Hundred Second Theater: Brains in Vats Paul Knierim 2022 100 seconds --- John - Brain tending newbie. Liz - Expert hobbyist molder of brains in vats. Presenter - Presents awards and does interviews. Vander - Expert molder of brains in vats, and a bit smug and self-satisfied about it. --- SFX: the buzz of the vatorium John: I like the looks of that. Liz: [proudly smiling] He's climbing Denali. John: Must've been difficult to train him for. Liz: You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find the right stimuli, I had to reset him a dozen times. John: I'm just getting into the hobby, bought my first brain last week. Any tips? Liz: The most important thing is a good vat. The starter vat they give you with the brain just keeps it alive, doesn't have many features. I'd suggest a J73 for a beginner. SFX: John jots down notes John: Thanks. But how do you decide what to do? There are so many possibilities... Liz: Most people try to make their brain live out the life they wish they'd had. John: Hmm. SFX: conversation between presenter and vander will be filtered so sound like it's over loudspeakers Presenter: Congratulations on winning first prize, Vander! Perhaps you'd like to explain your experiment in your own words. Vander: Thank you. If you look at my display, you can see my brain is in fact tending to *his own* brain in a vat at the moment. SFX: crowd murmurs in amusement and claps Vander: I've managed to induce cascading multiple personality disorder, so an ever-growing number of distinct minds actually exists, each tending another vat. I rotate them in and out but leave no memory gap so they don't notice. SFX: presenter will fade to background as Liz talks over them? Presenter: Wow! We've come a long way from my youth when vats would fill a room and chemical adjustments were applied by hand, but in the end it's still the person running the vat who makes the difference. Vander's example should inspire us all! Liz: [musing] We could be part of an infinite stack of brains in vats. John: Could be simpler. Say I'm a brain inside your vat and you're a brain inside my vat. Liz: A symbiosis? John: People giving each other meaning and purpose. It's only in tending each other's vats that we make ourselves and each other real.