Michio Kaku: Could We Transport Our Consciousness Into Robots? | Big Think

[@bigthink]

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[@hawaiiman33]

Our consciousness comes from Father‘s light. Do you have to FIRST get, realize, understand that knowledge in order to process that. Our entire consciousness is a literal ball of eternal light energy, from Fathers light. It not only circulates in the center, or around the heart of our vessels chest, but, throughout our entire body. And the consciousness is something natural. You cannot put it in a Petri dish, or artificial intelligence because all it would do is Just past right through it. Our consciousness comes from Father‘s light. Do you have to FIRST get, realize, understand that knowledge in order to process that. Our entire consciousness is a literal ball of eternal light energy, from Fathers light. It not only circulates in the center, or around the heart of our vessels chest, but, throughout our entire body.

[@DE0DAT1989]

I love Michio Kaku for this fact alone: When he doesn't know something, he says he doesn't know. He doesn't jerk people around and act like he knows everything.

[@MrElicottero]

Well, he is for example completely unaware of neuroscience and philosophy of mind (and philosophy of science). This and other Big Think videos of him show that. He is also awfully pretentious.

[@MrElicottero]

Is that the best you can do?

[@MrElicottero]

+Pisstake I see you've figured it all out. It's almost like you're psychic or something.

[@MrElicottero]

+Pisstake I am in awe of your incredible ability to read me like an open Jacques Lacan seminar that I am.

[@BorisMiljkovic]

Nope. He is known for making unsubstantiated claims to make stupid people feel smart and inspired. Like a priest of scientism.

[@rafaelfreitas8477]

The fact that we know so little about consciousness is amazing, we don't know if it is produced by the brain or it exists without the body but interacts with it.

[@archicad3717]

What's certain is that without physical matter, there is no consciousness. On certain level even plants are conscious and I believe that every little thing in the Universe is conscious, including atoms themselves, at least on some level which is not zero. What's interesting though and what I believe, is that at some higher dimension above, there is only ONE consciousness connecting every consciousness of every being in the Universe. IMO, it ''d be very shallow to assume that every being in the Universe has their own consciousness (or so to say spirit) different than others. What would be so special about my body that I experience it only here and now in all the vastness of the infinite space and time? We are all just parts of the same stardust.

[@Keodo]

Topics like these just makes me sad that wasn't born a few decades later :(

[@jakeman025]

You will be born again don’t worry.

[@Clarkkent163]

@@jakeman025 and you know this to be true because........

[@jakeman025]

Alec Daniel because once you die and lose your consciousness it doesn’t just disappear forever. Even if it’s thousands of years before your next life you wouldn’t know it and that time scale is just a blip.

[@CVFunStuff]

jakeman025 you can’t physically picture what it’s like to die - no chance that your consciousness will transition at all. It could just “end”. Obviously it’s paradoxical to imagine, because there’s no way to imagine what it’s like to experience nothing.

[@jakeman025]

Chris Vanderloo I’m not saying it will transfer I’m saying it won’t cease to exist. When you are born it takes years for you to fully gain consciousness that’s why you don’t remember anything about the first few years of your life.

[@sabotsabotskij7047]

I just love how Michio Kaku speaks! With the curiosity of a child and he's never afraid to consider an idea, even it's something taken straight out of Star Trek... And it's never just a straight up "no" - he explains what we do know, what that means and what it might lead to in the future. Just incredible imo.

[@jonathansmith8344]

I love Michio Kaku so much. Sometimes I feel like he's me if I were insanely intelligent and much older...... and asian... He seems to see the world the same way I do and it's very satisfying to hear him talk

[@VeritasForYou]

+Jonathan Smith so you are not insanely intelligent, Asian and old man, than how do you feel him, like he is you?:D

[@vlonewhitley7718]

watch zietgiest on Netflix and your intelligence will be up to date

[@joshkumar5920]

same

[@Dessly5]

Jonathan Smith but the question is, is he actually like you, or are you molding you thoughts and ideas to match his. Since we as humans will tend to try to mold out perspective to try to match those we feel important to us weather it's a celebrity we really like, family member or friend, this is due to our social nature. neurologically we are all 10% different, and we won't really see things the same way, only in a similar way.

[@clydea3679]

DON'T PAT YOURSELF ON THE BACK, JONATHAN SMITH. THE GUY CAN BE WRONG SOMETIMES AND HE DOESN'T SEEM TO HAVE MUCH RESPECT FOR ANIMALS. THAT'S NOTHING TO BE PROUD OF.

[@xGoodOldSmurfehx]

just imagine the feeling of "waking up" and seeing your old organic body lying next to you ( O_O) i dunno if id feel scared or alien for a minute

[@elluciogm]

Not if all the cool guys were doing it

[@armrha]

You actually wouldn't be unconscious for the procedure. The thought experiment says you're awake the entire time, splitting your consciousness between one and the other and slowly working your way over. So you wouldn't 'wake up', you'd have been watching the procedure the whole time.

