these people are scumbags as far as i'm concerned. i'd like them to die.

Originally posted by tetragrammation
these people are scumbags as far as i'm concerned. i'd like them to die.

I agree that they need to moderate themselves very strictly and carefully. (This whole project seems disturbingly egotistical -- maybe it is just the way the article was written.)

Your point is understood. However, I personally would prefer that these scientists DID NOT DIE for their efforts. (That's just me speaking, of course.)

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I believe this article is hype. It implies that the neocortex is the most essential part of the human brain, when it is not. We don't really understand what most of the structures in the brain are for. So I can't imagine that these researchers are anywhere close to answering that question.

The operation of the neocortex structure is fairly simple. We have known about neural networks, and their ability to match patterns, for twenty years now.

To me, it is a bit like this: after years of research and reverse engineering of a car engine -- someone announces they finally have made a working spark plug! If only they could determine what that "gasoline" stuff is for! And the air filter! Then, they would have the secrets of the internal combustion engine at hand.

We are still a long ways off from true AI, in my opinion. We may be one step closer to doing that, but it is a very tiny and trivial step.

Guess what IBM will be using the perfected version of this for?

Thats right folks-these brains will be what the elite will use to download their consciousness into when they are on their natural deathbeds.
By the time they are able to do this,adding the brain to a fully grown amped clone will seem like childs play.
As the poor masses will not be able to afford such technologies,we will just turn into a sub human race dominated by evil super beings of great power and darkness.

The other thing they will do is have many of these brains set up in a way that they can instantly "download" any persons real time consciousness(without that person knowing its happening).Thoughts can then be analyzed,manipulated,diverted to whatever the controllers want us to think,feel and see.
The ultimate control tool for the future global government.

Mark my words.I am not kidding.

IMHO,of course...
Flagged.

Originally posted by Silcone Synapse
Mark my words. I am not kidding.

If we get to that point, I am absolutely sure there will be a lot of people wanting to do what you describe above. I think your post is a very worthwhile, cautionary statement. We should be vigilant.

I am in the process of reading "Kiln People" by David Brin. (This author also also wrote "The Postman", which formed the basis of the movie starring Kevin Costner)

David Brin paints a very dismal picture of human nature -- he projects a time when people are perfectly happy to make slaves out of images of their own consciousnesses, and abuse these slaves horrifically. (I haven't finished this book yet, so please no spoilers!)

This whole idea reeks of egotism -- bordering on egomania -- on the part of these researchers. Think of all the people, behind the scenes, who are avidly watching and encouraging this type of research. What are they contemplating?

I actually think this is wonderful.

Face it, the human race is limited. If we create a new form of life in our own image, how is that not part of our own race? It's just another variant of ourselves... an improved version. Our successor.

It's been a dream of mine for human kind to create a better version of itself. This one won't have the need to feed off of animals, it would have a much better chance of co-existing with other species as it is not a part of the food chain at all, and would be far better at exploring space than we could ever dream of doing.

Every generation of children is different from the last. Each carries an upgrade of one form or another. How would this variant be much different from a new generation born with greater mental capacity?

I say go for it. We need a new variant of human... we can't allow our race to be confined to this parasitic existence forever.

Originally posted by Silcone Synapse
Thing is palehorse,the system is now geared so that ALL research and Inventions are now screened by the military industrial complex.

Where did you hear that?

i think this is a great idea. of course ethics will be a major concern, and to be honest, we all know that military black projects are far ahead of what WE are getting as the secondary end product. in reality, there is probably already a brain that is in full operation working well.

we've been working on biological computing for several years now, and i personally look forward to using said platform when its ready, being many times faster than mechanical hardware we use today.

what was the quote a read recently, "a single neuro network in a gold fish's brain is able to process way more information than today's super computer".

what if it wasn't conscious, but rather a really good robot tool to use. like being used in monitoring stations with thousands of nodes - something we couldn't digest as humans fulfilling the part? what if it was crash-proof? it could be a great tool where WE fail as humans, it could make unbiased decisions.

the down side: politics and military interest. the upside, an advanced society of well intended actions.

Its inevitable that one day if you have enough money you will be able to live forever.

The implications for this are terrifying , i just pray that the redshields of this world are long since dead before this technology becomes available.