Could We Upload Our Consciousness To A Computer?

Would it ever be possible to one day upload our consciousness to a computer? How would we go about this?

Read More:
The Brain vs. The Computer
“Throughout history, people have compared the brain to different inventions.”

Scientists Are Convinced Mind Transfer Is the Key to Immortality
“Call it mind transfer, uploading, brain backup, whatever—the idea of copying the human brain to a computer so it can live on without the body has a strong hold on futurists, neuroscientists, and folks that just want to live forever.”

Mind-reading Technology Speeds Ahead
“Jack Gallant perches on the edge of a swivel chair in his lab at the University of California, Berkeley, fixated on the screen of a computer that is trying to decode someone's thoughts.”

Engineering a memory with LTD and LTP
“It has been proposed that memories are encoded by modification of synaptic strengths through cellular mechanisms such as long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD).”

MIT scientists implant a false memory into a mouse’s brain
“Sometime soon, a lab mouse could wake up thinking he had snuggled up to a girl mouse the night before. But he hadn’t. The memory would be fake.”

If your brain were a computer, how much storage space would it have?
“The comparison between the human brain and a computer is not a perfect one, but it does lend itself to some interesting lines of inquiry. For instance: what is the storage capacity of your brain?”
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[gura.z]

But if i transfer my consciousness i dont actully move into the computer, im actually replaced by an clone who thinks he is me

[DavidWay]

I just want to be GLaDOS, and not the immediate past President of the Being Alive club, haha

[baadeasd]

Who else thinks that Hawking only believes that we will be able to do this because he wants to *BADLY*

[Azrael-metm]

"And he says we're only 40 years away from doing so."

Me: *starts counting fingers*

[Azurren]

Hmmm.. Maybe I'll donate my brain to digital brain mapping / AI research.
On seconds thoughts, that could be a literal hell. Imagine spending eternity with sensory deprivation where no one can hear your screams.

[parillo]

I want to transfer my fish to a human....its always starring at me so I would like to know what it's saying...probably ant bunch of hate like "you haven't fed me in a day God damit"

[DrBrickface]

Not even going to talk about how copying data is not transferring it. Or how if you know a decent amount about computers, a true "transfer" of data doesn't even exist and never will. If you ever want to become an inorganic computer you will HAVE to utilize Theseus's paradox. Every other kind of attempt would only make a copy of you. - a degree in neuroscience and a programmer

[randomdrifter]

Hmm, would like to think that conciousness can't really be transferred. All we're really doing is copying the brain's memory/action/reaction data onto another storage and execution medium, so in essence a duplicate of that copied (As Trace himself said it here, 'copy') person can exist at the same time he or she does is a different medium (cyborg, android etc.)

In essence, the person can exist for others around him or herself, but cannot exist for one's self as the mortal body would still perish through the passage of time.

[JAYZMYSTR]

Anyone else think of the movie chappie with this haha. Great Movie BTW watch it guys

[LiroElQBrega]

I really do not understand why scientist are so obsessed with making robots and computers have their own minds -.-

[nemoss]

ok so in the future we are able to download our memories and find a way to incorporate our consciousness as well. Thats cool but isn't it just a replica ? is it really you ? basically we've just figured out a way to duplicate our consciousness so well that the duplicate doesn't even know it's technically a duplicate. We still die but we leave behind a copy. In the future if this were to happen an interesting psychological experiment would be to have someone upload their conscious on to another being then assuming both parties are alive we would separate them, create identical environments and see if the subjects react to their soundings in identical ways.

[hereforawhile]

I would love to be uploaded to a more developed synthetic option.
Something with the programming that allowed for my senses to be replicated.
I'm not really bothered about its form. as long as I can circumnavigate the physical world.

[liliencalvel]

I've always wanted to do this. I don't want to stop existing one day. I know it's wrong, but life is something you don't want to stop experiencing.

[brandeddallas]

Would it really be you or someone who thinks they are you?

[gordonohallmhurain]

If this works, this blow will blow all religions and theories of the afterlife out of the water.

[Spencerianism]

We've already uploaded our consciousness into a super computer. That's how we live in a simulation.

[discgolftrainnut]

We'd need to start by finding a way to defrag the brain before downloading.

[Hacraa]

If we throw ethics to bin, we could just simply clone our selves and as our bodies start to fail, transfer (copy) the conciousness to the healthy young body. This would not really be YOU but, your thoughts would live on in this new clone.

[derp]

Some people are concerned if successful, this will be the final implementation of slavery. To those who are concerned let me ask you a question: If this becomes possible in 2045, or ever, do you honestly believe it will be affordable to the average person?

Take eye corrective surgery in which the lens is corrected via laser: it is just now becoming safer and more affordable after being around for many years. The upper-middle and upper class were the only two demographics who could afford such surgery in early generations. If uploading consciousness becomes a reality it should be no different. Let the wealthy be the first customers, allowing for kinks and problems to be greatly reduced and/or eliminated.

Live your life and please stop causing undue stress by constantly worrying the "elite" are out to get you.

[sique]

What if we put 2 consciousnesses into a body, what would that be?