[@DigitalGalalxy]

That's kinda scary! I think I'd rather keep my organic body for a while, thanks! XD

[@Clarkkent163]

Well, that happened to me. About a thousand years ago, I died, my consciousness was uploaded to a robotic body. Now, after a thousand years, I'm still here, alive and shit. I'm a super fucking strong robot who can bench press 10,000 tonnes, basically the weight of a fucking freight train

[@yashaswikulshreshtha1588]

If you separate you consideration of yourself as being that body to your consciousness, thoughts etc then it won't hard for to think about it

[@camfg8908]

I hope I will live long enough to see this day. It will cost a lot to do this but I have been saving and investing for it since I was a kid, because since then the most important goal of my life has been to become immortal. I don't accept death. Period.

[@Xombie007]

Even if the technology or means were to become available, I imagine it would be kept a secret and only offered to the super-elite and genius whose minds are worth preserving. The way this world is, most people are meant to live for a while, accomplish what they can, and then pass on. If immortality could be achieved (even in a non-biological form), and it was made available to anyone who could simply afford it, there would be even more of a struggle for the dwindling resources that we as a planet are faced with even now. I don't think paying a ton of money alone would be enough--you'd have to be an extraordinary individual who can offer something rather useful to the world.

[@camfg8908]

One thing is, how can we actually proof to ourselves that if someone saves our consciousness to a computer while we still are alive, that it actually works when it's loaded back to a new body at some point later... I don't think there is any way to do that. And what would happen if they loaded it to another body while we still are living.... There are lots of questions we cannot answer.

[@user-pp8ru6uu1s]

@@Xombie007 I think when mind uploading arrives, it will be very expensive and only the rich will have it. After a few decades, the poorer individuals will have it.

[@brettlunden8268]

Dm G7

[@justinolson9502]

I believe that our memories could be duplicated but the conciseness is lost with the brain/body. The only way to live forever would be to synthesize our brains or imbed it with a material that would promote the structure and health of the organ.

[@ryry20002]

I've always had the same question about the transporters on Star Trek. You're broken down into trillions of molecules, converted to energy, transmitted, then reassembled somewhere else. I always wondered if a person could actually remain conscious during transport, and if the transported version of them is really them, or an exact duplicate.

[@HargyB]

You are your mind. Your mind makes you who you are. If you are worried about the loss of your physical self during the transferral well you can have your robot vessel made to look exactly like you. Wherever your mind goes, you go.

[@CGplay186]

Next step in technology: I gonna be a robot when i grow up.

[@purejuiceful]

I always had sexually identified as a super computer.

[@roguespiral]

wanna feel my hard drive?? (sorry couldnt resist)

[@TheCr1mson]

Speaking of which, you may want to get your USB port checked.

[@earthalien769]

LOL everybody on this thread killed me!

[@IllPearce]

How often are you getting tested for viruses?

[@spinachchilli3546]

I like them old and floppy

[@Bryanmondragon2023]

I will spend my whole life solving the mystery of immortality.

[@bilbo_gamers6417]

mankind's priorities never change, do they..

[@musically88there]

Made any progress?

[@travelerslife9583]

yeah, any progress made?

[@travelerslife9583]

Yeah, any progress made?

[@russxdxdxd4675]

have u even pass ur high school yet? if yes any progress?

[@redline1916]

I've heard of a game called SOMA in which the same thing happens. They see themselves as their original body, but in reality they are human minds copied onto robots. And if so, you probably would be the same person, but just dead for a split second and then alive again after the transfer. I would love to see the year it would become possible.

[@barszczpop]

That game made me dive into this topic of AI and cyberconsciousness, it's really fantastic. :D

[@theconquistador8862]

Carisoprodol? lol

[@redline1916]

The only problem with the game... Every single thing goes wrong and people lose their memory and the last humans turn into these weird zombie mutant creatures underwater. They scared the shit out of me more than any Sci-Fi horror game I've ever played.

[@josyhavik]

Friend, your memories and abilities ARE you. That's all we are. I'm sorry.

[@josyhavik]

Memories, and abilities, and potential.

[@sallevoznick6633]

People like existing and I'm one of them. Nuff said.

[@toshtao1]

***** You don't feel miserable as a robot. You have no negative emotions.

[@DecemDierum]

I'd have to agree my friend

[@Mi_mcmuffin]

Anne V. Dawg if I could replace my shitty meat bag body with a glorious robot body that'd be an eternity of happiness not misery.

[@einekartoffel2490]

@Anne M You're not really the only immortal then and I guess we'd have enough time to figure out reproduction if we'd really need it. And maybe it'll be acceptable to erase one's memory of a movie to watch it again, since social standards and outlooks change over time. I guess we might even fuse into one singular hivemind and travel the universe to expand our presence exponentially, encountering other hiveminds in the process and either consume or join each other. We'll grow so huge and span so many different kinds of territories of universes and multiverses until some entity far, far superior than anything we could take countless of eons to evolve into takes out a sanitizer and erases us from our previous place of a germ on a meta-cosmic toilet bowl. ....but I digress.

