Category Archives: Immortality

Writer B.D. McClay was prompted to ask the question in the above headline by remarks from Jason Stanley (Yale), who on Twitter said, I would regard myself as an abject failure if people are still not reading my philosophical work in 200 years. I have zero intention of being just another Ivy League professor whose work lasts as long as they are alive.

Stanley is not the only philosopher who has as an aim and standard for their work that it have an influence well into the distant future. (Stanley might have talked about his work being read in 200 years, but he probably didnt mean just 200 yearspresumably hed be upset if his work lasted 200 years but then was completely forgotten a day after that.)I recall one established philosopher telling a group of graduate students at a workshop, I am not writing for today; I am writing for posterity, and others in various conversations over the years taking as their goal to have their writings talked about through the ages.

[Kano Sansetsu, Old Plum]

Humans are unique in this world in that, as opposed to all other animals, they have developed a consciousness so advanced that it has one awful byproduct: they are the only creatures aware of their own mortality. This truth is so terrifying that from a very early age humans bury it deep in their unconscious, and this has turned people into red-blooded machines, fleshy factories that manufacture meaning. The meaning they feel becomes channled into their immortality projectssuch as their children, or their gods, or their artistic works, of their businesses, or their nationsthat they believe will outlive them The irony of their immortality projects is that while they have been designed by the unconscious to fool the person into a sense of specialness and into a bid for everlasting life, the manner in which they fret about their immortality projects is the very thing that kills them This is my warning to you So what do you think?

I have no idea what you just said.

One neednt understand the lethality of the desire for immortality literally it may just be that pursuing its satisfaction may involve sacrificing the actual goods of your life for the merely possible goods of your works afterlife.

Whether, as the storytellers insist, the quest for immortality is congenitally ironic, there remains the question: is being important in the distant future a standard to which we should hold our work, our projects, or ourselves?

I dont think it is. On this, I find myself largely in agreement with Brooke Alan Trisel, who takes up the matter in the thoughtful Human Extinction and the Value of Our Efforts, (2004). Trisel writes:

The problem in allowing an unrealizable desire, such as immortality, to become part of a standard for judging whether our efforts are worthwhile or important is that it predetermines that we will fail to achieve the standard. Furthermore, it can lead us to lose sight of or discount all of the other things that matter to us besides fulfilling this one desire.

Since there is no way to satisfy the desire for quasi-immortality, one may fall into a state of despair, as did Tolstoy. Furthermore, because the desire may be concealed in the standard, the person may be unable to pinpoint the source of the despair and, consequently, may be unable to figure out how to overcome it. The person may believe that he or she has a new perspective on life that suddenly revealed that human endeavors are and have always been futile, when, in fact, the only thing that changed was that this person increased the standard that he or she had previously used to judge significance. Therefore, it is crucial to recognize when an unrealizable desire, such as the desire to have our works appreciated forever, has infected our standards and, when it has done so, to purge it from these standards. The original standard that we used to judge significance was likely realistic and inspiring before it became corrupted with the desire to achieve quasi-immortality.

Suppose that there is a god who created humanity and who told us that our efforts would be significant only if we create works that will last forever. Suppose also that humanity will not last forever and that we live in a universe that will not likely last forever. Thus, there is a clear, objective standard for judging whether our efforts are significant. If this were the standard handed down to us by this god, would we try to achieve the standard, or would we reject, as I believe, the standard on grounds that it is unreasonable, assuming that we were not compelled by this god to try to achieve the standard? Ironically, we are free to choose a reasonable standard to judge what is significant, yet some people unwittingly adopt, or impose upon themselves, a standard that they would reject if it had been imposed upon them by an external entity.

Though Trisel writes about the impossibility of immortality, the points are almost as compelling when read as being about the unlikelihood of being thought important in the distant future. I recommend the whole essay, an ungated version of which is available here.

Instead of a direct longing for immortality (or distant impact), one might think that the standard we should hold our writing to is not that it be read through the ages, but rather that it have some other qualities that, as it turns out, make it more likely to be read through the ages. One might hope that ones work is wise, for instance, and think that if it is wise, it will be discussed for generations to come. If thats the case, it seems it would be better to focus on and articulate which qualities we have in mind, rather than ones impact on posterity. One reason for this is that there are less desirable qualities that might contribute to a works longevity, such as it being maddeningly unclear, or especially evil. Another is that we may wish to avoid holding ourselves to standards the meeting of which is largely out of our control; I cant dictate what future generations do, but maybe I can make what I do good in some wayand isnt that enough?

There are a constellation of issues here about which Im sure theres a variety of opinion. Discussion welcome.

