Ted Williams is currently "stored" at a cryonics company. These companies keep a dead person's body and head frozen in liquid nitrogen. From what I understand, the objective is to some day, when the technology becomes available, revive these individuals.
I imagine these people will awake in either a virtual reality, Matrix-type environment or a brain transplant into another body. The technology required of these processes may actually be quite similar; though the former would require software to formulate a realistic environment. Likely, such a breakthrough will arise parallel to the medical ones required for the actual brain "reawakening".
I assuredly think the goal is an achievable one. Maybe science fiction movies motivate this optimism, but I've always seen the body as a superfluous machine. The brain is where our consciousness, emotions, and even our experiencing of physical sensations lies. To illustrate this, think about individuals with phantom limb syndrome. These people "feel" as though they have an arm despite there being no physical appendage.
As for the people already hoping onto this bandwagon, I'm sure Ray Kurzweil has his spot reserved if he doesn't make it to the Singularity. I don't think I'd want to live forever, but I'd love a chance to see the future and what becomes of humanity. And one more thought: What does the person feel like when they wake up? That they had been asleep for an unidentifiably long time?
12 comments:
When you wake up, you'll have one heckuva case of morning wood...
//When you wake up, you'll have one heckuva case of morning wood...//
This is the best comment to a moderately important original article.
These science themed posts don't seem to get as much commenting as the other posts.
Are you interested in these posts/topics, but just don't feel like commenting? Or are they uninteresting?
i like them!
I'm sure they will figure out a solution to the phantom body problem, but maybe sometimes you'd have flashbacks to your old body.
I hope to be brought back from freezing myself, but I think it would be awful sad for awhile to know that everyone you ever knew was dead forever. You'd have survivor guilt like concentration camp victims.
The reason why I'm so pro-Singularity is because I feel that nature has done such a terrible job at creating humans that we have to fix the job.
What kind of God would create racial differences in intelligence and simultaneously put out bs in holy books stating that all humans are children of God?
Anyway, I think people don't comment as much is because it's much easier to be anti NAM (which I am, don't get me wrong. I just like solutions rather than complaining) than to actually think seriously about the future and our assumptions.
Can a brain be aware of itself?
1,
I do appreciate these posts. I don't comment because I have nothing to add. Everything I see from day to day here in Washington makes me pessimistic about the future. It's the kindergarten mentality: You can't go to the Moon unless you bring everyone in the class along with you.
What if I were to wake up from cryosleep minus my johnson, or with my head in a jar, like on "Futurama"?
I don't trust those HMO bastards, I tell you!
"I hope to be brought back from freezing myself, but I think it would be awful sad for awhile to know that everyone you ever knew was dead forever."
I could easily live without them because I could keep busy with my grandkids, or great grandkids, or great great grandkids or great great great grandkids or . . .
People in my family live long and I think that is cool since you get to find out what happens. When you die, it is like missing the end of the movie. Coming back means you miss the middle.
My thoughts.
All you experience, is the result of the specific structure of the brain, through time (think dopamine going at x speed through a specific passageway)
I like the idea of the singularity, along with figuring out just what passageways and what structures create emotions.
From there, manipulate it at will(in a sense)
Find out what structures create positive emotions, then replicate it on a massive scale.
Thus fulfilling the utilitarians ideal.
Perhaps with everything ultimately controlled by a godlike supercomputer, to prevent mess-ups.
(Can this happen? Who knows. I think it might, but then again, I cant be sure, really.)
@ Random Dude:
You've basically described the Matrix, esepcially the last part.
I actually believe the Matrix is a highly plausible system though, which is in line with my thoughts in this mpost.
How is this less ludicrous than canopic jars?
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