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oh, the reason a head or brain transplant is just not viable is that the brain isn't really an isolated organ, the spinal chord is an extension of it, or equivalently, the brain is an extension of the spinal chord. they're even made of the same stuff? i had no idea
this is why they talk about the “central nervous system”, the brain is just the big blobby bit of it at the top
so, to transplant a brain or head would be at least as complicated as stitching two brains together. great. never gonna happen
this prompts the obvious idea of “why don't you transplant the entire cns then” and i am very satisfied by the fact that i came to that conclusion before it came up in the video i was watching (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4hFRfOeZX8)
of course that's not easy either :p
in this house we reject the mind–body dualism
@hikari you can transplant a person (a person is a type of fire, one is not inherently tied to a chunk of meat) but this requires a very flexible sense of self and being ready to experience profound loss
not exactly the traits of people who dream of head transplants
@whitequark brutal
@hikari am i wrong?
@whitequark no, the problem is you're completely correct
@hikari one day we'll learn how to deal with spinal cord injuries and then we'll get one step closer to stuff like that