[@einekartoffel2490]

@Anne M To be honest, the only thing in my comment I didn't steal from someone else is the being far above exponential growth. Also, I didn't expect someone commenting 4 years ago to reply.

[@HereWeGo0o0]

I love the way he explores ideas that are fantastical, spiritual, and cosmic, and then roots them in real-life, modern science and scientific endeavors. I wonder, though, if science really will ever be able to answer the biggest questions, like "What is Consciousness, and does it continue on after death?"

[@roryp7415]

Live forever you say? "Moisturise me, moisturise me!"

[@IABITVpresents]

Didn't she die in another body though?

[@Alukard661]

Well, thats creepy

[@carlosrp92]

Ghost in the Shell, anyone?

[@arveliussproject7294]

altered carbon

[@EEpErYang]

In computer, you can perfectly "move" data from one media to another, but the process is actually about making a copy and deleting the original. So even if science can fully recreate the structure to support consciousness, most logically it's just a copy, not a transfer. As in "the 6th day", 2 instances of Schwarzenegger coexist without sharing a single consciousness, clearly.

[@DrReginaldFinleySr]

"What will live forever?" Exactly.

[@johnwang9914]

Your memories, your personality, your reactions to stimulus. The question is what do you consider as being you. Fundamentally this is just the classic Ship of Theseus philosophical debate.

[@robobo2226]

Everything about you will live on. You're technically just a brain.

[@IABITVpresents]

And would there be consciousness in another universe(s)?

[@lorettalynndavis9695]

*This has already been done.* Granted, it is no where near perfected, but it is much more advanced than Dr. Kaku let's on. Transferring consciousness is a very tedious process and is done in steps. The live subject is in R.E.M. sleep, then this is able to be done in a clone of matching size, weight, and mass of the subject. Looking on the deep web I have discovered that this is in fact being done and people who have been cloned have undergone this procedure telling of "dreams" they've had, memories that seemed real, even cuts and bruises or headaches and other trauma done to their clone, yet felt by them in some way shape or form. The clones are able with human receptors to "feel" everything that the subject would otherwise feel and vise versa just not directly, yet they are now connected. Going through the motions together, feeling pain, feeling fear, etc; the Scientist is able to synchronize the subjects brain waves, hypo campus, and receptors to their own clone causing simultaneous feelings, emotions, and fears, to be felt by both the human subject and their clone. This is happening, it is being done. Almost all your celebrities, (especially this generation) along with important Political figures, as well as others in High places. Internationally, both foreign and domestic these people have their own clone. This exercises great control over the subject once they are in REM sleep. If you have someone's clone, you can literally control the subject from the other side of the world if need be! You can cause their deaths, make them remember things that never happened, basically render them insane if you are in possession of their clone. It is the latest blackmail technique used by people in Power to keep their slaves in line... No more science fiction folks, this shit is real!

[@kreyrfer8293]

Look Buddy idk if we should trust the deep web

[@raymondstheawesome]

I've always imagined conscious transference as simply making a copy and uploading it into a computer. The original (you) will die but a copy will live forever. So noBody is immortal.

[@The_Original_Hybrid]

Well, you imagined it incorrectly.

[@alessandromeilak3543]

@@The_Original_Hybrid No, he’s right. Susan Schneider put it perfectly. You can only copy consciousness, not transfer it.

[@The_Original_Hybrid]

@@alessandromeilak3543That's not true. It's absolutely possible to transfer your consciousness to a different substrate, without breaking continuity of consciousness. This process is called the Moravec Transfer.

[@roberttaylor4999]

Is not consciousness ones awareness of their own existence? So the question is can we take our awareness of self and insert it into a 'robot'? Interesting question and discussion. I do have to say I love Michio and how he thinks and explains things so basically anyone can understand.

[@BlurFaced]

Yes we can -chappie

[@Patrick-jj5nh]

I like it whenever he goes into territory he's not sure about... does a mouse have a conscious? I feel fairly certain a mouse has an awareness of itself, its body, its capabilities, especially in relation to predators and its environment.

[@rz9297]

I believe that the new robot WOULD be you, as the stream of consciousness would be preserved during the process. that which is considered your soul would be preserved. you would fully process the transference between bodies, and become the robot.

[@StevieBellard]

As long as all data in the brain, as it is being transferred, isn´t existing at the same time in both, the brain and the chip, it would be your consciousness in the chip. So, in my view, you´re right.

[@johnwang9914]

Now what if they made two such identical robot bodies both with identical copies of your neural networks...

[@1138thz]

I like Michio Kaku because he can explain complex things to laymen in a way that we can understand.

[@tahilaci2976]

Making clones with the exact same memories would be like having a twin sibling, just more similar than that. Having a twin who is your perfect copy doesn't make you immortal. Even though no one else can tell the difference.

