Pharaoh

Well since Magus hijacked my original topic.Where everybody started to debate about religion and the original subject was left behind.I decided to make a new thread to continue disscussing the issue because i believe its a bit important.
So please this time,this topic is for atheists ONLY.

Now here is the topic:

i couldnt but help to notice that some people here are saying they dont want to live in the future because it wont be very exciting and there may be horrible wars and such.
Well how could you know?How could you be certain of that?
Everybody thought that the US and the soviets will cause WW3 but look what happened....peace...no wars.
On the other hand I also cant be certain that the future will be bright.But one thing is certain:Technology always advances,always go forward.
So no matter how dark the future could be with the help of technology you could still enjoy yourself.
Like creating your own fantasy world by the help of a virtual reality program.Or what about chosing your own dreams?No more nightmares.
In hope of not changing the topic issue.Which is:Have you ever wanted to live in the future where there may be a chance that your life doesnt end when you die.
This is the core issue here not how sweet technology would be.Cause ofcourse alot of people like technology.But technology to extends life now thats different.
Just imagine that sometime in the future when a person die he wont cease to existe.But atleast there will be programs that will trick him and make him believe that he is still alive (Vanilla sky anyone?)
Just like in the Matrix.The idea was terrific,here you have millions of people thinking that they are living their lives,going to work,church..etc but in reality they are just a battery!
Apply this concept on a man who died.A certain kind of program connects to his dead brain and somehow continue to make it function and make it believe that he is not dead.

Another thing that could happen in the future is simply:returning to life.
Atheists could find this possible since they dont believe in the soul.
So with some kind of electrical shock or something like that a man could return from the dead.
You could believe that this is impossible well maybe but maybe Not!
And now its time for you to decide:Would you take the risk if you had a choice?
Isnt the idea of eternal life very interesting to let it go?
If you think its not that important then that means you dont fear death and if you dont fear death that means you wont be sorry if you die right now.You wont feel sorry that you died young or so.Here you had one ticket ride but unfortunatly you died so young.You didnt enjoy it much.And here where future technology could give you another ticket and say "have a good time"

Ronin

How would natural resources physically support such an artificial existence?

"Life must end at thirty, unless reborn in the fiery ritual of carrousel." ~ Fraternal Order of Sandmen.

Jayjay

I'm not sure if I understood the opening post, but if the question is "if dying and being jolted back would guarantee immortality, would you do it?" then I'd certainly postpone the "jolting" as long as possible... what would there be to lose by waiting a few more decades?

Mughal

I think much depends on whether the brain can be preserved perfectly or not biologically, which at the moment is not possible.

Unless computer, the machine itself is fully functional, the software will not run.

As pschology of brain fully depends on biology of brain, therefore if the brain goes dead biologically then that is the end of the person.

Hyndis

Unless in the future, everyone goes commie, I don't think things will ever really be different from the serfdom of today.

With out current system of economics, people do work and recieve payment for their work. This compensation allows them to buy food, shelter, medicine, etc. But what happens when you are no longer able to do work, as if you were a brain in a jar somewhere?

Under our current system of economics, you get the boot. Or the flush, if its a brain in a jar we're talking about.

However, assuming vast advances in robotics, if a Star Trek like society was built, where resources were so abundant that no one had to work, then that immortality thing would be rather interesting.

At the risk of exposing my geekyness here...

The Star Trek system of economics seems to be rather commie to me. People only work doing what they enjoy, such as tending a bar or making wine. Such jobs can be rather rewarding, and even though they are indeed work, there is just something about doing work for the sake of doing work that feels good. Its much different if you have to make X amount of money by the end of the month, or else you'll lose your house, get thrown out on the streets, and your kids will get to enjoy the homeless life.

So, with huge amounts of resources availible at the push of a button (anti-matter + replicators in the ST world...robotics making everything automated in our own future?) people have a lot more freedom to enjoy life, and that definitely makes it worth living a lot longer. Having to work 100 hours a week for 300 years is not my idea of fun. I did that for one year, and having to do it for another 299...

So in other words, unless we get to the point where people do not have to slave away to feed themselves, and the goal of existing is to enjoy life, then I don't think that lifespans will be drastically extended. Without someone to pay for your existance as a brain in a jar, who would keep the power on?

Sarpedon

Thats kind of what I ask those cryogenicists...Why would people in the future want to thaw you out and reanimate you? If you are dead, you can't push the button yourself, so what does the person who pushes the button gain from it? "Hmmm..if I push the button, I'll end up having to care for him for another thirty years, if I don't push the button, I'll get all his stuff...hmmm. Sigh. GOD's will be done." (flush)

joedad

As some science fiction writers have proposed, it may indeed be possible in the future to download a lifetime of experiences from a dying brain, and then upload them into a living machine. I personally have no problem with that and wouldn't mind giving it a go should it become possible.

And I will reveal my geekiness here by stating that I look forward to the future. I certainly don't believe in an afterlife but most certainly look forward to a future-life where we look back on ourselves as we are/were today, same as we currently look back on our ancestors. And it's not a reincarnation thing, though it certainly destroys any residual fears about being "dead." BTW, we've all been dead before. It really wasn't so bad, was it?

I'm not the type of person who sees things as gravitating to extremes, in which case something like humanity's future either blossoms into a utopia or goes down the toilet, nothing in between allowed. Therefore I'm damn curious to see how it turns out, and I will. Perhaps I'm just a narcissist.

Pharaoh

How about freezing your body when you die?Is there anyone here who seriously think about doing it?
So that maybe in the future when there will be the technology you may 'wake' up again.

Hyndis

Actually, I doubt that will work.

The problem is that humans are made up of around 70% water. And when water freezes, it expands. Since cells are made up mostly of water, this means that cells are in for a rough time when the body is frozen.

With almost every single cell wall and organelle ruptured and crushed, it would probably take divine intervention to revive the person.

Some animals are able to freeze and thaw out without much harm. I read in another thread here that the weta, a rodent in New Zealand, will actually freeze solid at night when its really cold, and then thaw out again in the morning, and be just fine.

However, human evolution simply didn't have to confront the problem of repeatedly being frozen and thawed, so we are very poorly adapted to such things. Anything short of extensive genetic manipulation, and odds are that if anyone thaws you out, you're going to just be a squishy mess.

Pharaoh

Yeah Hyndis but still you never know what could happen in the future.One might take a chance and freeze himself when he dies after all you wont lose anything much.All of Bill gates money wont do him any good when he is dead.
Besides in the beginning of the 20th century no body could even imagine how far the technology advanced.Its a kind of a miracle if you think about it.