On Sunday, September 30, 2012 6:19:15 AM UTC-4, stathisp wrote: > > On Sun, Sep 30, 2012 at 3:15 PM, Craig Weinberg > <[email protected]<javascript:>> > wrote: > > >> OK, so you put in the brain implant, switch it in and out of circuit > >> without telling the subject which is which, and ask them how they > >> feel. They can't tell any difference and you can't tell any difference > >> in behaviour. To make the experiment better there would be two > >> researchers, one doing the switching and another analysing the > >> subject's behaviour. With this double blind procedure the implant is > >> pronounced successful. Is that good enough? > > > > > > No, I think that you have to have each hemisphere of the brain offloaded > > completely to the device one at a time, then both, and then back, and > have > > the subject live that way at each stage for several months before > finally > > being restored back to their original brain. This would be repeated > several > > times with double blind placebo offloadings. The subject would then > decide > > for themselves if it was safe for them to say yes to the doctor. > > One would hope the scientists try it with a more limited part of the > brain before moving to an entire hemisphere. > > > I entertain this only theoretically though, as I think in reality it > would > > fail completely, with every case resulting right away in > unconsciousness, > > amnesia, coma, death, trauma, and psychosis and the whole project > ultimately > > being abandoned for good. > > I don't doubt that initial experiments would not yield ideal results. > Neural prostheses would initially be used for people with > disabilities. Cochlear implants are better than being deaf, but not as > good as normal hearing. But technology keeps getting better while the > human body stays more or less static, so at some point technology will > match and then exceed it. At the very least, there is no theoretical > reason why it should not. > > > I'm all for neural mods and implants. Augmenting and repairing brain = great, replacing the brain = theoretically viable only in theories rooted in blind physicalism, in which consciousness is inconceivable to begin with.
Craig > -- > Stathis Papaioannou > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/everything-list/-/Fo7uiYuWyG8J. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
