How Much Does Your “Ghost” Weigh? (Because Science w/ Kyle Hill)

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Ghost in the Shell shows us a world where people’s consciousness or “ghost” can be downloaded into another more technologically advanced body, but how would that work? Kyle weighs the options on this week's Because Science!
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Because Science every Thursday.
Artist: Andrew Bowser
Learn more:
• HOW MUCH KNOWLEDGE DOES THE BRAIN HOLD? slate.me/2nvQsyf
• FLASH STORAGE WEIGHT nyti.ms/2nMCD0j
• CALCULATION bit.ly/2o8kWJb
• ORDER OF MAGNITUDE MASS bit.ly/2obwKLe
• HOW DOES FLASH MEMORY WORK? bit.ly/2nMuTLL

[@Nerdist]

How does the Major's badass "thermoptic" camouflage work? New mini-episode over on my Insta (instagram.com/sci_Phile/). Thanks for watching! -- KH

[@kylo-juju3796]

two ideas to because science show can a living animal generate an emp (pacific rim, godzilla) and can an hologram have mass (yugioh, maybe other shows idk)

[@modicawolf97]

Nerdist Hi my name's Kyle Hill and I saw absurdly awesome amounts of science and nonchalantly write backwards like nobody's bidness. And this is because science SURPRISE LIGHTSABER!!!!!!

[@Soundafek]

Nerdist Humans weren't created with a soul....humans and animals ARE souls Genesis 2:7...

[@abernathyrah3513]

What would you attribute the 21g loss of weight after death to?

[@abernathyrah3513]

yes because we all know that the bible is scientifically accurate

[@farasapt6579]

IT'S BEEN 74 YEARS, BUT I'M STILL WAITING FOR THAT STAR-LORD EPISODE. RIP FARASAPT 2003-2071

[@Nerdist]

Calm down I'll get to it -- KH

[@aritapper4279]

Can we get a video about Riddick's eyes, please? Edit: I meant like how the surgery and whole human augmentation thing.

[@DeathTheKid6778]

Ari Tapper All you need are studies on nocturnal fauna.

[@ZelphTheWebmancer]

Nah, I prefer -Thor- Kyle to do a video about it

[@aritapper4279]

I meant like the surgery and stuff. I get that the actual idea is just like almost every nocturnal (and some not nocturnal) animal.

[@rafaelalodio5116]

Up

[@omarjustinsmith2257]

Ari Tapper Daredevil

[@PlayTheMind]

Depends how many burritos you had the night before.

[@HallisV2]

PlayTheMind I had 8

[@SullenSecret]

I don't know how the movie or manga did it, but the series showed that the brains were fully human and were inserted into a life support system that was then inserted into an artificial body. In addition, the brains were altered with implants that went through the entire brain like rivers which gave computing abilities. This was called a cyberbrain and could be done to almost anyone. FYI.

[@QuintarFarenor]

In the end of the Movie (the old one) she transfers her memory to another body...I don't think she changed flesh brains.

[@Bolshoi333]

I was always under the impression that the Major was a special case in that sense. That most people just had cybernetic implants, but she was unique because she was fully cybernetic.

[@KhanGarth]

CBebop 4Ever cyber brains have roughly 3-5% of the persons original organic brain, they are mostly a life support box with computers hooked up to the small piece of brain.

[@KhanGarth]

Bolshoi333 Batou and several other Sec9 members are full cyborg. Not to mention multiple of the bad guys they fought.

[@SullenSecret]

A cyborg is a merge of technology and the body. Just saying...

[@recordingalex1oo]

This show is my new drug

[@darknightgaming5716]

Lol

[@mathewdix975]

This was just an amazing video dude. When you were rehearsing or writing did you just completely put yourself in awe as you did all of us? I thought I was one of the only people that ever would think this is me as my consciousness, but blew me away.

[@Little_frog_films]

I found your show a few days ago, I've pretty much watched your entire back catalogue. Keep on being awesome, love it

[@Nerdist]

Thank you so much! -- KH

[@GraphicAnomaly]

This reminds me what I've learned in my taijutsu classes. We are asked "what is the universe to you?" We are made up of the same molecules as everything else around us. Therefore, we can see our bodies as elements just like our surroundings. In essence, we are part of the universe. What separates us from, say, a chair. Is our consciousness. The sense we say I. Like "I went to the store". You don't say, "My mass of muscles, bones, and blood took my brain to the store". These monks in the early 18th century studied what our consciousness really is. Our sense of "I". For example. If you close your eyes and reach out to your sides, then make them come back and touch each other, you can do this with out using your eyes, this is your spacial recognition. You can "see" them in your mind and move them accordingly. It's really cool seeing science and philosophical thoughts come together as one. ;)

[@SimplyKomplicated]

You hurt my brain with every episode of Because Science. Thank you so much for the extreme knowledge.

