Life as a Brain in a Jar

Science fiction loves to show us disembodied heads or brains floating in jars, but could this be one route to extending our lives? Or could you already be one living in false reality?
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Credits
:
Life as a
Brain in a Jar
Episode 246; July 9, 2020
Written, Produced & Narrated by
Isaac Arthur
Editors
Darius Said
Jerry Guern
Keith Blockus
S. Kopperud
Cover Art:
Jakub Grygier www.artstation.com/jakub_grygier
Graphics
:
Jeremy Jozwik www.artstation.com/zeuxis_of_...
Sergio Botero www.artstation.com/sboterod
Udo Schroeter
Music Courtesy of Epidemic Sound epidemicsound.com/creator

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Morning everyone! There's a new topic poll over on the community tab too :)

[@iminformedbecauseisawabunc9402]

Do you think we're all quantumly immortal?

[@archdornan1155]

good morning isaac

[@adamdean5881]

Good Morning!

[@heavymeddle28]

Good evening and much love from Thailand 🇹🇭 ❤️

[@kevinbarber2795]

Isaac Arthur So if you get your mech body and I get my cyborg body, would you be up for essentially laser tag with real weapons and giant robots? We could always remotely control them. Makes you wonder about future entertainment and pastimes.

[@someguycalledcerberus9805]

"The brain is the most important organ of the body" - The brain

[@RydarkVoyager]

While I agree, this debate was settled earlier by the anus, and all the other organs had to bend the knee...

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

I think I'll need to borrow that line sometime :) Possibly Juan's too

[@someguycalledcerberus9805]

@@isaacarthurSFIA Hah! It's a pretty ancient joke, but I'm glad you liked it! :)

[@ColdHawk]

The brain; most self-centered organ EVER!

[@ZephLodwick]

The brain! There is nothing like the brain. It's the king of our anatomy, And ever shall it reign!

[@QuestionEverythingButWHY]

“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom.” ― Isaac Asimov

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

Form sjw to red hat maga people their insane and the one who suffer are the more rational ones

[@ColdHawk]

My suspicion is that there should be an exponent in that equation.... as in scientific understanding increases exponentially faster than society’s wisdom.

[@dansands8140]

@@USSAnimeNCC- Most human beings don't have the ability to reason, or it is very limited. Our species did not cross the threshold to sapience and keep going; we're still right on the brink. When average people start going off the deep end, it's our fault for not getting them the programming they needed.

[@lknanml]

@@dansands8140 That's a pretty good basic sum up right there. Well done!

[@ozzymandius666]

Meh. Whoever thought that society gathers wisdom is a fool.

[@HolyKoolaid]

My jar's nicer than your jar.

[@satyamprakash7030]

Fools your jar is just a simulation, you are living In simulation which is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itsf is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation which itself is a simulation and that's the reality. A true reality.

[@heavymeddle28]

My mom just let me use the old pickle jar... 😭

[@peytonpanos7026]

My jar is an imperator class titan.

[@JohnSagin-SimViDeLucis579]

Sorry for how you saw us last night, she left the door ajar

[@ivantimofeev2233]

@@satyamprakash7030 my simulation is better than your simulation

[@kevincrady2831]

1. Install brains in battlemechs. 2. Marines are now literally jarheads.

[@jhoughjr1]

"Even in death I still serve!"

[@ufuker5754]

DİE for emperor twice

[@wallis8288]

for the machine is immortal

[@MR3DDev]

Remember kids, when uploading your mind you are doing a copy and paste, not a cut and paste. Source: SOMA

[@type56]

I really enjoyed that game and the premise except the way they tried to make that the plot “twist” when it had been clearly stated the ENTIRE game.

[@RawkL0bster]

@@type56 Hey, the main character actually had brain damage. :P

[@Sereze001]

That game is the primary reason as to why I'm against brain uploading.

[@MR3DDev]

@@Sereze001 I am not against per se, I just think is silly. If someone wants to make a copy of him/herself they could have children.

[@davidbastardo4154]

I thought it was a Brave New World reference.

[@drbonerstein8411]

Isaac: The brain in a jar is usually used in comedic sci-fi. D&D Mind Flayers: Sticking brains in jars because they find the confused and horrific thoughts pleasurable and relaxing while they mentally torture them with psychic attacks and complete sensory deprivation.

[@lolstationvita5922]

Actually Brain in jar theme often used in dramatic ways. It's a fate worse than death.

[@creativedesignation7880]

Imagine waking up in the morning and instead of just choosing clothes, you also choose the cybernetic body you want to wear for the day.

[@12201185234]

Lovecraft did the brain-in-a jar thing really well in "The Whisperer In The Darkness." Instead of glass, it was a metallic cylinder.

[@ozzymandius666]

An excellent, and chilling story.

[@mme.veronica735]

Actually one of his good stories.

