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/sci/ - Science & Math

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11757351 No.11757351 [Reply] [Original]

Considering all the medical advances at the moment and the ones we can expect over the next few decades and beyond, how far away are we from some form of immortality?
Will it remain a pipe dream or something a young man like me (22) can actually expect to witness within his life time?

>> No.11757376

>>11757351
>how far away are we
by definition, infinitely far

>> No.11757383
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11757383

>>11757351

1/2

Maybe. Definitely a possibility, but some big technology stuff has to be sorted out first.

True biological immortality is probably impossible, at least for humans. But hey maybe it'll be fixed. 80 years is a long time and if you're alive by then, you might suddenly live forever.

Most exciting is digital immortality, but that is a whole can of worms.

1) We don't even know if sentient AI is possible. Nothing says its impossible per se, but we just don't know how or when it'll happen. So if you make a digital mind, will it even be "alive"?

2) Digital "uploading" is tricky, but currently the best bet is Whole Brain Emulation. Basically a computer copies your brain's patterns and rebuilds your mind in the digital realm. You may either die or not from this. However either way, what will happen is that the digital "upload" of your mind will be a separate entity altogether.

Is it immortality if 'you' don't experience it, but a copy of 'you' does? You will die, but you copy will live forever. Is it still immortality if you copy is a 100% replica of you - except a separate consciousness.

Whole Brain Emulation is nowhere near close, but it does seem to be relatively possible. On the very small scale, scientists have been able to make a replica of a nematode's brain, which has 300 neurons. The human brain is 333,333X BIGGER! So this is a ways away, but hey you have a lot of time.

3) True digital immortality would see your current consciousness being transferred from the biological to the digital realm. This is a lot murkier than even Option 2. We don't actually know how to sustain one's mind while also putting it into a computer. Some proposals include using little machines to destroy but replicate neurons gradually, so over time, your brain BECOMES a computer.

Is it possible? There is no technical reason why not. However this requires technology so advanced, do not expect it in your lifetime.

>> No.11757384

>>11757351
It will never exist, it's on the same level as other scifi shit like AI.

>> No.11757386
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11757386

>>11757351
>>11757383

2/2

REMEMBER! When a computer transfers data to a new platform, the original data is either destroyed or copied. So If you upload your mind to a computer, you'll likely be stuck on THAT SPECIFIC HARDWARE! Sure you bypass a biological body, but you will be stuck in a singular mechanical one. You may live longer, maybe even millennia, but you will eventually break down and fail and die.

I think what we can definitely see in our lifetimes is "RoboCop". Basically, I mean moving our brain and some organs into a robotic body. It may buy us hundreds or maybe even thousands of extra years.

>> No.11757444

>>11757383
>333,333X
19 doublings
what's the doubling time been lately?

>> No.11759461

bump

>> No.11761361

bumping

>> No.11761388

>>11757351
if you are asking when immortality will be here, then you don't deserve it

>> No.11763869

>>11761388
Why not?

>> No.11763909

>>11763869
because 1) you clearly aren't doing anything to further scientific knowledge about said field and 2) because mortality would be a fucking societal and ecological disaster when coupled with the short-sightedness of the average human, aka you.

death, as awful as it is, spurs life forward

>> No.11764082

>>11757351
Aging is just metal poisoning from ancient metallurgy.

>> No.11765861

bump

>> No.11767561

bümp

>> No.11769344

bump

>> No.11770304

>>11759461
>>11761361
>>11765861
>>11767561
>>11769344
a desperate mind trying to stave off the inevitable. either you let this thread die with dignity, or you just delay its death until it hits the bump limit.