[HN Gopher] Barcoding brains
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Barcoding brains
        
       Author : if-curious
       Score  : 8 points
       Date   : 2025-02-14 22:45 UTC (3 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.asimov.press)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.asimov.press)
        
       | _factor wrote:
       | Highly recommended to check out the worm simulation they mention:
       | https://openworm.org/
       | 
       | I wonder at what level of simulation complexity do we have to
       | worry about any pain the simulations may be experiencing?
       | 
       | If you simulate a brain, assuming you do it well enough, you'll
       | start getting into ethical concerns.
        
         | rrmm wrote:
         | Presumably you'd follow the same regulations regarding actual
         | animals in testing regarding inflicting pain or distress.
         | Usually IRB's weigh whether the scientific results offset the
         | risk of harm and emphasize minimizing pain (doing things under
         | anesthesia, providing analgesia, or not letting animals regain
         | consciousness). The ethical bars you have to clear get higher
         | the "higher" the animal you use.
         | 
         | If you're doing it via simulation, physical pain issues become
         | a lot easier to fix and more over you can probably simulate
         | subsections of the brain rather than the whole thing. You can
         | also limit simulation time to prevent perception of harm, and
         | you can arbitrarily limit negative feedback in the whole
         | simulation (stress hormones, etc).
         | 
         | I would also imagine one should act conservatively to the
         | question of whether you should treat a simulated "thing"
         | humanely.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2025-02-17 23:00 UTC)