this post was submitted on 30 Dec 2025
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Five-Year-Old Mini Brains Can Now Mimic a Kindergartener’s Neural Wiring. It’s Time to Talk Ethics. (singularityhub.com)
submitted 1 day ago by artifex@piefed.social to c/science@lemmy.world
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Among pressing ethical concerns are whether brain organoids can feel pain or become conscious—and how would we know?

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[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 19 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

and how would we know?

Reasoning.

Does a ALU detect pain? Yes. Does it feel pain? No.

Just because it's organic circuits, doesn't mean they suddenly develop consciousness. That requires secific circuitry and data processing facilities. Organoids are far from sufficient.

[–] GenderNeutralBro@lemmy.sdf.org 29 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Let's not pretend we understand the mechanics of consciousness. If you can prove what is required for consciousness, there's at least a Nobel prize in it for you.

[–] BrainBow65@lemmy.world 14 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

So glad someone already said it. I'm a neuroscience PhD student who works with brain organoids and the article is absolutely ridiculous.

Also, I'm not aware of any labs or research that has been able to produce brain organoids with functional blood vessels. Having a necrotic core is normal for old organoids.