Are Our Human Bodies Absolutely Necessary?

[Miho Mingu]

There was a discussion going on at another forum I frequent regarding the human consciousness, and I thought I'd talk about it here.

How far along do you think we are until we are able to get fully functional bodies of prosthesis?

If we're able to replace limbs, legs, and so on, then what's stopping them from discarding the whole body, adding in the brain, and attaching it to electrodes to get it started properly--that's all it takes to get a brain functioning again. Of course, you'd need to attach them to key parts of the brain. If this all happened, would you still retain your memories, function, or more importantly...your consciousness? Would you remember all that happened beforehand, and be aware of what body you have entered afterwards?

You can even factor in the belief of spirits, which brings a twist to the equation.

[Ace42X]

I think that therei s no point in creating prosthetic bodies when we can instead create a virtual world to inhabit and download our consciouses to. One without the privations of this "reality."

[ms.peachy]

I would like to see one of these fully prosthetic bodies have a baby.

[Axl Z]

Robocop

[TurdBerglar]

i'd rather have a body

[b i o n i c]

all human motivations are derived from sex and banging a robot isnt too hot

[enree erzweglle]

If you haven't done so already, you might want to read about what Kurzweil has to say about the concept of the singularity and how that relates to human evolution. (Singularity, not associated with black holes but rather the Singularity that's associated with technology development.)

http://www.kurzweilai.net

[like2_drink]

i'm listening to supermassive black hole at the part that goes " dududududududu " and found it proper for this thread.

and a big ouuuuu to the thought of adding souls into the equation.

if they had a conscious and believed in god i bet we would have some depressed/potentially dangerous freaks on our hands

[zippo]

what if the human body is a smaller scaled map of the world, each body part matching a piece of land and sometime in the future we will discover which parts are which, and this way discover new and unseen parts and land that withold important things.

(supermassive black hole, hells yea)

[like2_drink]

would that mean we would be missing parts due to hiroshima?:rolleyes:

[Phantom Menace]

cyborgers take it up the motherboard buuuuuuuuuuuuitch

[Ace42X]

If you haven't done so already, you might want to read about what Kurzweil has to say about the concept of the singularity

Whenever I talk about the Singularity, people look at me funny.

[Pres Zount]

I don't think the world will last to see that type of technology.

Bionic arms and legs maybe, but not whole bodies.

[Miho Mingu]

i'd rather have a body

A weak and frail body, that is prone to damage beyond repair at times ? (such as your back) I dunno about you, but to hell with a human body - robotify me.

I would like to see one of these fully prosthetic bodies have a baby.

We need a lesser population in this world, anyway. Less babies is a good thing.

[Pres Zount]

Only the rich could afford robo-bodies, and they wouldn't die. Living forever in their white tower that stretches up and past the smog.

The poor would toil under the robo-people, giving their live essence to maintain the cyborg tombs that their masters inhabit.

A young boy is born to the proud underling parents, only to see his mother killed by the robo-police - now he is on a mission...

... for revenge.


BLASTING INTO CINEMAS MAY 13th

[Loppfessor]

all human motivations are derived from sex and banging a robot isnt too hot


Whaaaa??? Haven't you seen Terminator 3??

[Schmeltz]

Robocop


Ghost in the Shell

[Miho Mingu]

^^^ That is an excellent example, and was used by the thread author that brought this topic up on the other forum I frequent. The first Ghost in the Shell movie, and the TV series used prosthetic bodies frequently. The second movie, however, I couldn't stand as it rambled on about philosophy.

[Schmeltz]

I've never seen the second movie, but the first one really made me think about the nature of consciousness, or whatever term you attach to the manner in which your intellect interacts with the rest of the world. The equation of intelligence, or indeed of life itself, to a pure form of information seeking to perpetuate itself in spite of whatever changes or processes it encounters along the way, invariably leads to a sense of detachment insofar as the intellect is related to its physical incarnation.

The best example of this theme, of course, is the Puppetmaster. He is an intellect created from the synthesis of multiple streams of information - but he is really no different from any living organism except in his inability to reproduce or to die, which he considers to be essential characteristics of "true" consciousness but which, in his view, are simply different expressions of the same idea. He doesn't need a body in order to be aware of his own consciousness, but he does need a body or other conscious entity (Kusunagi's) in order to perpetuate it through an evolutionary process.

I think this idea contains the best answer to your question. It might not be necessary for consciousness to exist within the confines of an organic system, and it might indeed be fully possible to create an artificial but fully conscious entity capable of self-awareness in spite of its detachment from physical interaction with the sensual world. On the other hand, such a consciousness would be static and incapable of evolution or progression due to its inability to experience transformative interactions with the sensual world; in order to develop beyond its original parameters it would have to transcend them, and this would only be possible through a broader interpretive experience defined through interaction with other uniquely differentiated conscious entities.

Consciousness could perhaps be defined and transmuted, by means of technological developments bordering on the surreal, but it might not necessarily be so improved. Instead it might find itself increasingly distanced from the relevance of the physical events that take place around it - which, if you turn on the evening news and see the insane shit happening in the world, doesn't seem like so strange a concept. In my opinion.

A physical body might simply bea vehicle for the transmission of a conscious intellect's interaction with the physical world. On the other hand, the sensual interaction with the physical world might be a vital part of the evolution of a conscious intellect. It isn't a matter of defining one in opposition to the other, but a matter of defining the terms on which each idea interacts with the other. That's what this stoned motherfucker thinks anyway.

[Miho Mingu]

A physical body might simply bea vehicle for the transmission of a conscious intellect's interaction with the physical world. On the other hand, the sensual interaction with the physical world might be a vital part of the evolution of a conscious intellect. It isn't a matter of defining one in opposition to the other, but a matter of defining the terms on which each idea interacts with the other. That's what this stoned motherfucker thinks anyway.

This bit interested me, as I hadn't considered your conscious...growing, so to speak, with the physical world, progressing its intellect. If it were set inside a machine, then it may be at a standstill, with the knowledge and experiences it currently understands.

[wrongwayandugg]

No, they are not necessary but guys like them. tee hee.