[@ThrottleKitty]

I was hoping you'd mention the movie Chappie! It proposes that consciousness is almost like an electrical code that can actually be copied on to a literal flash drive and moved to a robot body. (or even sent over a wireless signal to one) It's most likely inspired by Ghost in the Shell, and relates pretty directly to what you are talking about in this video! :3

[@selflessdeath8119]

I think, it could be possible if you downloaded it, but only if you put some sort of emulator in. Like a machine, pretending to be your body, and your brain's function could live through that, making you slowly ease into it. From there, you could go to sleep and wait until a robot body

[@ThrottleKitty]

WTF KZbin, why are the responses marked as spam? To the comment KZbin marked spam on it's own and won't let me restore: I am talking about the end of the movie, where a human consciousness is coped saved and transferred a couple different times.

[@rybolenefishbean4883]

just started watching mythbusters the search, been watching your vids for a little while but only just sub today. thank you for giving me the info i didnt know i wanted to know ☺

[@theSUICIDEfox]

"How much does my ghost weight?" Enough to scare me from stepping on a scale.

[@michaeldiebold8847]

best video so far. I loved it on so many levels.

[@joelkurtinitis2895]

Great episode. Raises a lot of great questions.

[@SolarTwinLunarKing]

Gotta watch this a few times. Fascinating

[@KaNgUrUhBR]

One of my favorite episodes ever.

[@NotThatGuy_YepThatGuy]

This is without a doubt my favorite episode.

[@Like34ninjas]

easily one of my top favorite episodes.

[@lexauz]

What´s with that Michael Stevens quote at the end?!?!?!?! Lol! Is like the other day, you said: But that's just a theory, A...Because science!! XD love that!!!

[@alstone4253]

Could you do an episode on whether it's scientifically possible to focus your chi like on Iron Fist?

[@Marcodiazgrey]

Nice video haven't seen the live action movie but i will enjoy it none the less. Also your videos are great keep it going.

[@kainoaexplores]

Hey, Kyle, I'm curious if you could do some breakdowns on Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat characters. How could Ryu produce a Hadoken? Or Ken being able to throw a flaming Shoryuken? How strong would Sub Zero have to be to pull off someone's head? How are the Mortal Kombat characters able to morph into their animal counterparts? Love the show, I've seen every episode. I was going to ask how does Sub Zero produce his ice powers then I remembered the episode you did on Ice Man so problem solved. Keep up the great work!

[@aqualeung]

Follow up question. Can we do the same energy calculations for a non-cyber brain? We understand the what neurotransmitters are used to facilitate information transfer between neurons so a mass differential for the signaler/recovery process would also have to factor in right? Or would it be better to work from the macro end and see how much caloric energy an active brain uses since individual neuron firings may be harder to estimate than that of a cyber brain?

[@Bcdunlap]

I love Ghost In The Shell! I'd love to see more episodes about it.

[@mlmerricks]

Love all the references to the series! Haha

[@Havroclable]

I would love to see a video on how Tiberium from the Command and Conquer series might be made off and how the vapours from these crystals can kill. Also, maybe also look into the different strains and maybe find the closest to a real life counterpart to these crystals and their effects.

[@wellhither3000]

Nice to see you myth busters. look your vids and keep it up

[@MazokuJun]

The original manga did have author comments between box frames stating the difference in strength level of a full mechanical body and a part synthetic one. The full cyborg/robot can have a much higher output only limited by the material used, while a part robotic structure like an arm on a fleshy body will have the limit of the human parts.

[@thomasfuller1844]

I have an idea for an episode : Is there a scientific explanation for how some species in alien sci fi have different colors of blood, love your show btw, you're awesome

[@chrisdooley6468]

I actually like how you make my head hurt watching these lol

[@mjstory1976]

Kyle's face at the end was hilarious

[@akitoakito]

great video keep up the good work💯😎

[@jujubaoil]

Your comment on how we will each have a unique (and awesome) arrangement of ones and zeroes made me think about the statistical probability uniqueness. In particular, I immediately thought about Dr. Manhattan's speech about "thermodynamic miracles" in Watchmen. He says, "To distill so specific a form from that chaos of improbability, like turning air to gold...that is the crowning unlikelihood." But how improbable is it, really for your parents to meet, conceive, and give birth to you, specifically? Is there a statistical equation for this?