[@miguelpereira9859]

@@ozzymandius666 That story is truly one of Lovecraft's best. You can feel the desperation and insanity creeping in

[@alexandriaoccasional-corte1346]

Well, the brain is the only organ where in case of a transplantation you actually want to be the donor...

[@Silverfirefly1]

Perhaps, but there are worse things than death.

[@meruneru20]

@@Silverfirefly1 Yeah, honestly i would rather die than live with a really serious mental illness or brain damage

[@loganbuser8636]

It's not a brain transplant it's a body transplant.

[@omnianti0]

@@Silverfirefly1 do you endured them as extrem pains you wanted to die for stop it and finally you recovered what a deception isnt

[@omnianti0]

@@loganbuser8636 beheaded or bebodyed

[@conall9415]

11:46, Having your brain grafted into an animal sounds like next level furry.

[@mrmaxwell346]

UwU

[@MardrukZeiss]

"We are all aware that the senses can be deceived, the eyes fooled. But how can we be sure our senses are not being deceived at any particular time, or even all the time? Might I just be a brain in a tank somewhere, tricked all my life into believing in the events of this world by some insane computer? And does my life gain or lose meaning based on my reaction to such solipsism?" - Project PYRRHO, Specimen 46, Vat 7 (Subject termination advised)

[@kintsugiezo6539]

Good game, SMAC

[@pridefulobserver3807]

Golden SMAC reference

[@HansLemurson]

My favorite quote!

[@DecemberGalaxy0]

nope, a computer bigger than the universe, that computes uncomputable, nope. you see, these wordings are meaningless, might fool uneducated people, and impose a degree of destruction on their lives. please, if you ever want to share such critical ideas discussing the very existence, then do it in a well educated amd researched way

[@julians7268]

You had a good run...

[@MGuyGadbois]

The ONE thing that confounds me (in this and other philosophical ideas) - *continuity of consciousness*

[@sheevpalprotein9132]

"Once you're back in my head, I'll watch television. Lots. And lots. Of television." "You... you wouldn't! That's inhuman!"

[@tonyhere7004]

You're a monster! A deranged monster!

[@sheevpalprotein9132]

@The Dude yep!

[@jetainzedan7946]

"Your heart cant be hooked up to a ... thought-synthesizing processor: you cant talk to it!"

[@Supermynci9000]

Where is that from?

[@Giganfan2k1]

I have had 6 heart surgeries, a couple of strokes, and a myriad of autoimmune problems. I would me a brain in a jar faster than I commented on this topic.

[@zachcrawford5]

I think you need a new jar.

[@scrapsteenlifeintheforks1943]

Keep the positivity up! My girlfriend deals with autoimmune and Type one diabetes, she is the light of my life.

[@antaresmc4407]

@Ярослав Л not really, if humans werent organic, the nanobots that attack them would adapt to deal with it. Inmunity is needed. And breakdown I dunno, but carbon is easier to (chemically talking) repair than silicon, but its down to how its made

[@Alexander_Kale]

@Ярослав Л might just result in new diseases and afflictions. Some of them undoubtedly manmade. Plus, a digital brain becomes susceptible to literal mind control. Rather than just blasting you with commercials, how would you like [insert company name here] having direct access to your memories?

[@JM-zg2jg]

@@Alexander_Kale I don't see convincing evidence that our organic brains aren't already succeptible to direct mind control.

[@AgeingBoyPsychic]

A living brain with absolutely no sensory input sounds like a hellish nightmare

[@worfoz]

Or it is the State of Enlightenment.

[@msct6080]

dreaming?

[@mtganalytic9796]

Why? No pain

[@darkcharge4206]

@@mtganalytic9796Because No sound No sight No touch, taste or anything Wont be able to breathe You’d be trapped in your own thoughts and never be able to escape your brain

[@levigriffin5553]

If I become a head in a jar, will that bar me from becoming predsident in a thousand years? Asking for a friend named Nixon

[@terrenusvitae]

Nixon's back!

[@alexandernorman5337]

You can be the President of the jar.

[@joosttijsen3559]

futurama right?

[@robertcampbell6349]

The Constitution says no BODY can serve more than two terms. It's silent on disembodied brains

[@tehbonehead]

"Agnew, give it my stamp of apprrroval!"

[@ogthebarbarian641]

Isaac Arthur: "Life as a brain in a jar" Lovecraft's Mi-Go: "Allow us to introduce ourselves"

[@Parker8752]

@@Nihil01010 You know, at this point I don't think I'd object all that strenuously...

[@miguelpereira9859]

Lovecraft's imagination was incredible, to think he wore that in 20's and 30's

[@ls200076]

Yu-Gi-Yo

[@nergalvondrool280]

IT IS I, DOCTOR MOBIUS!!

[@gibbous_silver]

What is this a reference to

[@nergalvondrool280]

@@gibbous_silver Fallout New Vegas, Old World Blues dlc.

