There was a piece in Popular science recently that concerned the research being conducted by a team of scientists who are working toward the transition of human mental consciousness into a computer before the year 2045. The initial objective will be finally arriving at exacting artificial intelligence able to be warehoused inside of a computer processor or robotic automaton and calling this immortality, albeit, without the human physicality.
When you think about this, who would really be willing to sacrifice their human form in order to become one mentally with a computer chip. That is if this could be accomplished within the price range of average citizens, or even being available to a person as an option. Maybe if you were diagnosed with a mind degenerative disease such as Alzheimer’s or was fated to dementia at some future date according to genetic predisposition. There could be some possibilities where such a trade off would make sense.
Would this form of immortality be something the average Tom, Dick, Harry deserved, or would it be reserved for only the most brilliant among us? We should ask ourselves if we would consider this immortal option only because of our fear of what exists for us without it. Be able to cognitively observe the future without fear of illness or death and being able to bear witness to generations of achievement does sound enticing. The pessimists among us may say our minds will only be witnesses to unimaginable carnage and devastation, that society, as we know it today may be nonexistent at the time.
Not having a body any longer means the chemical reactions that allow us to function physically and mentally now would no longer be available so just what kind of immortality would we experience. Would we be nothing more than memories and reflection? Skiing vacations and mountain climbing expeditions would be out of the question unless you could be a passenger in some trusted person’s PDA or handheld. If it was the only choice available after a full life of the normal human variety, it might be worthwhile hanging around for a while, but what about your soul? How closely linked would your soul be to your regular day to day consciousness? Would the soul remain along with the rest of your mind? I may want to go into the light with all my mental parts intact.
If the possibility existed to transfer my conscious into an available facsimile of my current human body the potential begins to become clearer. Inserting my consciousness chip into a spare human body and jumpstarting it for a new beginning might hold some enticing possibilities. It would have to be into the devil I know so using my own DNA as a cloning model would be imperative. This scenario then may be something I would consider.
Some people are already on ice hoping for the day when science will be able to thaw them out and fix whatever was ailing them at the time of their demise. Others have opted to preserve only their heads with this sort of brain transfer as a potential means of achieving immortality. Once again I have to contemplate whether common folks deserve this immortality option, or if anyone actually deserves it for that matter. What about religious concerns – would one’s faith or religious belief system interfere with their physical man made immortality?
There is little doubt amongst the experts that these scenarios will become reality at some future date. Science is making incredible advances that could make such a decision available to our own grand children, more likely their grand children but it will eventually become realism. One thing I am certain of, I’ll wait for someone else to try it first.
Thu, Dec 31, 2009
Bioscience, Immortality, Nanotechnology