[@aeliascent1174]

"We think of ourselves as fleshy heavy things." But... but... luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.

[@SNOWSOS]

If you stood right in the way of a force field as it was turned on would it cut you in half or?

[@matthewosborne8384]

However it is known that the weight of an electron is 9.10938356(11)×10−31 kg. Discover magazine states that a bit on a capacitor is 40,000 electrons then its weight is 3.64×10−26 kg/bit. 2.5PB is 2.5×10+15 bytes, ergo n = 2.5×10+15 x 3.64×10−26 = 9.1x10-11 or 0.000000000091, which equates to 91pg not 100fg

[@DavidPerez-dt9nb]

the 21 grs experiments is of public domain, if I remember correctly the 6 patients that were evaluated weighted a varying amount of grams less after dying. The less than rigorous experiment fails to take account for several variables that could've produced the weight loss.

[@DungeonmasterOberon]

In the Kirby right back at ya series when Kirby gets the cutter ability, how sharp would a blade half to be to cleanly cut someone into two parts, assuming that the weird physics of the cutter applied and turned one person into two

[@Albert_Wesker_1969]

Interesting video topic Kyle.

[@libbyssuperman]

I absolutely love because science, thank you Kyle for being awesome :). You're necklace this episode makes it look like you took a "Surprise Lightsaber" to the neck lol

[@alexmitroi9575]

"super badass but besides the point" is my new favourite sentence ever

[@XperimentorEES]

Reminds me of a book I read over a decade ago, unrelated to weight but focusing on how one would get used to being conscious outside of the human body, although a fascinating read I can't remember the name of it. However to oversimplify it, 'your eyes ears and hands are extensions of your mind, prosthetics are artificial analogs doing the same thing, so living from a robot wouldn't be much different in the sense of perception once you get used to it'. Back on topic though my question is, would an EMP or rain kill a ghost in the shell?

[@davidleonreyes]

Didn't mention the upcoming live-action movie at all. That's a nice low-key burn.

[@Nerdist]

Not a burn, just not directly related. -- KH

[@davidleonreyes]

A guy can dream.

[@hyperdeath84]

Yet obviously released near the film's release because people will be searching for "Ghost In The Shell" related content. I'm expecting new Spider-Man and Star Wars videos when they come out; it's a bit like a companion piece to pop culture events (well, certain pop culture events, I don't expect one of these videos explaining why so many people like that shit popstar I hate).

[@Krillinjustchillin]

Can you cover some of the Science of Psycho Pass.I believe there are some interesting science ideas in the show that would be fun to cover.

[@av_8596]

I was wondering if you could do a video on the Omnitrix from Ben 10. How the transformations would work, would there be any damage when the transformations finish, e.g. mutations, etc.

[@erbgorre]

i remember how wamdue project - king of my castle was the first CD i ever bought back in the day mainly cause i tought the music video was so cool ;D

[@closair]

I feel myself along my spine and in my brain.

[@hispanic_panic7762]

Love your videos! I look forward to them every week, but I want to know how you do you decide what to compare things to. Like when you figured out that the mass of the data was in femtograms how did you know to compare that against a snowflake.do you have several examples and just choose the one that has the biggest impact.

[@DragonJedi0]

This kinda explains why the Ghost Containment Unit in Ghostbusters is so small despite having captured so many ghosts. I was a kid when I saw the first Ghostbusters film and always wondered how they were able to store so many ghost traps in the containment unit, but now I realize it isn't the trap they're storing, but the energy inside the trap. Even after growing up and realizing the practicals of using a few traps on every job instead of making a new one each time, I still wondered how they stored so many ghosts. If the ghosts only weigh 100fg each, then you could theoretically house millions of ghosts before storage space became an issue. That is...until dickless shuts off your protection grid. :P

[@msrlapin99]

Dude, that got so poetic after a while it was nearly Saganesque.

[@Sophistry0001]

In the Ghost in the Shell universe, do they talk about the power supply that a shell would use? That seems like the biggest issue to me. Having to plug in to charge would kinda suck, but I guess you could do it at night, otherwise you probably wouldn't need to sleep.

