Imagine if brain scanning technology would improve dramatically in the coming years to the point where we could observe how each neuron communicates with other neurons. Imagine if we could then record all of this information to create a computer simulation of someone’s brain.

This is the concept of mind uploading; the idea that we might one day be able to transfer a person from their biological body into a synthetic machine. This idea originated in an intellectual movement called transhumanism and has many notable advocates, including computer scientist Ray Kurzweil, philosopher Nick Bostrom, and neuroscientist Randal Cohn.

The main hope of transhumanists is to transcend the human condition through scientific and technological progress. They believe that loading the mind can allow us to live as long as we want (but not forever). It may even allow us to improve ourselves by modeling brains that work faster and more efficiently than biological brains. This is a techno-optimist’s dream for the future. But does this make any sense?

The feasibility of mind uploading is based on three main assumptions.

• first this technological assumption – the idea that we could develop mind uploading technology within the next few decades
• second, this assumptions about artificial intelligence – The idea that a simulated brain will lead to a real mind
• and third, this survival assumption -The idea that the person created in the process is actually “you”. Only then will loading your mind become a way of life for you.

How reasonable is each?

technology assumption

Trying to model the human brain would be an enormous challenge. Our brain is the most complex structure in the known universe. They contain approximately 86 billion neurons and 85 billion non-neuronal cells and approximately one million billion neuronal connections. By comparison, the Milky Way galaxy is home to approximately 200 billion stars.

Where are we in the brain modeling journey? Currently, neuroscientists are preparing three-dimensional wiring diagrams (also known as “connectomes”) of the brains of simple organisms.

The most complex complex connectome we have today is the fruit fly larva, which has approximately 3,000 neurons and 500,000 nerve connections. We can look forward to mapping the mouse brain within the next decade. But the human brain is approximately 1000 times more complex than the mouse brain. Will it take us 10,000 years to map the human brain? Probably not. We have seen incredible efficiencies in similar projects such as the Human Genome Project.

It took years and hundreds of millions of dollars to map the first human genome nearly 20 years ago. Today the fastest labs can do this in a few hours for about $100. We may see mind uploading technology with similar productivity gains throughout our children’s or grandchildren’s lifetimes. Besides all these, there are other obstacles. Creating a static brain map is only part of the job. To simulate a functioning brain, we need to observe individual neurons in action. It is not clear whether we will be able to achieve this in the near future.

Assumptions about artificial intelligence

Could a simulation of your brain produce a conscious mind like yours? The answer depends on the connection between our mind and body. Unlike the 17th-century philosopher René Descartes, who believed that the mind and body were radically different, most academic philosophers today believe that the mind is ultimately physical. Simply put, your mind is your brain.

So how can a simulated brain lead to a real mind if it’s just a simulation?

Many cognitive scientists believe complex neural structure Your brain is responsible for creating your conscious mind, not the nature of biological matter (which consists mostly of fat and water).

When used on a computer, the simulated brain will repeat the structure of your brain. For each simulated neuron and neural connection, there will be a corresponding piece of computer hardware. The simulation will recreate the structure of your brain and thus recreate your consciousness.

Modern artificial intelligence systems provide useful (albeit inconclusive) evidence for a structural approach to the mind. These systems work on the basis of artificial neural networks that copy some principles of the brain structure. And they can perform many tasks that require a lot of cognitive work from us.