130 replies to this topic

[Cyberbrain]

Mortal: I don't want to change anything in my body. I want nature to take its course.

Methuselah: You keep your original biological body, but thanks to SENS (or something similar) it will never age. However, you are limited by the human condition and are still exposed to other diseases and elements.

Gattaca: Like before, but this time you have the option to genetically modify your body to become immune to all sicknesses, and to become stronger, faster, smarter and so forth. (Note: no chips or artificial parts are added to this body)

Cyborg: Like before, but parts of your body are also replaced with artificial components (except your brain) so as to make you even more stronger. You also have the option to augment (add chips) to your brain so as to have a higher intelligence and to have a direct connection with the future internet or metaverse.

Full Prosthetics: Your brain and spinal column is removed from your old body and placed in a full prosthetic one. This body makes you resistant to radiation and you have the option to modify it so you no longer need to breath or sleep or eat or have sex, and so forth. Like before, you also have the option to alter to your brain (add chips to it, etc). This is also the Ghost in the Shell scenario.

Eternal Mind: You upload your mind onto the internet (or something similar). This way you can download yourself into any prosthetic body (or bodies) and you can be anywhere in the world. This gives you complete invulnerability because your mind exists in cyberspace and not in a body. However, there is the philosophical problem of whether this really is your mind or just a copy of it.

[Joseph]

Methuselah is fine for me while I am performing my AGI research... After that point... Eternal Mind sounds rather nice (as long as it is a gradual process).

[Mike79]

Gattaca

[Richard Leis]

Methuselah, Gattaca, and Cyborg would all be fine with me.  After some indefinite time, so would Full Prosthetic and Eternal Mind.

[eternaltraveler]

I don't see exponentially expanding nanite cloud on that list...

[caston]

Gattaca for sure. I want to become much taller, stronger, smarter and better adjusted. I'd like to become an alpha male.

[Cyberbrain]

I forgot to mention, this list refers to the body you will pick in the next couple of hundred years.

If I were to include indefinite time, the list will be much much more longer

[Cyberbrain]

Maybe I should have made this a multiple choice poll?

[forever freedom]

Hey the stronger and more invulnerable the better. Why would anyone reasonable enough choose something less than "Eternal Mind"? With eternal mind we have the possibility to be all the former ones if we so wish and for as long as we wish. While the same isn't true if we are any of the ones above the "Eternal Mind" option in the poll.

[Joseph]

elrond said:

I don't see exponentially expanding nanite cloud on that list...

Been hanging around some exponentially expanding THC clouds?

Seriously though... I thought the same, but I just figured it was subsumed by Eternal mind.

[mike250]

cyborg would be me my pick

[Cyberbrain]

Joseph, on 1-May 2008, 02:49 PM, said:

elrond said:

I don't see exponentially expanding nanite cloud on that list...

Been hanging around some exponentially expanding THC clouds?

Seriously though... I thought the same, but I just figured it was subsumed by Eternal mind.

I actually forgot to mention that the poll is oriented toward the next few hundred of years no so much in the next few million. By the time I realized this, I couldn't reedited the poll. Otherwise, yeah the poll would have been much bigger to include other things like a body built out of nanobots or a body thats pure energy or a body existing in hyperspace, and so forth

[Wandering Jew]

the  body of Christ,  Jehovah or  God.  


be  a god among men,   MuHahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa....

[Heliotrope]

Wandering Jew, on 1-May 2008, 09:53 PM, said:

the body of Christ, Jehovah or God.


be a god among men, MuHahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa....

Uh... um  dude   you sound  a bit crazy , especially with that evil laugh.   You want to be the  Trinity?  3 gods in 1,  or is it 1 god in 3?   oh shit,  split personality!

I want to "ease it in" starting with genetic modifications first, then be cyborg, etc etc,  still want the sex though, gotta have the good stuff,  after i'm tired with sex drug rock n roll, then it's time to be more philosophical and eternal.

Then,  I'd like to  be uploaded to a computer, roam all day,   eventually maybe become The  Eternal Mind,  many copies in many  computers so as to be invulnerable in case accidentally destroys one, then i'd  like to  have superpowers , manifest in any form i want and learn and enjoy and find the ultimate  purpose of life and universe.  be omnipotent, omnipresent,  omniverous ,  all powerful,  almighty,   god-like but in a  good way.