[@justinalias7969]

Old World Blues Toaster: “Have you ever had to indulge an all-consuming urge to kill when you don’t have opposable thumbs? Or hands? Or anything other than a bread slot?” I could easily see us rehabilitating mass murders as household appliances... if we ever get too annoyed with them we can just drop them in The Sink! 🤣

[@thebaccathatchews]

George Foreman: As a head without a body, I envy the dead. Rich Little: No argument here.

[@heavymeddle28]

And that from one of the most clear headed "monsters" in boxing. I love Big George 😊

[@DJSbros]

What does he mean by that?

[@FLPhotoCatcher]

I think a copy of a person's brain would not make that copy the same 'person' - especially if it's a digital copy. If you could make a biological copy that was *exactly* the same, then yes. So many small variables can effect how someone thinks, remembers, etc.

[@thangs]

"With it's patented design, the fat drains directly into my mouth!" I'll confess, that line always grosses me out, no matter how many times I watch that episode. Damn you, Groening.

[@squirlmy]

@@DJSbros It's a line from Futurama, I believe. You have to credit it to a fictional future George Foreman as conceived of by Matt Groening.

[@jetainzedan7946]

"Where have we been hmm, crawling through radioactive muck again?" - Courier's Brain , Fallout New Vegas.

[@Satellite_Of_Love]

Wow, this video has over 7 thousand hand penises up!

[@D1SCORDANT3]

Old world blues was the best DLC for any game ever.

[@thenortherndoge]

i read this like how it was said in the game lol

[@joeycook6526]

“Incidentally, we’re just sticking with the trope of a brain in a nutrient bath for simplicity’s sake.” I laughed so hard at that sentence for some reason.

[@QuestionEverythingButWHY]

“Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known.” ― Carl Sagan

[@alexandernorman5337]

Yeah, but finding out you're a severed brain in a jar wouldn't seem incredible.

[@MarkGast]

I am old enough to actually hear that in his own voice. Thanks.

[@PerfectAlibi1]

I kinda prefer to keep a biological body, but a direct mind link to a giant mech I can control as if it's part of my body would be awesome ^^'

[@MichaelBirks]

Become one of the Emperor's Astartes Dreadnoughts. You, too, Can Protect.

[@pixelfairy]

so an exoskeleton mech? both parts exist. just have to put them together.

[@anoninunen]

"I'll only put my brain in a robot body if I can put it in a robot cat!" -- Hesh

[@cloudthief8918]

Or have your body be a giant ship, in which you can create a biological body if necessary. That would be cooler imo

[@AssistantCoreAQI]

- Yui, Before Becoming EVA-01.

[@MoonMoon-gu2ge]

In Eve Online, the lore talks about the scanning process they use for cloning your mind. At the moment of mapping, a toxin is administered that paralyzes the body and brain so that the scan can be made in perfect detail. So it is an example of one of the methods of copying that destroys the original.

[@ravenlord4]

It will be interesting to see how much of the mind a brain contributes to. Panic, fear, lust, excitement, pleasure, pain, desire, satiation, etc all rely at least in some part to hormones, chemicals, and the extended nervous system.

[@PetesRetroCollectables]

Gut bacteria can decide to make you "feel" hungry .

[@vikiai4241]

Also how much of the physical brain can be dispensed with without disrupting the mind hosted on it (I suspect a at least a portion of the inner brain's autonomous functions could be replaced with more conventional micro-controller blocks, doing the job presently running on fixed-function neural nets more efficiently and reliably).

[@kgb4150]

I think it might produce a lot of discomfort, because most of the brain is dedicated to running the body. We could need to simulate the body in order to circumvent this, at least at first

[@Karma92008]

*lust 100%* *Pleasure 100%* *Desire 100,000%*

[@andrewnicorn]

I'm not sure if my brain is worth a jar. Maybe a tupperware container.

[@baseballduster3321]

Ah, I’ve always wanted to be in a lab, but not like this!

[@squirlmy]

Help Wanted: Lab Assistant. We're looking to pickle your brain, so prior history of alcoholism is no issue!

[@MrKIMBO345]

The Ghost in the Shell is the example of the life as a brain in the jar. The good thing of have a brain in the container is feels natural compared to digital copies of brain. Great video of this topic.

[@PazLeBon]

wheres its eyes?

[@Quetzalcoatl_Feathered_Serpent]

@@PazLeBon Eyes are just sensory equipment. By the time of Ghost in the Shell the technology, medically and technologically had advanced to the point that you could easily replicate the human eye-sight.

[@PumpedSmartass]

Digital brains would feel the same for the digital mind ... yet you are still dying biological, so it’s doesn’t matter.

