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‘With brain preservation, nobody has to die’

theguardian.com

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Re: ‘With brain preservation, nobody has to die’

#11

Post by NickM »

I used to buy into this kind of stuff, but I've become more and more skeptical of the idea that you would still be yourself if your brain could be preserved/emulated/transplanted/whatever.

Our nervous system extends into our bodies. We feel emotions in our bodies. People with certain kinds of brain damage that prevents them from feeling emotions normally also experience trouble making rational decisions.

More recent research has been hinting that we may even hold certain types of memories outside our brains.

Humans have always been drawn to neat, tidy ideas, especially ones that draw clean boundaries: it's an appealing idea that our consciousness lives solely in our brains, and that our brains could function independently of our bodies, but it seems unlikely that it's really that simple.

Re: ‘With brain preservation, nobody has to die’

#12

Post by netsharc »

Jeroen Lanier in his book "You Are Not a Gadget" uses the example of a MIDI file: they can describe music, but even though they sound like the real thing, they are limited by the digital world. E.g. according to ChatGPT the minimum interval between 2 MIDI messages is 0.77 milliseconds.

And then he asks what sort of limitations might we have if our minds are software, and how would we not notice it?

Re: ‘With brain preservation, nobody has to die’

#13

Post by vanviegen »

BenFranklin100 wrote: post #8
JohnFen wrote: post #2

I think that immortality would be a disaster, personally. That we die is a critically important aspect of life. I'd prefer that we work on ways to make the death process less traumatic.

Nothing stopping you from dying. You make your personal decisions and let others make theirs.

There are some externalities at play here though...

- We currently only have one world that all living humans must share. - Imagine the sickening amount of power some people would be able to gather given a few centuries. That can't be good for everyone else.

Re: ‘With brain preservation, nobody has to die’

#14

Post by namrog84 »

NickM wrote: post #11

I used to buy into this kind of stuff, but I've become more and more skeptical of the idea that you would still be yourself if your brain could be preserved/emulated/transplanted/whatever. Our nervous system extends into our bodies. We feel emotions in our bodies. People with certain kinds of brain damage that prevents them from feeling emotions normally also experience trouble making rational decisions. More recent…

There is a bit of research and effort into a head transplants. I wonder if and when that is successful to see how it impacts the individual. Possibly having memories of the body or changing personality.

Re: ‘With brain preservation, nobody has to die’

#17

Post by wing-_-nuts »

JohnFen wrote: post #2

I think that immortality would be a disaster, personally. That we die is a critically important aspect of life. I'd prefer that we work on ways to make the death process less traumatic.

To be frank, the extent to which the very old now dominate science, business and politics is already unhealthy. I shudder to think what our world would look like if our most important positions of power were dominated by men born 110 years ago.

They say science advances one death at a time. Looking at congress, I think you can say the same for politics as well.

Re: ‘With brain preservation, nobody has to die’

#18

Post by mannanj »

namrog84 wrote: post #14
NickM wrote: post #11

I used to buy into this kind of stuff, but I've become more and more skeptical of the idea that you would still be yourself if your brain could be preserved/emulated/transplanted/whatever. Our nervous system extends into our bodies. We feel emotions in our bodies. People with certain kinds of brain damage that prevents them from feeling emotions normally also experience trouble making rational decisions. More recent…

There is a bit of research and effort into a head transplants. I wonder if and when that is successful to see how it impacts the individual. Possibly having memories of the body or changing personality.

where?

Re: ‘With brain preservation, nobody has to die’

#19

Post by boogr »

nancybelowzero wrote: post #7
JohnFen wrote: post #2

I think that immortality would be a disaster, personally. That we die is a critically important aspect of life. I'd prefer that we work on ways to make the death process less traumatic.

>critically important aspect of life Nothing says "life" like being dead.

[dead]

Re: ‘With brain preservation, nobody has to die’

#20

Post by latexr »

NickM wrote: post #11

I used to buy into this kind of stuff, but I've become more and more skeptical of the idea that you would still be yourself if your brain could be preserved/emulated/transplanted/whatever. Our nervous system extends into our bodies. We feel emotions in our bodies. People with certain kinds of brain damage that prevents them from feeling emotions normally also experience trouble making rational decisions. More recent…

For example, it’s widely reported that organ transplantation, especially heart transplants, may cause personality changes associated with the donor.

https://www.mdpi.com/2673-3943/5/1/2

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31739081/

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