And then i'd  like to create something new ,  maybe a new universe with new heaven, earth, and hell,  and populate them with  little people  dancing around, and i get  to watch this  little ant-farm grow.  I'll split part of me to form  some guy called Jesus  blah blah   let the guy die for all the sins in creation , experience  love and compassion, then   destroy the ant-farm,  build a super-supercomputer that has a  program titled:   CREATION that  supposed  created all this,  including me ,  and i will plant virsuses ....

in the program called: BIG.FLOOD  and destroy the residents in the virtual world. I'll transfer myself in as Noah and experience the joy of saving the world and carrying on humanity,  and I'll work my way up  and repopulate the Earth.  

Finally I will create a computer program called OBLIVION  to end the  endless cycles

Program O.B.L.I.V.I.O.N. ...  executed.   Who knows may get bored now.   I  really really  hope it doesn't come to that, having lived for  a  gazillion  million trillion  years and  now have to kill everything off  including myself.   Sad wipe away your  tears and say buh bye to everything.  The little people dancing around: "buh bye to everything"  

Truthfully though,  I want to live forever and ever, eternity in heaven or hell  or this rocky  ball we call earth but it aint gonna last.   best choice i can think of : ball of pure spiritual energy,   a ring of endless light,

Completely immortal,  invulnerable,  in-destructable,  Transcend the  physical ,  become  spiritual

Edited by HYP86, 02 May 2008 - 02:33 AM.

[Cyberbrain]

Let's stay on topic people ... no religion.

But that is a pretty cool idea HYP86! After doing everything there is to do, we become god and create our own universe to rule. Latter, as gods, we can all compare its others universe and see who's people are more loyal to their god

Wow ... I've now made 666 posts including this one! But seriously no more religion in this thread.

Edited by Kostas, 02 May 2008 - 02:27 AM.

[Heliotrope]

Kostas, on 1-May 2008, 10:25 PM, said:

Let's stay on topic people ... no religion.

But that is a pretty cool idea HYP86! After doing everything there is to do, we become god and create our own universe to rule. Latter, as gods, we can all compare its others universe and see who's people are more loyal to their god

Wow ... I've now made 666 posts including this one! But seriously no more religion in this thread.

wait till  you hit  777,  then you'll feel like you're in heaven.  ok no more religious references.

Yeah THE best choice i can think of is   ball of pure spiritual energy, a ring of endless light, but with thought processes still occuring too,  but so radically different than a mere brain thinking  that we can't call it thought process.  

Completely immortal, invulnerable, in-destructable, Transcend the physical , become spiritual!     A  body that's   so  eternal  that  IT  really isn't a body at all, no physical  basis at least.  

Seriously,  if you have  infinity or eternity before you, what would you do?  I like the  idea of "creating" our own universes, maybe they'd   be computer programs and we can live in them  and then link them into  a big   Multi-Verse or  metaverse,  whatever you call it.   Maybe we're  living in one RIGHT NOW created  by  immortalists  out side of our universe and  we're  "virtual" to THEM.    THEM  being   the  First Immortals in a surrounding universe,   in a box outside a  box,  like  the trick with Chinese boxes  or Russian  dolls,  when you open one,  still another one inside,  open it,  two more , open those,  4 more boxes,  ad infinitum.  Those Immortals  who  were bored that created us maybe  even created  by other  Immortalists   who achieved immortality eons  ago and created THEM First Immortalists,  who  in turn were  acutally bored enough to create us,  one of the many universes out there.   These Immortals  upon layers  of more immortals   of course may all still exist  but have forgotten about us and moved on to more exciting things to do.  We're  the inner-most  Russian doll and there are layers and boxes surrounding each other,  and  we may create the  next inner layer of  dolls and boxes when we have the ability to do so  down the road, and the dolls and boxes we  make will,   in turn,  make more dolls and boxes in yet  another inner layer.
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What a scary thought!

