Mar 13, 17 / Ari 16, 01 20:46 UTC
If you ever had the option to be immortal would you do it, despite risks associated with it? I would, i find it intriguing, i am not afraid of death or anything but i would prefer it because i would like to know all before i pass away, even if it would take aeons upon aeons just to scratch the surface of knowledge.
Mar 13, 17 / Ari 16, 01 23:00 UTC
Comment deleted
Mar 14, 17 / Ari 17, 01 01:18 UTC
In this form.
But, IMHO, you're unlikely to obtain such in this form. It's intentionally finite.
To evolve to a being of pure energy - presented in fiction by the likes of the buddha, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Q etc - would potentially allow for an infinite existence - or at least until the end of time itself - that could be considered tollerable. However, the problem of bordem still remains.
Mar 14, 17 / Ari 17, 01 05:17 UTC
I presume humanity will evolve in the future to solve the problems of what we have now. Makes you wonder if humanity will actually transfer it's conscience into more resilient bodies. I am aware of the problems with immortality, especially boredom. 1 googol bottles of beer on the wall......
Mar 14, 17 / Ari 17, 01 10:11 UTC
Immortality would be dangerous for any who obtained it, especially if they view the rest of those without it as lesser beings, we don't think much of killing a spider or a fly and (if they did perceive us) we would seem to be immortal to them given our differing lifespans, you get the wrong personality attaining immortality and there's a whole heap of issues. The right person would (hopefully) endeavour to help as many as they could but I doubt it, they'd get bored eventually as most religions believe that you have to help others in order to achieve heaven entry or enlightenment or next rebirth (whatever), what's the reward for an immortal? What would be the next step in evolution for an immortal, would there even be one? We all dream at some point in our lives or being immortal (ask any child or teenager) but would if given the opportunity would we accept it? to watch our family and friends die one by one till eventually we are alone and we know no one? I remember seeing a film called 'He didn't die' or 'He never died' (can't remember which) and in it the main character was Cain (as in Cain and Able- you know the Biblical brothers) and he just goes through the film being bored **less. That's what your life would be if immortal.
Mar 14, 17 / Ari 17, 01 10:56 UTC
I honestly believe that human beings will never be "immortal". Human consciousness however is a different story.
I hate to draw comparisons to fiction, but there was a portrayal of this concept in an episode of "Black Mirror" (thoroughly recommended viewing btw). In this particular episode, the dying had the option to transfer thier consciousness to a digital environment of their choosing.
The trick would be to isolate and transcode someone's "personality" and memories. It currently seems like a an impossible task... but I'm sure the Wright brothers thought flying to the moon would be equally impossible.
Mar 14, 17 / Ari 17, 01 11:34 UTC
I have been working on it. Not necessarily the whole 'not dying' part but the part where our bodies self-regenerate, effectively making us ageless. We still have to eat, breathe, etc but biologically 'the parts won't wear out'. It is a work in progress, with myself as the guinea pig right now. Considering I am self-funded, it seems only fair. Until now, the only person I have told has been my wife, so feel privileged.
As a result, I have been thinking about what to do with my time in the event it works out. I have decided not to make a big deal out of it. I will continue to work as I am allowed, save up for 'retirement', and enjoy time with my children and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, etc. I will spend what time remains in communities, like Asgardia, and enjoying my video games.
So, all in all, I don't think immortality would really change much for me. It would just remove the specter of death from my future, allowing me to make longer-term plans.
Mar 14, 17 / Ari 17, 01 14:32 UTC
For a "biological solution" the problem is within the model itself.
You require oxygen to survive, much of your biological function revolves around this. However, oxygen is a pretty dangerous free radical and the most oxidising agent known(odd, that). This plays havoc with things like DNA composition, and over time exposure is thus that builtin parity checks begin to fail and imperfect copies are produced. These imperfect copies over time gain exposure and degrade further, producing less perfect copies - the process generally defined as "aging".
I don't see a way to eliminate this. Reduce it, possibly - slow down the rate of degredation - but to completely neuter the effect I feel to be unreasonable. If there was some way to backup the "pure code" and then re-write it periodically then it becomes a little more possible.
With regards to conciousness transfer, this is certainly something being worked on. It opens up many ethical and morally questionable doors IMHO, but it's likely to be happening regardless. Such a thing can certainly provide for a major upgrade to the human species - you don't need to be in one place at one time. Things like IBM's 40-qubit computer are likely to be the start of machines capable.
Mar 14, 17 / Ari 17, 01 19:45 UTC
In my opinion the best immortality is the one where you can terminate yourself at will (and i don't mean the throw yourself of a building type of self termination), something on the line of "Well, i've done everything that can be done, time to die, initiate self termination protocol."
Mar 14, 17 / Ari 17, 01 20:34 UTC
To end all of this, i agree with the folks that say that are consequences with immortality.
Mar 16, 17 / Ari 19, 01 05:18 UTC
Why wouldn't I want to live forever if I'm healthy enough to function? Any desire to die is still just a desire and can be safely ignored. On a long enough scale, any particular reason to die becomes irrelevant. Something is always more than nothing.
Mar 22, 17 / Ari 25, 01 10:48 UTC
I've been thinking about that for a long time, I'd love to be immortal, and I'm not afraid of any accident (but I'd take as many precautions as possible anyway, obviously), I want to keep experiencing things and I don't want to fade away like nothing. As others pointed out, I don't think it would happen with my actual physical body, this form is too weak in many ways, the only thing that actually worries me is if I could still be myself after that kind of change. I mean, if the only way to be immortal is to change the body in some kind of energy form, how could I tell if I'm really alive or dead? How could I know if the process is going to making me immortal or just killing me and giving life to that energy form with my knowledge, a copy of me and nothing more? Where do we draw the line between life and death and what defines yourself? With these considerations, keeping my actual body would be better for sure, but as I've said, I don't think it's possible, it's an impasse.
