8 ms·

The quick answer is to say it's not ethical. But what if the brain is given full autonomy and ability to communicate with others and then let the brain decide i

The quick answer is to say it's not ethical. But what if the brain is given full autonomy and ability to communicate with others and then let the brain decide if it wants an organic or machine body?

opportune 8y ago
In several decades it may be possible to transplant such a brain into the body of a brain-dead human (preferably an infant Neanderthal brain into a brain dead human infant), which could alleviate a lot of ethical concerns from the start
dqpb 8y ago
I disagree. The quick answer is to say it is ethical.
- everdev 8y ago
  Why? If you create a conscious brain and leave it in a container, keeping it perpetually alive just to study it, that sounds pretty cruel. I'd imagine it would be like being in a conscious coma. Lack of social interaction is known to be damaging to people, so who knows what kind of distress an isolated brain might be in.
candiodari 8y ago
I don't think you should be so quick to call something moral or not. Let's take your statement and apply it to a few real life situations ... So what you're saying is we should take anything with a brain, figure out what it's answer would be to "do you want to be alive ?" and then support that decision ? Boy, you must hate abortion ... (just saying that those things obviously have a brain, and every last kid on the planet will say they want to be alive, so those embryos being aborted can be easily assumed to either be conscious or at least said to be rapidly becoming conscious, and we can be likewise sure they want to be alive as well. Human embryos have functional brains 20 days after conception, which is just barely after a woman would become aware of a pregnancy, and we support abortion up to 6 months or even later, at which point a human embryo has a brain with more functional neurons than almost any animal on the planet, and more than every dog, cat, primate, dolphin) (and just to defend this research, any research that gets us closer to being able to grow specific tissues - especially neural tissue - has the potential to alleviate the suffering of a great many people that have damaged nerves and/or brains) But we all know how we judge morals in practice. Things that can complain get preference. Brains in jars won't complain. Nobody will ever make a picture of them showing big eyes behind bars. There will never be a scream or panic reaction available in full-color video of them. So they'll be abused, even tortured, even for very little gain. Because that's how humans judge morality ... in practice. If you believe otherwise, good luck explaining the morality of abortion.
- wincy 8y ago
  Well said.
- everdev 8y ago
  Yes abortion has serious moral questions. In that case the brain is being grown inside another human body connected to another brain. That's a far different moral question than a brain being grown by itself in a lab. When my rights negatively impact your rights it's a moral dilemma. In a lab though, there's no affect in another person's rights by keeping the brain alive, no host body being affected, no physical/emotional pain, no financial responsibilities and no parenting role to factor in. That's why it seems immoral to me to create a conscious brain and then destroy it or make decisions without it's consent because it only seems like the brain's rights are bring affected. Abortion is more complex because it involves the rights of two brains.

The quick answer is to say it's not ethical. But what if the brain is given full autonomy and ability to communicate with others and then let the brain decide if it wants an organic or machine body?

opportune 8y ago

In several decades it may be possible to transplant such a brain into the body of a brain-dead human (preferably an infant Neanderthal brain into a brain dead human infant), which could alleviate a lot of ethical concerns from the start

dqpb 8y ago

I disagree. The quick answer is to say it is ethical.

everdev 8y ago
Why? If you create a conscious brain and leave it in a container, keeping it perpetually alive just to study it, that sounds pretty cruel. I'd imagine it would be like being in a conscious coma. Lack of social interaction is known to be damaging to people, so who knows what kind of distress an isolated brain might be in.

candiodari 8y ago

I don't think you should be so quick to call something moral or not. Let's take your statement and apply it to a few real life situations ... So what you're saying is we should take anything with a brain, figure out what it's answer would be to "do you want to be alive ?" and then support that decision ? Boy, you must hate abortion ... (just saying that those things obviously have a brain, and every last kid on the planet will say they want to be alive, so those embryos being aborted can be easily assumed to either be conscious or at least said to be rapidly becoming conscious, and we can be likewise sure they want to be alive as well. Human embryos have functional brains 20 days after conception, which is just barely after a woman would become aware of a pregnancy, and we support abortion up to 6 months or even later, at which point a human embryo has a brain with more functional neurons than almost any animal on the planet, and more than every dog, cat, primate, dolphin) (and just to defend this research, any research that gets us closer to being able to grow specific tissues - especially neural tissue - has the potential to alleviate the suffering of a great many people that have damaged nerves and/or brains) But we all know how we judge morals in practice. Things that can complain get preference. Brains in jars won't complain. Nobody will ever make a picture of them showing big eyes behind bars. There will never be a scream or panic reaction available in full-color video of them. So they'll be abused, even tortured, even for very little gain. Because that's how humans judge morality ... in practice. If you believe otherwise, good luck explaining the morality of abortion.

wincy 8y ago
Well said.
everdev 8y ago
Yes abortion has serious moral questions. In that case the brain is being grown inside another human body connected to another brain. That's a far different moral question than a brain being grown by itself in a lab. When my rights negatively impact your rights it's a moral dilemma. In a lab though, there's no affect in another person's rights by keeping the brain alive, no host body being affected, no physical/emotional pain, no financial responsibilities and no parenting role to factor in. That's why it seems immoral to me to create a conscious brain and then destroy it or make decisions without it's consent because it only seems like the brain's rights are bring affected. Abortion is more complex because it involves the rights of two brains.