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Krispy

The UAC at work

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I'm not good at science but I'm interested in that, so...

I think remote controlling would be more comfortable because the biological brain might be in danger inside a robotic body - probably I'm wrong but just think over, how sensitive organ the brain is...

Also, like every organs, brain has biological needs (energy, warm, etc.) and I have no idea how is it possible to suplly it constantly?

Although I didN't understand some parts of the video, I'm sure that it has a lot of potentials - even I have no idea about it. :c

EDIT: Lol I just see how video is this...I'd be interested, how the projects and the researches going on.

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I had no idea that the UAC manufactured the demons all along.

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I had a self-realization earlier this year that the brain and person that we are inside the body are two seperate entities. Kinda like the body is a mere puppet and the brain communicates messages to it (in the form of feelings), telling it to do things even if it's not beneficial for the well being of yourself such as that incredible feeling of scratching a poison ivy rash, or overeating, or snorting coke.

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40oz said:

I had a self-realization earlier this year that the brain and person that we are inside the body are two seperate entities. Kinda like the body is a mere puppet and the brain communicates messages to it (in the form of feelings), telling it to do things even if it's not beneficial for the well being of yourself such as that incredible feeling of scratching a poison ivy rash, or overeating, or snorting coke.

Ah, the old brain-body-self trichotomy. Many a good conversations (several of them, ironically, with my Self) on this very topic. [:

Something tells me you might get a kick out of this short thought experiment by Dan Dennett, if you haven't already.

I've heard the brain, or parts of the brain/mind, described as a switchboard, a parliament, or even as a sort of complicated network of Chinese Rooms. Adding consciousness into this discussion only enriches and confounds it. Truly a fascinating topic.

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40oz said:

I had a self-realization earlier this year that the brain and person that we are inside the body are two seperate entities. Kinda like the body is a mere puppet and the brain communicates messages to it (in the form of feelings), telling it to do things even if it's not beneficial for the well being of yourself such as that incredible feeling of scratching a poison ivy rash, or overeating, or snorting coke.

Or the brain is just another component of the body, it's just that what's good for one part of it isn't necessarily good for another.

Philosophy is great for a while but I find it can lead to a lot of impractical and counter-motivational thought. But maybe I was just looking at it the wrong way and cherry picking the wrong stuff.

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Are the "brains" autonomous entities that think by themselves, or are they mere neurons used as circuit components in otherwise regular electronics?

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printz said:

Are the "brains" autonomous entities that think by themselves, or are they mere neurons used as circuit components in otherwise regular electronics?


They're completely separate and their only link to the world is through a few electrodes spaced throughout them. The robot picks up signals that the brain feeds it, reads those signals as cues to move around, then sends info from its ultrasound detectors back into the brain. From this the brain learns about the world via its only link, the robot.

I find this extremely interesting because to me this shows that not only can this petri-dish brain think and learn, but it also has a will to learn. It wants things. And soon enough zombie scientists will attach a mega chaingun to it and grow it a bigger brain so it will take over the world. I think that right now they're remotely connected, but I see no reason as to why they can't just plop that brain right on top of the whole system and be done with it. Probably because of Katamori's point, that it needs warmth and nourishment.

40oz said:

I had a self-realization earlier this year that the brain and person that we are inside the body are two seperate entities. Kinda like the body is a mere puppet and the brain communicates messages to it (in the form of feelings), telling it to do things even if it's not beneficial for the well being of yourself such as that incredible feeling of scratching a poison ivy rash, or overeating, or snorting coke.


I believe that you are your brain. Everything on your body is like that robot in the lab. It's just a suit made to interact with the world.

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Krispy said:

I believe that you are your brain. Everything on your body is like that robot in the lab. It's just a suit made to interact with the world.

Your entire body is you. You are a collection of specialized cells in symbiosis that work together for mutual benefit, survival and propagation.

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Legally speaking, your body is you. Psychologically, though, it's a lot harder to justify. At least if we're talking about the concept of the self.

Anyway, good discussion so far. I really didn't see it going this way, but I'm glad it did. My two bits, in reply to Krispy, mainly:

Even a statement as seemingly obvious as 'you are your brain' isn't entirely accurate. You are, in fact, only conscious of a small portion of the things your brain comes up with. You're not aware of the processes that keep your heart beating, or even your breath going (although perhaps you're aware of the latter now). Likewise, if you conjure up an image of a piece of, let's say, fruit, you're not aware of all the interactions and influences, subconscious, and sometimes random, that lead you to the specific fruit, or concept of a fruit, that you're thinking of right now.

