How close are we to uploading our minds? - Michael S. A. Graziano

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Imagine a future where nobody dies— instead, our minds are uploaded to a digital world. There they could live on in a realistic, simulated environment with avatar bodies, calling in and contributing to the biological world. Mind-uploading has powerful appeal— but what would it actually take to scan a person’s brain and upload their mind? Michael S. A. Graziano explores the challenges.


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Meet The Creators

  • Educator Michael S. A. Graziano
  • Director Fausto Montanari
  • Narrator Addison Anderson
  • Producer Lobster Studio
  • Art Director Fausto Montanari
  • Illustrator Fausto Montanari
  • Animator Nikolay Ivanov, Teodor Hristov, Petko Modev
  • Sound Designer Fabrizio Martini
  • Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
  • Editorial Producer Alex Rosenthal
  • Associate Editorial Producer Elizabeth Cox
  • Fact-Checker Brian Gutierrez
Additional Resources for you to Explore
A link to a lesson on the brain basis of consciousness: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MASBIB7zPo4&t=1s

An article on the possibility of a simulated consciousness and a digital afterlife: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/07/what-a-digital-afterlife-would-be-like/491105/

An article on the mechanistic nature of consciousness:
https://aeon.co/essays/how-consciousness-works-and-why-we-believe-in-ghosts

Here is a book that covers the evolution of consciousness, from the earliest brains complicated enough to contain consciousness all the way to a possible future of artificial consciousness and uploaded minds:
https://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?ID=4294998807

Customize this lesson

Create and share a new lesson based on this one.

About TED-Ed Animations

TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Educator Michael S. A. Graziano
  • Director Fausto Montanari
  • Narrator Addison Anderson
  • Producer Lobster Studio
  • Art Director Fausto Montanari
  • Illustrator Fausto Montanari
  • Animator Nikolay Ivanov, Teodor Hristov, Petko Modev
  • Sound Designer Fabrizio Martini
  • Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
  • Editorial Producer Alex Rosenthal
  • Associate Editorial Producer Elizabeth Cox
  • Fact-Checker Brian Gutierrez

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