Can You Upload Your Brain & Cheat Death (2023)?

Brain Image
image credit www.freepik.com

We all have been fascinated by the thought of being immortal and had always thought of it as a joke but for some individuals it’s more than just a thought it’s the idea of having the required technology to create something that is just a wish for most people that excites them even more than being immortal.

Cyborge a term you might have often heard in movies or TV series is a the idea of merging humans with robots to increase their physical as well as mental capacities and most importantly elimination of the word that fears us the most “Death”.

Therfore the most vital question is “Can we really Upload or Transfer our minds into a machine and cheat death?”

What Exactly is Mind Uploading And How It Works?

“Mind uploading” is defined as the process where a person’s consciousness (which includes their memories, ideology, experiences,thoughts and pretty much everything else that makes them themselves) is separated, converted to a transferrable format, and then transferred into a different substrate, like a machine.

Now i will try to explain in great detail how the process might take step by step:

These steps includes the procedure to Brain dublication, Brain transfer, Brain safekeeping, and whole Mind equalization.

1) Transferring The Information From The Brain

There are about 100 billion neurons in the human brain working together in a massive neural network to complete complicated tasks on a regular basis.

Its a highly complex structure and it gets even more complex as we go ahead. This is a huge amount of data to be collected. It is believed that it would be necessary to first dissect the brain in order to entirely tranfer a person brain and it sounds terrifying.

Furthermore, people who support the mind uploading idea claim that noninvasive brain scans can provide enought details and information for brain copying without actually killing the person in the process although one might argue why does it matter as you will be reborn in a immortal machine with same conscience but it isn’t easy to just give up your own body in the hope you will reborn.

A connectome, a detailed road map of the neural connections in the brain, would be created using the data stored in our mind after performing a highly accurate scanning of the neurons and synapses of the brain.

It is fairly Clear that creating a human connectome is a highly complex procedure. To comprehend the neural route of C. elegans, scientists had to put in more than a decade of labour.

Consider the time and effort required to identify the approximately 100 billion neurons, locate them precisely, and compile a list of the outputs that each neuron has over the others. Even one human connectome cannot be built or fully understood with current technology.

Brain–machine interface (BMI)

An apparatus known as a brain-machine interface (BMI) converts neural input into commands that may operate external software or hardware, such as a processor or mechanical arm. BMIs are frequently utilised by people with a sensory or motor disabilities as assistive living tools.

A brain-machine interface is another suggested way to access the brain for information (BMI). With implanted devices, it is currently feasible to convert some types of brain impulses into commands and operate exterior software or hardware for example a mechanical arm.

However, the theoretical BCIs that would be required to enable humans to translate our brain states into a digital medium have very little in common with existing BCIs.

For mind uploading to be possible, brain-computer interfaces would require technology akin to that used for brain scans today. It is claimed by some individuals that in order to store consciousness, one would need technology that could scan human brains at quantum particle level.

2) Remodeling Of The Artificial Brain

The connectome would next need to be digitised once all of the neuronal activity had been identified and mapped out.

Contrary to common belief, which suggest that most of us just use 10% of brain capacity at most times, neurologists assert that we actually use practically all of our brains constantly. That much storage is a lot.

We will need a computer architecture in addition to storage on which the brain can be recreated as computable code. The issue of power for that architecture is also present.

In order for the computer to understand things and make judgements in a way that is similar to that of a person, an artificial neural system is an effort to imitate the web of neurons that comprise a human brain. An ANN is built using a network of interconnected nodes that, in part, simulate the neurons found in a biological brain.

  • Instead of being a part of a network where they all operate simultaneously, all artificial layers calculate individually.
  • In contrast to the neuronal section of our brain, which resembles tree-like formations, all simulated neurons are similar and look like basic boxes that can only carry one value.

In addition, the human brain employs almost 300 times more parameters than GPT3, the biggest artificial neural network yet constructed (neurons plus synapses).

3) Emulation In An External Substrate

The “mind” can now be uploaded into a simulation, like a virtual world like the metaverse, or into a network of artificial brains connected to one another in a swarm if all the prerequisites have been completed and the artificial brain is ready (also called hive mind). The uploading of the mind onto a humanoid robot is another transhumanist theory. Robots that are significantly more functional than any that are already on the market would be necessary for uploading into physical robots.

If all conditions are met and the artificial brain is prepared, the “mind” can now be uploaded into a simulation, such as a virtual world like the metaverse, or into a network of artificial brains connected to one another in a swarm (also called hive mind). Another transhumanist notion proposes the uploading of the mind onto a humanoid robot. Uploading onto physical robots would require robots that are vastly more functional than any now on the market.

Doubts And Theories Regarding Mind Uploading?

It is claimed by Hendricks that researchers are still not sure which technology exactly would make it possible to duplicate the human mind.

Hendricks also expressed concerns in his study concerning the viability of future or existing brain freezing techniques, as well as techniques for accessing the data held in the human brain. Furthermore, he asserts that possessing a connectome is not a prerequisite for simulating a nervous system on its own as an authority on the brain activity of the C. Elegans roundworm.

The conceptual component of whole brain emulation will still be present even after we have figured out the technical aspects. Would you still be that imitation? There is no simple solution to this question, thus answering it will involve a considerable deal of thought about what consciousness and identity actually are.

As it is best said, “Death is what gives life meaning, it is the only thing where true equality lies. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new.” If this is the case, then using mind uploading to defeat death might really be counterproductive. A select few would be given the opportunity to continue, but at the expense of everything and everyone else.

Check Out Our Technology Section For More Tech Stuff.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *