I Want a God-Like Brain

Is the human brain a magnificent, near-miraculous organ?  Or a flawed, forgetful, feeble-minded, under-achieving blob? My POV is the latter.  Brain 1.0 is laughably dysfunctional, teeming with weaknesses even in our finest specimens. Memories are dust in a hurricane, logic is lunatic, empathy thinner than the neocortex on a sociopathic toddler. I want Brain 2.0. Are you with me? Eager for an upgrade?

“What’d I forget?”

Ecstasy. You’ve covered various forms of cognitive ability, plus patience, kindness and humour, but isn’t ecstasy what we all really want?

Judging from the video you just posted Jason Silva seems to have it in abundance, but my guess is that this is mainly genetic.

What about immersive virtual reality?
What could be more immersive?

Lucid dreaming well awake. Give us the ability to program augmented reality with the mind.

I’m not sure about sleep being only about memory storage. I think there is a lot of processing of information and our response to the information happening as well. I suspect that sleep is important to other body systems too. We are not just brains stuck in a body, but a total body. There are neurons in the digestive system as well as a host of chemical networks through the entire body.

I like the idea of off site memory that is searchable, and I expect that the calculating and knowledge base to understand the calculation will also be stored off site. The question you pose is only answerable if one “owns” the knowledge necessary to apply the correct formulae.

I would suggest as well that D2 might be part of humour, but not the entirety. Brain activity for different modes of being are like the genes that are supposed to be “fat” genes or “addiction” genes etc. Complexity is a very real factor in brain response. Inhibiting D2 might make Porky’s Revenge seem funnier, but make no difference in the reading of James Thurber.

With all this new information, we will still be bottlenecked by the processor speed of our neurons. Calculations can be routed off site, but the comprehension of complex systems such as people’s truthfulness or falsehood would still probably be overwhelming if it was turned on all the time. Beside truthfulness or falsehood is more than an “on/off” choice. It is shaded by how much the person believes what they are saying. There are people who believe everything that comes out of their mouth regardless of contradiction.

You might find this video interesting. http://blog.ted.com/2011/10/13/how-to-spot-a-liar-pamela-meyer/

@ Alex—thanks for the link—and I agree that D2 is probably connected to humor.  I find D2 very interesting—

It struck me that all these methods and kinds of enhancement concern Individual intelligence. I am wondering if there are methods or kinds of enhancement to improve Collective intelligence?

I somehow do not find the idea attractive. It may be the pictures!
Our cat shows no sign of wanting to become more human-like.
Perhaps we both consider ourselves perfect in every way!

@David Your cat, like all cats, lacks imagination.

Interesting article Hank! It’s my understanding that sleep is necessary for cellular regeneration and the innate intelligence that provides self-healing mechanisms to the body. As someone who sleeps around 2-3 hours per sun cycle, I enjoy my sleeping/dreaming time and do not want to give that up. I am pleased you are including humor because otherwise I picture a world full of Spocks and that seems very boring. I am certainly interested in living in a world with evolved prefrontal cortices. I wonder if the amygdala will have use once humanity achieves that?

I want to know if Brain 2.0 will give me back my superhero powers? Will it be possible for me to make myself invisible for instance? There are stories of the Aborigines doing such things collectively while fighting off the British, either being invisible or creating the illusion that there were a thousand rather than 10 warriors standing on the cliff. The Aborigines attribute this skill to something they call “dreamwalking” where they dream their reality into existence. I like that concept and am curious to know what center of the brain shows activity during shamanic work like that?

Either way, you have me laughing and gave me some new things to consider. I meant to write you long ago to answer a few questions you asked but life side-tracked me. Hopefully the google/wiki center of your brain forgot already anyway

@ Amma - I forgot what the questions were that I wanted to ask you, due to my shrinking hippocampus, but I hope you answer them anyway. Can you tell me how you get by only only 2-3 hours of sleep per day? I am very curious. When you answer my questions, send them to hankpellissier@yahoo.com because I might not check in here… thanks!

@ Hank - Yes, you have a mini-book on the way to tell you what happened as a result of my research after the last few articles of yours I read =) I sleep 2-3 hours often, however do need a full recharge from time to time or I can be a little cranky. I am not sure how I do this as I’ve always done it. Perhaps someone with more knowledge of the brain could tell me. My brain simply does not shut down, nor does it want to and the joke has always been that I’m wired ON.

I was discussing this with a friend tonight and realized the most useful skill I can think of is being able to produce my thoughts consciously in a tangible form so I do not have to spend all this time talking or typing. I could mentally send you the “image” or “audio” of what I’ve lived and learned which would then free up my time to do even more research or (maybe the dishes). I have great appreciation for efficient productivity and if Brain 2.0 could offer me this, I’d definitely be interested.

I will send you a message soon to remind you about our discussion.

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