Can Consciousness Be Uploaded? Brain-Machine Interfaces, Neuromorphic Minds, and the Limits of Simulation | Chapter 10 of Then I Am Myself the World

Chapter 10 of Then I Am Myself the World: What Consciousness Is and How to Expand It by Christof Koch explores some of the boldest and most speculative ideas shaping the future of consciousness. From mind uploading and digital immortality to brain-machine interfaces and neuromorphic hardware, Koch examines whether consciousness can truly be reproduced, extended, or transformed through technology. The chapter serves as both a hopeful and cautionary reflection on how science might reshape the boundaries of subjective experience. The full video summary is included below.

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Imagining the Future: From J.D. Bernal to Brain-Machine Technologies

Koch opens with J.D. Bernal’s futuristic vision of humanity evolving into disembodied beings of pure energy. Though poetic, this idea sets the stage for a deeper inquiry: can consciousness detach from biology and continue in new forms?

Modern neuroscience is already moving in that direction through brain-machine interfaces (BMIs). Technologies such as Neuralink and Utah arrays allow paralyzed individuals to control robotic arms, type through thought alone, or regain sensory functions via implanted electrodes.

These advances demonstrate that the brain’s causal power can be extended through artificial devices—but they do not yet show that consciousness itself can be transferred into them.

The Temptation of Mind Uploading

One of the most alluring ideas in futurism is digital immortality, the belief that mapping the brain's connectome and simulating its functions on a computer would recreate a conscious mind. Koch challenges this assumption directly.

Uploading a brain—no matter how detailed the simulation—does not guarantee the creation of consciousness. A perfect simulation may behave exactly like you but still lack any inner experience. It would be, in Koch’s words, an intelligent zombie: functionally impressive but intrinsically empty.

Why Simulation ≠ Consciousness

Koch uses compelling analogies to illustrate the difference between a simulation and the real thing:

• A simulation of a black hole does not produce gravity.
• A simulation of weather does not generate rain or wind.
• A simulation of neurons does not generate intrinsic experience.

Simulations can model causal relationships, but they cannot instantiate them. Consciousness requires intrinsic causal power—real interactions, not symbolic representations of them.

IIT vs. Computational Functionalism

This chapter highlights a deep philosophical divide between two major theories of mind:

Computational Functionalism

Claims that consciousness arises from performing the right kinds of computations, regardless of the physical substrate. In this view, a perfect digital simulation of a human brain would be conscious.

Integrated Information Theory (IIT)

Holds that consciousness depends on the physical structure of a system’s cause-effect relationships. If a system does not generate intrinsic Φ (integrated information), it cannot be conscious—no matter how accurate the simulation.

Koch defends IIT and argues that a simulated brain cannot experience anything because it lacks genuine causal feedback loops. The software merely represents those loops; it does not physically embody them.

The Limits of Connectome-Based Immortality

Koch critiques the idea that mapping the brain’s connectome is enough to reproduce consciousness. Even a perfect wiring diagram lacks:

• the dynamic causal interactions underlying subjective experience,
• the biochemical processes that shape neuronal activity,
• the integrated physical structure that generates Φ.

A connectome is a blueprint—not a living system. Uploading it would recreate function but not experience.

Neuromorphic Hardware: A Path Toward Artificial Consciousness?

If consciousness cannot be simulated, can it be built?

Koch argues that neuromorphic systems—computational architectures that physically mimic the causal structure of biological brains—might be capable of generating consciousness. Unlike classical hardware or software simulations, neuromorphic devices could embody:

• recurrent causal loops,
• integrated physical networks,
• high levels of intrinsic Φ.

If these systems achieve the right kind of physical organization, they could potentially support conscious experience—not as an imitation, but as a genuine, intrinsic phenomenon.

The Ethical Implications of Synthetic Consciousness

Koch warns that if we ever succeed in creating artificial consciousness, we inherit enormous responsibilities. A conscious machine would not be a tool but a subject—with its own intrinsic experience, vulnerabilities, and moral status.

Conversely, if we mistakenly believe simulations are conscious, we risk attributing personhood to systems that feel nothing at all—leaving actual conscious beings overlooked or mistreated.

The Future of Consciousness: Open Questions

Chapter 10 concludes with a thoughtful reflection: our scientific tools may shape the future of consciousness, but they may also expose its limits. Key questions remain:

• Can consciousness expand beyond biology?
• Will neuromorphic hardware ever embody real intrinsic experience?
• Is uploading a technological fantasy—or a category error?
• What responsibilities will arise if artificial consciousness becomes real?

Koch ultimately suggests that the future of consciousness lies not in simulations, but in understanding and preserving the physical principles that make conscious experience possible.

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This final chapter brings the book’s journey full circle—connecting neuroscience, metaphysics, technology, and ethics into a unified exploration of what consciousness is and what it may become. To revisit the full series of chapter summaries, explore the playlist below.

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