[@itachiuchiha2338]

I had exactly the same quistion and I was planning on asking it in the comments until I saw your comment, my theory is: if you transfer the brain as an entire thing, it will be you. If you transfer it cell by cell, it would be the robot. Also, how about finding out which part of our brain is the "we" part, and only transfer that and replacing the rest by technologie, like transfering the hard drive from a pc but replacing the motherboard, ram, etc

[@randomrealistictone2231]

Who came here after playing SOMA?

[@Havik_AoE]

+PARAMOTH SOMA had a truly epic story to tell about this topic

[@strawbmilk]

Me omg

[@barszczpop]

Glad I haven't been the only one being inspired by this epic game to discover more about an enormous topic!

[@WaifuNya]

Chappie, anyone?

[@directx872]

***** No. Chappie is praticly human.

[@randomrealistictone2231]

+Ken Kaneki SOMA

[@WaifuNya]

Thanks ^^

[@walperstyle]

Black Mirror.... See you at the Quagmire.

[@cameronwallace3991]

The Kawaii Suite I love Charlie, but I feel like chappie robots were really just copies of consciousness. I mean they come out of a flash drive. Who’s to say they can’t have multiple of the same consciousness. *sitting in the corner with my tin foil on

[@Treedodger]

we could turn the human race into computers to journey the galaxy

[@herewego7694]

@Sir Rex-A-Lot "all other nearby worlds are dead" That is why he said to turn humanity to computers, so we could go to farther havitable worlds.

[@aaron8957]

@@herewego7694 just like tge evolution with our brain the next step would be computer. You must ask yourself will we be conscious in that evolutionary step. I think not, just like a reptilian does not know what we are, these computers will most probably be that, just computers.what problems you run into is a computer is designed specifically to have specific abilities and programming. It would not learn anything new and the universe has so much we can learn about dark energy being a huge thing that comes to mind. We may or may not learn everything about our universe so untill we do it is not practical to merge with technology. If we are doomed to one day be wiped out then having robots scattered into our milky way is a good gesture on humanities obligation to leave evidence on life to be discovered by other possible intelligent life searching for other life, just like we have observed the cosmos ourselves.

[@IABITVpresents]

How long until the computers where our minds would be would corrode though?

[@jinxxx9031]

Lmao that is never happening. Considering how screwed humanity is with every year

[@mw9297]

⁠​⁠@@IABITVpresentsnot about living forever. Just a little longer to see the sun, the planets, the solar system. And maybe even more.

[@FacePalmProduxtnsFPP]

The issue with the first explanation is the a neuron does NOT just work binarily like a transistor. It's able to change, pass varying signals like a resistor, and change its own sensitivity to incoming signals, it's called synaptic plasticity.

[@TriPham-xd9wk]

If we can teach children value, virtues, and knowledge skill then upload to new life in a robotic body is 100% possible

[@RZcompa]

I think the question is " will we be able to feel our new body and keep our soul?" or would we die, and the robot will just become an artificial intelligent machine with a conscious, in other words a robot with an imitation of you a (human).

[@SevastianNandez]

Rafael Mendoza Zamora god is not real grow up kid

[@canyegane2406]

the latter

[@demetrisag81]

Man I just love this guy!

[@AlaaHossam]

Maybe we should ask GLaDoS from portal 2 (Game) how she did it :D

[@kevinnio]

About identity. What are we? We are our bodies and brains, or are we just our brains? I mean, what is to be conscious in a very strict way? What defines consciousness? That's the first cuestion we have to answer, I think.

[@Basilisk4119]

I think the best way to cause consciousness in a machine is to look closer at how it is already being done. We need to work out how a foetus becomes conscious.

[@darkknightofhelldragunitya3943]

the singularity is the first step

[@tropicalhome.rentals]

How about identical twins that have identical brains? Even assuming their experiences have been completely the same (let's say they both grew up in identical white rooms with identical external inputs and stimuli), they would be still be independent individuals, no? To say it differently, two computers have the same hardware but are still distinct machines. And even if I put the same software on each machine, isn't each machine still independent (i.e. I destroy one, the other still exists)? Mapping each brain neuron to an equally designed transistor would therefore not transfer the individual consciousness, but making an electronic (independent) version of the brain. Any thoughts on this?

[@tropicalhome.rentals]

***** Hi Sands, the PC was an analogy comparing electronic components to human body components. Even assuming each transistor is built with exactly the same atomic structure, wouldn't the two components remain independent copies (even if the electric signal flowing through them is exactly the same) ? Unless there is an invisible link synchronizing the two brains/CPUs, such as the one regulating electron spins, wouldn't this process be equal to copying and not to transferring? Just throwing out an idea ...

[@djacob7]

***** Absolutely right! Consciousness does not exist - it's not even an illusion because an illusion requires a consciousness, it's a word - a concept. And, according to Sam Harris, the self does not exist either, and I agree.

[@banakon]

so no ghost in shell huh? bummer.