[@thezyreick4289]

@@PumpedSmartass I always thought it was ironic people believe copying thier brain preserves thier life, it's called a copy for a reason. If you copy a document and destroy the original, your still destroying the original. Altered carbon showed this pretty well. And even pointed out the fact that they're copies. Altered carbon is about people being able to upload thier brain data to a copy of their brain and set save states of thier brain and so on, all in a disc that is implanted to a artificial body between Vertebra. But they all said the original host the scans were based on did die and they're just copies of the different iterations of that person that came before them

[@floydlooney6837]

no point to a digital copy since it won't be YOU in there, just a copy

[@ethanblanke6873]

Imagine each neuron in your head getting replaced one by one by an artificial one, which is faster and more durable. That sounds awesome.

[@vortex_1336]

Ship of Theseus

[@The_Original_Hybrid]

Moravec Transfer

[@HOLDENPOPE]

@@vortex_1336 it's better than just copy and pasting the mind because you yourself wouldn't be lost in the process, *you* would still remain after all is said and done, presumably.

[@soniczforever5470]

I got a neurological condition at 18 I'm 36 it's not great. My sense of smell and eye sight are drastically altered.

[@RevantheBlack]

But we’re already brains in bone mechs wearing meat armor

[@miskakopperoinen8408]

Yup. Problem is, component interchangeability and damage containment capabilities in case of severe trauma (Such as loss of limbs or major internal organs) leave a lot of room for improvement.

[@randomenvelope]

I wouldn't call it armor.

[@hovant6666]

Cruelty Squad vibes

[@hovant6666]

@@randomenvelope sure it is, it even regenerates, sometimes

[@randomenvelope]

@@hovant6666 too slowly, its like wearing a water balloon for armor

[@lonjohnson5161]

I prefer the jar to an upload due to continuity of self; that is to say I want to continue rather than create someone new who remembers what I remember.

[@Niko-rf9or]

same dude, cuz it's not life extension if the original you still dies

[@dylanpresidafonseca2545]

It might be possible to just connect your brain to a computer, and, as you copy it, destroy the the part you've just copied, until the brain is fully simulated.

[@KeKcP]

@@dylanpresidafonseca2545 then comes the question: where is your conscious stored? What would it feel like to have your brain slowly destroyed and replaced by a machine? Are you still going to have the same level of brain capabilities? Are you still going to be you? Or just a copy of you who thinks they are you? If so, at what point do "you" disappear and a copy of you replaces you?

[@dylanpresidafonseca2545]

@@KeKcP well we can test it first once we get the tech. I imagine it'd be disorienting seeing how you'd be getting duplicate memories, and if it's not you... RIP.

[@SkoomaCat]

Those robobrains from fallout came to my mind instantly

[@nicholas209]

This video brought to you by the ASTOUNDING SCIENCE OF BIG MOUNTAIN

[@leeterthanyou]

BY OPPENHEIMER, WHICH ONE OF YOU SELF-PROFESSED GENIUSES HAS BEEN ADJUSTING MY VOLUME KNOB?!

[@Jacob-pu4zj]

WHAT IS THIS, A HIGH SCHOOL SCIENCE FAIR?! GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER, YOU'RE MAKING US LOOK LIKE A COLLECTION OF ROUND-EARTHERS!

[@YouTubecanfuckagoat]

Dr Morbius approves this message.

[@rojaws1183]

Shed your skinvelope and put your brain in a jar.

[@T--xo2uq]

so uhh... Got any mugs?

[@FloraJoannaK]

Tech today can deliver Brian in a Jar at best, and Jar-Jar at worst. Looking forward to the future...

[@ColdHawk]

As had been said: Aye, there’s the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come? Imagine going gently into the night with comforting thoughts of being awakened in a glorious new body in time to enjoy humanity’s brilliant future, only to realize you have been decanted in a future where the species has evolved so much that on your best day you are tolerated as a quaint, bumbling idiot. Ouch!

[@waynec4018]

Putting Brian in a jar is cruel. Brian's a cool dude with a big brain that could one day be put in a jar.

[@FloraJoannaK]

@@ColdHawk It could be tolerable. I'm seen as a bumbling fool *now*.

[@Pyxis10]

Meesa damndy to know whatz u haz done to mesa!?

[@marlonlacert8133]

What happens when Jar-Jar breaks?

[@jadeevetz9426]

"Personally I'd like to be in a giant mecha with gatling guns and missile racks" Amen, Isaac. Amen.

[@MantraHerbInchSin]

Those are some wise words brother

[@Satellite_Of_Love]

I want to put my brain in the body of a robot cat!

[@jacobstaten2366]

Legion of the Damned.

[@jfhalshsfdalkj]

I would have liked a moment to discuss that a brain in a jar can put on bodies like a regular person puts on clothing. Be a human wizard in the morning, saving a virtual world from evil. Switch to your day-job as a supervisor robot constructing orbital ring sections. End your day in an artificially grown human body (sans brain) where you have a family home in Megacity 7.

