Memory Transferals

acblflitwpatwt · August 18, 2006

I’m going to begin this post by telling you that I am a Transhumanist. I believe that humanity will accomplish great things during the coming decades. I believe that the proper use of our technology (nanotechnology, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence) will allow us to evolve into better humans. I decided to start this thread after reading the posts in the brain transplant thread. I don’t think brain transplants will be performed in the future. However, I do believe that memory transferals could be a common medical procedure in the future.

I believe that the mind is stored information that we received from our five senses (memory) working in combination with preprogrammed chemical reactions to the information that we receive. (Genetic behavior or instinct) I do not believe in the concept of a soul. I do not believe that there is any difference between an inanimate object and a human being. If you took a human being apart atom by atom we would be no different than the lifeless things that are around us. (Carbon, iron, hydrogen, oxygen, Ect.) I believe that the sum of the atoms in our bodies, which causes different chemical reactions, is what we perceive as life.

I don’t know if the transferal of memories to a computer chip or genetically enhanced neurons will be possible within my lifetime, but I am hoping that it will be. I’ve been obsessed with the idea of escapism for many years. One obsession that I have is having the ability to escape this reality by connecting my brain to a realistic virtual reality. The other obsession that I have is having the ability to transfer my memories to a genetically enhanced body. I am not a doctor but I can tell you how I think the transferal of memories could be accomplished.

Imagine that some time during this century we will have nano machines that are traveling in our blood stream to perform various tasks. Imagine that these nano machines can control the electromagnetic activity within our brains. (An advanced version of transcranial magnetic stimulation) The nano machines will travel to the various areas of the brain that are responsible for memory. The nano machines will create a string of neurons that will travel out from areas like the hippocampus to the surface of the brain. A doctor will then drill small hole into the skull of the patient. The doctor will insert a tube into the hole. The tube will connect to the neuron strings at the surface of the brain. The tube outside of the patient’s skull will be connected to the brain of the genetically enhanced body. (I am assuming that we will be able to grow a fetus in some kind of maturation chamber outside of a mother’s womb)

The nano machines will then stimulate the neurons in the patient’s brain. For example, stimulating some of the neurons in the amygdala and the hippocampus in combination with some of the neurons in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex could transfer a scary or traumatic event to the enhanced body. Stimulating the hippocampus and the superior temporal gyrus in combination with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex could transfer happy memories.

After the memory transferal process is completed the patient’s body will be destroyed. I don’t know if the genetically enhanced brain will contain all of the memories of the unenhenced individual. The most important memories that the enhanced person could have are the memories of wanting a new body.

All of the scenarios that I just described are speculations that are based on books and articles that I read in the past. The memory transferal process has to begin with test on animals like dogs and chimpanzees. I don’t know if the scenarios that I described will happen within my lifetime, but I would like to do what ever I can to make it happen. Please respond to my post and tell me what you think. I would like to fund scientific research in the future to help make memory transferals a reality.

By the way, don’t waste your time responding to my post if you are going to write something like, “You are living in a fantasy world or you watch too much science fiction.” You would not be saying anything that I haven’t heard already.

Click on the links that you see below if you’re interested in the things that I wrote.

http://www.imminst.org

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/06/02/brainchips/index.html

http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/060327_neuro_chips.html

http://www.neoseeker.com/news/story/5544/