Brain Back-Up

A start-up that claims it will one day allow people to back-up their brains admits it will come at the ultimate price: death.

Brain back-up start-up 'will be the death of users'

From the few comments on that article so far, not many people seem convinced this would work.

Brain back-up start-up 'will be the death of users'

From the few comments on that article so far, not many people seem convinced this would work.

That's interesting, but judging by what Wikipedia says about the connectome, scientists are nowhere near being able to record the neural anatomy of a human brain, let alone relating the anatomy to mental function:
"Research has successfully constructed the full connectome of one animal: the roundworm C. elegans. Partial connectomes of a mouse retina and mouse primary visual cortex have also been successfully constructed."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectome

I think anyone paying $10,000 to go on to the waiting list is being pretty optimistic.

I think anyone paying $10,000 to go on to the waiting list is being pretty optimistic.

I think they are crazy, or just not aware of how bad the hard problem really is.

Research has successfully constructed the full connectome of one animal: the roundworm C. elegans. Partial connectomes of a mouse retina and mouse primary visual cortex have also been successfully constructed."

And what reason is there to ever think such a construction could ever be capable of Consciousness?

That's interesting, but judging by what Wikipedia says about the connectome, scientists are nowhere near being able to record the neural anatomy of a human brain, let alone relating the anatomy to mental function:
"Research has successfully constructed the full connectome of one animal: the roundworm C. elegans. Partial connectomes of a mouse retina and mouse primary visual cortex have also been successfully constructed."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectome

I think anyone paying $10,000 to go on to the waiting list is being pretty optimistic.

Actually, it turns out the BBC article was very unclear about what they are proposing to do (no surprise there!). There's a much better discussion here:
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/61045...ent-fatal/

It seems they have already preserved a pig's brain "so well that every synapse inside it could be seen with an electron microscope". So what they are offering is this process of preservation, in the hope that in the future it will be possible to extract the information and do a simulation of the brain. It doesn't rely on advances in technology before the death of the people on the waiting list.

But of course it may still be that they're being optimistic in hoping the neural anatomy will be sufficient in itself to produce something meaningful.

So far, I haven't explored the other sources, such as that linked by Chris, but from the limited BBC article, the impression I got was that the intention was in effect to grab a "snapshot" of the brain at a particular point in time, not with the aim of re-creating consciousness, but more to do with gaining access to stored memories.

Even that latter aim I would question. There may be some correlations between brain and memory, but that doesn't necessarily imply that's where the memories are stored - it could be more of a key or link to provide access to something like 'the cloud'. Certainly memories such as those experienced during a life-review in an NDE involve a much richer memory, including the ability to view and experience events from multiple perspectives including that of some other person who was part of an event being recalled. It would seem absurd to claim that our brain stores not only our own memories, but also those of everyone else with whom we interact. The implication is that the brain is not the last word on the topic of memory, but merely a link leading to - what, I don't know.

Now I've read a little more, it seems to have more in common with the procedures of the ancient Egyptians in carefully preserving the body of the pharoah for the afterlife. The underlying beliefs outwardly are very different, but perhaps the motivation is identical.

Courtesy of the Daily Grail, here are some very sceptical comments from neuroscientists in a Live Science article, suggesting that (even from a "mainstream" viewpoint) this process is very unlikely to preserve memories:
https://www.livescience.com/62040-deadly...pload.html

Courtesy of the Daily Grail, here are some very sceptical comments from neuroscientists in a Live Science article, suggesting that (even from a "mainstream" viewpoint) this process is very unlikely to preserve memories:
https://www.livescience.com/62040-deadly...pload.html

How are neuroscientists qualified to pass opinion on memories and consciousness?

How are neuroscientists qualified to pass opinion on memories and consciousness?

Are you feeling quite well?