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The stealthy startup that pitched brainless human clones (www.technologyreview.com)
submitted 7 months ago by [B] to c/hackernews@lemmy.bestiver.se
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[–] 1 point 7 months ago (3 children)

You can't "lose" that much brain matter and still be conscious, but if you're born that way, then the brain is capable of adapting to what's available. Don't get me wrong...it's still rare...but it surprisingly more common than you might assume.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (2 children)

    yeah but the thing is qol. I mean its hard to say with the rat study but are we talking about someone walking and talking and going to school and making a life of great quality. Or are we talking breathing and technically being alive. My thought is with my fathers alzheimers. For awhile he could walk around and enjoy food and sing or play a game. Eventually though he could only eat mush, be wheeled around, and could not make much understandable speech. At that point scoop my brain out and give my body to someone else as Im good to be gone.

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  • [–] 1 point 7 months ago (1 child)

    From what I've read in the past, the level of functionality ranges quite a bit from case to case, from basic sensory and cognitive awareness, all the way up to actual "walking and talking".

    The implication being that this process of growing bodies with just enough brain matter to keep them alive, would come with a significant risk of those bodies also being aware of themselves and their surroundings to varying degrees.

    Since there would be no way to guarantee they aren't conscious until after they are born, the end result would be mass producing human beings with a range of potential cognitive disabilities, that can no longer be used "humanely" for their intended purpose. Their options at that point would be to either provide long-term care for them, or euthanize them...which wouldn't exactly be "humane".

    Or they could just lobotomize them all, after the fact...which would definitely not be very "humane" either.

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  • [–] 2 points 7 months ago

    I mean more that likely it would just not be possible. So i think I get where you are going. I mean I also view it as not only something we can't do now but possibly would never be able to do. I can see growing organs and who knows maybe you could have a body with the brainstem connected to electronics. I mean even then its so scifi its redic. I think I agree with another commentator that we are more likely to treat the way the body fails with like gene therapy or nanobots or such. Still way sci fi but If that was a thing in 20 years I would not be totally surprised whereas growing a body without a brain. likely not.

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