Question: do you think that the body could live without a brain and could be controlled by electrical pulses?

Alex Reid answered on 14 Nov 2018:

Hi this is a great question! It also kind of goes a bit beyond current psychology and into the realms of science fiction (not a bad thing!). It is a fascinating question as it could hold the key to saving people (imagine if the paralyzed Stephen Hawking’s brain could be digitally uploaded!), and even immortality itself! While as scientists we can model the activity of the human brain, sometimes in very complex ways, we do not yet have the technology to either fully simulate or ‘upload’ a brain digitally. However, who knows what the future holds! In principle our brains are patterns of information, and this could potentially be replicated in an (extremely) complex computer. This is going to sound a bit wild, but one of the theories that we haven’t run into an advanced alien race yet (something called the Fermi Paradox) is because some aliens might have uploaded themselves into a digital world so have no reason to explore (this theory called a ‘matrioshka brain’). For more information on the Fermi Paradox check out these two YouTube Videos from a highly recommended education channel. It includes a bit about digital brains! https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=sNhhvQGsMEc