c0sm0nautt said:

deCypher said:

Just take into account how much violence and bloodshed has been committed on a mere promise of eternal life via religion; now make that promise an actuality in the here and now.  *shudders*   

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Surely an elite would want to keep such technology limited for themselves. Our planet wouldn't be able to keep up with the population growth if nobody died.

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Yeah, unfortunately I can't see immortality being freely available for the masses... there would definitely be restrictions of some sort. 

c0sm0nautt said:

Death is very taboo in the West, but I don't think it was always that way throughout history. The Tibetan's claimed to have maps of the after death realms. Contemporary out-of-body explorers, myself included, claim to have met relatives who have physically died.

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I feel like death anxiety was nonexistent until protohumans became self-aware... then it struck big time.  Only after the rise of religion and the ability to rationalize out-of-body experiences into a belief in life after death came into play could death anxiety be alleviated, but these psychological tools are growing less effective with modern advances in neuroscience and our growing understanding of how the brain produces consciousness.  I sense we probably disagree on this though. 

Samurai Drifter said:

Quote:

3. Would you opt into this form of immortality, or would you want to experience death?

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Good luck experiencing death. It's the most important event in your life that you won't be there for.

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Good catch.  I meant "would you want to die eventually".

LuSiD9 said:

I just look at it differently now I guess... as real as those realms seem, I just don't believe that's what's gonna happen when we die... at least not after total 100% brain death.

I don't feel any state of consciousness is any more or less 'real' than another, Nor do they prove there's an afterlife, or some sort of consciousness that can exist without the brain

In the past I'd be saying something totally different and would prolly be posting about it in the spirituality and mysticism forum

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Yep, that's about where I am now. 

Tchan909 said:

deCypher said:

Can you elaborate?  Why would this result in antlike automation?

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The better we get at tweaking our neurological reward pathways, the less attention we will pay to our outward behaviors, and the more we will carry out the activities of living and loving in concretely-routinized patterns, much like ants.

At a certain point, total dominance of technology over consciousness by virtue of the former's ability to sustainably stimulate the latter will obviate the latter's original purpose of controlling the body, and the body will multiply without measure as consciousness regresses into an endless cycle of self-satisfaction.

Then, human beings, mindless but conjoined to the god-consciousness able to experience such perfect stimulation, will march across the face of the earth and go to the stars, with no regard for personal well-being, and behave very much like the Borg - I mean, ants.

I've watched Star Trek, I know what it's like. I'd rather die.

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Not sure I buy it.  I think total dominance of technology over consciousness would allow many people to throw themselves into the oblivion of 24/7 maximal stimulation of their reward pathways, but others would use the ability to master their thoughts and emotions to turn themselves into veritable supermen, capable of exploring the Universe as supreme captain of their own microcosm.  Either that or we all become slaves to a God AI or an elite dictator who has hacked all of our neural implants. 

Quote:

but others would use the ability to master their thoughts and emotions to turn themselves into veritable supermen

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Been there. Done that.

c0sm0nautt said:

Are you saying it's all one?

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Icelander said:

extrapolate

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gonna be my new word of the day... never heard/read it before... I'll make a point of using it somehow

thank you icelander, for adding a brand new word to my vocabulary

deCypher said:

Not sure I buy it.  I think total dominance of technology over consciousness would allow many people to throw themselves into the oblivion of 24/7 maximal stimulation of their reward pathways, but others would use the ability to master their thoughts and emotions to turn themselves into veritable supermen, capable of exploring the Universe as supreme captain of their own microcosm.  Either that or we all become slaves to a God AI or an elite dictator who has hacked all of our neural implants. 

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Tchan909 said:

The only thing I know for sure is that it won't matter anymore, once we're dead.

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I know right?... but for some reason, the fact I might never be, scares the shit outta me

yet, how could absolute non-exsistence be all that bad?

I don't know about you guys, but I think I think about death too much

Tchan909 said:

It could come at any moment and there is no way to plan for it.

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Well, one can surely try to plan for it by adopting healthier living styles and avoiding risky behavior, but I agree that death could still come at any time.

I also try not to think about death too much but on those long, dark nights of the soul at 3 AM where you're sipping Jack Daniels and brooding about the state of affairs it's very hard not to. 

deCypher said:

I also try not to think about death too much but on those long, dark nights of the soul at 3 AM where you're sipping Jack Daniels and brooding about the state of affairs it's very hard not to. 

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deCypher said:

Well, one can surely try to plan for it by adopting healthier living styles and avoiding risky behavior

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Well yes, this is certainly what most of us do when we are feeling positive about the experience of living...

I have been pretty busy killing myself slowly at the moment, though. My community college doesn't start classes until the goddamned 26th, and being that I quit my job for school last year, I have literally nothing to do. And the inertia of my laziness, for the time being, is unbreakable.

That's right, I'm drunk at 3 in the afternoon. Killing myself slowly.

Tchan909 said:

That's right, I'm drunk at 3 in the afternoon.

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me to