[@banakon]

***** HEAR YE HEAR YE THE DARK LORD HAS SPOKEN!!!

[@Mi_mcmuffin]

Put👏me👏in👏a👏robit👏

[@hainish2381]

The most interesting thing is how dualism has come back. In 1949, Cartesian dualism was fiercely critizized, with the expression "Ghost in the Machine". In 1995, "Ghost in The Shell" was released. And now, materialists are hoping for the singularity in 2045. And fully dream of when body and mind are two separate things. And a mind can just be uploaded... to a body. That is a very interesting development in two (not so) oposing scientific philosophies.

[@PrinceUmarKhan1]

Anything is possible in this mortal world, once people who said we can make a machine that flies were laughed at. But now because of those inventors travel is easy. Someone will try any other way and might succeed.

[@Anudorini-Talah]

SOMA

[@Polumetis]

Consciousness is energy, and energy never disappears. Our consciousness will only transform into something else.

[@Polumetis]

Energy is one of the basic quantitative properties describing a physical system or object's state. Consciousness is a state of being.

[@anewman]

Correct. We drift in and out of different conscious states constantly, and are never the same person for more than a brief moment. We think our consciousness is this perfect, separate entity from the rest of the world but it is merely an illusion. We are biological machines, if you take us apart and put us back together our own perceived consciousness will be the same, as long as it is done perfectly, otherwise brain damage or death could occur.

[@Polumetis]

Very well said. :)

[@jamesbrewser7267]

Like ascension, "The Ancients" did it, why not us?

[@HMG94]

Technically, every human action is a form of energy... But, in death it all dissipates. Consciousness could just be a side-effect of the energy our brain produces. Our brain energy may morph into something else, such as reincarnation or some stuff but our consciousness of our physical brain may not follow.

[@kanben7]

When the time comes, I want mine to look like Optimus Prime!

[@andrj8844]

I want to be r2d2

[@syntheticvocalist-p472]

For me, Glados

[@int3rl0per]

In Transmetropolitan, people became nano-machine clouds, substituting each cell in their body for a nanomachine. The reasoning was - if you still remain 'you' after you've had one (or all) of your limbs replaced with a prosthesis, how much CAN you replace and still stay yourself? It was reasoned, that as long as the transition is gradual, there is no limit. Personally, I think that since we're still basically chemical machines, having even a small part of us replaced changes us fundamentally.

[@alphabdwolf7076]

But the question I need answered is, is if really me and not just my consciousness and memory’s like am I still controlling my body?

[@matthewmleal325]

I love shit like this

[@TheStupidLama]

why would a mouse or even my calculator not be concious? Yes, my calculator has no urge to live for example.. but I'd say only because it is too "dumb" or rather not complex enough. If I make a Robot, dumb as he maybe and tell him: you only have the computer power for one thought: survive.. don't get destroyed! - This "thought" is the only thing this Robot would have. And although he wouldn't know WHY he has to survive (for believes? for reproduction?) this thought would be tried to realised if I tried to destroy that Robot. At the point where the Robot response with an action to somehow prevent to be destroyed, he would still be dumber than a human, but I'd say he already is concious on a very very low level. Yes, he wouldn't be sad if he was about to get destroyed, but only because we don't give him more than that one thought. I'd say a mouse is *OF CAUSE* concious and so is every thing that is in the slightest sense doing *more* than just exist, but respond to external influence in any way. Sounds simple, and it is, but I would say this is not the problem here. The problem would rather be to somehow get this concious to try and develope on its own, like we started to do when we discovert the use of fire for example. I'd say we are a lot closer to an AI that is "human like" than you'd think... however it would probably not be dangerous. Why? Because the first thought we would put into it would certainly be: Do whatever you want, but *we* made you, don't harm us. Ad this thought cannot be overcome (unless by huge errors and above all: huge coincedances), since it is the first and foremost thought in that AI. It's like it's unnatural and rare that a human beeing doesn't bother if they die... There is no natural way a human being could accept death, because it's in its nature. And the nature of that AI would be, that it is created by us and humans (for example) are more important than the AI... The problem might then be: this is actually inslaving intelligent live or rather inslaving ones own creation. Interesting, right? :)

[@ShaunHorsePony]

By that reasoning, any object that reacts to another object has a level of consciousness. Does consciousness necessitate awareness of its own existence? Or is it just a self regulating set of actions and reactions of a unit, biological, social or otherwise? I think these are interesting questions to ask in relation to your post. Is it really possible to program a thought? And does a programmed single thought constitute consciousness? I doubt it.

[@TheStupidLama]

Shaun Eastwood we are nothing but very well developed computers... Yes a thought can be programmed and no we are nothing special ;) Also consciousess is nothing but a word than needs to be defined. No I'd say we are calculators that are way smarter and fulfill way more "tasks" than a calculator does, but a calculator nonetheless

[@ShaunHorsePony]

But we will never really know if a machine built by us can be conscious or not.

[@WhiteDragon103]

ooh ooh--oh! me first! me first! :D

[@TheCr1mson]

That's what she said.