[@silverbane8065]

Don't forget the Titans and the Cognitors from the legends of Dune trilogy (butlerian jihad to battle of Corin) they had not only brains in jars who chose to get rid of the body to think better, and the Titans who did it to be able to add their canisters to machine bodies (Cymeks as they called them) so they could live for centuries. What about the Shell folks of Anne McCaffrey's SciFi universe? The ship who sang, the city who fought ect? Its a bit like brain in a jar, but they kind of used the system to be a life support system for the body's which were unable survive (but the minds inside those bodies were viable otherwise) Wouldn't it be nice, to strap on a starship and fly about? (There is also the ship who searched, who created bodies which a shell person could control so as to be able to be with their brawns. Always wondered if those became popular with the BB ships lol)

[@thamiordragonheart8682]

I loved those Anne McCaffery Books too. It's a clever idea for a world where computers just aren't as powerful as they are in a lot of SciFi.

[@silverbane8065]

@@thamiordragonheart8682 i loved the start of the ship who sang. where she was still a youngling in a small shell and the woman from the society came. and she showed her this painting on the head of a pin ^^ and then felt sorry for the poor unshelled human lol. and i love the idea of brains and brawns. its just sad that sometimes the ships go thru so many brawns.

[@marzi_kat]

I love how you talk about disassembling the whole Solar System as a big logistics problem and casually drop "ah yes, it's planned for the next week BTW"

[@ShoggothLord]

The Mi-Go would like to know your location.

[@poodytanx8611]

Now I'm just thinking of the brain cases in ghost in the shell

[@lbencz]

I'll never forget George R.R Martin's Wildcard novels... One of the characters had committed heinous crimes, and for this his brain was removed and implanted into an irrigation control system for processing power :D

[@brody3166]

YES, another video! I'm not exaggerating when I state that you are the content creator who's uploads excite me the most. The topics at hand are always fascinating and your research, presentation and pacing are excellent.

[@98_sam_]

Best content on KZbin hands down. I've been binge watching your videos for two months now and I'm addicted

[@EvilMrFoo]

always good timing, cheers Isaac

[@brackonstudios]

The segment (starting at 17:13) on not relying on hand-waves like 'eventual future tech' (as well as virtuous future humans), is why Isaac Arthur's videos are some of the best on futurism available. He doesn't lean into idealism or materialism (he seems focused on: Preserving the human experience of being human, as close, and as long as we can). And much of that is done through voicing the ethic, philosophic, and metaphysical problems/concerns we have and will need to face. Just thought I'd express how refreshing it is to know there are people like him trying to show nightmares like A Brave New World, or 1984, or the Matrix aren't the only options for our future, or the future of our descendants.

[@vikiai4241]

Yes. Even when he does have to hand-wave (eg: far-future topics) he does it in a very non-hand-wavey way.

[@Gruntguy55]

I see brain in a vat as a much more preferable alternative to mind uploading because conceousness could very well have a lot to do with continuity which would be broken by a scan.

[@wolfbyte3171]

If I went this route, I'd want to get put in some sort of vehicle. There's a sci fi series about these "brain-ships", starships that are essentially the "body" of brains in jars. That sounds cool.

[@The_Original_Hybrid]

That's very impractical and unnecessary. Why would you want to limit yourself to one specific vehicle, rather than a collection of nanobots, with the ability to shape-shift into any form you desire?

[@enyotheios2613]

Where do I sign up? My aspirations are to live long enough to become a brain in a jar controlling a remote body.

[@JohnSagin-SimViDeLucis579]

As long as said brain has at least *some* agency over being disconnected if not entirely assured to NEVER be cut off.

[@rojaws1183]

What's the fun in remote driving a body? Put my brain in a giant flying robot body please.

[@r-gart]

@@rojaws1183 I wouldnt want to be in a flying object if possible. Remote controlling is so much safer

[@mrladygray]

I would like to get a few extra bodies and become a Hive-Mind.

[@ozzymandius666]

You win 1000 years of sewer cleaning with occasional breaks for traffic managment on the frozen outpost of Rigel IX!

[@XD152awesomeness]

I particularly liked this episode.

[@kayskreed]

Anyone remember what happened when a human brain was placed in a tank in GITS? :) 'Brain in a jar' reminds me of that and Futurama of course. The main problem or important thing to keep in mind when it comes to brain copying/transplantation is "continued stream of consciousness" (subjective POV). If the original subjective POV/continued stream of consciousness is lost and a new one takes its place, that original individual could be said to have died and been replaced by a clone or identical twin. Imagine yourself right now, conscious and alive, and then you wake up in a mech and that's your new "body". Well, you definitely won't feel the same, but you're still experiencing and therefore still "alive" in some sense. It's still you experiencing as strange as that experience may be. But if they copied your brain, built a digital replica containing all your memories and personality traits, but you weren't experiencing any of it because you were still in the original body and/or dead, and someone else is having the experience instead, then that amounts to the creation of a new/different person, not the continued existence of the original.

[@Chunkhead]

"I'm thinking of having my entire body surgically removed." --Lintilla - explaining to Arthur Dent why she uses the Crisis Inducer.