It is like a dream within a dream that is within yet another dream of an unknown dreamer dreaming,  who is dreamt up by another  dreamer outside the  Russian dolls and  Chinese boxes,  and  those things  are dreams themselves,  and  in the end,  you can  NEVER  escape the ultimate DREAM.  The ultimate DREAM may be inside the  thought process of a sleeping GIANT or  a black globular mess, and  everything contained in a ball of spritual energy  shimmering in a sphere of light.  NO WAY to break through the layers upon layers.  what's the POINT then???!!!!????    Try to break through and  reach the light? and the light =  YOU KNOW WHO ...  hint: HE's not  Lord Voldemort


Shit ,  sometimes  I scare myself

Edited by HYP86, 02 May 2008 - 03:14 AM.

[Cyberbrain]

HYP86, on 1-May 2008, 09:40 PM, said:

Yeah THE best choice i can think of is   ball of pure spiritual energy, a ring of endless light, but with thought processes still occuring too,  but so radically different than a mere brain thinking  that we can't call it thought process.  

Completely immortal, invulnerable, in-destructable, Transcend the physical , become spiritual!     A  body that's   so  eternal  that  IT  really isn't a body at all, no physical  basis at least.  

Seriously,  if you have  infinity or eternity before you, what would you do?  I like the  idea of "creating" our own universes, maybe they'd   be computer programs and we can live in them  and then link them into  a big   Multi-Verse or  metaverse,  whatever you call it.   Maybe we're  living in one RIGHT NOW created  by  immortalists  out side of our universe and  we're  "virtual" to THEM.    THEM  being   the  First Immortals in a surrounding universe,   in a box outside a  box,  like  the trick with Chinese boxes  or Russian  dolls,  when you open one,  still another one inside,  open it,  two more , open those,  4 more boxes,  ad infinitum.  Those Immortals  who  were bored that created us maybe  even created  by other  Immortalists   who achieved immortality eons  ago and created THEM First Immortalists,  who  in turn were  acutally bored enough to create us,  one of the many universes out there.   These Immortals  upon layers  of more immortals   of course may all still exist  but have forgotten about us and moved on to more exciting things to do.  We're  the inner-most  Russian doll and there are layers and boxes surrounding each other,  and  we may create the  next inner layer of  dolls and boxes when we have the ability to do so  down the road, and the dolls and boxes we  make will,   in turn,  make more dolls and boxes in yet  another inner layer.

What a scary thought!

It is like a dream within a dream that is within yet another dream of an unknown dreamer dreaming,  who is dreamt up by another  dreamer outside the  Russian dolls and  Chinese boxes,  and  those things  are dreams themselves,  and  in the end,  you can  NEVER  escape the ultimate DREAM.  The ultimate DREAM may be inside the  thought process of a sleeping GIANT or  a black globular mess, and  everything contained in a ball of spritual energy  shimmering in a sphere of light.  NO WAY to break through the layers upon layers.  what's the POINT then???!!!!????    Try to break through and  reach the light? and the light =  YOU KNOW WHO ...  hint: HE's not  Lord Voldemort

Shit ,  sometimes  I scare myself

Yeah I totally agree with you about this idea  

Ontological thoughts are very scary indeed. There's infinite possibilities! It's amazing! And can you imagine incorporating higher dimensions as well?

4 dimensions ... 11 dimensions ... 256 dimensions ... infinite dimensions

And not just extra dimensions of space, but of time as well! I read an article in Scientific America about 2 dimensions of time. Pretty mind bending stuff

All the more reason why immortality must be pursued ... because theres just so much to do and learn  

To infinity and beyond!

[Luna]

You forgot pure energy.

Edit: Ah just noticed someone ocmmetned on that.

Edited by Winterbreeze, 02 May 2008 - 06:57 AM.

[JonesGuy]

Cyborg in the next couple hundred years.  After that, I expect that I'll be satisfied with using the mass of a star as a substrate.

[JediMasterLucia]

cyborg is fine with me.

[pseudo-princess]

I chose the Methuselah option.  At the time being anyway, I quite like having my youthful yet very "human" body for aesthetic purposes more than anything else.  The eternal mind, housed on the internet or something like it, would probably be a second choice.

[forever freedom]

pseudo-princess, on 3-May 2008, 01:32 PM, said:

I chose the Methuselah option.  At the time being anyway, I quite like having my youthful yet very "human" body for aesthetic purposes more than anything else.  The eternal mind, housed on the internet or something like it, would probably be a second choice.