(Note: this is not a discussion about Jason Stanley or his work. Comments about him will be deleted.)

Read more here:

Most scholarship is not going to live forever. Is it therefore not worth doing? - Daily Nous

THE OXFORD BROTHERHOOD, by Guillermo Martnez, read by P.J. Ochlan. (Blackstone Publishing.) In this brainy thriller, an Oxford grad student in mathematics finds himself embroiled in the shadowy history of Lewis Carroll.

LOVE THAT STORY: Observations From a Gorgeously Queer Life, by Jonathan Van Ness, read by the author. (HarperAudio.) The comedian, hairstylist and Queer Eye star follows up his 2019 memoir, Over the Top, with a collection of essays about gender identity, mourning his cat, a history of his hometown of Quincy, Ill., and more.

FINDING TAMIKA, by Erika Alexander, Kevin Hart, Charlamagne Tha God, Ben Arnon, Rebkah Howard, David Person and James T. Green, read by Erika Alexander. (Audible Originals.) This audiobook original for mature audiences tells the disturbing but important true-crime story of 24-year-old Tamika Huston, who went missing from her Spartanburg, S.C., home in 2004.

BRAZEN: My Unorthodox Journey From Long Sleeves to Lingerie, by Julia Haart, read by the author. (Random House Audio.) The star of My Unorthodox Life, and former chief executive of a modeling and talent agency, recounts her unusual path from housewife in an extremist religious sect to fashion insider.

LIARMOUTH: A Feel-Bad Romance, by John Waters. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $26.) The acclaimed filmmaker known for his boundary-pushing comedies has written a twisted and sleazy caper following a con artist on the run and filled with genitalia, violence and plenty of satire.

ONE DAY I SHALL ASTONISH THE WORLD, by Nina Stibbe. (Little, Brown, $27.) In this tender and comical novel, a middle-aged woman navigates the changes in her life as her husband begins seeking immortality and her lifelong best friend is propelled to professional glory.

THE HATED CAGE: An American Tragedy in Britains Most Terrifying Prison, by Nicholas Guyatt. (Basic, $32.) A historian at the University of Cambridge draws on archival material to tell the story of the thousands of American prisoners of war held at Dartmoor Prison, the first racially segregated prison in U.S. history, during the War of 1812.

LETS NOT DO THAT AGAIN, by Grant Ginder. (Holt, $27.99.) Ginders satirical fifth novel follows a dysfunctional family as Nancy Harrison, a widowed New York politician running for the U.S. Senate, finds her campaign in jeopardy when her daughter is caught throwing a champagne bottle through a Parisian bistros window at a nationalist rally.

Originally posted here:

Newly Published, From Cults to Con Men - The New York Times

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Tamil poet-saint Thiruvalluvar was way ahead of his times even 2,000 years ago. Predicting the shrinking size of human attention span, he cleverly packed pearls of wisdom on almost every virtue of life in his magnum opus Thirukkural in just 1,330 couplets, leaving its immortality and universality unquestionable. Even today, its timelessness is cherished and celebrated by the present generation through various artistic expressions. Contributing her part in popularising the kurals and their profound meanings to a larger audience, through an ongoing art series on Instagram, is Puducherry-based visual artist R Sowmya Iyal.

Painting philosophiesThe novel idea to give a visual representation to all the couplets from the literary work was born during her five-year stint as a freelancer. I used to draw illustrations for textual poems and stories. I studied many papers on reimagining poems into paintings. I wanted to explore the concept with our own Tamil literature. Thirukkural seemed like the right muse, shares the electronics media graduate, who has specialised in visual art, animation, and illustration. She worked as a guest faculty for visual communication at Pondicherry University, and is looking for opportunities to pursue a full-time PhD.

The series that began as an experiment on January 1, 2020, currently has artworks for 846 couplets so far. Explaining how the project transformed her life, Sowmya shares, This project came as a much-needed escape from reality during the lockdown when everyone was going through something in life. Its been a great learning experience since I commenced the series. Exploring the poets works offered me solutions to all my problems. I stopped procrastinating work and stayed focussed. It altered my approach to life. Every kural is relevant and speaks to you on so many levels. Had I learned it from childhood, it wouldve prepared me to handle life better. Many followers have been taking inspiration from my work to read the masterpiece. Sowmya aims to complete all the 1,330 couplets by August 2023.

The greatness in versesFor the last two years, Sowmya has been dedicating an hour or two to the art series every morning. She wakes up, recites a kural, understands its meaning, and reimagines it visually. I use surrealism and metaphorical realism in my works. Metaphors are used to depict human emotions and convey the message with the right interpretation. We have allegories such as mudhalai kanneer and paambu kaadhu in Tamil. Thirukkural also handles such metaphors.

