3 ms·

Pretty sure you just described The Island (2005). Key point was that after failed tests without consciousness, they discovered the hosts needed consciousness to

Pretty sure you just described The Island (2005). Key point was that after failed tests without consciousness, they discovered the hosts needed consciousness to be viable. In real life, I imagine there'd be similar needs for consciousness, or at least the movement and physical stress that a conscious human would experience. From what I understand, bones and other tissues actually require the stresses of everyday life in order to grow correctly.

TomMarius 7y ago
We don't need the bodies to function. We need them as an organ growing environment. The muscles will atrophy, so what.
- littlestymaar 7y ago
  Then you cannot use the muscles, and you've just lost one the of the initial use-cases. Repeat it for any organ that need a functional body for its development and you might end up with really few useful parts from your “factory” actually.
  - TeMPOraL 7y ago
    Few is better than none, and at least for muscles, you could simulate the "stresses of everyday life" with machines.
  - echelon 7y ago
    All I see are bioengineering problems. Once we start hill-climbing this solution path all the problems will become shallower and shallower.
  - TomMarius 7y ago
    You can't use the animal muscles as well. What organs need moving, active body, if you can control hormone levels etc?
waterhouse 7y ago
Well, then, can you mechanically create those stresses? Regularly send electrical signals to exercise the muscles, increase and reduce pressure and temperature (even have robot-controlled plates do a full massage), stretch and vibrate the whole setup, cycle through levels of certain hormones...? It may take some experimentation, but once you figure out a process that works, you can grow millions of organs with it. (The story "Mazer in Prison" mentioned, offhand, someone getting his muscles electrically stimulated while he slept as a substitute for exercise.)

TomMarius 7y ago

We don't need the bodies to function. We need them as an organ growing environment. The muscles will atrophy, so what.

littlestymaar 7y ago
Then you cannot use the muscles, and you've just lost one the of the initial use-cases. Repeat it for any organ that need a functional body for its development and you might end up with really few useful parts from your “factory” actually.
- TeMPOraL 7y ago
  Few is better than none, and at least for muscles, you could simulate the "stresses of everyday life" with machines.
- echelon 7y ago
  All I see are bioengineering problems. Once we start hill-climbing this solution path all the problems will become shallower and shallower.
- TomMarius 7y ago
  You can't use the animal muscles as well. What organs need moving, active body, if you can control hormone levels etc?

waterhouse 7y ago

Well, then, can you mechanically create those stresses? Regularly send electrical signals to exercise the muscles, increase and reduce pressure and temperature (even have robot-controlled plates do a full massage), stretch and vibrate the whole setup, cycle through levels of certain hormones...? It may take some experimentation, but once you figure out a process that works, you can grow millions of organs with it. (The story "Mazer in Prison" mentioned, offhand, someone getting his muscles electrically stimulated while he slept as a substitute for exercise.)