the desire to be free from the limits of
the human experience
is as old as our first stories we exist
in an endless universe only bound by the
laws of physics
and yet our consciousness is trapped in
mortal machines
made of meat with the breathtaking
explosion of innovation
and progress for the first time the
concept of leaving our flesh piles
behind
and uploading our minds into a digital
utopia
seems possible even like the logical
next step on our evolutionary ladder
mind uploading and digital immortality
are some of the core themes of the game
cyberpunk 2077
it plays in a grim dystopian future
where humanity has progressed far beyond
today's technology
and explores what this could mean for
humanity
about a year ago cd projekt red asked us
if we would like to make a video about
some of these ideas
and we were immediately on board so
let's explore this topic together
is it possible to upload your mind into
a computer
well it's complicated
upload what exactly mind
is one of those words that are really
hard to define
it's thought to be the collective
abilities of your consciousness and
intelligence
the thing that lets you imagine
recognize and dream
mind uploading is the hypothetical
concept of making a copy of this inner
world
and transferring it into a computer to
run a simulation of your consciousness
but even defining the premise gets
really hard really fast
the possibility of mind uploading is
based on three assumptions
assumption one your mind is in your
brain's
structure arrangement and biochemistry
the idea that everything about the mind
can be found in the brain
is called physicalism and it keeps our
discussion within the domain of natural
law
assumption two at some point we will
understand the brain well enough
and possess the technology to simulate
all of its aspects
to make a digital mind copy assumption
three
computer software can host your mind
which means
the mind is computable there is no
physical property in the brain including
consciousness that cannot be simulated
accurately
even if it requires a lot of code all of
these assumptions have been proposed
and challenged by scientists and
philosophers and they remain
the subject of passionate debate with so
many fundamental questions still
unanswered it's hard to discuss the
topic without annoying someone
whatever your position every discussion
of mind upload
has to begin with the brain the brain
in a nutshell the brain is the most
complex biological structure known
and deserves its own entire video so
let's just take a brief look at it
around 100 billion neurons are
communicating via one million billion
connections
that are sending signals up to one
thousand times each second
which is one quadrillion events every
second of your waking life
and it's not just neurons there are
billions of supporting and immune cells
of various types performing different
jobs on a macro level the brain can be
divided into sections with different
roles
from breathing and heart rate to
coordinating movement
and involuntary reflexes the most
developed parts the neocortex or the
outermost layer of the brain
hold memories our ability to plan think
and imagine
hope and dream where exactly the you
part of the brain is situated is not
entirely clear
we know that areas like the precunious
cortex have the greatest influence on
our consciousness
but also that several areas can network
together to share tasks
none of them can do alone the brain's
building blocks are not exactly simple
either
neurons are not just wires they alter
and process information
synapses where signals are handed over
from one neuron to the next
contain receptors for hundreds of
chemical signals opening them up to
outside influence
we have a basic understanding of how
these work and we can accurately predict
their behavior at small scales
but there's a lot more to the brain than
just nerve signals
hormones play a huge role like serotonin
which affects
our mood or histamine which helps us
learn
the brain is influenced by our other
parts too from heart nerves to gut
bacteria
what seemed like a very complicated
system to begin with gets even more
complicated the more we learn about it
to get this wildly interconnected mess
of cells and meat and chemicals into a
computer
we need a model that we can simulate in
our digital world
some sort of scan unfortunately our
scanning technology like
fmri machines is not nearly good enough
to attempt such a thing
but there is a different method that
seems very promising
cutting a brain into tiny slices and
scanning them with a high resolution
electron microscope
to create an accurate map of all the
cells and connections
in 2019 scientists successfully mapped
a cubic millimeter of mouse brain
roughly the size of a big grain of sand
it contained 100 000 neurons with a
billion synapses
and four kilometers of nerve fibers
this grain of brain was cut into 25 000
slices
five electron microscopes ran
continuously for five months
collecting more than 100 million images
it took three months to assemble the
images into a 3d model
the completed data set fills up 2
million gigabytes of cloud storage
to scan a whole human brain we would
have to repeat this effort a million
times
which is much easier said than done even
worse to correctly simulate a brain
we might even have to map out much
smaller building blocks to include the
billions of underlying proteins
or even individual molecules that cause
all the behaviors we see
at the cellular level which might
produce
more data than the capacity of all data
storage on earth
brain water to consciousness wine
while all of these issues are annoying
the real question is how we turn the
static blueprint of the brain
into an active thing even if we have a
scan
down to the level of synapses we need
laws and rules that animate the wiring
diagram
to endow this static structure with life
update it with the various laws of
chemical binding
of electrodynamics to animate the
simulation
so it becomes a dynamic active thing
like a brain
that exists from one microsecond to the
