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From: bigthink
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  • I explore cloning in a book i'm writing. the consciousness is a complete duplicate placed into a cloned "shell" of a body which is also a complete duplicate. The original programs the clone to awaken with the copied consciousness up to that point when he dies, and then the original dies and the clone wakes up starting where the original left off. the clone doesn't know if he is to believe he is him or just a clone or if he even needs to worry about it. it's a pretty interesting take on things.

  • this is make scary predictions.

    asian power we are happy friends

  • It would be interesting to see what it would be like if our consciousness was backed up to a series of transistor "disks". Of course only one line of transistors would be your actual consciousness, if they were copied and reproduced, it would be just a clone of the original. Or perhaps creating a clone of yourself with another consciousness to do your work would be a good thing? I guess that would raise a question of personal morality.

  • When Im trasnsferred I want to save money so my car will make me 'Yugo-man" transformer

  • @guitargold77 by the time we have the technology to do that, it is likely that we won't use a primitive monetary system.

  • Read "The Ware Tetralolgy" It is a 5 book sci-fi series on this exact topic. Great books.

  • GHOST IN THE SHELL MOTHERFUCKERS AWWWWW YEEEAAAHHHHH

  • clark kent's father is a good example

  • But "me" would die, "i" would not be that robot would "i"?

  • So if someone wiped my brain and planted someone elses memories in it, does that make me them?? Of course not (if our conciousness's are seperate)! I would still have my conciousness but with someone else's memory!

    You could not recreate my brain and have my conciousness unless there is only ONE conciousness and the only thing that makes us different is our bodies and memories!

    He can only be admitting that we are all one!

    Peace, Love & Unity!

  • u are

  • That thing he said about remaking part of a mouse brain onto a chip actually sounds a lot more closely related to A.I. Technology. One thing I know for certain though is that we will never be 'immortal' we will eventually some day die, such is the consequences of life. Though not all of us view death as a bad thing.

  • He has a point. Our brains don't the same as computers

  • i wonder how robot sex would work

    XD

  • ghost in the shell

  • @JuanchoMan i want my own prosthetic body~

  • I wonder about human evolution and machines merging through time as a necessary process seeing as we are going to need to leave this planet one day..... Organic materiel is destroyed in the vacuum of space but not if your a conscious robot humanoid .......Boooom

  • I think the only way you would be immortal, and 'truly' preserve your own consciousness would be through a combination of nano-tech and genetic engineering. A clone is not you. A computer is not you, even if it behaves like you. I say, program genetic upgrades, drop your still living body into a vat of nano bots, and have them rearrange your parts of your body to the new genetic 'model' while your still alive. Sort of like a caterpillar morphing into a butterfly. Same organism, new body

  • The rise of cyperman

  • I want to slowly become a Quantum competer based brain.

  • So it's like a save point feature for our lives, if we end up doing something stupid and see the "game over" screen? i.e. die

    We can start all over from that point that we saved in a different body?

    Ohh man, I can already see so many gamer orgasm-ing from this, if it ever became reality. I, being a gamer, will be no exception to this orgasmic feeling if it became real.

  • traumatized by what it may remember as its last "dying" moments before the scan. But in truth, the clone was just born with your memories. It never died nor experienced death. You, on the other hand, are dead. You're not magically transporting to another body. You're gone. And that body is waking up as a copy of you and your conscience. Pretty creepy stuff when you think of it. So yeah, unless we go with the first idea, true immortality will always be out of our reach.

  • @Str8Murder I couldn't agree more with you...we are unique... that's why we never able to share our dream with anyone or making appointment to meet during dream state...

  • The "photographing of memories for clones" idea is used in the online game MMORPG. Every time a "capsular" dies, their brains are scanned before the moment of death and a clone is activated with the memories of the original or previous brain.  The thing is-- is that true immortality? True that entity may have your memories, personality, and everything-- but is it not just a copy? If you died, you're not waking up in that new body. The body wakes up with your traits, and may even be

  • ha ha hahahah ... is such a pedestrian scientist this guy..mega mega giga huge this n that. i still like him thou., it's so funny!!!...

  • "You ask a very interesting question..."

