Today we can make gold from lead. Do you know why we don't? Because it CHEAPER TO MINE. Even on a planet where it is now rare. CC actually makes sense in this respect, because naturally formed gold on a planet would be worth a lot if it was so easily found as in the game. To make a single ounce of gold from lead, you have to go through several chemical changes, some of which require the lead to be at insane temperatures for extended periods of time, which costs about 1000 times the actual value of gold for the same weight.

In other words, even with all that technology it's still more likely to be much cheaper to fight entire wars over it.

I just love people who think that just because science has flaws it will never improve, bbbzzz.

I'm just saying that chances are that in the kind of time span and innovations we are talking about, there are still bound to be planets so full of gold that it would be cheaper to simply fight over them than synthesizing it. That's all. I agree that it is POSSIBLE that the method may have improved that much by then, but its not LIKELY.

It's a hell of a lot more likely than brains-in-a-jar. That would involve the creation of artificial blood systems and neural connections. Granted, those are pretty much the only real issues, since we already have artificial life support, but still.

Say we perfect a way to synthesize gold out of something worthless. What then?

Aluminum used to be worth more than gold, and look where it is now.
People don't fight wars over aluminum. But they used to.


So if we figure out a way to synthesize more gold on the
cheap, we'll just find something else to fight wars over.

You think Tradestar is just going to close it's doors, and kill its whole war infrastructure
just because something as trivial as money was made obsolete? They'll start demanding
other substances to purchase product (since, pretty much, they alone control what is defined as money).

I never said gold would still be worth something if it could be replicated. Obviously it won't, but the point is that it would be possible. Anyways, we're going off-topic here, where were we? Oh, yeah, brains. Besides making them look fancy (or scary) there is really little point in shoving them in fishbowls. Hell, the consciousnesses could simply be copied into a computer, and there goes the whole issue. Well, actually, now that I think of it, that would be even harder than making an artificial sanguine system.

Putting a consciousness into a computer would require both very VERY fancy software, and one heck of a storage system ranging into the terabytes at least for just one brain. I suppose storage would be TOO much of a problem for the future, but the software is gonna be crazy.

Indeed, I don't even want to imagine how one would replicate neural pathways with software, especially since they would also need to simulate the chemical reactions in the brain, not just the impulses.

I still think the idea of the braintbot having a small vulnerable spot would be a good one.

Not necessarily artificial blood "systems" per say though, just a way to keep the blood moving and filled with oxygen and removing the carbon dioxide. While that specifically hasn't been done with modern medicine, it is more than just possible, as we already have machines that remove blood from the body, filter it of toxins, then return it to the body. If that is possible, then this is too.

Also for the Neural connections, you might want to look here. Also there was one just before it about being able to decode the signals in a cat's brain and displaying it's vision (while crudely, but still) on a monitor.

I meant neural connections in order to copy a consciousness into a computer, i.e. the framework for the pattern, not the connection to arms or w/e.

Yeah, but in the game, it's a artificially sustained brain. The consciousness would still be there, the only complicated thing would be getting the brain to control the artificial body. And again, we have that to an extent today with artificial limbs.

You're missing my point entirely. The neural pathway bit was an entirely off-topic thought of mine strictly related to a direct copy of a mind from an organic brain to a non-organic one. When it comes to controlling bodies, I know it can be done, provided someone manages to replicate the functions of the spinal cord, which will no doubt happen, since there's quite a market for it IRL.

Not the point. He's saying "Good luck putting a human into a computer. You're gonna need it."

Yeah, we're going to need a few thousand human volunteers!