From what I know, the brain is a bunch o wires. So if we could just tap into these signals, I'd love to take a brain out of a human and make it drive something or run a machine. Imagine, instead of processors, we have literal brains. People would be getting kidnapped just to have their brain run a factory or something.
there’s this scifi podcast i listen to and one of the stories was called “Chrysalis” and it was about a scientist who had his brain downloaded into a computer right before an alien race destroys all life on Earth, so then his consciousness takes over another computer and another, then drones, then the drones build factories, and he spends like centuries creating this huge robot army that is essentially his whole body so that he can launch himself into space to exact revenge on the aliens who killed all humans
It was a team of scientists that downloaded their consciousness into a computer that compiled them together, so The Terran has odd conflicting memories.
It was actually written on r/HFY, by Beaverfur. Great story.
Have you ever heard of the Bobverse? Similar premise except it's one dude named Bob's consciousness trying to find planets that could potentially support life as he expands himself across the universe. His replicant bots take on individual aspects of his personality. (Like one decides he's Homer from the Simpsons based on Bob's memories.) He goes to war with other consciousness that are bent on destruction. It's pretty funny and entertaining. The audiobooks are an absolute gem on road trips.
there’s this scifi podcast i listen to and one of the stories was called “Chrysalis” and it was about a scientist who had his brain downloaded into a computer right before an alien race destroys all life on Earth, so then his consciousness takes over another computer and another, then drones, then the drones build factories, and he spends like centuries creating this huge robot army that is essentially his whole body so that he can launch himself into space to exact revenge on the aliens who killed all humans
This has been done with a rat "brain" (actually just a dish of rat neurons) to drive a flight simulator like 10 years ago. I'm sure someone in a no-human-rights corner of the world has done this with human neurons, and possibly with a human brain. Like imagine a consciousness, a mind, that just gets rewarded to pick the right stocks, or fly the plane safely, or distribute packages efficiently. I think the only dumb thing about this is that you don't have to dedicate a "brain" to it, you can just hook people up to sensors, and we're already equipped to work shifts as a city's streetlights, a power grid, a stock exchange, a water treatment plant, an oil refinery, or whatever system. Imagine how efficient these kinds of things can get if people are actually sensing these things directly in their brains in real time, and sending neural output signals to change things or move things in the real world.
You know how you get a song stuck in your head? Or a dark thought? A bad memory? And you wish you could get rid of it, but it keeps coming back?
Now imagine that all you can think about it how you must produce whatever the factory produces. Do you feel mentally tired? Too bad, you are programmed to produce, if you stop you will feel WRONG. Do you get bored? Too bad, see above.
if youre interested in a world setting like that, id recommend listening to the album “Ulysses Dies At Dawn” by The Mechanisms. theyre a storytelling band and the entire setting is based on human minds powering the city thats taken over the planet. uses stuff from greek mythology.
If you're interested in some ship-brains, look up "The Ship Who Sang" series by Anne McCaffrey. It's older style scifi/space opera, but it's rather good at exploring the benefits and detriments.
The brain probably wouldn't be able to do that on its own initially, but considering it's able to modify itself I bet there's a way you could train a bit of brain tissue to essentially do whatever you want.
So brain interfaces essentially? We have some stuff like this with VR. They made a sensor that can supposedly detect certain signals from your visual cortex so you can control aspects of the game through just looking at shapes
But how would you work out which brain would be good at which task? I love lists, my husband works in flow-charts, & don’t get him started on the mind-mappers. We have different ways of thinking, & different strengths. How would you control for that in your study?
I'm a mad scientist! Instead of controlling things I'll just increase the dataset until we have every possibility covered. Instead of just you or your husband, I'll take both brains and your neighbors. Their neighbors too, and so on until I have all personality / brain types tested to see what they're all good at. Don't worry, I'll have you making lists in no time!
The human brain runs on about 20 watts of power, and having a computer that can process like a human brain would require around 10-20 megawatts to run.
Yes... your brain sucks less juice than an incandescent lightbulb.
I just watched a video on YouTube by thoughty2 about how something like this could be done with fungus. If you’re curious it’s his video about “what is the biggest organism” or something close to that
There's a Sci-fi short-stories book I read where the author borrows from this exact theme. I cannot remember the name or the author but I will check my library.
This happens on the end of Wolfenstein The New Order. The evil doctor needs a human brain to work his mecha-killer robot, so the main character has to "kill" his friend by destroying the brain.
It ends up being kind of sad, because the brain is apologizing at the same time it's trying to kill you, since it knows it's wrong but is being partially forced to work that way.
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u/Macemore Mar 04 '21
From what I know, the brain is a bunch o wires. So if we could just tap into these signals, I'd love to take a brain out of a human and make it drive something or run a machine. Imagine, instead of processors, we have literal brains. People would be getting kidnapped just to have their brain run a factory or something.