[@erikvalentine5568]

Could we get a video on that most classic of "Speedster" powers, running on water?

[@paulcoy9060]

2:44 That's what I'm here for - the cheap physical comedy ! Wow, I just had a great idea, how about a Nerdist version of Scooby Doo, with you playing Shaggy, Dan can be Freddy, Jessica is Daphne, I don't know who would be Velma though, or the voice of Scooby.

[@FamousNemanja]

As soon as i was done with watching Ghost in the Shell, this video came up...Interesting

[@johnmason5338]

Hit you up on twitter asking about Freezing and shattering Human Limbs. That'd make you a bit lighter at time of death too!! Great videos!!

[@jamcalx]

SO LITTLE IS CAPABLE OF DOING SO MUCH, IT'S AMAZING!

[@catman1353]

This was trippy AF

[@blakehealey8022]

Please do a video on the biology of calvin the matian from the movie life.

[@Stark578]

Nice fanart in the end...

[@superpaul79]

I tried pointing to where I thought I was, now my pinky is stuck in my urethra. Thanks a lot, Hill!!

[@shenron4]

talk about nakid major being invisible vs a body suit that makes you invisible

[@stm7810]

So cool!

[@matthewbaugh2432]

Very cool! Now, you have a leg up on another ancient and insoluble question. If we have the mass of the "ghost" and can somehow figure density, we can get the effective volume of the ghost. Compare that to the surface area of the head of a pin, assume ghosts = angels and add some dancing, and voila!

[@Musicinaminute1]

Oh man, this episode is heavy (pun intended) Let the existentialism set in!

[@428lonewolf]

I would like to see a Because Science on how much energy is released during a quickening from Highlander

[@HuslWusl]

Pretty spooky episode... better call the Ghostbusters!

[@Nyghtking]

If you want to me to point to the part of myself that experiences the world, that would be the entirety of my body as all of my body has something to do with experiencing the world around me. If you want to get specific my brain if my true self as my brain interprets everything I experience into information I can understand.

[@whowhodoo]

I have a question, how much force would Vash the Stampede's gun have to use in order to alter the trajectory of Gofsef Nebraska the giant's fist?

[@hyperionnewspaper]

Could you please do a short commercial show casing the brand of markers you use.(for the artists) Thanks. 🥰

[@sketch6835]

An thank you for getting it right!

[@tobiuchiha4787]

Can somebody tell me what is the name of the soundtrack in all "Because Science" videos? It's majestic..

[@redisk]

You mentioned quantum capacitor state in the 'weight of your ghost' video. Can you elaborate or link to quantum in modern pcs? Can someone help even if he doesn't respond?

[@MrDigitalCypher]

man, this episode was pretty deep.

[@human7740]

Where did you get all this data kyle? I'd really like to know.

[@adammyers05]

I think it's safe to say based on the information available to the public - we are still 100+ years away from consciousness transfers. I'm not talking about brain moving to another body. I'm talking about that fact that we would need to hone in on this supposed ghost and capture it.....then safely transfer it. Sadly, we aren't even sorta close.

[@sexythegod614]

I had no idea you were on myth busters now @Kyle Hill

[@sassywombat1189]

Would the transferred consciousness be you or a copy?

[@erbgorre]

that depends what "you" is, is you you? :/

[@seraphin01]

ideally that would be the same you for a split second.. after that it's gonna be a different being with different experiences.. years apart the two "you" could be worlds apart depending on their lives.. don't forget every couple of years our cells renew itself completely.. so yeah brain food

[@sassywombat1189]

Exactly my thought.

[@nitrofighter58]

I think thats called the ship in a bottle paradox or something like that

[@prathamsrivastava7111]

Ship of Theseus paradox

[@Christian-tj6fq]

I got so hyped for a Destiny theory. Still great video though

[@kurtdenter1799]

Pointing at your head to show where your are is like yelling at your computer-screen and not the tower when your computer doesn't work

[@supermansuperman9066]

A CHICKEN WITH IT'S HEAD JUST REMOVED WILL RUN HUNDREDS OF FEET. A HUMAN WILL ALSO REACT WITH NO HEAD. BUT NOBODY THINKS THE BODY CAN FEEL OR THINK IN THAT STATE. A HEAD REMOVED FROM A HUMAN BODY BY GUILLOTINE WILL BE ALIVE FOR NEAR 7 SECONDS, BUT, UNCONCIOUS .

