this post was submitted on 19 Apr 2025
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I hope to all holy fuck it’s not conscious.
"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream"
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_and_Mary_%28short_story%29
I had no idea that he wrote any horror… but that’s a pretty cool story
A lot of his stuff is very dark
This for instance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_to_the_Slaughter
It's a few cerebral cells across a mesh-- I think achieving consciousness needs a bit more than that
Good thing nobody knows for sure!
But I intend to find out!
ReBoot!!!
that takes me back.
Well, we do know for sure it'd take more than this. We don't know what it would take, but this is far beyond the minimum it could take. If that's all it is then almost every form of life on Earth would have to be assumed to be conscious.
(Sentience is actually the word we are talking about).
Hey, let's ask it!
The soul exists. Trust.
Don't worry too much, it's not even part of his actual brain. It's a bunch of random brain cells grown from a DNA sample.
If we could make new conscious lifeforms from this, Blade Runner would be a documentary already.
according to the article it's a tiny smattering of brain cells grown from stem cells derived from his blood, which he donated before he died specifically for this experiment. it is in no way conscious.
We'll never know until it starts multiplying rapidly and breaks out of the lab.
Henrietta Lacks hasn't managed it yet. Look her up. It's at least as bad as this if not more so.
"Yet" being the operative word here. There's a disease in dogs that started in some very similar circumstances (although happening in nature rather than from a science accident). One slip-up from an immunocompromised tech with just the right genetic make-up and it begins.
Why? Being dead is not cool.