Reincarnation.

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It would have to be a very complex AI that also simulates the limbic system of the brain, especially the reward system. Otherwise it would just be a bunch of data that has no incentive to do anything. Sensory input would also be required, since most brain activity is the result of external input, but that could be simulated as a virtual reality for the digitized mind to live in.

But of course this AI / simulation wouldn't be "you", meaning that you wouldn't experience it. It would be a new instance of you that simply shares all your memories. I mean, if it was possible to clone yourself including your current neural structure and memories, you wouldn't suddenly see the world through two pairs of eyes and in two places at once. For the same reason, a digitized copy of your brain wouldn't make you immortal.

(That's why the Star Trek idea of "beaming" freaks me out. If this was technically possible, people couldn't possibly survive the process. It would kill the original brain / consciousness and create a new instance of a person instead).

Btw, I wonder how fast we would find a cure for cancer, or a new alternative energy source, if we built a vast computer complex where digitized versions of the greatest minds of our times live and work in a virtual reality a la Matrix?

This could even be the next step in human evolution. Humanity could live and procreate (by programming new AIs) in virtual realities. No need for physical bodies anymore. All we would need in real world is a bunch of self-replicating robots that perform maintenance work on the computer hardware that houses our digital minds.

I imagine in a sense "you" would be in there (a total brain scan would get everything, memories, personality, etc) but not really aware of it. You be disconnected from all of your senses. If you were aware I think it would be a truly horrifying thing, you would be aware of your own non-existence in any meaningful way.

Which is closer to the definition of life? A bottle? Or Electricity?

We're lightning in a bottle. No life exists without electricity. The brain and body are merely conductors and conduits. Life cannot be created just as energy cannot be created. It's always without exception transferred one life to another. You as ripples in spacetime exist throughout eternity. New life creates new ripples, but they're always contained within spacetime. You experience a singular perspective while alive because that's your point of reference from the center of the event, but when you die your point of view changes.

Do you reincarnate? Why not. Energy is never destroyed. We are lighting in a bottle.

I'm afraid that is a very oversimplified model of the human brain. Yes, there are electric signals that travel along nerve cells (neurons). However, these electric impulses only travel from one end of a neuron to the other.

When neurons communicate with one another, they use so-called neurotransmitters, which are protein molecules that are produced by the neuron and sent across a synapse (the space between neurons). These protein molecules attach to the receptors of the next neuron. Only if enough neurochemicals bind to the next nerve cell, this cell will also flash an electric signal to its other end, which again releases neurotransmitter molecules.

In other words, brain activity requires living cells that communicate with the help of chemical molecules. It is not an electric circuit board. You can't have conscious thought, memory and emotions without this structure of living cells that need a constant supply of glucose, oxygen, and the chemicals that are needed to assemble neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin.

That is a terrifying thought. If the machines breakdown for some reason... bye bye humanity.

As for the greatest minds scenario, that would be a GREAT thing for humanity. Scientists are limited by life span, they only have so much time to work on something before age either destroys their mind or kills them outright. Imagine what Einstein could do if he and Hawking worked together for a hundred years

Here is an image to illustrate my reply to cw10:



The electric signal only travels through the red, worm-like part of the neural cell. If the signal is strong enough, the light blue axon part releases neurochemicals into the synaptic cleft, which attach to the orange dendrites of the next neural cell. Remove this complex neurobiological structure, and all you have left is a bunch of free-floating electrons that won't do anything other than bind to the gas molecules of the surrounding air. They won't do any thinking.

Tell that to the AI scientists.

The brain and body are merely machines. They don't function without electricity. Your essence remains. There are structures in the brain that rely on neurotransmitters for various reasons, it's more than you realize however. Biological machines require different structures to maintain operating temperature unlike a computer which can be actively cooled. If you could set a heat sink on your noodle, you wouldn't need neuropeptides.

As far as I know science has not yet created a true artificial intelligence, a computer capable of independent thought.

That would lead to a reasonable suspicion that the brain works through more than electricity.

True We might want to keep a few biological humans around that keep an eye on things. We would probably also need to develop more advanced hardware and upgrade the system over time.

Everything does, but without it there is no life.

Who would agree to be one of the very few who didn't get to experience the Matrix reality? A reality where everything can be as you wanted it to be (within reason, if reality is computer simulated I don't see why one couldn't do damn near anything) with no consequences?

I think being stuck with that role would lead to resentment of the system that put you there... which would be very dangerous.

That is true, but electricity is not the only requirement for life.

Take humans for example, a far better term than "bottled lightning" would be "bag of water".

Life can not be boiled down to any one thing, it's a very complicated equation. Even on the simplest possible scale (single celled organisms) you need water, nutrients, a rudimentary brain (nucleus), electricity, and I'm sure many other things I am not aware of.

Well I agree that defines a life like a human, or a cat however.

What I'm saying however is we're merely the observer. Everything we experience is recorded in EM, and that remains forever.

The brain doesn't function without electricity, but is also doesn't function without carbon compounds, without water and so on. You can't remove (i.e. let die and decompose) everything but electricity and still have thought, memory and emotions. And AIs would require computer hardware to run on. A computer is not just free-floating electricity either.

I don't really understand your comment about cooling. I was talking about neurotransmitters, not neuropeptides (which have more functions than blood flow regulation btw). Neurotransmitters are needed for signal transmission between your brain cells. Brain cells don't use electricity to communicate with each other, so the dependency of brain function on neurotransmitters has nothing to do with temperature.

Or that the complexity of the human mind is too much for mere digital logic to replicate; at least, with today's technology, anyway.