[@bounceday]

Buddhist brain in a jar "I am one with the universe, the universe is one with me."

[@tintun8918]

That is not buddhism

[@danielavalsangiacomo6691]

Andre Astora indeed, it’s inversal truth.

[@TTheDDoctor]

One big reason I feel that people prefer being a brain in a jar over being digitally copied is because a copy of one's intelligence produces a _clone_ of them. It doesn't preserve the original mind, just create an identical progeny. By preserving the same brain, you preserve the continuity of your mind, therefore extending _your own_ life. However, I would propose that a hybrid between the two: systematically replacing neurons with nanomachines. This procedure would not interrupt the continuity of your mind, ensuring that you are the same individual synthetically as you were organically; the principle is not unlike when Isaac mentioned how the atoms which make up our neurons are continually being replaced. Thus, although the composition of our brain's computing material may change, the overall structure and patterns of consciousness do not get interrupted and/or duplicated somewhere else.

[@Highlyskeptical]

The issue of preserving all the brain's synapses perfectly without damage (not traditional cryonics) for 100's of years is reality as of 2 years ago, and something I plan to do someday, hopefully in the distant future. The guy below won the "Brain Preservation Foundation" contest, and founded the fledgling company Nectome. Search Ytube keywords- Robert McIntyre on Cryopreservation at the 1517 Social

[@glowingpools8244]

Me: Guess it’s time to sleep. KZbin recommendations: hold my jar

[@admiralsquatbar127]

When Issac Arthur goes, this is what will happen to his brain. It will be put up on an altar, and we will ask it questions like: "Can we move the Earth? We want to build a Super Galactic Highway through it." To which it will reply "Actually... yes."

[@croxmeister]

Yeah, keep my brain in an armored tank in an underground bunker while I remote control my android body over high speed network so I can try some extreme hobbies like base jumping without a parashoot.

[@anthonygrizzel4168]

I go, you go, we all go with the Mi-Go! Thanks Howard...wherever you are?

[@KnownNiche1999]

Isaac 'Univorse' Arthur

[@heavymeddle28]

This is gonna be interesting. Makes me think about a doc I saw about a guy waking up in a coma but he had zero ways of communicating but aware of everything. What a horrible life

[@mbarker_lng]

If you think about it, its a great tragedy that so many people are consigned to death every day because something went wrong with their body but their brain is completely untouched. Not just referring to the old here- people that suffered accidents or other traumas. Right now it seems like its still considered completely unethical to pursue 'brain in the jar' technology, but I bet a person trapped in a failing body would have an entirely different view on the subject.

[@cwdiode4521]

Imagine storing your brain in a jar and have it connected to just a normal body through em transmitions.

[@rayf7953]

Love your work, isaac!

[@spartanalex9006]

There better be some Fallout New Vegas references.

[@cybercephalopod3913]

There is actually a case for destructive uploading. Assuming we're doing scanning with photons, we need a high degree of precision in order to accurately copy someone. In order to get that accuracy, we need short wavelength photons. Radiation becomes damaging as the frequency increases. In other words, in order to get a precise enough scan of someone's brain and all of its processes, we might NEED to fry them with radiation. This all might be avoidable depending on how precise a scan needs to be. If it turns out all the intermediate chemical processes are critical to the scan, a destructive upload might be necessary. If tracking all the neuron locations/connections is all that's needed, we can probably work with something less destructive.

[@Alexander_Kale]

All that really means is that no one is going to use the machine. "If you step in here, you die." is usually a pretty good reason for people to not step in there.

[@elijahclaude3413]

Somebody read Fall, or Dodge in Hell. I was hoping he'd go over more of this idea, because they did make a good point that people will do this destructive process if it's deemed the only real possibility.

[@elijahclaude3413]

@@Alexander_Kale People would only do it after they die. So it's a choice of either it works and I'm alive again or it doesn't work and it doesn't matter anyways since I've already died.

[@Alexander_Kale]

​@@elijahclaude3413 That sounds more like delusion to me. In a destructive uploading setting, "you" would have no way of measuring whether or not it "worked", of course, but there are several thought experiments that suggest it does not. If you do non-destructive uploading, it is rather obvious that the guy in the computer is a copy, and that his memories are a lie. He is a person, yes, but while he remembers stepping into the machine, he did not in fact do that. You did. He was born after that memory was created. Even in a destructive uploading scenario, "you" are still present - as ashes on the floor of the chamber. In that case, you are dead of course, but that only changes YOUR status, it does nothing to "legitimate" your copy. The very fact that the chamber is labelled: "Step in here and die" should indicate to anyone "trying" it that this is well understood by everyone in the know to NOT be a method of immortality. So would be the waver you have to sign before stepping in, which absolves the company killing you from getting potentially sued for murder.