  • nope. because our brain arent electronic like 110101010 10101001 010101

  • @SpicyHam 010100110111010101100011011010­110010000001101101011110010010­000001100100011010010110001101­101011001011000010000001100010­011100100110111100101110

  • For method one, you would need a big head for the robot because if the brain was a computer, it would have 700 terabytes of RAM

  • Creepy!..

  • This reminds me of Karl Pilkington

  • @icosmini The greatest philosopher of our time: Karl Pilkington.

  • @zorken123 And that's how I got here xD

  • GLaDOS

  • @GoldenCobraa I thought the exact same thing haha!

  • If you can clone a mice brain, you can clone a Palin brain, which means we're about 2% closer to being able to clone a human brain.

  • Just please happen before I lose my brain and die brain death, please.

  • @SacreBaikal Exactly what I'm thinking.

  • I'd like to be immortal. Being able to watch the rise and fall of civilizations. When people are reading our history 500 years from now, I can say "I was there when it happened."

    Think of how much knowledge you would acquire from being Immortal. It's astounding.

  • @Fr3k3 I have a plan for immortality... Get stinking rich in business. Then hope that before you die this technology is availbable... Use your money to make sure you're one of the lucky few.

  • Comment removed

  • @jackhwo1 That's what I thought about, but at the same time I couldn't sit back behind a desk job for 25 years.

  • @Fr3k3 I reckon I'd be able to put up with it.. To be honest it isn't anywhere near as boring as it sounds. Especially if you start a business up rrom scratch.

    I'd do pretty much anything for immortality though to be honest.

  • is possible telekinesis? or another way to move things without touching them?

  • i don't think it would be me

    it would just be a copy

  • This is a great idea, being Immortal would be so great.

  • CYBERMEN!

  • Sometimes, when I hear Michio Kaku speak, I feel like we're much more advanced scientifically than most realized, but right now, I feel like we're a very primitive race

  • What if you put half of your brain in 1 robot and the other half in another 1?Which 1 would be the real you?Are you the right 1 and the left 1 is a new version of your consciousness or is neither of them the original self,or does consciousness reside in a specific part of your brain that cannot be split in pieces without destroying your consciousness?Is the me from 5 seconds ago the same me or 1 with the same memories and characteristics and hopes and dreams but a different consciousness?

  • @shadowofthenacho The idea of the transistor-swap was that even though chunks of your brain were being moved, all the transistor 'neurons' are still connected by wires and firing at each other normally. It's the equivalent of keeping your brain in one place and swapping the body around it.

  • Using transistors assumes each connection (synapse) is all the information and processing there is.

    There is a new theory of consciousness with very good evidence, that microtubules contain the majority of computing and storage of us. They use some odd quantum effects; so the problem is very complex.

    It seems that a vibration in the Mhz range was discovered, and using ultrasound focused to the same f, alterations can occur. The new drugs may be this.

  • not a big fan of this idea

  • I Don't want the clone with duplicate memories for the same reason I don't want Quantum Teleportation : The end result is not you, it's a duplicate of you. The idea of replacing small piece after small piece to transfer consciousness into an artificial brain, and then simply transplant that brain into a new body, *THAT* I think, would be the same consciousness.

    As for quantum teleportation... well... isn't there evidence of matter/energy conversion? Turn someone into light and then back.

  • Scientists cannot understand consciousness because they think the brain produces consciousness. That is like thinking that the moving pictures on a TV originate in the TV itself rather than the TV merely being a receiver that gives form to the wavelengths. The Cosmos IS consciousness. BEING IS Consciousness. The brain merely individuates and personalizes consciousness. If you wish to understand consciousness I can suggest a very excellent volume enabling you to explore YOUR OWN consciousness.

  • Wouldn't time travel be easier if we just try to send the consciousness and not the body too? Then land it in another body? Is there universal consciousness of which each of our consciousnesses is a part and it just feels separate to us right now?

  • Fuck that, I don't wanna live for ever, I want to be peaceful or floating around creeping people out or what ever dead people do in a few years

  • remind me to pay no attention to this...we now have a scientist who has becme a businessman

  • The problem here is equivocating duplication of the brain with transfer of consciousness. If you create this robot transistor brain duplication, you're not actually moving yourself over to this robot body. You're just tearing down your brain to make a mechanical emulation of it. You would still be just as dead with or without the robot copy.