[@andrewlindsey5353]

The real key is to realize that consciousness is like a wave that travels across the brain's network of neurons. The best way to transfer your consciousness is to connect the neural network to an extension, rather like building an extension on a pool. Then once the wave has expanded and transferred into the extension, the original pool can be cut off. One way to do this is to use retroviruses to create an optical read write function using fluorescence then implant super fine optical fibers to access these read write functions at different key nodes. Our consciousness then could read/write back through the optical fibers to an acceptable housing mechanism and slowly transfer itself over.

[@PyroblastDK]

You will have to further explain your knowledge about brain malfunctions. 1) Really? To what extend? And what is predefined and what is not predefined in our minds? 2) Considering that we are talking about gaining consciousness in a machine by using some intermediate-level programming language, talking about probability in this context is just to refer to a function within a given program. And you have to set some parameters in order to make that function working. That is predetermination.

[@mathew633man]

i think our consciousness can only stay within our physical brain because we are not conscious without our brain. but if we can somehow transfer our consciousness to other object (or even move around outside our body), then that would mean our consciousness does not depend on our physical body or brain but we have something called "soul" which is not physical. of course, our Atheist friends would object to that idea but that's the simplest way to look at consciousness. either it's our brain or it's not. the latter means we have a soul.

[@augienelson993]

There's no such thing as a soul

[@lifexpansionpack]

The soul you refer to is just another word for the mind, the sense of 'self' we all have. We are conscious of this sense of self. Consider this: You're on Mars and you have only got 30 minutes worth of oxygen left. Your only hope is to teleport back to Earth. You step into the teleportation device and it strips you atom for atom and copys 'you' atom for atom back on earth. An exact replica has been made of yourself back on Earth that in every detail, in every atom is the same. If the memories are made up for dendritic connections and the mapping of the brain, this teleported 'you' has the same memories. If the way you interpret everything around you is determined by the mapping of the brain, that is your cognitive schemas are shaped by your memories, which are mapped in the dendrites and the strength of the synaptic connection, this new 'you' will have the same cognitive schemas, the same way of interpreting the world around you. If all your hopes and desires are based upon your past experiences that lead up to your current state of consciousness, then these will also be duplicated. This new 'you' will experience this same sense of 'self' (what you refer to as a soul) that the old you experience. The sense of 'I' is just a result of this neural mapping and the new 'you' would have exactly the same sense of 'I'. So I argue it would be you, the sense would be identical and it's only the sense of 'self' that we experience. Now, let's say that technology can replace a small part of the brain with silicon based technology. This part of the brain that's been replaced performs the task of the organic original perfectly and it's fully integrated in exactly the same way that the previous was. The same sense of self would still result. Replace two parts of your brain with two exact copies printed on silicon and so on a so forth. The same 'self' would still arise. This relies heavily on the fact that consciousness results in information processing and that the brain is not a 'wonder material'. i.e., there's no conjuring, just magic. Like an illusion, kind of magic, not magic magic. Not 'real' magic. (Read or watch some Dan Dennet).

[@djacob7]

Ian Hargreaves So teleporting is one way of duplication. That means it would be possible to create several, maybe thousands, of the same person? Would all behave lock step the same way at the same time? Or would they be varied as are identical twins?

[@HomeSkillenSLICE]

I'd say its pretty much the brain. I mean as much as one would like to think that they're special because they were the first to swim to the the end of the vagina we still have to essentially look at what creates life in the first place. Im not saying sperms and eggs arent important because they still tell the body how to arrange the atoms but there's probably something greater than just those 2 factors. You don't just get pregnant and slowly a person gets created, you have to start the process. The process? Every single thing a mother eats, breaths, drinks. Well not so much drink because we recycle that and use it to just hydrate and remove waste, breathing may also not be that relevant considering it just goes to the lungs but its still a factor. The food is the primary factor. You need food not only to sustain but to build .. To build humans :D I personally also love to think of food as the fuel needed to maintain this ridiculously complex reactor "burning" everything eaten to allow movement and life. Maybe who I am and who you are today is a culmination of some very specific atoms in the universe. I wanna keep those atoms intact and tell myself how special I am when my brain gets recreated haha. I so wanna cut my brain matter off and keep it in a container or deepfrost it when I'm older haha.

[@djacob7]

HomeSkillenSLICE Keeping your brain alive in a container might work for a couple of years, but deep freezing won't work. It won't work because not only must you have every molecule and atom intact, but their velocity is also essential and it's lost.

[@SymbolistFGC]

The impossibility you're talking about is Epistemic. We know of no possibility to stop or reverse entropy, but it wouldn't be unlikely that if any 'thing' had a beginning, then the creation of all things is essentially rewinding the clock of entropy to start over - and if there was no beginning and all things in the universe simply "existed", then it would seem you could freeze entropy.

[@buca117]

Here's a question: What's better, applying gene correction to the body in the pre-natal stage or applying it post maturity? Do you think becoming an adult should take longer or should it take the same amount of time, allowing people to be adults for longer.

