MIND TRANSFER: DREAM OR REALITY?
Ever since the on-set of Sci-Fi movies, i have always asked myself if things and by things i mean technology i saw in these movies were ever going to be built or developed.
One thing i know for sure is that so far every form of technology i have seen in sci-fi movies have almost been built except for Mind Transfer or Uploading. Thus i bring this topic to light, IS MIND TRANSFER POSSIBLE?
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Whole brain emulation (WBE), mind upload or brain upload (sometimes called "mind copying" or "mind transfer") is the hypothetical futuristic process of scanning the mental state (including long-term memory and "self") of a particular brain substrate and copying it to a computer.
The computer could then run a simulation model of the brain's information processing, such that it responds in essentially the same way as the original brain (i.e., indistinguishable from the brain for all relevant purposes) and experiences having a conscious mind.
Mind uploading may potentially be accomplished by either of two methods:
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Copy-and-Transfer or gradual replacement of neurons. In the case of the former method, mind uploading would be achieved by scanning and mapping the salient features of a biological brain, and then by copying, transferring, and storing that information state into a computer system or another computational device.
The simulated mind could be within a virtual reality or simulated world, supported by an anatomic 3D body simulation model. Alternatively the simulated mind could reside in a computer that is inside (or connected to) a (not necessarily humanoid) robot or a biological body in real life.
Among some futurists and within the transhumanist movement, mind uploading is treated as an important proposed life extension technology. Some believe mind uploading is humanity's current best option for preserving the identity of the species, as opposed to cryonics. Another aim of mind uploading is to provide a permanent backup to our "mind-file", and a means for functional copies of human minds to survive a global disaster or interstellar space travels.
Whole brain emulation is discussed by some futurists as a "logical endpoint" of the topical computational neuroscience and neuroinformatics fields, both about brain simulation for medical research purposes. It is discussed in artificial intelligence research publications as an approach to strong AI.
Computer-based intelligence such as an upload could think much faster than a biological human even if it were no more intelligent. A large-scale society of uploads might, according to futurists, give rise to a technological singularity, meaning a sudden time constant decrease in the exponential development of technology. Mind uploading is a central conceptual feature of numerous science fiction novels and films.
Substantial mainstream research in related areas is being conducted in animal brain mapping and simulation, development of faster supercomputers, virtual reality, brain–computer interfaces, connectomics and information extraction from dynamically functioning brains.
According to supporters, many of the tools and ideas needed to achieve mind uploading already exist or are currently under active development; however, they will admit that others are, as yet, very speculative, but still in the realm of engineering possibility. Neuroscientist Randal Koene has formed a nonprofit organization called Carbon Copies to promote mind uploading research.
Theoretical benefits and applications of Mind Transfer
Immortality or backup
In theory, if the information and processes of the mind can be disassociated from the biological body, they are no longer tied to the individual limits and lifespan of that body. Furthermore, information within a brain could be partly or wholly copied or transferred to one or more other substrates (including digital storage or another brain), thereby – from a purely mechanistic perspective – reducing or eliminating "mortality risk" of such information.
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Uploaded astronaut
An “uploaded astronaut” would be the application of mind uploading to human spaceflight. This would eliminate the harms caused by a zero gravity environment, the vacuum of space, and cosmic radiation to the human body. It would allow for the use of smaller spacecraft, such as the proposed StarChip, and it would enable virtually unlimited interstellar travel distances.
Cryonics Purposes
It is theoreticized that if mind transfer is possible, then cryonics will become more effective. When a host body is cryogenically stored (probably due to age or disease) and is provided a new body for transfer, if by then mind transfer is fully possible, the new body can receive it's former brain and function back.
WELL THAT IS IT, THOUGH MIND TRANSFER IS STILL THEORETICAL MANY BELIEVE IT SOMETHING THAT HOLDS HOPE. WHO KNOWS, MAYBE ONE DAY YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEND YOUR MIND OR CONSCIOUSNESS AS AN E-MAIL MESSAGE
References
A framework for approaches to transfer of a mind's substrate
"Human-level artificial general intelligence and the possibility of a technological singularity: a reaction to Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity Is Near, and McDermott's critique of Kurzweil
Clearing Up Misconceptions About Mind Uploading
Digital immortality
Time, Consciousness, and Mind Uploading
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