[@Alexander_Kale]

@Nakor Z personally, I would not call it a philosophical conundrum, but a question of knowledge. From the perspective of the universe, something either is a copy, or it is not. And I would hope that if a relative died, one would mourn his passing, presence of the copy or not. You know that the copy is not your father/brother/cousin. Your Lizard brain does not care of course. I would imagine, we invent a new term for something like that, should it ever happen. "Self descendant" or whatever, and the legal ramifications are potentially interesting. E.g.: Even in a non destructive upload scenario, the copy needs a birth certificate, that is easy enough. But it technically never finished school, and yet has the same knowledge and is as capable as the original, so would likely be awarded a degree regardless. But would he have a right to any of your property, intellectual or otherwise? He certainly can't go to your workplace and take your job. On the other hand, if you die and a copy is created in your stead, your wife might very convincingly argue that her husband is in fact dead and she wants nothing to do with his posthumous copy, dissolving the marriage. Or your sons might contest the right of the copy to inherit.

[@fugslayernominee1397]

Recently watched a show where brain scanners have to vaporize the head of a person to upload them in virtual worlds it was good but Isaac's videos are much more fun to watch and contemplate stuff.

[@d0x2f]

perfect timing

[@georgebulbakwa9017]

...something more solid than a glass mason jar... Yup, bust out the 40k dreadnought.

[@jonahisparanoid1767]

You are just too good at this, brain talk makes me happy, I am a self centered brain after all.

[@brainwashedbyevidence948]

You could technically call the skull a type of jar.

[@makke_macro]

so... Where's my mentats? ;D

[@fatih9016]

A robot body would be cool and all but I would rather my trusty self-repairing bone mech than a metal one that needs to be repaired.

[@chriscooke109]

Morning Isaac. Thank you for another video!

[@czperiod2576]

Thank God, I always wondered about being a brain in a jar. This answers those questions....

[@MrMatklug]

i never liked digital imortality, what is the use of imortality if you die?

[@vikiai4241]

Yes, it doesn't serve much purpose for the person being copy-uploaded. The only real use is if they have a difficult-to-replace skill/knowledge set, in which case the benefit is really for others.

[@barryon8706]

It depends on if you think the digital you is you.

[@justinbeath5169]

@NanuNanu81 as he said, it depends on what you view as you. I'd view a copy of me as me, regardless of whether it was a continuation of my consciousness or not

[@fr0stmourn3]

@@justinbeath5169 Your view quite frankly adds nothing to the topic and is not thought of when scientist discuss mortality. You can consider a clone 'you' all you want but please remove yourself from future discussion since your view is removed from the common thought. If you think that completely scanning your brain and installing it into a robot after killing your organic brain is you then join the discussion again. Understand that your comment about "whether it was a continue of my consciousness or not" is the whole point of the discussion. People want a brain transfer that is the same as falling asleep and waking up. People believe that you can scan the brain and install it but it will not be you continuing to live , which is different to falling asleep and waking up to live the next day.

[@zs9652]

@@fr0stmourn3 I thought Justin's comment was valid. If you think your consciousness is more like a computer program than anything else, then making a copy of your "consciousness program" and running it from another "machine" will not destroy either the original or the copy's claim to being you. Much like a video game's files getting copied to another computer are not considered an entirely different game. An interesting question from this viewpoint. How long does it take before the original and copy diverge from each other before yiu consider them two different people?

[@ColdHawk]

Really enjoying this video. Thanks for the weekly inspiration Isaac!

[@dannygjk]

I read a science fiction story decades ago which had brains in glass cases.

[@DonTekNO]

July 30 - Techno Barbarians I smell WH40K lore incoming again :D

[@jimBobuu]

I for one thank my Jar Overloards for providing such quality entertainment!

[@appc23]

Punishment? This got me thinking that this would be a great imprisonment+rehab system: temporarily cut off the inmate's past memories and feed them fake stimuli of a simulated reality such that he/she starts "from scratch". When the time is over, the inmate regains its past memories and gets to keep the memories of the experience during imprisonment and is let free. This allows him/her to compare it's decision in the simulated reality vs their actual past life ad perhaps change it for the better in the future. I'd love to know if there are introspective works/novels around that tackle something like this.

[@cosmic_gate476]

Morning Isaac. Hope you have a great week ahead, thanks for the upload

[@starscreamsghost148]

personally, if the technology is developped in my lifetime, i want to get my brain transplanted into a robot body. after that, i will use nanobots to gradually replace each of my neurons one at a time with artificial ones so i can become 100% robotic while preserving my original consciousness,

[@ECFOX909]

Would that be your original consciousness though as you have completely replaced the part of you that can be considered the original part.

[@SarevokRegor]

@@ECFOX909 You're body is already doing that with ordinary neurons. So the answer is yes, or no but you were already having the same thing happen to you.

