To Be a Machine

SteveJ

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A captivating exploration of transhumanism: cryonics, cyborgs, immortality & the hubris of Silicon Valley

Max More runs Alcor, an American company which, in exchange for $200,000, will store your corpse in liquid nitrogen until the science exists to revive you. Tim Cannon is a computer programmer who implanted a device the size of a pack of cards into his arm, without the aid of anaesthetics. Zoltan Istvan recently ran for US president and publicised his campaign by driving across the country in a huge vehicle modified to look like a coffin.

These are among the unusual individuals Mark O’Connell interviews in his travelogue-style exploration of transhumanism, the movement that campaigns for the direct incorporation of technology into our bodies and minds, and strives to remove ageing as a cause of death. “What are my chances, would you say, of living to a thousand?” the author asks Aubrey de Grey, an established figure in this strange world: “I would say perhaps a little better than fifty-fifty,” is the serious reply. “It’s very much dependent on the level of funding.”

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/23/to-be-a-machine-by-mark-oconnell-review
 

ivaldo

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I thought this was another thread about Kante.
 

senorgregster

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There's one massive problem with freezing in liquid nitrogen. It irreversibly kills cells. You need to do a controlled slow freeze with cryoprotectants to keep cells alive. You'd have to perfuse an entire body with the protectants. The best way would be to pierce your heart before you die (has to be pumping) with a tube connected to the protecting solution. I'm pretty sure they are not doing that.
 

Nickosaur

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Ignoring the actual science behind whether this is possible for a second. I like to think of myself as fairly open-minded, but I see very little if any positive impact on humanity if selected people can live for extended periods of time.
 

SteveJ

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SteveJ

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Arruda

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There's one massive problem with freezing in liquid nitrogen. It irreversibly kills cells. You need to do a controlled slow freeze with cryoprotectants to keep cells alive. You'd have to perfuse an entire body with the protectants. The best way would be to pierce your heart before you die (has to be pumping) with a tube connected to the protecting solution. I'm pretty sure they are not doing that.
They actually are. Trying, at least.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcor_Life_Extension_Foundation#Policies_and_procedures

Most Alcor members fund cryonic preservation through life insurance policies which name Alcor as the beneficiary.[2] Members who have signed up wear medical alert bracelets informing hospitals and doctors to notify Alcor in case of any emergency; in the case of a person who is known to be near death, Alcor can send a team for remote standby.

In some states, members can sign certificates stating that they wish to decline an autopsy. The cutting of the body organs (especially the brain) and blood vessels required for an autopsy makes it difficult to either preserve the body, especially the brain, without damage or perfuse the body with glycerol.[5] The optimum preservation procedure begins less than one hour after death.[5] Members can specify whether they wish Alcor to attempt to preserve even if an autopsy occurs, or whether they wish to be buried or cremated if an autopsy renders little hope for preservation.[5]

In cases with remote standby, cardiopulmonary support is begun as soon as a patient is declared legally dead. Some patients were not able to receive cardiopulmonary support immediately, but their bodies have been preserved as well as possible. Alcor has a network of paramedics nationwide and seven surgeons, located in different regions, who are on call 24 hours a day.[13] If an Alcor patient is met by a standby team (usually at a hospital, hospice, or home), the team will perform CPR to maintain blood flow to the brain and organs while simultaneously pumping an organ preservation solution through the veins.[14]

Patients are transported as quickly as possible to Alcor headquarters in Scottsdale, where they undergo final preparations in Alcor's cardiopulmonary bypass lab. In the Patient Care Bay they are monitored by computer sensors while kept in liquid nitrogen in dewars.[5] Liquid nitrogen is refilled on a weekly basis.[15][16] Riverside County, California deputy coroner Dan Cupido said that Alcor had better equipment than some medical facilities.[17]
 
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berbatrick

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Adventures in brain-hacking: how an electrical stimulator boosted my IQ
From the smart drug modafinil to oxygen chambers, interest in cognitive enhancement is growing. But can it actually make you cleverer? I tried to find out:

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...ugs-electrical-stimulation-iq-mensa-modafinil

The Genius Within by David Adam – to what extent is intelligence determined by genes?:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2...s-brain-hacks-and-adventures-in-intelligence-
Thanks for the links, I'm probably going to buy that 2nd book and then leave it unread for 8 months.
Edit - just saw the price...think I'll wait :D
 

afrocentricity

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Not a lot of point being frozen as a wrinkly 90 year old.
Not sure how serious you were, but its not so much the state of the body, presuming technology had advanced well enough to fix any possible physical issues upon defrosting, but moreso how well the brain and brain function has been preserved.

For example you could be defrosted and installed into an android, a simulation, a younger clone of yourself etc....
 

Mike Schatner

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Not sure how serious you were, but its not so much the state of the body, presuming technology had advanced well enough to fix any possible physical issues upon defrosting, but moreso how well the brain and brain function has been preserved.

