as a guidebook instead of a warning.
Someone’s getting hangry and needs a Soylent.
Hold on, what color Soylent are we talking about? Is it the delicious, definitely only plants, green flavor?
Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale Tech
Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don’t Create The Torment Nexus
On the plus side an immortal ruling class might actually start caring about climate change.
Sure, in the most dystopian way possible.
… and reduce emissions by wasting the rest. But due to negative selection leading into that upper class they won’t be able to manage the planet further despite thinking that they can and will die of hunger eventually.
The final boss of subscriptions
We don’t need immortal billionaires sucking up everyone’s oxygen.
If you haven’t, you should watch and/or read Altered Carbon.
If you choose to watch, it is my opinion that it’s primarily the first season that’s worth watching.
Yeah it’s not like the rest of the population ever benefits from advances in technology… Oh wait…
Found the immortal billionaire. Your username fools no one, highlander.
I want a brain update and a penis upgrade please! Yes 275Tb of ram for my penis and 6" of brain 🧠!
I don’t want my penis remembering that much.
Cyberpunk, let’s gooo🤣
After upgrade, years later in a CT scan. Dr. “That is a weird looking brain it almost looks like a pecker.”
Total mindfuck.
There are two reasons he believes the neocortex could be replaced, albeit only slowly. The first is evidence from rare cases of benign brain tumors, like a man described in the medical literature who developed a growth the size of an orange. Yet because it grew very slowly, the man’s brain was able to adjust, shifting memories elsewhere, and his behavior and speech never seemed to change—even when the tumor was removed.
That’s proof, Hébert thinks, that replacing the neocortex little by little could be achieved “without losing the information encoded in it” such as a person’s self-identity.
The second source of hope, he says, is experiments showing that fetal-stage cells can survive, and even function, when transplanted into the brains of adults. For instance, medical tests underway are showing that young neurons can integrate into the brains of people who have epilepsy and stop their seizures.
“It was these two things together—the plastic nature of brains and the ability to add new tissue—that, to me, were like, ‘Ah, now there has got to be a way,’” says Hébert.
Very interesting. I’ve also seen research suggesting that the application of stem cells to damaged neural tissue within the spinal cord could repair it, so the idea that you could use a similar approach to actual brain health isn’t such a big leap. But still, wow. I wonder how long it would take for the immature cells to develop into “adult mode” that’s fully integrated into the patients cortex. In order to replace the entire brain, you’d have to do it in like, 8 parts, with years of recovery time in between each surgery. Also there would exist the potential for the new cells to develop into like, a second, smaller brain, if the connections sour or if the new material isn’t stimulated the “right” way.
FROM THE MOMENT I UNDERSTOOD THE WEAKNESS OF MY FLESH IT DISGUSTED ME
The brain renewal concept could have applications such as treating stroke victims
If this can restore functions to stroke victims again, it’s absolutely amazing.
If this is vastly successful which remains to be seen, there might be a path format to the longevity part of the idea.This could help a lot of veterans and football players too
I can think of a lot of football players who are in need of more brain.
CTE.
I don’t want to live longer, fix my fucking knees and back.
…fresh cloned bodies…
This would do that.
If they make it so I can eat cheese and go outside in summer without drying I’ll happy
I am not renting my corporeal existence from a megacorporation. There is no way this is ever affordable to the masses without some pretty huge caveats
Your Braintm privacy policy has been updated. Blink once to accept the new privacy policy.
Caveat 1: Move out of the US
Caveat 2: ???
Caveat 3: Extended youth
Caveat 2: ???
That would be the, become a citizen of a country with free health care, part of the plan. That would be the hard bit.
I mean, most of the masses already do meet that requirement. OP seems to think there are only ‘masses’ in the US and nowhere else.
From the moment I understood the weakness of my flesh…
I stopped using shampoo for unlisted purposes.
Yes, because who wouldn’t want to live for centuries amidst floods, fire, raging mad politicians and greedy billionaires…
Well this really exists for those billionaires and rulers. This isn’t for the common person.
They’re so mad that they’ve removed themselves so far from us and we still share a common experience in death. That’s unfair for them to have to be associated with peasants in such a debasing way. So now they’ll remind us that death is for the poor or at least not living centuries will be for poor.
I have never understood people who make this argument. In all of history, can you point to a single time when technology wasn’t eventually commercialised and made available to the masses at affordable prices? The billionaires don’t want to keep it to themselves, they want you buying more stuff from them.
No. Absolutely not. Whenever anyone says, “wouldn’t it be great to live forever” remember that means people like trump and Musk are with us forever. Unless people take things into their own hands, but that’s another issue.
means people like trump and Musk are with us forever.
But that would also mean their polar opposites would also be with us forever, the objectively best of us
They won’t be able to afford it.
Somebody’s been watching Picard.
I’m a transhumanist, and I’ve never heard of Picard in the context of something you watch, and what’s being spoken of in the article is something that’s been part of our wider Philosophy for longer than I have.
Picard swapped his brain into an android body. It wasn’t very good writing.