[@jonathanshapiro6593]

Ethan Chase A difficult question as we are yet to determine where consciousness lies and what it is. I am against any option in which my own original consciousness isn’t preserved. A digital mind is of no worth to me as I will not perceive it, a copy will.

[@starscreamsghost148]

@@jonathanshapiro6593 this is exactly why i want to use nanobots to replace my neurons. if i replace one neuron at a time, it becomes like the ship of theseus: in the end all my parts are changed, but i am still the same consciousness, not a copy.

[@Armadder]

@@starscreamsghost148 you dont know if that will work though. You assume replacing 1 by one will preserve your consciousness. Tell me, is there a speed limit to how fast you can replace these neurons?

[@geekscentury]

The cybermen wish to know your location

[@rexmemo974]

I often think about Altered Carbon when these subjects occur, though that's essentially digitally transferring "consciousness" via physical chip that's rather easily destroyed.

[@uwtartarus]

In the books, the cortical stacks were made of diamond, so you had to use a very big energy weapon, not just any old bullet, to truedeath someone.

[@RCAvhstape]

I disagree with the cost of head freezing thing. A dead body can cost you a fair amount of money in terms of undertaking, coffins, and cemetery upkeep, but none of that is required for practical reasons, only by customs and law. If you are super cheap you just dig a hole and chuck the body in, which costs a whole lot less than running a cryo operation.

[@Diggnuts]

Tried to grab drink + snack while simultaneously hitting like.... Did not end well..

[@rodanderson8490]

Is it enough for us to just continue to exist and enjoy that existence? Don't we need a useful purpose also?

[@PeterSwinkels]

16:00 it is very easy to damage executable binary files to the point of uselessness by just changing a few bytes...

[@speckledjim_]

Can you imagine the torture of being kept alive in a watery jar, with no senses, just darkness, endless darkness................

[@funkknob]

This is why I still doubt reality 😂

[@PhilosopherRex]

My preferred method would be to incorporate AI into my own brain, then as my mortal brain fades, the AI brain takes more and more responsibility ... eventually what is left is the AI brain - but it's still me, just the next version of me ... our minds are always changing anyway, so seems compatible with how I work now anyway.

[@finneganso9301]

Tyler Jordan Very interesting concept.

[@Alexander_Kale]

Why would you make a difference between this and a destructive brain scan? In both cases, you have killed yourself and an AI copy lives on. In both cases you have destroyed your own brain, thus committed suicide, the only difference is the speed at which it happens.

[@FarseerOfCearath]

@@Alexander_Kale The idea is that there'd be a period of time where both brains work in tandem, presumably sharing the same consciousness. Only part of "you" would die (which is arguably something that already happens all the time anyway), as opposed to the whole thing all at once.

[@vikiai4241]

I have the same idea. I have been referring to it as a _mind segue_ .

[@maxwellsimon4538]

@@Alexander_Kale Every cell in your body gets gradually recycled over your life time. In seven years, not even a single atom in your body will be the same. If you do a process gradually and slowly enough, you won't interrupt the stream of consciousness, and soon you'll no longer have a gooey flesh computer for a brain, rather a cybernetic one. It's just changing the type of matter your brain gets slowly replaced by

[@MultiNacnud]

A flat earther tried to get a brain scan,the process failed as the scanner kept coming up with error 404.

[@ryankroeger3264]

I fell asleep with youtube autoplay going at your videos for 8 hours, enjoy the AD Revenue :) also I woke up at the perfect time hearing you explain why even if we are in a simulation that doesnt make us less real has put me at ease quite a bit.

[@thedoruk6324]

This topic has been Shown in the Star Wars where a Cult of delusional Priests have actively removed their brains and put onto Jar - Robots Regardless to say the results are not... pleasing for the common individuals like the Jabba's Twi'lek right hand

[@mill2712]

Bib Fortuna Also he also got his way out of that too. kzbin.info/www/bejne/kHjCZaaXhr13qpY

[@squirlmy]

Star Wars will forever be "space opera" to me, who saw the original in theaters long ago. I might Google this if it were a Star Trek episode, because I would believe at least a second's worth of thought was spent really imagining the consequences of being a cyborg.

[@Jay-jq6bl]

I wager 500 Quatloos on the newcomer.

[@nathanwhitechurch3769]

Love your work, always worth a listen

[@isaacarthurSFIA]

Much appreciated!

[@pyroneph]

Your voice is just getting better and better!! I really love your videos 😍

[@nachoolo]

I will never understand the people who say that brain uploading will make someone immortal. You're not really uploading someone's mind. You're making a copy of someone's mind, who will be immortal. The original person would still be mortal (or--worse--would be killed in the process). Uploading minds is a way to make human-like AI. Not immortal humans.

[@rccj13097]

That's why I would prefer a slow change from flesh to digital.

[@Armadder]

@@rccj13097 i really dont think that's how it works. Maybe if you could transform pre existing neurons into something that resembles computer chips (so a computer chip that has the same atoms as your neurons) that might work.