    Consciousness isn't any single thing. It's a culmination of factors, many of them rooted in the biological nature of the brain.

  • If our brain is "who we are" how come the people who died didn't take their brain with them? Instead they have stayed in the body. If we truly are just "our brains" then there really is nothing beyond this life and it would unfortunately be eternal void/nothingness. I believe the brain is basically the software that comes with the body (vessel) in order to enable us to interact with this world with as much innovation as possible.

  • If one copies a person (in mind and body), and then one of the two kills the other, would that be suicide?

  • If a human brain's lifespan is of the ordinary human lifespan, wouldn't the capacity to store memories be the same? I mean...what's going to happen to the mind after a couple of centuries?

  • @Zetarrino You must take into consideration that apparently we can only use 10% of our brain. That still doesnt take the limit away though...I know that's what your indicating when your saying "what will happen to the mind after a couple of centuries?" You should look at my comment I posted on the same page as this comment you posted. I talk about why I believe the brain isn't "who we are." Please read it I'm sure you will strongly agree. Thanks and take care....

  • @PeacefulSage7 Where do you get the idea that the brain is only using 10% of It's full capacity, and are you also implying that counciousness is metaphysical? If that is the case, what evidence can you provide to that statement?

    Peace

  • @PeacefulSage7

    We use all of our brain just not all at once as that's called having a seizure.

  • Couldnt imagine anything worse. Nothing should be imortal.

  • @DudeRevolution Nothing physical should stay immortal (thats what I hope you mean) because of the wearing and breaking down that everything takes in this world. Everything physical will expire eventually(on this planet and dimension at least). Therefore immortality fused with physicality on these 2 ^^^^^^ yes nothing worse I agree 100%. This doesn't mean being immortal is bad..but the idea of never ceasing to exist...there is nothing more empowering then knowing that one truth...

  • Does....Does this mean...humans will become like Necrons from Warhammer 40k?!

    

  • naturalist

    !

    

  • If I can always perceive stuff, I don't care if I'm "conscious" or not. One terminator body or a halo-deck, please. :)

  • lol how he said schwartzaNIGGER

  • @SuperRustyTrumbone yeah I know what your saying but he actually said it like that to try not to say nigger..I have that same complication and worry everytime I say his name around black people Dammit I hate how the white ancestors screwed it all up for the whites in the present and had nothing to do with the feuds that happened back then and their great great great grandparents being enslaved its all total nonsense!!! Sry I added this 2 instead of just replyin to what u said

  • @PeacefulSage7 its pronounced 'neigh' ger (like how a horse is supposed to sound)

    i think.

  • Consciousness is being aware of oneself and aware of the universe.

  • An algorithm, everything a computer does, is ultimately a set of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division operations, and not all mathematical problems have an algorithmic solution. The human brain is largely dominated by chemical signaling, and the firing of a neuron changes everything from fluxes of neuromodulators to gene expression within the cell. It will be a long time before we can create anything like human consciousness in a finite state machine, if that's even possible.

  • The problem in trying to figure out what is consciousness, its that the observer cannot observe itself.

  • Transporting the brain over to the robot.... We are the robots. We must take over the human race.

  • i think we should just nuke the planet because humans (all but michio) suck ass

    faggot humans i wish i were an ant

  • well we would probably be able to recollect memories on command, but we won't be able to create new memories if we don't have a way to store them.. we would need a huge hard drive (or RAM, if we are sure that the electricity will never stop) where we could write the newly gained information and memory. but that would be different from the transistors that make our new brain.. they will be hard-wired and can't change like our brain changes neuron connections to modify memories or create new ones

  • It's all good science, but when it comes to my body I'll put my money in bioengineering...

  • im sure that would never happin being the fact of how easy it is to destroy computer chips with emp charges.. (improbable)..

  • Cylons!

  • Hey kid, I'm a computer!

  • this guy (michio kaku) is only trying to replace the great science of physics with the worthless Japanese superstitions.

  • this is just plain stupid

  • Cybermen

    Scary stuff

  • gross

  • All computers and software will dye off in the next century and totally new technology will take over.