But as "Eternal Mind" you could have all the aesthetics you want to. You could download yourself into any body, or just create a body with whatever forms you want to. What's the problem people have with the "eternal mind" option. With eternal mind you get all the benefits of the former options plus the fact that you're virtually truly immortal.

Edited by sam988, 03 May 2008 - 08:07 PM.

[VictorBjoerk]

Well methuselah would be good,at least to start with..

[VictorBjoerk]

but eternal mind seem to have it's advantages too...

[mikeinnaples]

The problem with eternal mind with many is metaphysical inhibitions for some. For others, transcendece can't be done through a computer interface unless you can figure out how to upload a soul as well.

[forever freedom]

mikeinnaples, on 5-May 2008, 12:05 PM, said:

The problem with eternal mind with many is metaphysical inhibitions for some. For others, transcendece can't be done through a computer interface unless you can figure out how to upload a soul as well.

That is, if there is such a thing as a soul. I get why religious people would never think of the eternal mind option, but i can't figure why someone who isn't religious/spiritual wouldn't choose eternal mind over any other option of this poll.

[mikeinnaples]

sam988, on 5-May 2008, 12:49 PM, said:

That is, if there is such a thing as a soul. I get why religious people would never think of the eternal mind option, but i can't figure why someone who isn't religious/spiritual wouldn't choose eternal mind over any other option of this poll.

Well for some there is the concept of 'self' that is attached to the physical. Even with a full body prosthetic you still retain some semblance of 'self' because your core is intact. If you convert your thought, memories, and ability to process information upon cessation of the physical body ...whether augmented or intact to computer storage, it can easily be argued that you no longer exist, just your memories and 'thoughts' being controlled by computer code. The physical is gone.

Even without the concept of soul, there is the innate human concept of 'self' that could be violated for some. I am not religious, though I am spiritual. I guess I am buddist without the religion, but I was brought up christian (methodist) and still retain some values. However, my overriding concept concerning this is that of 'self'. I can justify everything except for eternal mind, because to me eternal mind wouldn't be 'me'. It would be a copy. I can't expand my consciousness when it would no longer be 'me'.

I guess the bottom line is that it is important to explore all options and make them all available so each person can make a choice that best fits them. Life and consciousness is too precious to waste and existence to prescious to cease.

Edited by mikeinnaples, 05 May 2008 - 06:17 PM.

[forever freedom]

mikeinnaples, on 5-May 2008, 01:16 PM, said:

sam988, on 5-May 2008, 12:49 PM, said:

That is, if there is such a thing as a soul. I get why religious people would never think of the eternal mind option, but i can't figure why someone who isn't religious/spiritual wouldn't choose eternal mind over any other option of this poll.

Well for some there is the concept of 'self' that is attached to the physical. Even with a full body prosthetic you still retain some semblance of 'self' because your core is intact. If you convert your thought, memories, and ability to process information upon cessation of the physical body ...whether augmented or intact to computer storage, it can easily be argued that you no longer exist, just your memories and 'thoughts' being controlled by computer code. The physical is gone.

Even without the concept of soul, there is the innate human concept of 'self' that could be violated for some. I am not religious, though I am spiritual. I guess I am buddist without the religion, but I was brought up christian (methodist) and still retain some values. However, my overriding concept concerning this is that of 'self'. I can justify everything except for eternal mind, because to me eternal mind wouldn't be 'me'. It would be a copy. I can't expand my consciousness when it would no longer be 'me'.

I guess the bottom line is that it is important to explore all options and make them all available so each person can make a choice that best fits them. Life and consciousness is too precious to waste and existence to prescious to cease.

I guess people don't choose "eternal mind" because they are afraid of what they will become. We can't currently fully understand if we would still be us if our consciousness was uploaded to some metaverse. We wouldn't choose that because it is something unknown and as we all know humans are afraid of the unknown.

Maybe in the future where the practice of uploading itself is fully understood, people would invariably choose this option.

[Shannon Vyff]

Eternal mind, as flesh is fallible.  I'd prefer whatever has the best chance of lasting longest, I think that would be full technology immersion.

[Ghostrider]

Shannon, on 6-May 2008, 10:04 PM, said:

Eternal mind, as flesh is fallible.  I'd prefer whatever has the best chance of lasting longest, I think that would be full technology immersion.

Everything: electronic, mechanical, biological has a chance of failing.  Only way to get around this is through redundancy.