A jaunt into Posthumanity
So, where do you folks think we are on the path to escaping? What I refer to is our fleshy clunkers which nature saw fit to put us in. I mean the two options that seem most realistic atm would be the physical brain transferred to a life supporting, perhaps android like, platform or that of brain uploading. From either option the possibilities seem endless. We would be free to alter ourselves from there in any way we see fit; although, the physical brain would still have many more limits than uploading to a more powerful synthetic platform. But I digress. Where are we on this? I don't live my life predicated on predictions of immortality within my lifespan, but I can't help but be hopeful.
Bonus Question: Let us say that brain uploading is the way to go. Could a mind be actually transferred directly to a new platform or would it be a copy? Can our consciousness be transferred in whole like taking an apple from a basket and placing it in another? Is there a neuroscientist in the house?
Bonus Question: Let us say that brain uploading is the way to go. Could a mind be actually transferred directly to a new platform or would it be a copy? Can our consciousness be transferred in whole like taking an apple from a basket and placing it in another? Is there a neuroscientist in the house?
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Going for a degree? If so I wish you good luck on your way.
But... I've give tl;dr answers anyway.
Brain transplant is not really going to help you escape, the brain is made of bio tissues, it gets diseases and dies just like the rest of the body. sure, you might avoid many of the common causes of death, but I don't think you'll get much beyond 2x normal human life span.
uploading is much better, though it's still not immortality. you can still die from accident or murder. and if not, bitrot will still get you eventually.
uploading is a transfer or copy? sigh, this is a noob question, it comes down to your personal definition of 'consciousness'.
read these:
http://lesswrong.com/lw/nz/arguing_by_definition/
http://lesswrong.com/lw/np/disputing_definitions/
http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/A_Human's_Guide_to_Words
basically, do you think of consciousness as a "soul"? or as a pattern? if you believe in souls... I can't be bothered trying to help you. if you agree that the mind a pattern, then you'll probably agree that you can have multiple instances of the same pattern.
read the rest of lesswrong, and understand why it's reasonably likely humans won't even exist by the end of our lifetime, so dying of old age is the least of our worries.