Will human immortality be possible soon?

I dont know, but it's a possibility that science could discover a way to stop aging. Certain cell lines don't die off or age while others do. There may be ways of correcting for that, but should we?

sonicare

Maybe there could be some special exceptions depending on your countries population or for example if one of your children has died etc. I'm all for reversing aging and increasing the lifespan by a hundred or two hundred years but in a world where the population is going to start becoming a massive issue by the 22nd century we need to take measures to make sure it does not get out of control.

And even if it somehow becomes possible would you really want to "live" inside a digital computer? Immortality would completely defy what it means to be human [...]pariah3

[QUOTE="pariah3"]The brain is too complex to be digitally preserved.Zeviander

Yeah, and I saw something just yesterday about some Harvard Scientists cracking DNA storage and storing 700 TB of data into a single gram of DNA. That means that with just a few hundred lbs of DNA give or take we could store all of the data the human race has.

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/134672-harvard-cracks-dna-storage-crams-700-terabytes-of-data-into-a-single-gram

Also this is almost two years old so some of you might have already heard about it, but I don't see anyone bringing it up. But ,here we have Harvard Scientists yet again, (those guys up in Cambridge really do some incredible things) not just slowing down, or even stopping aging, but reversing it in mice.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/nov/28/scientists-reverse-ageing-mice-humans

Being immortal seems boring. I don't like the idea of living forever, eventually you're going to want to die at some point.katana_duo

Immortality can also be unethical because just because you are immortal doesn't mean that you cannot suffer or feel any form of pain. When you think about it there is nothing so frightening about an eternal dreamless sleep. I think that eternal torment in Hell and eternal boredom in Heaven is more frightening.

Things do not gain meaning by going on for a very long time, or even forever. Indeed, they lose meaning. And if things go on too much, they can become boring. And they last for infinity, they would become intolerable.

[QUOTE="katana_duo"]Being immortal seems boring. I don't like the idea of living forever, eventually you're going to want to die at some point.pariah3

Immortality can also be unethical because just because you are immortal doesn't mean that you cannot suffer or feel any form of pain. When you think about it there is nothing so frightening about an eternal dreamless sleep. I think that eternal torment in Hell and eternal boredom in Heaven is more frightening.

Things do not gain meaning by going on for a very long time, or even forever. Indeed, they lose meaning. And if things go on too much, they can become boring. And they last for infinity, they would become intolerable.

[QUOTE="Zeviander"]There will be a point in human existence when our biological forms will become the minority part of the complete system. At that point, life spans will become long to the point of seeming immortal. I don't think humanity is ready for immortality. The majority of humans still fear death and rely on superstitions to guide their lives. Ascension will only become possible when the sacredness of the biological human form is dismissed.pariah3

I don't think immortality is possible. You can certainly extend your life by taking care of your body and avoiding natural dangers, but no one can live for eternity.
Also I don't think that having immortal people on earth is such a good idea because the earth would become WAYYYY too populated and i mean way beyond its carrying capacity!

And even if it somehow becomes possible would you really want to "live" inside a digital computer? Immortality would completely defy what it means to be human as well as overcrowding our planet and placing a strain on our resources which may be too large to sustain?

I saw a documentary on this once. Apparently when we do acheive immortality we'll have to start killing each other off because, according to this documentary, there can be only one of us in the end.

Via nanotechnology, cloning organs,uploading your mind to a computer/internet/whatever,etc. Is there any chance of these methods of attaining immortality being widely available soon, perhaps within the next 50 years or so?

Laihendi

I think I would want to live in a digital world if the alternative was not living at all. Concerning the overcrowding problem: if we can transfer our brains to the internet (or something like it), we don't need our bodies anymore, so we don't have to take up physical space.Laihendi

Yes but it's all mostly hypothetical because we don't know if mind uploading is even possible and practical. Also this technology, even if ever realized, will only be able used by our grand-grand-children but unfortunately for us in this generation, we are going to die.

[QUOTE="Laihendi"]

Via nanotechnology, cloning organs,uploading your mind to a computer/internet/whatever,etc. Is there any chance of these methods of attaining immortality being widely available soon, perhaps within the next 50 years or so?

seahorse123

Extending life doesn't take away life's meaning. By the "logic" of some people in this thread, our lives would all be much more meaningful if we killed ourselves by age 20, because supposedly a short life is more meaningful than a long one. Perhaps we could take that argument to it's most absurd extreme and say that the most meaningful life is the life that never lived, that never existed. Obviously such a statement is contradictory and therefore meaningless.

The things with the most meaning are the things that last, not the transitory things that go away and are forgotten about after a brief period of time.

*EDIT*

Just to expand on this post a bit, I'll ask this question: How can anything have any meaning to you if you're dead? How can you appreciate life, or anything else if you're dead? How can you do anything if you're dead? Life is what gives things meaning, not death.

