9 replies to this topic

[TerryStonefield]

The rapid progress of our current levels of technology may shortly deliver us from the chains of mortality. Whether that evolution comes in the form of a biological, technological, or a hybrid advancement, 'eternal' life may be close at hand. However like so often happens, the solution to one problem only opens up the door to the next, bigger, one. In the case of immortality the next problem may be one that no level of technology or knowledge can surpass. the end of this Universe.

Surviving the gap between the destruction of one Universe and on to the creation or location of the next may prove to be the most difficult test of survival of any species, ever. Even though the destruction of one Universe may lend itself to the beginning of the next, the gap between the two may be insurmountable. Whether one Universe ends by collapsing in on itself or simply thins itself out into non-existence, any life existing at that time, in any form, will be facing immanent destruction. Therefore any species nearing the brink of immortality should keep in mind that true immortality may be a formidable task .

[Danail Bulgaria]

Become immortal first, and then start thinking for the death of the universe, which will come after billion years.

The solution for immortality may not be as close as it seems. Historically every time someone has been thinking, that the immortality is near he always has been wrong. Take for example Nicolas Flamel who thought, that he has produced the phylosophy stone.

[Lister]

Thing is, a few thousand years ago we knew almost nothing about the universe. Compared to then our current knowledge could easily secure us the position of Gods in the eyes of the primitive peoples of that age. And that’s only after a few thousand years!

Even if our stars life were to be cut in half and then halved again we would still have millions of years! And that’s only our little blue planet!

If we manage to retain our current knowledge and even half of our current progress we probably won’t even need 100,000 years to find answers that will make the end of the universe seem like a simple problem.

Also seivtcho I think you’re right, however I feel we’re very close to reasonable life extension beyond 100 years. Really we have a chance presently to bump forward our natural death until a longer term solution is found. That is a tad more realistic.

Additionally don’t buy any of those stupid memory crystals that can survive the heat death of the universe. Such a rip off!

[TerryStonefield]

However the danger of the end of the Universe may be a factor depending on our form of immortality. Beyond basic biological life extension we may discover alternate paths to living forever. If we experience a sudden leap in technology we may evlove or immortalise ourselve by very different means. In fact this leap may be crucial. Biological immortality is riddled with ironic downfalls. Imagine spending decades of reasearch, millions or billions of dollars in development, then millions more for each procedure only to die by choking on your dinner, or hitting you head on the bathroom sink. If we truly want to immortalise ourselves it must come in a much sturdier form. Perhaps by completely intergrating ourselves into an industrutable piece of technology. Maybe It will also come in the form evloving the entire species, or rasing our energy cycle to the point where the physical world has less impact on us. Of course the solution may come way out form left field and surprise us all. In any case we may find ourselves experiencing time in quite a different manner. If that happens the lifespan and well being of our home Universe may become of paramonunt concern.

Edited by TerryStonefield, 28 January 2013 - 04:05 PM.

[Danail Bulgaria]

Lets stop the aging first

[TerryStonefield]

We live in one of the most difficult stages of existence. We are conscience enough to be aware of our own mortality, yet we are not advanced enough to overcome it.

Edited by TerryStonefield, 28 January 2013 - 11:08 PM.

[Droplet]

Lets stop the aging first

I'm with you on that. We'll worry about the other stuff when we stop our body clocks.

[forever freedom]

I agree that there's no need to worry about that just yet. In my case, i worry about the next 100, then 1000 years. These are the hard, uncertain years. We pass through these, and the sea will get calm, much less waves to worry about.


In any case, we'd still have hundreds of billions of years (or more) before any form of life becomes impossible in the universe, so that's plenty of time to figure something out.

Worst case scenario we die in the far far future but will have lived and experienced enough i reckon. If we merge with AI and become superintelligent, we can also subjectively slow our perception of time one thousand or millionfold (or even more) so that 100 billion years will seem like 100 trillion or 100 quadrillion years.

Edited by forever freedom, 29 January 2013 - 03:47 PM.

[Danail Bulgaria]

Lets hope, that we will pass the "uncertain years"

[TerryStonefield]

Yes, let's hope we pas those years. In response to forever freedom: Depending on the form we will take to accomplish our immortality there's no telling how we will experience the passage of time. We may experience it as you say and find that billions of years turn into trillions or even more. However we might experience the very opposite effect. We might find that the 'anchor' of time, that process which slows things down so that events are spaced out, has very little 'pull' on us. In that case billions of years might fly by in the wink of an eye. In such a case the lifespan of our 'holding tank,' in this case the Universe, would play an immediate, and important role.