This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

Do you think humans will become immortal due to medical and technological leaps?

Casse

Humans throughout history have chased immortality. Many myths and tales have risen about this. Science and technology is just the current 'tale' in trying to achieve this unachievable task and will go down in history alongside the 'fountain of youth' and other quests for immortality.

The fountain of youth was a myth.

Science and technology are logical explanations for the world around us. There are organisms with the ability to essentially perpetually regenerate, thus rendering them immortal. Study of them + human genetic engineering could result in immortality.

Reply 21

Casse

8

RyanT

You under-estimate our ability to leave our bodies.

I see a lot of obsession with "ahh! But you can't be immortal if you're HUMAN!" to which the simple response is "You stop being human". That is the real path to immortality and we are already walking down it with Iraq/Afghanistan driving massive investments in prothestics.

When they are better then your natural limbs and surgery techniques have improved it would be logical to make the transition. At the moment we are repairing what we've currently got - boob jobs; laser eye surgery etc. At current rates of progress it will not take long to be "better" then your natural body. I give it till 2020 to be in the labs but 2030 to be more available.

Humans may be able to duplicate most human organs and limbs into artificial equivelents. However the limit is the brain and I don't believe humans will ever to uncode/duplicate this complex organ.

Reply 22

AnonymousPenguin

16

I don't see immortality being reached in my life time.

Think about it, we know about the mechanism since the late sixties, but we still haven't a clue what to do about it.

EDIT: And transferring human consciousness, even less likely, we still have no idea how the brain works. Near human-like A.I., well that's a possibility in 80 years.

Reply 23

scorpion95

20

yes it will become reality, it will happen, for it to be fully successful humanity would have to be in space travel with people living longer

however it depends on how we get to that what with them trying to cure everything stop bacteria etc which is a bad thing for humans as by doing that it kills our immune system weakening us

Reply 24

fire2burn

17

paddy__power

Someone was watching that theory show. I loved the guys beard.

One assumes you are referring to Aubrey de Grey?

He's not just on the program It's Only A Theory, he's been the subject of many news articles, science papers, and documentaries over the years. :yep:

Personally I think the guy is pretty cool, he dares to think outside the box of mortality.

Reply 25

Phobia27

14

thunder_chunky

I don't think we will know that we are immortal until something happens to us where we would ordinarily die.

For example if you were living in 16th century Scotland and were in a battle between your clan and another, and a big ancient warrior stabbed you with his big sword you would ordinarily die.

However you might awake and later find out you are impervious to harm unless you are decapitated.

There can be only one :sexface:

Reply 26

RyanT

15

Casse

Humans may be able to duplicate most human organs and limbs into artificial equivelents. However the limit is the brain and I don't believe humans will ever to uncode/duplicate this complex organ.

Why not? there is a simple way to do it. Study neurons for their output/input. Then inject nanobots into your blood stream that are designed to migrate to the site of neurons and "gobble" one up and replace it and its networks identically. You don't have to know everything behind it to do that. Only replicate input/output and copy the networking.

Reply 27

Chibelta

10

Jellyfish are IMMORTAL!??!

But they're horrible! So they're going to be around for ever?!!?! :frown:

But anyway, no. There would be too much contraversy. I, for one, would not want to live forever, even if everybody else did.

Imagine living and never knowing that you will come to an end.

There would be some serious overpopulation etc eventually and it would be living hell because it would never ever stop.

So we can expect to live for a much longer time, perhaps, yes. But not forever.

Not too big on the whole longed-out old age thing either:

a) because of the pension problems etc,
b) you'd spend a majority of your life old and,
c) you'd spend longer waiting for death. To me there would be nothing worse than the Waiting Game.

Reply 28

username234673

17

Yes, I do.

There has been a recent discovery by researchers that defines how we age. Imagine the bit of plastic on the end of a shoelace. We have similar things that hold the ends of our chromosomes together. Unfortunately, when cells reproduce, these telomeres don't reproduce perfectly, and so they shorten and weaken, and then die. When this happens, the chromosomes break down and don't reproduced any more, and so die off too. This is one of the biological causes of ageing. It wouldn't surprise me if using stem cells, we couldn't recreate the chromosomes, but with full telomeres, to effectively make "new" organs.

