Is it? If the Mona Lisa were set on fire, there would be effectively zero hope of reconstructing it from the ashes. Can a sane original mind be reconstructed from insanity caused by severe trauma or extended sensory deprivation or dementia? There too, the pattern has been destroyed; there's effectively zero hope of restoration.
You are not. I am.
And I choose to live.
Have you ever seen firsthand a person in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease? If life is so precious to you that you are willing to exist for eternity in such a state, far be it from me to tell you otherwise.
May you enjoy the outcome of your choices.
Presuming you would actually live in such a state even - perfecting this technology will require other ground breaking research, some of which might be able to handle Alzheimer's.
Sure but questions arise:
"How much mental trauma/cognitive damage can a normal human mind sustain before it is no longer capable of comprehending its choices (or even the concept of "choice") at all?"
"Will the brain-in-a-vat scenario exceed that limit?"
> ...some of which might be able to handle Alzheimer's
As I alluded to before, is it possible to unscramble an egg?
Isn't there a real possibility that being subjected to circumstances that allow us to perceive reality, psychological trauma could result?
Or maybe every computer on Earth is right now a mind in a perpetual state of torture. I don't see how a brain in a vat shouldn't be any less objectionable, especially if we're relying on blind conjecture.