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Pig brains partially revived four hours after death

bbc.co.uk

131–140 of 207 posts

Re: Pig brains partially revived four hours after death

#131
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strongly agreed. The "what if they wake me up to torture me" scenarios seem like wild catastrophizing to me - if someone has the political power and resources to develop special brain-torture gear, rez me, and keep me alive so they can torture me, they have the political power and resources to kidnap me and torture me with knives and fire as long as they want. It'd probably even be easier for them to do it to my phys…

Given enough time, anything with a non-zero probability of happening will eventually happen, and when you're dealing with the prospect of immortality, "enough time" is a given. Even if the optimistic scenario is true for your first 100 "rezzes", the 101st civilization that takes over after the 100th collapses might not be so nice. EDITED TO ADD: Moreover "the kinds of irrationalities that lead a civilization to do th…

This is basically the argument that turned Elan Morin Tedronai to the dark side.

Re: Pig brains partially revived four hours after death

#132
post #64
post #23

Imagine donating your body to science and then waking up in a lab as a brain in a vat. "A Living Soul" by P. C. Jersild is amazing sci-fi book exploring this. https://www.amazon.com/Living-Norvik-Press-English-Swedish/d... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._C._Jersild

It'd actually be fantastic. If I've donated my brain to anything like the modern research apparatus, I can be relatively sure of one of two possibilities: Either my brain was chosen as a test, in which case the project is on the news literally worldwide and the ethics have had the crap argued out of them and I can be sure that any limitations of the environment are due to technological shortcomings and I get to parti…

I imagine this would be more like waking up with the worse hangover in my life, multiplied by 10000.

I'd rather stay dead.

Re: Pig brains partially revived four hours after death

#133

Anyone here considered cryo? the only thing putting me off is being trapped in an infinite torture with some bitter robot overlord. The good thing about death is just that. No one can suffer infinitely. We get to die. I read a short story once where this kind of happens. It's the end of time and 3 people are stuck in an evil machine who keeps them alive. Then one guy kills/free's 2 of the others. Can't remember what…

Now I'm just imagining the contents of one's brain entering the public domain 70 years after death.

Re: Pig brains partially revived four hours after death

#134
post #23

Imagine donating your body to science and then waking up in a lab as a brain in a vat. "A Living Soul" by P. C. Jersild is amazing sci-fi book exploring this. https://www.amazon.com/Living-Norvik-Press-English-Swedish/d... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._C._Jersild

What is the experience of a brain without a body? It's probably nightmarish.

Re: Pig brains partially revived four hours after death

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's more weird to have enemies.

If you are Jewish, anti-Semites are your enemy, even if you've never met them personally. If you are a person of color, white supremacists are your enemy, even if you have never personally met them. Etc. Your remark comes across to me like "I live an extremely privileged and cushy life and I think that's completely the norm. I'm not interested in understanding the reality of people for whom that's not the norm."

that is the norm, for that person and it's perfectly within his right to announce his experience. You falsely imply that it's anyone's duty to share in the misery of the human race or the consequences that come from believing in the supernatural. And the "priveleged" term is just a dog-whistle for a political agenda that has no place here.

Re: Pig brains partially revived four hours after death

#136

I don’t see why they bothered drugging the brains. Even if they became conscious, the pig’s bodies are dead and gone. There is nothing to feel, one is simply alone with their thoughts, perhaps even dreams.

That's quite the extraordinary claim. Is there any evidence to backup that assertion? As far as I'm aware nobody knows what a living brain detached from the body actually experiences.

Re: Pig brains partially revived four hours after death

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It'd actually be fantastic [...] Either my brain was chosen as a test, [...] or I'm part of a follow-up trial or large-scale roll-out Or your enemies took power, and when they were going through the vats for payback they picked yours (along with many others). If you think you have no enemies, or that you know them all personally, you are better than me.

Is it really that weird to not have "enemies"? There I people I wouldn't hang out with or wouldn't work with again, but I don't think I'd consider them enemies.

[flagged]

Re: Pig brains partially revived four hours after death

#138
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'd actually be fantastic. If I've donated my brain to anything like the modern research apparatus, I can be relatively sure of one of two possibilities: Either my brain was chosen as a test, in which case the project is on the news literally worldwide and the ethics have had the crap argued out of them and I can be sure that any limitations of the environment are due to technological shortcomings and I get to parti…

Option 3: the experience of being disconnected from your body is so distressing that you can do nothing but attempt (and fail) to scream. The scientists have no idea you are in distress. This goes on for months or years. By the time technology develops to a point where they can communicate with you, you are irreparably broken.

Unlikely, it’s probably a lot like a sensory deprivation tank. You likely start to hallucinate after a period of time and deteriorate to some strange state of existence.

Re: Pig brains partially revived four hours after death

#139

Freezing your head might be good idea. If one day you could simulate a braina and scan a brain in sufficient detail just freezing might be enough to keep sufficient detail. Who you are must be in chemistry of your brain not in the electricity because you are same person after epileptic seizure as before.

This presumes that you are the same person after a seizure, or even after a nap, or even after half a minute of ordinary life, or even a unitary "person" to begin with.

Re: Pig brains partially revived four hours after death

#140
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'd actually be fantastic. If I've donated my brain to anything like the modern research apparatus, I can be relatively sure of one of two possibilities: Either my brain was chosen as a test, in which case the project is on the news literally worldwide and the ethics have had the crap argued out of them and I can be sure that any limitations of the environment are due to technological shortcomings and I get to parti…

> I get to participate in fixing it You'd be ok with effectively being blind, deaf, mute, paralyzed, and probably brain damaged, in the name of science?

After living a full life? Probably?
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