THS / BioTech: Organlegger efficiency

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by CeeDub

So far, there is a lot the human brain can do that software simply can't do even remotely as well. That might change, or it might not.

Broadly speaking, if you can't emulate what a brain does, you can't interface with it either, so either the brain in a box is useless because you can do the same thing in a different way, or it's useless because you can't actually do anything with it.

[AlexanderHowl]

Mind emulation is horribly expensive at TL9, requiring a Complexity 9 program for a human mind. At TL9, the cheapest computer that can run it is a Biocomp Macroframe, which costs $2 million (plus $100,000 for the program). At TL10, it becomes much more affordable, with a Biocomp Microframe capable of running one, which costs $20,000 (plus $10,000 for the program).

Of course, this assumes that mind emulations are possible and stable. In my settings, mind emulations are possible but, at TL10, they suffer 1 CP of negative mental traits per week of activity as they destabilize (TL9 versions suffered 1 CP per day). Conversely, at TL10, brains in boxes only suffer 1 CP of negative mental traits per season of activity as they destabilize (TL9 versions suffered 1 CP per two weeks of activity). Of course, insanity is guaranteed for both, but a brain in the box can be transplanted into a new body while a mind emulation can never be really transplanted to an organic body.

[Johnny1A.2]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Broadly speaking, if you can't emulate what a brain does, you can't interface with it either, so either the brain in a box is useless because you can do the same thing in a different way, or it's useless because you can't actually do anything with it.

That...skips at least one step.

We already can interface brains and machines (albeit clumsily), and we most certainly can't emulate brains in any meaningful way in software.

It all depends on what you're trying to do with the brain-in-a-jar. (I'm actually skeptical of this because I don't think the brain is set up to work very well in such isolation, but allowing for that, there's also the risk that the brain-in-a-jar might have his or her own ideas about function and role...

[CeeDub]

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

It all depends on what you're trying to do with the brain-in-a-jar. (I'm actually skeptical of this because I don't think the brain is set up to work very well in such isolation, but allowing for that, there's also the risk that the brain-in-a-jar might have his or her own ideas about function and role...

I like the horror aspect of the brain, the very center of who we are, being stolen and perverted for nefarious purposes, but it's a little more super-sciency than I intend to go in my campaign. Still, if I were to go there, I'd explain it as the brain being basically lobotomized to (mostly) eliminate agency and personality, and only interface with the parts that enable cognition, language, sarcasm and humour detection, etc. Effectively using the brain as some sort of BPU (biological processing unit), like a GPU for graphics, only for things humans can do better than machines.