12 replies to this topic

[Luxferre]

Hi. I recently turned 18, I'm thinking about my career options and would apreciate your help, either by adressing my doubts or just commenting anything you want. By the way, English is not my native language.

After a lot of thinking and research I decided computer science is my ideal major. What I don't know is in which ways can I set my career so that I can aid immortalism. I say immortalism and not longevity research because maybe there are other ways apart from research to help.

Anyhow, since achieving immortality is my main goal in life, I kind of feel that I'm missing out by not studying something with "bio" in it.

So, in what ways is computer science aiding the pursuit of immortality? I'm mainly interested in current things, not predictions or science fiction (for example, I doubt mind uploading can be achieved at all, let alone in the next decades: even though I'd be the first one doing it were it available). Bioinformatics is an area I read about, but I would really like to stay within the realm of computer science. For some reason I grasp logical-mathematical concepts really quickly and then I remember them, so I'd like to put that to good use.

Edited by Luxferre, 12 December 2011 - 03:50 AM.

[niner]

Hi Luxferre, welcome to Longecity! Your English is very good; nothing to worry about there. I think most people here would say that CS will ultimately contribute the most to immortalism through the development of a good Artificial General Intelligence. The Longevity Revolution will happen whether or not the Singularity happens, but if we can speed up the Singularity, I think we will speed up the cure of aging.

[Shepard]

Bioinformatics, modeling, AI....there are plenty of areas to explore. Computer science or math is a solid base, regardless of your later specialization.

[JonesGuy]

Computer science is a great idea. There will always be the need to figure out how to bring models to computer simulation. We'll need smart people, who're good at computing, to be thinking 'outside the box' when it comes to advancing the biological & nanotech sciences.

Remember to volunteer in labs, because *connections* make all the difference in research environments.

[Danail Bulgaria]

I heared, that a modern biomedical way of development of the computer sciences is the genetic programming. This is making algorythms, that browse human genome files, searches for mistakes in the genome, etc.

[luscar]

I heared, that a modern biomedical way of development of the computer sciences is the genetic programming. This is making algorythms, that browse human genome files, searches for mistakes in the genome, etc.

Genetic programming is used to self generate computer programs using some euristics ( generic alghoritms ) that mimic the genetic evolution. The study on dna is bioengineering that is a different field

[Danail Bulgaria]

Perhaps what happened is misunderstanding. I know of that branch of AI. However, I am sure about the existence of a brunch of computer science, that designes algorythms to browse human genetic databases. Translated directly from bulgarian they both are translated as "genetic programming". I don't know the english word of the browsing genomes databases branch.

[luscar]

Perhaps what happened is misunderstanding. I know of that branch of AI. However, I am sure about the existence of a brunch of computer science, that designes algorythms to browse human genetic databases. Translated directly from bulgarian they both are translated as "genetic programming". I don't know the english word of the browsing genomes databases branch.

Bioinformatics?

[Danail Bulgaria]

I thnk, that it is a part from the bioinformatics.

[Mind]

Computer science is key for most scientific advancement nowadays. Many large research projects require computer scientists. For focusing on immortalism, perhaps AGI and brain simulation might be your best bet.

[luscar]

Maybe should be interesting a project like docking@home, find new drugs via computer simulations of docking small molecule/proteine

[1thoughtMaze1]

Computer science is good but computer engineering is where it's at. Ever seen ghost in the shell, that's what your thinking about. And if you've never heard of it check it out, it's what inspired me to pursue computer engineering. And there has been much progress made on mind machine interfaces by various scientists and engineers. That's my field of interest. I don't know about immortality, but extending the life span by a few hundred years would be great. Ghost in the shell blew my mind, love that whole concept!

And good luck, it ain't going to be easy, trust me!

[Shelton]

CS is everywhere. Using computers, one can build automatic machines which can perform what 50 people can do, in a second. This way, faster machines contribute in saving time. The more time you have, the more research can be done on finding a way for immortality.