Link to article on telomeres.

Reply 29

RyanT

15

fire2burn

One assumes you are referring to Aubrey de Grey?

He's not just on the program It's Only A Theory, he's been the subject of many news articles, science papers, and documentaries over the years. :yep:

Personally I think the guy is pretty cool, he dares to think outside the box of mortality.

Doesn't he just look after a fruit fly experiment?

I'd rather pay attention to the biomedical researchers that are actually inventing the cybernetics rather then a speculator?

Not saying he doesn't have a place as an advocate but he certainly isn't the focus of the movement. He reminds me of Kevin Warwick. Quick to hoot his horn, but when you ask him what he has actually done it'll get a bit quiet.

Reply 30

AnonymousPenguin

16

RyanT

Why not? there is a simple way to do it. Study neurons for their output/input. Then inject nanobots into your blood stream that are designed to migrate to the site of neurons and "gobble" one up and replace it and its networks identically. You don't have to know everything behind it to do that. Only replicate input/output and copy the networking.

There's a couple of problems that we'd have to solve and I think they're a bit too big to solve.

1. More processing power
2. Reduced size for transistors to one atom or perhaps two
3. Get a small enough power source

Probably a lot of other issues as well.

Reply 31

Nat the rat

spread_logic_not_hate

Big Brother contestants + immortality.

See the problem?

Lol

I bloody hope not.

fire2burn

One assumes you are referring to Aubrey de Grey?

He's not just on the program It's Only A Theory, he's been the subject of many news articles, science papers, and documentaries over the years. :yep:

Personally I think the guy is pretty cool, he dares to think outside the box of mortality.

I thought he was great, quite funny.

Reply 34

RyanT

15

Chibelta

Imagine living and never knowing that you will come to an end.

Imagine walking around stunning natural landscapes in South America and walk to the edge of the waterfall knowing you cannot die. It will enrich our experiences beyond our wildest imaginations. Also I would argue that any technology sufficiently advanced enough to keep us alive indefinitely is also advanced enough for us to choose our own deaths.

No more people dying unnecessarily, but only when they wish their experience of this world to end.

Chibelta

There would be some serious overpopulation etc eventually and it would be living hell because it would never ever stop.

We control the population. Everyone who becomes immortal must be sterilized (most likely, would be beyond being contained to a human body anyway) and then the population of mortals can also be controlled. Never heard of the one child policy? :rolleyes:

Chibelta

Not too big on the whole longed-out old age thing either:

I agree, but nobody ruled out having a healthy immortality did they?

Reply 35

RyanT

15

AnonymousPenguin

There's a couple of problems that we'd have to solve and I think they're a bit too big to solve.

1. More processing power
2. Reduced size for transistors to one atom or perhaps two
3. Get a small enough power source

Probably a lot of other issues as well.

Why a small power source? We can just run the power through them. We do this with blood carrying nutrients anyway.

Reduce size for transistors to one atom or two? You do know how big cells are don't you? We're replacing cells, not atoms. I don't see why we can't use molecular scale computing to produce the output required. It's not impossible or too big to be solved - we've already got an answer staring at us in the face - the current system! As a bare minimum you can just copy it but get rid of any elements that will cause ageing. Big deal?

Reply 36

Leto

10

Chibelta

Jellyfish are IMMORTAL!??!

But they're horrible! So they're going to be around for ever?!!?! :frown:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula

I was equally horrified :eek:

But it's actually quite cool, in a scary uncool way

Reply 37

Maxy-Q.O.S

Youtube Aubrey De Grey! He is a researcher for the Manhattan Beach project!! He believes by 2029 we will be able to add years onto our lives through science! It's pretty cool!!

Reply 38

RyanT

15

Maxy-Q.O.S

He believes by 2029 we will be able to add years onto our lives through science! It's pretty cool!!

We already do. Did you mean to say that the rate at which we add years on will exceed 1 with relation to the progression of time?

Reply 39

thunder_chunky

19

Phobia27

There can be only one :sexface:

I am glad to see someone got the reference.
I watched it again only a few days ago.

I am apprehensive and refuse to watch the second and third film, and the series as I have been informed it's all *****.

Do you think humans will become immortal due to medical and technological leaps?

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you