I believe that the self as we experience it is not nearly as cohesive and consistent as we think it is. For obvious reasons of survival, we maintain a sense of continuity between our past, present, remembered, and experiencing, selves. But the part of us that is conscious is not the 'real you' so-to-speak - it's just the part of your mind that's awake, who's main job is really to rationalize decisions that are made way outside of its ken.

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schwerpunk said:

Legally speaking, your body is you. Psychologically, though, it's a lot harder to justify. At least if we're talking about the concept of the self.

I would not be who or what I am without my body. My concept of self is directly related to my physiology being what it is in whole, not in part.

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Quast said:

I would not be who or what I am without my body. My concept of self is directly related to my physiology being what it is in whole, not in part.

I agree that in practical terms this is the case for probably 100% of the human race. Hypothetically, though, your brain (or, technology allowing, your consciousness) could be transplanted into a mechanical body, and you would still maintain a sensation of a 'core' of your personality that is you.

Invariably, we associate ourselves with our bodies, because of our most intimate connection to them. But our bodies change. Sometimes this can be mildly unsettling, such as with the onset of baldness, or downright traumatic, such as in the case of loss of limbs or face.

I believe that if 'you' were put into the body of a four-legged arachnotron with plasma cannons for hands, you would still maintain a sense that the you at the centre of your personality was still intact, despite the intense shock of your new body.

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So, robot-brain. Pretty cool, right? Starting to regret that last paragraph I posted.

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schwerpunk said:

I agree that in practical terms this is the case for probably 100% of the human race. Hypothetically, though, your brain (or, technology allowing, your consciousness) could be transplanted into a mechanical body, and you would still maintain a sensation of a 'core' of your personality that is you.

Your brain is little more than the main data center of the entire network of your central nervous system. It encompasses your whole body. It is not just an organ that resides 'behind your viewport to the world' so to speak.

The core of ones personality doesn't simply exist in a vacuum divorced from what it experiences through the 'body' and its ability to interpret and manipulate the environment that it exists in. If my 'mind' were to be hypothetically placed into a new 'container', I would almost certainly have to deal with severe identity issues at best, if not pure terror and psychosis as what I thought 'I' was would be no more.

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Sorry, Krispy. This is so far beyond robot brains now. I can only see the walls of text getting longer and longer, MUAHAHA!

Quast said:

Your brain is little more than the main data center of the entire network of your central nervous system. It encompasses your whole body. It is not just an organ that resides 'behind your viewport to the world' so to speak.

Let me just say that I continue to agree with everything you've said. But I'm talking about the sensation of consciousness specifically, and its subjective experience of the world and of itself. I know that the consciousness is just part of the brain (which is coterminous with the body, as you pointed out), but it still plays some interesting tricks with your perception.

To quote myself from earlier:

" . . . transplanted into a mechanical body, and you would still maintain a sensation of a 'core' of your personality that is you."

I've emphasized this part, because it's the locus of my argument - that the brain/body, even the sub/consciousness itself, can undergo dramatic -- even total -- changes, while still maintaining a sensation of continuity, which could be called illusory without much difficulty.

For instance, I'm not in the same body I was twenty years ago; my mind also bears very little resemblance to that of my teen-aged self, yet I still effortlessly feel a sense of continuity between the me of then, who is now the remembered self, seen through the eyes of the, presently, experiencing self. Thus, the remembered self could be said to be a conjuration of the presently experiencing self.

I maintain that as long as one retains memories of their past self (even false ones), then they will feel a sense of haecceity, a sense of 'me'-ness; and they will feel as though this has been with them for as long as they think they remember being alive.

Barring completely psychotic breaks on account of robotic transplantation, or the like, of course.

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Guest

Well I for one am prepared to step up to the plate with my trusty shotgun if this project gets out of control...

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Krispy said:

They're completely separate and their only link to the world is through a few electrodes spaced throughout them. The robot picks up signals that the brain feeds it, reads those signals as cues to move around, then sends info from its ultrasound detectors back into the brain. From this the brain learns about the world via its only link, the robot.

Oh man. So they're living creatures in robotic bodies :( I just hope they feel well.

Important question: what animals did those brains belong to before?

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There was someone that put a rat's brain into a lil robot. I think I saw it on Ripley's.

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@Aliotroph?: That video is chilling. It behaves like a rat by scurrying around people and exploring and heading under furniture, but it moves like a robot or a car with an expert driver (backing up to turn, avoiding obstacles, spinning in place).

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