Human head transplants to be possible in 2 years time.

That gives new meaning to where "you" end and your "tail" begins.

originally posted by: nonspecific
Article
This is a pretty freaky concept, I do not think I could cope with this, It makes me shudder just thinking about it.

It also asks some moral questions regarding extending human life beyond normal peramaters.

(Shudders)

a reply to: nonspecific

What would happen is that the transplanted brain and eyes and relevant wiring to ears etc . would be put into the donor body. Along with a good dose of stem cells where the joins would occur. and hey presto. As soon as it connected, all the nutrient to the brain would be removed and the skull, stitched up. The body taken off of life support , I guess they'd call him Frank?

a reply to: nonspecific

Doesn't matter, neural tissue degenerates anyways. Until we can add neuroplasticity to computers and upload a human brain, we're pretty limited. "Natural causes" basically means your body degenerated to the point of not being able to support itself, this applies to EVERYTHING in your body, including your head, which happens to be fairly decomposable. Just a statement of fact, the "oldest person in the world" will not be much higher than where it is now for a VERY long time. Sorry hopes for eternal life!

tl;dr We won't ever live very long because our brains will fall apart first.

Now I just need to find a head.

Huh

I'm going to make myself ridiculously fat. Then I'm going to have my head put on a skinny guy's body. Then I'm going to make THAT body fat, then repeat the process over and over...

a reply to: nonspecific

Too bad there is no cure for dementia. The brain would still age and fail.

a reply to: nonspecific

Human head transplants to be possible in 2 years time

NOT!
Goldsmith and Scripko from your link both state "it aint gonna happen"
Canavero said the technical aspects maybe feasible. Too many ifs and buts.

a reply to: stormcell

She had strong psychological objections to have someone else's doo-dah in her bed.

Well of course she would, it should have been somewhere other than in her bed!

a reply to: interupt42

immunorejection

What is that?
Immune or ejection?
immuno erection?
perhaps the term you're looking for is "immune rejection"

originally posted by: nerbot

There is no necessity here though, just egos at work.

Transplanting a head is pointless imo because all they would end up with is a vegetable that is so freaked out at having an alien torso and limbs "it" would die from the shock, physical rejection or be a gibbering wreck at least.

Just an overpaid scientists with a god complex and an obscene budget.

This is not the way to cure people.

I tried explaining this to a friend who was in favor of this idea and his argument was that it doesn't take resources from other research. I have significant damage to my spinal cord and a terminal illness and I would much rather see time and money devoted to spinal cord repair and cancer research studies as opposed to a science fiction pipe dream. Crucial steps would be skipped that are necessary to a good quality of life. For those proposing android bodies--the human body is too complex and necessary for long term survival of the brain. Are we anywhere near creating androids that can supply nutrients, oxygen, and an immune system to a brain?

2 years ain't much. Isn't it said that 'military' tech is 40 years ahead of us? Perhaps Jobs isn't dead. Maybe he just swapped heads.

originally posted by: TheConstruKctionofLight
a reply to: interupt42

immunorejection

What is that?
Immune or ejection?
immuno erection?
perhaps the term you're looking for is "immune rejection"

Haha, Well played Mr. Internet Spell checker , well played. LOL . I copied the text from the post I was responding to.

Although, Immune erection or resistant to getting erections would not be good either.

Although this does bring up an interesting point.

If you have a body transplant and you masturb@te , would that be considered -------

a reply to: SlowNail

2 years ain't much. Isn't it said that 'military' tech is 40 years ahead of us?
Perhaps Jobs isn't dead. Maybe he just swapped heads.

If Jobs was in charge we would certainly know, our military would all be using the same tech and it would be 1 or 2 years behind everyone else’s tech and they would be forced to buy from only one manufacture. We would than see huge lines of military personel standing in line to see the latest mHumvee. Sorry couldn't resist.



However, they have been experimenting with this since the 60's

It won't be much longer before all of the matter in your brain can be mapped with nano-bots then duplicated with a software program. Once your brain is essentially artifically cloned without using your DNA a second "paused" identical version of your consciousness will exist on a hard disk. 3D printers will then someday in the future be able to re-create an exact living replica of you. It's the next best thing to being immortal. When that replica dies you can have another one made who contains all the "data" or "memories" that you had and who would be in the exact same physical condition of you as when the duplication was made.

originally posted by: OccamsRazor04
a reply to: nonspecific

Too bad there is no cure for dementia. The brain would still age and fail.

When will we start seeing Futurama type head jars?

We might yet see George Bush senior or Dick Cheney with a huge murderous robot body.

originally posted by: Asynchrony
It won't be much longer before all of the matter in your brain can be mapped with nano-bots then duplicated with a software program. Once your brain is essentially artifically cloned without using your DNA a second "paused" identical version of your consciousness will exist on a hard disk. 3D printers will then someday in the future be able to re-create an exact living replica of you. It's the next best thing to being immortal. When that replica dies you can have another one made who contains all the "data" or "memories" that you had and who would be in the exact same physical condition of you as when the duplication was made.

I had this conversation with a coworker about this exact scenario. My argument is that I wouldn't personally continue living, someone else would continue my life. I wouldn't experience feelings or thoughts anymore. What is the point of immortality if someone else essentially gets to live for you?

This could also be a very interesting observational test:.

1. If the head is put on a new body: will the person be the same?
2. Whos personality,soul, conscience,memories,perception,reflexes will be dominate: the Heads , the Body, or will they mesh?
3. Will we finally be able to fully understand conscience?

Ray Milland just hopes they pick some "body" other than Rosey Grier's:

a reply to: Soylent Green Is People

Hahah, now that looks like it could be a funny movie. I feel a new dave chappel skit coming .

a reply to: interupt42

I believe that if we do have souls they are invariably tied to our bodies. I have a coworker who had a massive stroke that basically ruined half of his brain. When he woke he had no memories of his life prior to the event and had to go through months of physical therapy. You wouldn't know now that he ever had a stroke, but he never recovered his memories. I asked him if his friends and family think he has the same personality that he had prior to the stroke, because he is very extroverted and has no filter, and he said that they say he is a lot like who he was. I always think of the case of Terri Schiavo, whose brain was mostly replaced by fluid. It's like our brains are the hardware and our souls are the operating system. I have sometimes wondered then if there is something beyond life if people who have always had intellectual disabilities or significant brain damage have souls that will be "stronger" once released from their bodies. Ugh I'm going off into a whole other territory.