The Cloud

[VectraMan]

How long before you can download a data file into a human brain. The answer is probably the same.

You can easily download a data file into your brain, either using your eyes, ears, or possibly touch senses. Maybe even by smell or taste if you were determined.

A data file would be a very very small amount of information in the grand scheme of the brain, but your brain contains a very very large amount of data. It'd probably take more than the average person's lifetime to upload it to the cloud. So better get started.

[greenlake]

How long do you think it will be before one can upload one's consciousness, memories and personality to the cloud so that it continues to exist after you die? For someone like me whose work is almost entirely digital it would be perfectly feasible to keep on working indefinitely, I'd have access to most of the stuff I care about, have access to those I love via skype and I could even continue to interact with music software and other stuff for recreation. I could basically live forever.

I think that would be the most awesome invention ever.

There was an X-Files episode with a similar premise:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_Switch_(The_X-Files)

Also, there's a new movie coming out soon:
Transcendence (2014) - IMDb

[mudskipper]

There's some interesting stuff on how the brain works on FutureLearn.

[doodab]

I think they are working on super detailed neuron level brain mapping tech now so I reckon give it 50 years.

[mudskipper]

I think they are working on super detailed neuron level brain mapping tech now so I reckon give it 50 years.

On the face of it it sounds dead easy. A given stimulus on a neuron invokes a predictable response. Multiply that by a few million and you're there.

I'll knock it up over the weekend.

[doodab]

On the face of it it sounds dead easy. A given stimulus on a neuron invokes a predictable response. Multiply that by a few million and you're there.

I'll knock it up over the weekend.

Doing it quickly and non invasively is an issue. I think implants that 'grow' into the brain are a likely solution. That's how it works in culture novels.

[minestrone]

I think we are really elsewhere and this is just a virtual reality existence, I just don't think the brain can really do all the things that we think it can do. Behaviour that is passed on through generations, genetic memory etc.

[d000hg]

On the one hand it seems like the most fanciful piece of science fiction, centuries away if ever. On the other, advances in direct brain control of prosthetics are pretty amazing - but even there our knowledge is very crude and relies on the brain being so incredibly amazing... it's the equivalent of getting a DVD drive to work by haphazardly poking some wires in roughly the right place and hoping the PC figures it out.

[chef]

I think what you are looking for is the equivalent of the movie "my life" (1993) with Michael Keaton. I always loved that movie

[scooterscot]

I downloaded your consciousness off pirate bay and winzip compressed it to an 84kB file.