Alien Immortality

  • Imagine we learn to read human brains down to the most intricate details.
  • Imagine we learn to record, in detail, every action that occurs within the brain, every synapse firing, every cell interaction, every memory.
  • Imagine if all of this data could then be stored on a computer and used to re-engineer a new, identical brain.
  • Imagine this brain could then be put into a new body, thus creating a new version of us when we die.
  • Imagine we knew for a fact that there was nothing after death.
  • Imagine we live forever using this, or some other mind transfer technique.
  • Imagine then we discover another civilisation on another planet, who is still too primitive to save minds, and who still believes that death is natural and essential.
  • Imagine we then engineer a situation, for example we send swarms of microscopic probes to their planet to monitor, transmit via microscopic satellites, and then record their minds on our computers.
  • Imagine we use this data to re-engineer the brains of these people back on our planet when they die.
Would we?

Comments

Shinishii said…
I was with you up to the last two imagines. I see no reason to believe that if we could we would. If it were me, I would think that the wisdom and responsibility of great age would lead me to wait until said civilisation achieved the transition themselves, as I had. I would expect that by that point we would have seen many consciousnesses created and lost, and have the ability to create artificial concsiousnesses equal to natural ones. Thus I would not like to interfere with the development of another natural species in this way. It should be something they decide to do themselves.

However, given the size of space, the amonut of humans and the nature of humanity, and assuming that humans are spread across the galaxy, I would expect someone somewhere would do this.

However... if communication had been established and they were made aware of the possibility and chose to participate, I would welcome their company.
22 June 2008 at 07:07
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