No, anything can come, chop your head off. Bam, you're dead.juden41

[QUOTE="Laihendi"]I think I would want to live in a digital world if the alternative was not living at all. Concerning the overcrowding problem: if we can transfer our brains to the internet (or something like it), we don't need our bodies anymore, so we don't have to take up physical space.pariah3

Yes but it's all mostly hypothetical because we don't know if mind uploading is even possible and practical. Also this technology, even if ever realized, will only be able used by our grand-grand-children but unfortunately for us in this generation, we are going to die.

If Technology advances at an exponential rate, then it probably wouldn't take that long for this to happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwdnqo7Tk1w

Via nanotechnology, cloning organs,uploading your mind to a computer/internet/whatever,etc. Is there any chance of these methods of attaining immortality being widely available soon, perhaps within the next 50 years or so?

Laihendi

As long as the united states is run by religious presidents...NO...but right now with stem cell research and nano technology "near" immortality is possible...but religion trumps any science when the governments running the country are in power...

[QUOTE="pariah3"]

[QUOTE="Laihendi"]I think I would want to live in a digital world if the alternative was not living at all. Concerning the overcrowding problem: if we can transfer our brains to the internet (or something like it), we don't need our bodies anymore, so we don't have to take up physical space.hiphop_quotable

Yes but it's all mostly hypothetical because we don't know if mind uploading is even possible and practical. Also this technology, even if ever realized, will only be able used by our grand-grand-children but unfortunately for us in this generation, we are going to die.

Technology advances fast so it probably wouldn't take that long for this to happen.

Though we still don't know exactly how it would work ie whether or not the digital you would BE you. It would have your memories, your personality, your data, but would you be standing here and then just be in star wars or some crap, we don't exactly know. Same deal with cloning and teleportation, it's kind of a "does the human body have a soul?" thing. But if I was old I would give it a shot.

Last thing I want to be is immortal.

Though we still don't know exactly how it would work ie whether or not the digital you would BE you. It would have your memories, your personality, your data, but would you be standing here and then just be in star wars or some crap, we don't exactly know. Same deal with cloning and teleportation, it's kind of a "does the human body have a soul?" thing. But if I was old I would give it a shot.Jolt_counter119

[QUOTE="hiphop_quotable"]

[QUOTE="pariah3"]

Yes but it's all mostly hypothetical because we don't know if mind uploading is even possible and practical. Also this technology, even if ever realized, will only be able used by our grand-grand-children but unfortunately for us in this generation, we are going to die.

Jolt_counter119

Technology advances fast so it probably wouldn't take that long for this to happen.

Though we still don't know exactly how it would work ie whether or not the digital you would BE you. It would have your memories, your personality, your data, but would you be standing here and then just be in star wars or some crap, we don't exactly know. Same deal with cloning and teleportation, it's kind of a "does the human body have a soul?" thing. But if I was old I would give it a shot.

Yeah you could be right. Maybe the human body does have a soul. If thats the case then I definitely won't be doing any teleportation since your body will be destroyed in the process.

The pets of the rich will know immortality before the poor do.

:|

I doubt it.

Who knows but I hope not since no one needs to live forever.

[QUOTE="Jolt_counter119"]Though we still don't know exactly how it would work ie whether or not the digital you would BE you. It would have your memories, your personality, your data, but would you be standing here and then just be in star wars or some crap, we don't exactly know. Same deal with cloning and teleportation, it's kind of a "does the human body have a soul?" thing. But if I was old I would give it a shot.Zeviander

It doesn't, I was just kind of stating a possible scenario. I'm cool with all this but it is interesting, especially teleportation considering you're original body essentially has to be completely destroyed (assuming this is how it will work, I don't really know) and then recreated somewhere else. So do you die and are brought to life, or do you die and a different person that looks like you, thinks like you, and acts like you is born? I'm definitely not religious but this is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night just thinking about the possibilities.

Well, near immortality is potentially possible in, say, one century. Will that happen? As long as religious wacko's attempt to halt scientific progress because it "goes against their religion," then 'NO.' As long as it is basically a prerequisite to be religious to hold any position of political power, then 'NO.'

Regardless, only the rich will be able to afford it... So the rich will be able to get even richer, because they will have more time to amass useless sums of wealth.

I don't think immortality will ever be possibe. That's because eventually something has got to give.

The old has to make way for the new. It's the cycle of life. We die for a reason, so that the species can advance through changes in genetics.

Everything is nature exists for a reason and we have no right to mess with the natural order of things.

Immortality is also selfish because you will see everyone around you die. All must die so that others may live. To think that your life is so important that it should last forever is quite selfish.

Last thing I want to be is immortal.

Lord_Omikron666

Maybe, should the ressurection occur.