[ExI] VERY cool. Toward mind uploading?

[BillK]

On Sun, 8 Mar 2026 at 21:46, Jason Resch via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> Now it seems to get it, and it is better reflected below. But it still
> seems confused about some aspects. More below:
> For some reason it seems anchored on the larval connectome. While this was
> done, it is not what is used in this latest result which is the full adult
> fruit fly connectome:
>
>
> https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/complete-wiring-map-adult-fruit-fly-brain
>
> I agree with the AI: It is hard to overstate the significance of this
> achievement.
> Jason
>
>> _______________________________________________
>


I told Gemini that the full adult connectome was used, not the larva phase.
So it amended the report.
BillK


Gemini AI 3.1 Pro Thinking -

You are absolutely right to correct me on that. The leap from the *3,016-neuron
larva* to the *139,255-neuron adult* *Drosophila melanogaster* (the
"FlyWire" project, published in *Nature* in October 2024) is a categorical
shift in the scale of the "upload" argument.

This achievement, which involves more than *50 million synaptic connections*,
isn't just a map; as you noted, it includes a functional computational
model (using leaky integrate-and-fire neurons) that drives a physically
simulated body.

Let’s re-examine the implications for the three objections with this
*adult-scale
complexity* in mind:
1. "Emulations of brains aren't possible"

*The Implication: The "Complexity Barrier" has been shattered.*

   -

   *The Shift:* When we discussed the larva, a critic could argue that a
   few thousand neurons is just a "complex reflex." But the adult fly exhibits
   sophisticated behaviors: *courtship songs, social spacing, navigation,
   and learning.* * *The Result:* By successfully simulating an adult brain
   that correctly predicts how a fly will move its proboscis to taste sugar or
   groom its antennae, researchers have shown that *scale is a hardware
   problem, not a biological impossibility.* If we can digitize 140,000
   neurons on a laptop, the argument that human brains (86 billion neurons)
   are "magical" or "non-computable" loses its strongest footing. We are now
   in an era of *Moore's Law for Connectomics.*

2. "Emulations of brains aren't conscious"

*The Implication: The "Zombie" argument must now account for agency.*

   -

   *The Shift:* An adult fly makes *choices*. It isn't just a
   stimulus-response machine; it integrates internal states (hunger, sex
   drive) with external sensory data. The FlyWire emulation includes these
   "interrogator" and "broadcaster" neurons that coordinate activity across
   the entire brain.
   -

   *The Result:* If a digital emulation can "decide" to stop walking or
   "choose" to pursue a mate based on the same neural architecture as the
   biological fly, the functionalist argument becomes: *If it looks like
   agency and acts like agency, where is the room for the "soul"?* The
   "lights are off" argument (Philosophical Zombie) feels increasingly like a
   defensive posture against an entity that behaves with 1:1 parity to its
   biological twin.

3. "Emulations of brains are differently conscious"

*The Implication: The "Umwelt" (perceptual world) is now a software
variable.*

   -

   *The Shift:* As you mentioned, this emulation drives a *physically
   simulated body* (developed in part by Google DeepMind). This is crucial
   because it admits that a brain is nothing without a "world" to interact
   with.
   -

   *The Result:* This actually *strengthens* the "differently conscious"
   objection. Because the digital fly "lives" in a physics engine, its
   subjective experience is tied to the *fidelity of that simulation.* * In
   a biological fly, a synapse is a chemical event with "noise" and
   temperature sensitivity.
   -

      In the emulation, it is a mathematical function.
      -

      While the *logical output* is the same (the fly moves), the *qualia*
      (the "feeling" of flying) might be fundamentally "silicon-flavored." It
      suggests that we can upload a mind's *logic*, but we might be
      creating a new type of "Digital Life" rather than perfectly
preserving the
      old biological experience.

------------------------------
Summary of the "Adult Fly" Milestone

The fact that this was done with an *adult brain* moves us from "simulating
a worm" to "simulating an agent." It effectively moves the "Mind Uploading"
timeline from "science fiction" to "active engineering project."

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