[@Nawor1996]

to play with the idea, i wonder if the 21g weight would change depending on experiences. and the added knowledge from this episode makes GitS even better imo

[@Esburito]

1:57 In ghost in the shell they dont download your brain or the information from it, they just but it in a mechanical body that the brain can control.

[@randomrecordings173]

What about the fact that you would no longer have a death and your data would continue, this means it would be higher than the range you gave as memory as a max. This means that if your conscious would be placed into a robot, and allowed to continue. Than couldn't it get a larger weight overall until the end where everyone runs out of batteries near similar times resulting in a end that is not a end at the same time. That means your memory would be built up and leaving up a certain point that your weight would feel way different upon possible terrestrial rescue accidental or not. So couldn't it be endless with how much a conscious weighs

[@scottmcdonald4009]

I asked this on @Sci_Phile, but I wanted to make sure to spam this question as much as possible. Assuming that magic/chi manipulation could cause it, what chemical reactions would be necessary to cause Iron Fist's skin, muscles, and bones to become strong enough to create sufficient force to punch stuff without damaging his body?

[@killer13324]

+Nerdist would the Pelican drop ship from the halo games [1-3] be viable in the real world for what it does in the games? Really hoping you do a Because Science episode on this.

[@NeoDragonCount]

Wait... I don't know if it was different in the original Ghost in the Shell, but at least in the anime Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex a cyber brain isn't entirely artificial; the basic variant being a casing (hence "Ghost in the Shell") that interfaces the brain with built-in computer technology, while the more extensive ones replace about 80% of the overall brain.

[@two-face1041]

Do an episode on Death Star.... surely it has enough mass to affect the galaxy someway and the planets around it

[@kingyuckfou4748]

How about a video on the brain and limbic system and how its connected to the Android body and if it is possible?

[@noralockhart4340]

I'd still /really/ like to see how you could use science to explain the Hyperbolic Time Chamber from Dragon Ball Z (though that may be like trying to use science to explain magic).

[@gerlach1025]

If you "transfer" your conciseness to a machine, are you actually transferring it or is it just a copy? If it is a copy, is it a perfect copy, or does every "transfer" degrade a bit like making a photocopy?

[@keno8263]

this is somewhat unrelated but are they transferring consciousness or are the creating a second "you" in a robot with your personality and memories?

[@vladtheimpaler9577]

Hey Kyle,here is a suggestion for a video. In the Devil may cry 4 game the badass protagonist Dante stops a punch from a titanic animated statue called the Savior and shrugges it off like a true badass would.How much force can a punch like that pack and how much weight is Dante lifting when stoping it? And by the way,I am trying to insintivise the fact that the old Dante is alot better and more badass then the new one,and a video of you showcaseing the original would be great.

[@CuddlyPsycho1134]

This is fascinating. I have my doubts as to whether it will ever be possible. I think a more realistic idea is a brain in a jar. When my physical body dies I really hope the computer to brain interface technology has advanced enough that I could basically have my brain floating in a jar and covered with electrodes and wires that allow me to remotely control a robot or android body while my brain remains safely stored away in a secure vault. Hey, could you do a video on the concept of a brain in a jar?

[@balthazare18]

loved the video! isn't this the wrong way to look at it though? you measured the weight for the change of energy between a 1 and 0...wouldn't the weight be the lack of its changing as well? like the cumulative mass of all electrons or whatever ever involved?

[@dwp1slyfox]

This was a really good one....fascinating. My ghost exists in a parallel dimension, mere picometers from our own, btw. It's very angry.

[@robinbruce9575]

thx now I'm questioning the entire existence again xD

[@severoruiz18]

Morphing / Morphing grid because science episode please

[@h_lapp]

Can you explain Deja Vu? I get lots of them when I was a child. Now the dreams are happening in real life but not exact copies but a real close one

[@davidholbrook2653]

My theory is that we are all already dead and we all are just repeating life over and over as ghosts in a ghost world forever and the heat death of the universe already happened.

[@shingshongshamalama]

Actually, Kyle, she would be using her arm muscles to pull on the hatch, but it would be her _legs_ doing the real hard work of trying to lever her body weight up away from the hull. The arms are just there to pull the hatch along. So it's entirely plausible to rip your own robot arms off trying to open a tank. Because science.

[@V3rP]

Would be more interesting if you calculate the data needed to reconstruct a human body (cloning I guess?) and try to weigh that data instead and see if there is a more important difference. Just a thought.