Immortality. Fact or Fiction?

[gizz72]

Greetings,

There are now a ways and possiblility to clone human beings. I was wondering if we can preserve ourselves so we can be born on a different or new body, but mind/wisdom intact.
Some methods and ways are very crude. One example is cryogenics. Really gives me a shivers just thinking of it. I don't want to be preserve like a frozen fish. Even if we get frozen our cells would still degrade during freezing or defrezzing stage.
Another way is preserving our DNA's. However it may seem, when we get RE-BORN, our memories of the past would probably never be there. Hence, we'll never be the same person what we used to be.
The other method, may or may never be possible,is the making one's molocules to be transported in a 'Transporter Buffer', like a hard drive. Every detail would be intact. When you're time is up, you'll then be restored. However Your age is still the same when you were last 'downloaded'. So if you're 99, you're still be 99 and may die after transporting. Hehe no point to this method err... This method of immortality is possible only with younger people who wish to live in an immediate future. :-)

http://hashev.tripod.com/resurrection.html

!!WE CAN ALL BE SAVED!!!

:lol:

Regards,

Gizz

[Cymric]

Immortality with full access to all ones memories is simple: just make a 'state dump' from the minds quantum state. Only snag: this exceeds our affordabble storage capacity by factor of 10^12. Not to mention the fact that we have no technology at our disposal to go from a description of the quantum state to the actual one. Therefore, immortality is fiction for a very long time to come.

Apart from the scientific problems, you have to ask yourself whether it would be a good idea socially. A fundamental aspect of life is death: it allows a new generation to take its chances, and weeds out the unfavourable genes. You would have to implement very rigorous birth control. Even more pressing is the question what you would do with the time at your disposal. I think the only answer is to go out and explore the universe: life on Earth would become very boring after a few centuries. And even then you would need some means to cope with the incredible boredom which lasts thousands of years as you slowly crawl towards the next star.

Let's keep it science fiction.

[Cyberus]

And how about the idea of 'the soul'?





Here's were all the militant atheists start jumping up and down...

[blobrana]

Hum,
even Valhalla doesn`t last forever.

[odin]

No, but even after the fall of the Æsir and the rest of the world a brave new world will arise....

[KennyR]

Human beings can't be cloned and possibly never will be able to using any form of genetic cloning technology, so that's out. As for being frozen, nah. I don't want to wake up 4 million years later and end up in a zoo.

[blobrana]

[KennyR]

Blobrana wrote:
twins are clones remember...

No they aren't. Different fingerprints and everything.

[Karlos]

KennyR wrote:

Blobrana wrote:
twins are clones remember...

No they aren't. Different fingerprints and everything.

They are clones in the sense that they are genetically identical. However, its a common misconception that identical genes equates identical copy, which as you point out is not true. A great many natural structures in the body are fractal in nature and as such will differ slightly thanks to the influence of chaos as they grow and develop.

A perfect genetic clone of oneself would be no closer than one's own identical twin.

There is also evidence to suggest that there is some biological record of age that is not yet fully understood. Cloned animals have exhibited very rapid ageing effects that whould physically put them in a similar condition to the adult they were cloned from (Dolly the sheep was a classic example here).

[T_Bone]

Karlos wrote:

KennyR wrote:

Blobrana wrote:
twins are clones remember...

No they aren't. Different fingerprints and everything.

They are clones in the sense that they are genetically identical. However, its a common misconception that identical genes equates identical copy, which as you point out is not true. A great many natural structures in the body are fractal in nature and as such will differ slightly thanks to the influence of chaos as they grow and develop.

A perfect genetic clone of oneself would be no closer than one's own identical twin.

There is also evidence to suggest that there is some biological record of age that is not yet fully understood. Cloned animals have exhibited very rapid ageing effects that whould physically put them in a similar condition to the adult they were cloned from (Dolly the sheep was a classic example here).

That's facinating, it would be incredible if scientists could figure out how to "stop that clock" so to speak. It would be the bee's knees to implement a biological aging stasis at 29 years of age.
 I'd change my name to Lazarus Long and wear a kilt with a gun strapped to my inner thigh.  :-P

[blobrana]

Hum,

Facinating...


I didn`t considered the fractal nature to this ...


But it's early days yet, and in a thousand years from now (er, after the eugenic wars) we'll all live happily every after.

[FluffyMcDeath]

I heard of a nice little thought experiment which concerned the idea of artificial intelligence, can machines think, what is consciousness, etc, and also immortality of the mind.

So, how about, you get a small computer to take over the job of a set of neurons that are about to kick the bucket. You hook up your computer to all the little synapses that the old cells were talking to and you start the simulation. Can you tell the difference?

If not, repeat. Over many iterations, your brain should be completely replaced with computers, all without you even noticing so there is a continuity of consciousness. Now you are immortal (until the power cuts out). Your bits can be replaced indefinately.

Of course, it would be a pretty intellectual existance, unless someone can create an artificial twanger that can be plucked with as harmoniously as a natural one.

[T_Bone]

FluffyMcDeath wrote:
I heard of a nice little thought experiment which concerned the idea of artificial intelligence, can machines think, what is consciousness, etc, and also immortality of the mind.

So, how about, you get a small computer to take over the job of a set of neurons that are about to kick the bucket. You hook up your computer to all the little synapses that the old cells were talking to and you start the simulation. Can you tell the difference?

If not, repeat. Over many iterations, your brain should be completely replaced with computers, all without you even noticing so there is a continuity of consciousness. Now you are immortal (until the power cuts out). Your bits can be replaced indefinately.

Of course, it would be a pretty intellectual existance, unless someone can create an artificial twanger that can be plucked with as harmoniously as a natural one.

Think of the features you could add, why not have "save states" for emotions? I wonder if wives would get mad if instead of calling "God" or her name, if we yelled "Record!!!"  :lol:

[blobrana]

Hum,
i`m quite sure some newbie will try shouting `format!`

[FluffyMcDeath]

T_Bone wrote:

Think of the features you could add, why not have "save states" for emotions? I wonder if wives would get mad if instead of calling "God" or her name, if we yelled "Record!!!"  :lol:

He he. I'd put that in my playlist.

(Which leads to the idea of a p2p network for experiences)