next that can evolve in time
think see and act the reality is that we
just don't know if this is possible to
achieve
if our technology can give rise to real
minds
it all hinges on the nature of the
problem
are the brain and mind just complicated
and a lot of work to figure out
or are they complex in a way that we
can't solve
in the worst case consciousness is more
than the sum of the parts of the brain
in a way that we don't realize yet
complex
in a way that we can't solve by getting
better scans
just having a list of the ingredients
might not be enough to get a good
consciousness cake
right now we have a great starting point
with tangible scientific results
and an end goal but the road to true
simulation
is unclear and requires a lot of
innovation and research
humans have historically been horrible
at predicting the pace of progress
in the best case it's just a matter of
doing the work and finding the right
solutions
it might not be necessary to simulate
every last cell down to the last atom
instead it may be possible to simplify
elements into probabilistic models
that could match the behavior of the
brain using a more manageable number of
simpler systems
so we really don't know if we will ever
understand our brain and consciousness
well enough
to upload human minds but the science
is real and worth pursuing at the very
least we will just learn a lot about
ourselves
and develop a bunch of new technologies
if we succeed
this might put mind uploading well
within the capabilities of our rapidly
progressing computer technology
the consequences for humanity and our
future in this universe
are vast creepy and amazing
the copy successful mind uploading
is functional immortality unless damaged
or deleted
you will continue to exist as long as a
copy is stored somewhere
of course if the scan is corrupted in
any of a myriad of ways your mind might
get corrupted too
you might be in an eternity of pain or
paranoia
or having an endless psychotic breakdown
the question if this digital mind is you
opens another whole can of worms
for now we'll just assume that your
digital mind at least
feels like it's you how would mind
uploading change your outlook on life
will you feel safer knowing that death
is not necessarily the end or would you
try to be super safe to avoid dying
before your mind
is uploaded if scanning technology does
become advanced enough
your biological and digital versions
could co-exist you could help each other
out by making your biological lifespan
more enjoyable
and the future of the copy more secure
whatever happens your mind copy will
begin a completely new life once it
opens their digital eyes for the first
time
having a functional body is actually
quite nice and
you're pretty used to it food love
pain and exhaustion all of these things
are parts of us that we must live with
but in the end they are the result of
neurons firing in your brain
so while you could decide to live in a
simulated body
it might be optional for a digital mind
falling in love might lose meaning if
you can have it at the press of a button
instead you might end up searching for
new extraordinary experiences
walk on the surface of the sun speed up
time to skip past a few boring months
experience a simulation of the past
your perspectives and priorities will
change
as you continue to exist in this
liberated form
the longer digital minds exist
eventually they will likely gain greater
knowledge of themselves
and an ability to change their own
contents
this can be as simple as deleting a
memory that bugs you
you might change aspects of your
personality like grudges
addictions or laziness without the
constraints of biology your abilities
might move up
as technology progresses while your
priorities or goals might become more
and more foreign to your original brain
if it's still alive waking up to the
true potential of digital immortality
will be gradual you can start projects
that would take more than a lifetime to
complete
scientists could accumulate an
incredible amount of knowledge
leading to discoveries that could
revolutionize the world
adventurers could upload themselves onto
small spaceships
and embark on journeys to the stars just
putting themselves on pause
for thousands of years at a time
although it's unlikely that every
digital mind will work for the benefit
of humanity
since our current meat versions don't do
that either
some will seek power and influence and
will have a literal eternity of trying
to create
empires others will begin hoarding as
many resources for themselves as
possible
as they compete with other minds trying
to do the same
the longer they live the less sympathy
they may feel for simple meat beings
or imagine immortal cult leaders who
propagate lies
and invent religions fine-tuning and
perfecting their dogma over hundreds of
years
or perhaps none of all that maybe our
minds are not made for immortality
and digital minds will just become rigid
and unproductive
and retire after a very long life having
experienced
everything they could ever want to it's
hard to predict how much good or bad
a self-improving mind could do with
hundreds
or thousands of years of free time
while mind upload with all its wonders
and horrors is beyond our current
technological capabilities
you can use some of your free time in
the present and experience one
interpretation of this future right away
by hitting the streets of night city in
cyberpunk
2077 cyberpunk 2077 is made by cd
projekt red
the studio that brought us the wisher
series and is one of the most
eagerly awaited games of the last few
years you dive into a dark dystopian
future where incredible technology is
redefining who and what we are
you can become part of this stunningly
large world with immersive storytelling
here's the thing we haven't played the
game yet but when you see this video
we're probably already doing so if the
past work of cd projekt red is any
indication
then this will be an amazing game which
is why we did this collaboration
and sat on this video for far too long
so if it's made you curious check it out