[@juancarbonell1754]

I don't think memories matter. I could hit my head and lose my memories,I still will feel alive. I could lose my sense of touch and feel alive. To process information in the brain is what makes you feel alive. I don't think they need to copy everything,just that part of my brain.

[@JasonAstraea]

I think it will be more awesome if we can transfer it into a new human body. Like from the movie Self/less but with a new body clone that exactly looks like us of course like from the movie the Island.

[@CrniWuk]

The scenario which Kaku explains is kinda explored in philosphy, known as Theseus's paradox, I quote: "The ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus's paradox, is a thought experiment that raises the question of whether an object that has had all of its components replaced emains fundamentally the same object. The paradox is most notably recorded by Plutarch in Life of Theseus from the late first century. Plutarch asked whether a ship that had been restored by replacing every single wooden part remained the same ship." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus

[@sherriestephenssnow4154]

If anything like that ever happened I would hope that only the good memories that made people happy would remain and all the sadness, sorrow and suffering would be deleted.

[@sherriestephenssnow4154]

If anything like that ever happened, I hope and pray that only happy memories would remain and all the sadness, sorrow and suffering would be deleted.

[@bubbleboy000]

+Sherrie Snow although that sounds nice it is not a good idea the bad memories along with the good make us who we are and give us insight/different perspective which is extremely important for our development and thus are thinking capacity

[@almostsk8er1995]

Immortality lies in being remembered very true, I like your point. What ever happened to the self-esteem in being a unique human

[@DTheEndeavoring]

I hope to live to see this day, but I must ponder... If we could cheat the mortal coil in this way, exactly how much longer would we last? I doubt our brains would last forever. Also, would new mental illnesses surface as a result of transferring the brain to a new body? Would we experience a sort of full-body phantom pain, crippling headaches or some other ailment? How would these issues be resolved, or would they ever be?

[@ankushymd703]

Consciousness is not an outcome of the brain or the object, rather the brain or the object is an outcome or epi - phenomenon of consciousness , which is purely subjective.

[@kalki1441]

Well,the thing is,we cannot make a robot a human,but we can make a robot understand a human. Emotions are something unique to living,and we cannot replicate emotions onto a machine,but we can make them decipher how a human views the tangible and classifies it as a positive or a negative.

[@whipcream5510]

I think you can the question is if the robot is conscious or is simulating counsciousness

[@kevinnio]

That can be another approximation but, of course, the challenge of keeping alive organic materia at least half of the robotic's body lifespan sounds pretty much difficult. If someone manage to do that, does it make her capable of keeping alive an entire human body for such a long time? Then a robot body won't be needed :)

[@Legioquintus]

Another good question is that if it truly was you in the robot, how much damage/trauma would the transfer cause. After all you would be losing memories, knowledge, and perspective temporarily and your existence would be fundamentally altered. Would the human mind survive such a process?

[@GiveMeBass93]

You are right my good sir, No matter what you do with your body it will decay, everything decays.

[@JasonBrooks1969]

Read (or listen to) the Bobiverse(we are Bob) series, fiction obviously but its about a guy who wakes up after a car crash with his consciousness having been transfered into a computer. Brilliant series!!!

[@bradleystone9099]

A friend of mine brought up a problem about androids or robots such as those Dr. Kaku mentions here: Most living organisms reject anything inorganic so a cyborg would quickly die of infection.

[@mr.mediocregamer9653]

Easy, during the brain transfer process your body is placed in a sterile environment and your immune system is destroyed so that it can't reject the new mech parts of the brain. Then when finally the entire brain has been replaced by machine and placed into the machine body you will no longer have to worry about an immune response or rejection of any sort.

[@bradleystone9099]

I wouldn't call that easy.

[@HenrikE81]

Yes this is what Ray Kurzweil is talking about, if I understand it correctly it would work kind of like the cell-replacement that already happening, all of our cells are replaced within about 7 years anyway.

[@ItzDanielSoftware]

simply copying memories isn't going to make me immortal, all it's going to do is make an exact copy of me with the same exact memories, however my conciousness isn't there, it's still with me, people have to learn how to transfer conciousness and not just an exact copy.

[@jalankoe]

A different person always arise when he/she change his/her social status. I think this applies when a person changes into a robot/machine. Their personality will not remain the same.

[@edwardwelsch5893]

Man this guy is fascinating, I can't stop watching these.

[@MatthewBendyna]

And yet if you keep the continuity of electricity flow, which is what your consciousness is made of anyway, substrate doesn't matter. The transfer won't be cut and paste, but rather more like a pattern flowing as the pattern of a river flow remains continuous in an area while the actual atoms in that area are never the same ones.

[@nikkitytom]

Ooh ... I love this idea. I have so often just wished to be pure consciousness ... to take all the skills I've acquired and go forward into a space where I don't have to even think about a body. I play Bach and am pure consciousness ... I dance to the music and the body dissolves in motion .. everything can be pure thought without limits. Eternity before me to learn everything. Wow. ( learning is my narcotic ... )

[@amitb7606]

I believe a memory is a series of neutrons firing in a pattern. If we can retain that pattern, we have a memory and can be transferred.

