The Brain Prosthesis Experiment

Here's an interesting thought experiment for you to think about.

If we replaced the neurons in your brain one at a time with identically functioning electronic substitute neurons, gradually transforming your brain from biological to electronical, would your concious experience differ?

Answers on a postcard.

Ghost In The Shell: a gaze into the future

Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex is an anime series based on a manga written by Masamune Shirow. The anime is set in Japan in the near future, the year 2030, and deals with issues of cyber-terrorism and the future of Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Technology. The series deals with philosophical issues both about the nature of AI and timeless problems such as that of existence and as such may require multiple watches to really appreciate.

The main storyline involves investigation into a case of corporate terrorism perpetrated by a genius hacker which leads down a path uncovering wide-scale corruption in the government and technology companies. There are many individual episodes as well which stand alone and can be watched separately.

There are many themes such as cyborgs, technological enhancements of the human body and whether robots can really gain artificial intelligence that I will talk about in later blog postings. The name of the anime comes from the concept of been able to lift someone's spirit (ghost) from their body (shell) and place it in a full cyborg body (another (robotic) shell) of which the main character (the Major) is an example of. This is a really interesting concept and I wonder if it or something like it may become reality one day. I'll leave this for another post.

You should check it out for yourself though. It really is an interesting program and provokes a lot of thought.