  • There is a completely different way of thinking about immortality of course. We go on - our DNA in our children - and our consciousness in the unfolding of the future by our actions. Is it all that important to be concerned about an individual consciousness when this is our definition? Look at the stylized portraits of workers from WPA murals of the '30s, are they not immortal, and they are idealized people, were never even individually real?

  • For the first way the brain tissue is going to die. For the second way Isaac Newton said that every action has a reaction, what is the reaction for being imortal (I know its from the laws of motion but if you make a decion it always has a "good" and "bad" action)

  • Duh robocop 2.

  • GLaDOS anyone?! xD

  • Cyborg mice are going to take over the world!

  • @FreeFromWar How?

  • Consciousness is software.

  • What about epigenetics? When copying your brain onto silicon chips you're just copying your existing genetic code and completely ignoring the change of your DNA over time. This may lead to a static personality being copied/transferred rather than your consciousness entirely.

  • It would be a copy of you, not the actual you.. It would be like you, exactly.. but if you died, you wouldn't consciously be in the robot. Impossible, sadly.

  • The space in which your able to observe your own thoughts. That's right. Space. Space-time. Space-time-consciousness. What is time? Nothing. It doesn't exist. What is space-time? An undulating wave of uncollapsed probability. What is space? A backdrop of nothing, there's no energy, because if there's energy, it has to follow the laws of thermodynamics. What is space-time-consciousness? The collapsed state of matter and energy in it's motion through the universe. Deal w/ it nerds

  • GhOsT iN tHe ShElL

  • We must purge the weak, hated flesh and replace it with the blessed purity of metal. Only through permanence can we truly triumph, only through the Machine can we find victory.

  • If the laws of Nature allowed it, i would carry this man's children.

  • What's going to keep the brain immortal?

  • @TechnoManiac2 its not made of fleshy bits anymore

  • @TechnoManiac2 I couldnt answer that cause of our current knowledge of technology even though alot is hidden from the masses. I believe the thing we all know existing in us(we just cant prove it w/words or comprehend it dealing w/our 5 senses)is the essence that has always and will 4ever exist(we 4got that after every incarnate we had after the "Big Flood" the same story that's told everywhere but w/different people mentioned) therefore a brain isnt required 4 existence....ever...

  • @TechnoManiac2 nothing, i guess, u just do it every 60 years to get "fresh atoms" and you'll be fine i guess

  • @TechnoManiac2 He said each neuron transferred to a transistor, which would mean sucking the information out of a biological brain and putting it into an artificial brain.

  • @TechnoManiac2 TR4N$1ZT0RZ!!!!!!!!!!!

  • @tuck295q yeah I forgot to mention that

  • i think i would like to be immortal.

  • @rajeevchawla1986 + eternal youth

  • Consciousness is not created by the brain. It's reflected through the brain. The reason we can't easily define consciousness is because consciousness is beyond mind, thought and memories. Consciousness is the field from which thoughts emerge and in which they exist. It is much vaster than the mind and imagination. In its pure form it is infinite. This pure form can be experienced but not by the mind.

  • This is the guy who would be probably be teacher of the month in my school.

  • Thing is though.. Is our consciousness part of the physical brain? I mean, say you make an EXACT copy of your brain, if the consciousness is physical, have atoms and stuff or whatever, then you would be in two brains... Am I completely off in this theory?

    Also... If it were not, then an exact copy of me, or a clone of my physical body, like from the movies, would not be conscious, because the consciousness wouldn't be cloned...?

  • @Naxide Took the worlds out of my mouth thats what i have problems with for example if i made a complete copy of myself how can i be conscious in two places at once maybe consciousness is something we dont understand yet maybe its in a different dimension to our bodys or maybe its somehow spiritual who knows its very interesting nonetheless

  • It'd just be a copy.

  • thumbs up if the top comment for seananners video led you here

  • okay here's my question we often talk about MOVING our conciousness from one machine to another like a data file. but I gotta ask is that possible. To my knowledge we don't actually move data files we just copy them. So if that's the case we need a hardware brain (whether biological or machine) to be moved back and forth between bodies. Otherwise you're just making a copy not moving. So I have to ask does anyone who knows anyhting about computers know about moving files between computers?