For example you could be defrosted and installed into an android, a simulation, a younger clone of yourself etc....
Watching Altered Carbon right now. Its a SiFi show where peoples stack (their brain/thoughts) are installed in Sleeves (new bodies). Quite and interesting concept.
 

afrocentricity

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Watching Altered Carbon right now. Its a SiFi show where peoples stack (their brain/thoughts) are installed in Sleeves (new bodies). Quite and interesting concept.
;) that and black mirror spring to mind.

I know its something transhumanist believe and want, dunno how I feel...
 

Thepinhead

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Not a lot of point being frozen as a wrinkly 90 year old.
I think if it ever gets possible to live forever it will be as a cyborg of some kind. We would upload our thoughts and memories into a cyborg and then free our selves from our bodies. I think it is very possible it can be done. Question is if that is something we would want or allow. If I were to be very selfish I would say "yes, I would love to choose myself when to die". But everything has a consequence and I'm not sure I would like to find out what those would be if people could decide them selves when to die.
 

Mike Schatner

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I think if it ever gets possible to live forever it will be as a cyborg of some kind. We would upload our thoughts and memories into a cyborg and then free our selves from our bodies. I think it is very possible it can be done. Question is if that is something we would want or allow. If I were to be very selfish I would say "yes, I would love to choose myself when to die". But everything has a consequence and I'm not sure I would like to find out what those would be if people could decide them selves when to die.

I think we are a very long way from that sort of advancement. Certainly not in anyone life time that is posting today.
 

Globule

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I normally get told to go feck myself when I order people to open doors for me, so I'm all for this robot utopia.
 

Don't Kill Bill

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I had a pet Weimaraner that could open doors like that Luckily we invented a thing called a key and that stopped the whole world from collapsing.
 

Henrik Larsson

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Those feckers Raoul posted are creepy fore sure, although I suspect this is enhanced in my head because their style of movement reminds me of insects.

More human like is scary too though, that balancing in the end :nervous:

 

oneniltothearsenal

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I consider myself a fairly strong technological optimist and a futurist. I definitely believe in a post-human future but I think some of the current transhumanist movement mix wingnuts and con artists.
 

Raoul

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I consider myself a fairly strong technological optimist and a futurist. I definitely believe in a post-human future but I think some of the current transhumanist movement mix wingnuts and con artists.
I'm definitely in the camp that humans in their current form are going to be gradually replaced at some point in a similar way to how chemistry once became biology. Biology will simply gradually become something else; and consciousness itself will eventually diffuse into a new medium.
 
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oneniltothearsenal

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I'm definitely in the camp that humans in their current form are going to be gradually replaced at some point in a similar way to how chemistry once became biology. Biology will simply gradually become something else; and consciousness itself will eventually diffuse into a new medium.
That's a good way of summing how I feel for the most part. I do think the whole question about access and wealth is going to be important which is what I did like about Altered Carbon if you've seen that.
 

Raoul

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That's a good way of summing how I feel for the most part. I do think the whole question about access and wealth is going to be important which is what I did like about Altered Carbon if you've seen that.
Haven't see it, but I'll definitely check it out. I do think there is something to this idea that although we die, we are part of a much larger system that continues to live indefinitely while its components continue to self-replicate and learn from previous iterations (ie humans dying and new humans being born, each with slightly more information at their disposals than the prior generation). We are in that sense, a bit like self-aware Bacteria whose existence is dedicated to supporting the welfare of a much larger system.
 

SteveJ

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Extreme biohacking: the tech guru who spent $250,000 trying to live for ever
Silicon Valley millionaire Serge Faguet thinks pills, injections and implants will turn him into a superhuman. Could they?
Guardian said:
Faguet intends to live for ever, merging with robots and becoming an ultra human. If that goal sounds creepy, laughable or unrealistic, it’s helpful to remember that it is one shared by many influential figures in Silicon Valley. Tesla’s Elon Musk has repeatedly argued that humans need to become cyborgs to survive the inevitable robot uprising, and hopes to usher in an era of transhumanism with his new brain-computer interface company, Neuralink. Bill Maris, founder and former CEO of Google Ventures, the search giant’s venture capital arm, went on to launch Calico (an acronym for California Life Company), the sole aim of which is to “solve death”. Last November, Sean Parker, the former Facebook president, described his vision of the future thus: “Because I’m a billionaire, I’m going to have access to better healthcare so… I’m going to be, like, 160 and I’m going to be part of this class of immortal overlords.”
https://www.theguardian.com/science...t-250000-trying-to-live-for-ever-serge-faguet
 

Dr. Dwayne

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Ignoring the actual science behind whether this is possible for a second. I like to think of myself as fairly open-minded, but I see very little if any positive impact on humanity if selected people can live for extended periods of time.
Just imagine the horror of 200 years of Yeti Pubes.