Surgeon says his upcoming Head Transplant will kill Religion

I’m calling B.S. on head transplants. If this surgeon succeeded on a monkey, there would be video.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/...-brains-will-woken-transplanted-donor-bodies/

"If we are able to prove that our brain does not create consciousness, religions will be swept away forever. They will no longer be necessary, as humans no longer need to be afraid of death. We no longer need a Catholic Church, no Judaisim, and no Islam because religions in general will be obsolete." -- Professor Sergio Canavero
 
"If we are able to prove that our brain does not create consciousness, religions will be swept away forever. They will no longer be necessary, as humans no longer need to be afraid of death. We no longer need a Catholic Church, no Judaisim, and no Islam because religions in general will be obsolete." -- Professor Sergio Canavero
I fail to see the logic behind that statement.

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I fail to see the logic behind that statement.

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I agree. Canavero seems not to be totally rational. Of course in principle a head transplant seems to be as possible as a heart transplant, if an immense number of technical problems are overcome. But such a feat would hardly prove that the brain doesn't create consciousness analogously to the liver secreting bile. It would not prove the existence of the soul. If such an operation became common it just would presumably reduce the fear of death in materialists and many spiritual believers. So, religions would have less attraction though certainly not be obsolete. Looking at other likely consequences, there would certainly be a huge additional pressure on the organ donor system. There would be tremendous incentives to prematurely declare people "brain dead" (or to forcibly make them "brain dead"), with bodies available for transplantation. A lot of big changes to society.

It is interesting that successful head transplantation would certainly put a number of spiritualist/New Age beliefs and teachings in question. For instance the existence of an intimate energetic relationship of the physical body with various levels of "astral bodies" and with the soul. Of course there is already a problem in reconciling such beliefs with heart transplantation.
 
Gosh, quite mind (if not head) blowing. I wonder what the chances of success stand at and how the procedure is viewed by peers. If successful, would it not be a potential treatment for any number of presently terminal conditions ... or even the possibility of life extension for elderly, wealthy body cravers.
 
From the link in the op:
"If we bring this patient back to life we will receive the first real account of what actually happens after death. The head transplant gives us the first insight into whether there is an afterlife, a heaven, a hearafter.

"If we are able to prove that our brain does not create consciousness, religions will be swept away forever. They will no longer be necessary, as humans no longer need to be afraid of death. We no longer need a Catholic Church, no Judaisim, and no Islam because religions in general will be obsolete.

"It will be a turning point in human history."
 
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Holy sh*t, this is probably the craziest article that I have read in a while. I find it deliciously amusing how he just happens to say the kind of insane things that you would expect from a very old B-movie mad scientist.

As a side note, organ transplants still require a lot of drugs to prevent rejection and even with those there are failures to assimilate that lead to many nasty complications. I don't expect any patient undergoing this procedure to live very long and chances are that they won't make it out of the hospital, probably not even out of the OR. There is just so much that can go wrong...
 
Hang on. Surely this is a body transplant, rather than a head transplant? (Given that 'you' are either your brain, or are 'filtered' through your brain.)
Good point. Though I don't necessarily agree with the proposition that the brain is the only thing that matters. For example in some organ transplants (e.g. heart), the recipient starts to take on some psychological characteristics of the donor.
 
If we are able to prove that our brain does not create consciousness, religions will be swept away forever. They will no longer be necessary, as humans no longer need to be afraid of death. We no longer need a Catholic Church, no Judaisim, and no Islam because religions in general will be obsolete.

This doesn't make sense to me either. How would proving the brain does not create consciousness eliminate Abrahamic religions? Do those religions somehow rely on brains creating consciousness?

If we bring this patient back to life we will receive the first real account of what actually happens after death. The head transplant gives us the first insight into whether there is an afterlife, a heaven, a hearafter.

Why would a "head transplant" negate all the testimonies of those "brought back to life" who were clinically dead and resuscitated? Is a body/head transplant somehow special? Is this guy a real doctor/surgeon?

Also, yeah, body transplants aren't on the near horizon. It's like the "artificial wombs will happen in three years!" type stuff the media puts out every few years. No, that's not going to happen anytime soon. But I guess it gets clicks and eyeballs.
 
Why would a "head transplant" negate all the testimonies of those "brought back to life" who were clinically dead and resuscitated? Is a body/head transplant somehow special? Is this guy a real doctor/surgeon?
It would have to be done *very* quickly and the temperature would have to drop to the point where it is in virtual stasis. Almost the procedure that Reynolds underwent with a French Revolution twist, but it's not like they intend to reattach a head that has been left out in the sun a day or two, time is still of the essence.

Of course, this is from a theoretical POV. In practice, I still think that there's a ridiculously high chance of mortality within the first few minutes and almost certain mortality within hours.
 
It would have to be done *very* quickly and the temperature would have to drop to the point where it is in virtual stasis. Almost the procedure that Reynolds underwent with a French Revolution twist, but it's not like they intend to reattach a head that has been left out in the sun a day or two, time is still of the essence.

Of course, this is from a theoretical POV. In practice, I still think that there's a ridiculously high chance of mortality within the first few minutes and almost certain mortality within hours.

Well, yes, of course. I just don't understand why IF it was able to be done that would be "the first real account of what happens after death." How is that different from those who experienced clinical deaths and experiences (eg NDEs)? Why is his theoretical transplants better than that? He acts as though that would be the final word on the subject, and I don't understand why.
 
Yeah... About that, there's the possibility that he is unfamiliar with the NDE literature (and likely buys into the superficial 'explanations') but I'm inclined to believe that this is just another side of his madness. I mean, there is no denying that he is a batsh*t crazy quack and half-baked metaphysical beliefs should be expected.
 
My late father in law, the physicist R.T. Robiscoe. Used to advocate having ones head removed and replaced with a hook. As a panacea of sorts
 
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