  • This is possibly the most sophisticated comment thread I've come across in a year, it's wonderful. Just saying.

  • God i love Michio Kaku...what a boss!

  • As a Bond villain, I believe Steve Jobs was in the process of transferring his consciousness to one of these machines (iRobot obviously), and Bond broke into his secret volcano lair with a bunch of ninjas and stopped the process. That's how Steve Jobs really died.

  • @JHUD152 lol

  • @JHUD152 one way or another, if people really desire it, we will bring back the past...

  • We will never fully understand fundamental consciousness. We can not really study it. It can't be tested. It can't be produced. It can't be seen. It can't be contained. It is not material. It is not matter. It is not governed by the laws of the universe. We really don't know what it is or why it is. We can't even slap a very good definition on it for that matter. This is what philosophers have been struggling with for thousands of years. Michio is jumping the gun a little. (or a lot)

  • Ghost in the shell anyone?

  • There's a difference between transference and copying. And THAT is the key issue.

  • its like hes sitting across the desk from me...

  • Nobodoy can tell that consciousness is a only the result of brain activity.For example when we have have surgery and sleep our brain works great,is alive but we have no consciousness.And viceversa there are cases when people are in coma,the brain is dead but have consciousness,have experiences.So maybe a big part of our consciousness is the result of brain(like memory,feelings,fears...)but the proto-consciousness the one that says I AM and self realises it's existence is something else.

  • i like how kaku thinks... and yes you can transplant consciousness into a robot if you build a machine that can read thoughts it means it has the ability to map out how the mind works... its just time consuming that is... i also suspect it would be organic in nature perhaps a sythesis of carbon and silicon or some other type of element that would comprise of the neural pathways since they are already using carbon instead of silicon in computing.

  • I wouldn't do that until we fully understand consciousness. For all you know you could be creating a life-less copy of your personality and killing the real you in the process. Computers can programmed to imitate life but it doesn't mean they are alive.

  • In other words, we're almost at Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Mouse.

  • The problem with "just swap neurons for transistors" thing is that we have many chemical processes that effect the brain, not just the neurons.

  • @xhushbladex yeah there wouldn't be any DMT

  • @xhushbladex indeed, and they aren't static, they make new connections, the transistors would have to display the same properties.

  • @xhushbladex yeah thats what he means when he talks about how what gives us our fears and emotions would be gone, and "is that really you"

  • @noahsego Actually I think he means would it be YOU or a robot that's exactly like you (you died when they destroyed your brain) OR maybe your brain meshed enough with the robot brain that it's the same as growing more cells. If you lost and regrew more half your brain then lost and regrew the other half you'd still be you? Is a machine different from biological matter in that sense? I think I'm a fan of nano-body repair.

  • @xhushbladex he's talking about consciousness in the most basic way possible. A way that isn't affected by hormones/chemicals

  • @xhushbladex Not to mention that taking the brain apart, especially while conscious, would be both excruciating and fatal.

  • @CyberdarkVenom Fatal is kind of subjective at that point.

    Fatal to the current mechanism carrying your mind. no so much for your consciousness itself.

  • @xhushbladex It depends on how the brain reacts to the method of extraction. If the brain shuts itself down to protect itself from whatever is causing it such inconceivable pain, you could slip into a coma. Or, say the procedure can't be done fast enough for the brain to not recognize it's being disassembled. Take one certain piece and you could kill it. Fatal or not, disassembling your brain while conscious would hurt like a bitch. :P

  • The assumption is that the brain generates consciousness. What if it instead channels consciousness? What if the brain is a radio? What if consciousness is an inter-dimensional broadcast? This is the conclusion of - everyone ... who examines consciousness in the only way that it can ever be seriously examined - and that is in meditation. How many more centuries does Humanity have to wait for its wimpy scientists to become not only intellectually but PHYSICALLY brave enough to take up meditation?

  • @MB7electronic I don't know about you, but this sound like scientology.

    I take your point of view as an insult to mine. For example, when you say ''channel consciousness'', where is it chanelled from? An interdimentional holy ghost? And if it was chanelled, why can't we tap into other people's consciousness. Not only does your explanation make no sense, but your last phrase about ''wimpy scientists'' is down right insulting!