[@Chazcam_Gaming]

Imagine if we could do this with people who died a long time ago if so, everyone might come back as a chain reaction happens.

[@theundercovergamer499]

Idea!

[@PyroblastDK]

To summarize what you are saying: transcoding DNA into binary is essentially to take the DNA code, which is based on various combinations of different amino acids and turn them into binary data, in which there are only two possible values for each digit. What can we achieve by doing that? And in what sense can "our" unpredictable individual unique consciousness be made into a program? How can you make a program that not only speaks for itself, but also makes up its own mind?

[@zarl5238]

I think author Dan Brown touched on this very subject in his book entitled "Origin." where he thinks all humans will become immortal by this process. It only makes sense since we will not be able to survive any type of interstellar trips until we go thru this process.... its man's next evolution.

[@silvo9460]

People need to keep in mind that just cause one day we might be able to transfer our brain over to a new body/machine that does not mean that new body will still be you since humans have no idea of what consciousness is.

[@sharenganesh_0292]

This is just like that ship paradox. 'If we replace each and every part of the ship with a better one, is it the same old ship or a brand new one?'

[@The_Original_Hybrid]

Not really. You are not your brain: your brain is simply the hardware that allows you to exist. The only thing that matters is continuity of consciousness during the upgrade process.

[@mrigankgupta3490]

+big think Sir , rather than using transistors cant we use new brain cells to replace the old one using the same procedure that you discussed. Cells would be more efficient than transistor.

[@PyroblastDK]

I never said that algorithms control behavior. As a matter of fact, as you are saying, algorithms are essential in terms of having a "simulated" neural network. Not emulated. And since neurons are a set of functional nerve cells that interact with each other, it makes perfect sense that you will want to use algorithms to calculate for the neurons. But the way an algorithm works is predetermined. You cannot avoid that.

[@exoticlazynessyt]

I still lack an awnser to the question if i can someday be like the fnaf animatronics and merge my soul with a body of an animatronic

[@JohnFHendry]

"I AM" shows an information frame created out of the only source of substance: Mass. Minimum is a relative term connected to maximum with "something" in the middle... it's not big... it's not small... "it" (Mass) just is. And the logic frame to understand it is "you couldn't have "nothing" unless you had it's opposite "something" to create the concept of nothing. Consciousness has Mass as the New Circle of Fifths shows in outlining the patterns of e-motion found in time. E=(m{a})/t

[@CringeLover]

During this transfer, would our minds be aware of our other body? Would our mind even be able to handle the transfer? Could it handle being in two places at once and even if it could stay intact, would the notion of "Self" survive? When you're born you don't know that you're you. The idea of individuality doesn't start to form till around 4 or 5 years old. I believe switching this conscious self would return it to its infancy, sort of the brain rebooting itself.

[@abirroy1333]

If a being can construct rudementary thought process like fight or flight then it can be called a conscious being. It has the ability to work for it's survival unlike a dead system which works along with the forces of nature unlike living entity

[@Wet_Fungus]

Imagine being able to do this! You could be anything you want, a dog, an alien, even a Pokémon if you wanted!

[@luxeave]

the missing part is: the brain only constitutes half of a single consciousness, the other half is billions of sensory spread throughout the body. Consciousness is the animation or the symphony in which both integrated parts play with the ever-changing environment/stimuli. Replacing the body completely with alien sensory (superman body) will upset the existing consciousness. A possible solution is to genetically mimic the original individual sensory whilst improving durability, etc

[@kevrisky879]

Now comes the part where we wonder how much space ourselves would actually take up, I wouldn't be surprised if it were 5TB(+)

[@RasielSuarez]

The problem with cloning your conscience to another being (or AI) is that you would create someone (or something) that believes it's you but who isn't you. Even if he/it is convinced that they're you how does that save *your* conscience?

[@euducationator]

according to john lock knowledge is our ideas and how we relate out ideas to eachother. and going by john lockes definition of knowledge I would say that consciousness is knowledge concerning ones self.

[@Miketamine]

I consider experience to be the essence of consciousness, and believe that experience can only fully be known from the inside, subjectively. But if consciousness is subjective and not visible from the outside, why do the vast majority of people believe that other people are conscious, but rocks and trees are not?

[@vshark7869]

How would this work. Say we transfer the brain to another body. That new body would think it has been transferred but how do you know YOU have actually been transferred

[@ByshStoleMyFish]

Yeah, that makes me go back to the thought that, will we really be immortal? I always wonder, is the choice between death or permanent loss of all memory, with no chance of getting them back, really the same thing?

[@pontusryden7643]

Conciousness is just the result of all our senses combined.

[@jmm107]

Nice guy, he makes the point with the question, will I still be me in another body? That will feel, at least, different from every experience I had in my life and I will see myself councious with no fear, no disease, will that still be me? Nope, but think about this, tomorrow you will not be the same as you are today...