Thread: The Brain that Jack Built

I'm a big fan of science, and I'm all for messing around with things, but for some reason I don't like the implications of this. Why synthetic brains for search and rescue? why for unmanned planes? These things aren't computers, for all we know we could be enslaving another consciousness to do our bidding. You know that some government will hear about this and the first thing that'll come to mind is brains for combat robots. Why not just research this for medical reasons and that's it?? I'm sick of everything being made into killer robots. If war doesn't end soon, it'll take some really nasty turns and we'll be living out a science fiction.

Yeah, I'm pretty uneasy about biotechnology, also. I mean, I admit there are many good implications, but to be growing brains and thinking about how we are going to use these for military applications (whether offensive or reconnaissance) is just a little too creepy for me. But then, it's only in an experimental stage. We have to at least give them the credit that perhaps they will figure out how to corral all of the possibilities so that no negative ones arise in the future. (aside from the consciousness problem, which I agree with you on, also.)
Hell, who knows, the shit is just creepy. lol.
There is another story about the guy who uses electrodes implanted into his brain to move a robotic arm to replace the one he lost. I like the direction that technology is going, (givin that it doesn't malfunction and electrocute the user's brain ) because the user is still in charge, and the tech is not attached to something with twin vulcan cannons and sidewinder missle capabilities. :neutral:

well, ok
but enslaving a mouse's consciousness is not so worse that enslaving mice for anything else, like normal animal experiments in industries...

though i don't know if i would feel at ease if my computer here worked on cockroach brains

Well it's not really the scientists' job to wonder HOW their discoveries will be used, they simply research and other people apply the discoveries to certain bits of technology...

Sure, people say how einstein's discoveries are the reason for nuclear bombs and the such... but they are also the cause for many other very essential inventions that people use everyday.

I think it's a good idea... especially the search and rescue thing...

Originally posted by Oneironaut
There is another story about the guy who uses electrodes implanted into his brain to move a robotic arm to replace the one he lost.

There is also a blind guy who got his sight back by connecting a camera to his brain via a wire that goes into the back of his head. Machine/man integration is coming!

As for animal cruelty, have you ever seen planet of the apes? you know, immoral animal testing on a species for decades, then you hook them up to a spaceship or in this case a fighter jet. What's to make them bomb the middle east instead of bombing us? I'm sure there would be plenty of safeguards to keep them away from our shores, but think about it. A brain is born into an environment where it must destroy some humans but let others live. Assuming it's capable of free thought at all, it shouldn't take long for it to figure out that war is immoral in the first place, and maybe turn around and bomb his own people. I dno, maybe that's far-fetched and paranoid, but if you let a thinking entity decide what to do with a weapon, there's always a chance that it might see the truth and act unexpectedly.

But hopefully it won't get that far. If we can make artificial brains, hopefully we'll learn that war is pointless (HAH!) I think cyborg limbs are pretty cool. I kind of want one myself, even. A robot arm won't one day decide to strangle its master, because the human is still in control. Once you make a synthetic consciousness, I think you're just asking to get your ass kicked by it. All you have to do is open a history book and you'll see just how much living things hate to be enslaved.

Originally posted by Dangeruss
As for animal cruelty, have you ever seen planet of the apes? you know, immoral animal testing on a species for decades, then you hook them up to a spaceship or in this case a fighter jet. What's to make them bomb the middle east instead of bombing us? I'm sure there would be plenty of safeguards to keep them away from our shores, but think about it. A brain is born into an environment where it must destroy some humans but let others live. Assuming it's capable of free thought at all, it shouldn't take long for it to figure out that war is immoral in the first place, and maybe turn around and bomb his own people. I dno, maybe that's far-fetched and paranoid, but if you let a thinking entity decide what to do with a weapon, there's always a chance that it might see the truth and act unexpectedly.

But hopefully it won't get that far. If we can make artificial brains, hopefully we'll learn that war is pointless (HAH!) I think cyborg limbs are pretty cool. I kind of want one myself, even. A robot arm won't one day decide to strangle its master, because the human is still in control. Once you make a synthetic consciousness, I think you're just asking to get your ass kicked by it. All you have to do is open a history book and you'll see just how much living things hate to be enslaved.

Well for the first thing, I think that is indeed WAY farfetched. I doubt scientists have the ability to make the brains capable of being philosophical... that requires a lot of intelligence. Think about it... even full grown creatures can't think like that. And I'd think scientists would monitor the brain so it only does certain things.

sounds like the prequel to terminator

Originally posted by mongreloctopus
sounds like the prequel to terminator

It may sound far fetched , but think about it , the scientists who are experimenting with this project dont actually fully understand HOW the brain cells that they are using to compute the operations function , and therefore cant predict all possible scenarios the brain/computer are capable of . It depends on the way they are running it . If they can limit the amount the brain cells "learn" or create new paths , then effectively we have nothing to worry about . But , if the brain was capable of self regeneration and forming new synapses and pathways , which no doubt researchers will want to allow the brain/computer to "learn" and adapt then you have to wonder . However , remember that the brain would still need to respond to external stimuli , and as long as the lower level brain functions are limited and controlled using software of some kind , then there would be no problem .

And anyways , if it did get out of hand an somehow turn into the terminator , you would just wire in some kind of cyanide injection system independant to the brain , and controlled by the operators , and kill it whenever you want . Remember tho , i have never studied anything to do with brains and how they work , so dont take my word for it .