    PS : Your grammar was very good. *bows*

  • @DyslexicallyWaesome I have no problem with insulting scientists. If scientists would stop congratulating themselves for 2 seconds, they'd realize that they're the cause of most of the worst problems in the world - all of the weapons and all of the pollution. And their attack on religion is unconscionable.

    So let me get this right. You're judging the matter of what I said, having zero experience in what I'm talking about. And yet somehow it's you who are being insulted! Pretty laughable. : )

  • 100 billion neurons would make for a lot of transistors...

  • I believe there is another way, one that is possibly feasible in my life time. I don't think that we can recreate the brain function now, but we do know what the brain needs to stay alive. I propose looking at the functions that maintain the brain in order to preserve consciousness. Concretely I mean moving the brain into an environment where is can exist detached from the bodily life support. Difficulties like blood supplements and transport downtime would be the greatest hurdle in my opinion

  • Comment removed

  • creepy

  • This guy looks like he's about to burst out laughing at some of these theories. Loving it!

  • the brain will still need suplys like (food ) to live, even if you chould take that away by having transistors you will still have the idea of that you must eat or breath or lusts or urges, i think one wil lgo insane not beeing able to do such things any more sudenly or it will be one of the most strangest sensations ever !

  • @SupremeLordReptyle "the brain will still need suplys like (food ) to live, even if you chould take that away by having transistors"

    a sentient robot would still consume energy, yes, but it would be more comparable to your computer than to your brain. in other words, you'd be able to "turn off" without destroying yourself (hypothetically of course).

  • Bad idea,simply a Bad idea.

  • I wish Michio taught us in Law school, would be so much more interesting and less snobs-filled.

  • so what? If i can clone myself exactly the way I am, I will be 2, and be able to...fuck, this is some serious shiz.

  • 666th like!

  • People are simply complex machines. I know it's a hard concept to grasp, but it makes complete sense in my mind that if you were to destroy yourself, and instantly create an identical copy of yourself a lightyear away, then yes, it would be you. There are no differences. Even if you didn't destroy yourself, there would then be two of you. Of course, then instantaneously, there would be two different beings, because they would be subjected to different input. This is hard to explain in 500 char.

  • If thought and consciousness is just electrical signals from neurons, can't we transfer all that as electrical data to a very large hard-drive?

  • we will all live in computers... as computers. wow

  • we only see a limited spectrum of reality. Consciousness is more than our limited 5 sense perception of reality. There are other vibrations that we as humans cannot pick up. There are other dimensions. There's dark matter, 98% of universe. Some call it soul or astral world. Why do you think religious traditions are united my one message: selfless love. That's because that's a way to raise consciousness and start accessing the mysterious planes of reality. Pineal gland is the antenna.

  • @SpeedDeamon95 @Shifterwizard Soul and consciousness are both ideas that are learned. Now I ask you, If you're suddenly involved in an accident; losing your memories in the process or perhaps became Schizophrenic. Would that still be you? Yes. You are what your accumulative knowledge define you as. What is a soul? an entity of "you" that occupies an empty vessel? Consciousness.. would you even know anything in regards to this "idea" if it's not exposed to you in the first place?

  • I would love to try and answer everything but unfortunately whatever that I may reply here is basically based exclusively on my own opinion. You are disagreeing with me because part of your complex neuron network is telling you to do so. The identity that we all may very know of ourselves ever since birth is nothing but an accumulation of ideas. We were given a name, personality and etc. Would you know any of these if you're secluded from the world? No education, no exposure to whom what so ever

  • Comment removed

  • this would disprove religion if that was possible because your saying that are consciousness,can be reproduced by another type of material meaning that you would not be the same person because your only copying the logical process of someones brain. @hardc0r3gam3r your wrong no offense but it would be a clone, i mean thats like saying 2 chocolate chip cookies with the same ingredients are the same

  • @hardc0r3gam3r I'm wondering two things about your idea. 1, what would make it not be just a copy of you and not the original, in the same way that twins are essentially copies of each other out of the womb? You'd just be making a twin then committing suicide, souls wouldn't even necessarily factor into it. 2, and this is the one I'm really curious about your opinion on, if Consciousness is an illusion, then what is it fooling? Computers aren't fooled, they're just cause-effect.