This may sound a science fiction, but what do you think about it, anyways. It is not clear if it is simply a question of engineering complexity or science, that we can't yet write a software that can run as an independent human with its own mind, feelings, and decisions. If it is an engineering complexity problem only, and we consider Moore's law and the already existing brain-computer interface technology, would someone try if he/she can exit his/her body and enter a computing environment that absorbs and sustains him/her, without loosing his/her life? If this engineering would be done, then we can make small individual space crafts that are powered from space continuously like all existing space crafts, and transfer ourselves into it without our biological bodies, leaving our biological bodies behind. This way we will not need to fight with each other for survival any more, and we will not depend on Earth's resouces either. What are your opinions?
how would you do that? our consciousness is in our brain, how can we transfer that to a computer chip whilst remaining alive? i suppose we could some how link our memory/ brain waves to a computer and turn it to data. But then how would we continue to be and to think?
Thanks, this is exactly the question of this thread. There seems to be plenty of medical evidence, that our neural activities can't tell the difference between our bodies and some prostetic neural extention. This is why severely injured and paralized accident victims can get experimental electrodes insterted into their brains and then move objects on a screen with their thoughts, using transponders attached to the electrodes. If we specualte, that as computer networks become more and more powerful, and that these networks will have computing capacities and memories higher than we people, in a few decades, then what will we observe when whe connect those electrodes to a network instead of just a screen like today? Will the mind simply expand into the new network, like it moves the dots on the screen today? Also, will the mind remain agnostic about telling the difference between the biological nerve tissues and the computer network, and "wander away" into the network causing the the biological body to simply vegetate? And, will we be able to force the mind out into the network, kill the biological body, and entrap the mind inside the network?
I guess my question is this. Let's consider that the brain is, as medically observed, a search engine, trying to find the best matching sensory pattern in its memory with all incoming new sensory patterns. When the match is found, that pattern is what we call a "thought". This is so automatic, that even when we look at truely random things such as clouds and noisy screens of old unconnected TVs, we still claim to recognize patterns there. Now if we connect a computer network to the brain, the brain will include the extra patterns over the network in the search process because the brain is observed not to be able to tell the difference between biological nerves and electrodes. Will the search process itself also expand into the connected computer network, do you think? If yes, then we have partially left our biological bodies without dying first.
I think this would be the more likely outcome. Eventually the youth will adopt some kind of neural interface, probably non-invasive but by projecting waves through the optic or aural nerves that act as the carrier, expanding consciousness to an almost collective level. A very dangerous thing IMO. Imagine a "thought internet", a collective consciousness. Of course with the popularity of body modification its conceivable in the not-distant future to see implants and such that do all kinds of things, electronic drugs,etc.. "Freedom" of the body would become an afterthought to such persons who would naturally assume themselves superior to the non-connected humans.. fast dystopia.