Some kurals may seem abstract and take time to replicate as artworks. I use symbols and appropriate colours to convey the meaning. Thirukkural has stood the test of time for the wide range of topics it addresses; from the dynamics of human relationships and emotions to moral values. When presented visually, even kurals with in-depth meaning become easier to consume, and leave a lasting impact, she suggests.

Every post has the Tamil version of a couplet, the English version, the transliterated version, and the meaning. The artwork, in a reel format, has Sowmyas nine-year-old daughter reciting the kural in the background. Even before I wake up, she memorises the kural for the day and recites it to me. Im happy that shes picked it up so fast. I hope this work helps people introspect and implement it in their everyday life. I want viewers to be part of the artwork, she notes.

After completion, Sowmya wants to compile her artworks into a book; she also wants to have an exhibition. Ive been seriously looking to do my thesis on Thirukkural, only to be turned down by many. I would be grateful to find research scholars who are experts in this area and can guide me, she requests.

For details, visitiyal_artinsta or mail to sowmi3d@gmail.com

Read this article:

Kural in colours - The New Indian Express

All this month we have been focusing on the Resurrection of Jesus and the meaning of everyone who inhabits this world. This has a special place in the hearts of all those who are followers of Christ. We have a new hope and assurance that we will gain a new way to live life both in this present life and in the life to come.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 offers to us this assurance and hope. The fact that our bodies, as they are presently constructed, are not conducive for heaven; notice how Paul uses the comparison of corruption to incorruption and mortal to immortality.

Knowing our world is riddled by illness, disease, sickness, the inability to just get along with one another in a civil manner and fundamental care, and concern for our neighbor, shows that our present state is incompatible to the kingdom of God.

So, yes, we need a change, and in Christ we get to put on Incorruption and Immortality. The change happens instantly allowing us access to enter the kingdom of God.

Paul gives a doxology of praise when he says in verse 57, But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

The fact of the Resurrection means Victory, and that our Savior is now head of all things in His church, and He reigns over heaven and earth and hell and possesses the keys of life and death.

When we experience the effects of sin in our world, the victory lies in how we handle lifes tough moments. The death of a loved one, a friend, what we do to answer that as a believer lies in the Resurrection and our belief in Christ and hopefully my family members and friends believe this as well, so that when standing at the grave, this is not goodbye but farewell for we will see them again in heaven. That is our great hope and assurance.

Finally, verse 57 commands us to be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lords work, because you know that your labor is not in vain. Steadfast, meaning firm, unwavering, and stable. Immovable means not easily moved or changed. Abounding, which means spiritual abundance.

Knowing that our faith is stable and that we are on solid ground; it is unchanging and does adjust to current trends or ideas, as it is good for us to be excelling in Gods work.

All we do as Christians is marked with these traits whether in spiritual endeavors or even in our temporal activities, the reason being that what we do is not in vain or empty because God places value on what we do.

Do everything to the Glory of God.

And someone has said, Only what we do for Christ will last that makes perfect in that what He did for each and every one of us has and will last forever.

Christs resurrection has given us a new life which rests on His resurrection power, He rose to newness of life and He extends that new and better life to all who believe and trust in His finished work of redemption and reconciliation.

Praying for all a New and Better Life for all who Believe In Him.

Byron McGee is Senior Pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Wilmington.

See the article here:

Road to a new and better life - Wilmington News Journal, OH

Jurgen Klopp rolled the dice with five changes but the Liverpool boss can do no wrong while the Reds edge towards immortality

Given their trip to Newcastle had been billed as their toughest remaining Premier League assignment, the efficiency with which Liverpool eased to yet another victory bodes extremely well as the Reds ace another test in their quest for immortality.

The Magpies have got closer than anyone else to matching Liverpools remarkable points haul in 2022 and their renaissance underEddie Howe was enough to exacerbate whatever smattering of pessimism that may remain in the minds of the visiting supporters.

If Newcastles resurgence wasnt enough to make the Reds fans edgy, Jurgen Klopp heightened the jeopardy by making five changes to his starting XI. For the first time this season, his side featured none of Mo Salah, Fabinho or Trent Alexander-Arnold, with Thiago also given most of the afternoon to recharge his batteries amid a relentless and potentially history-making run.

Jurgen Klopp reaction: I loved it, we controlled the game in so many ways

Klopp, though, can do no wrong at present. Liverpool simultaneously achieved almost complete control at St James Park while four of their most important players rested for the most part before seven more matches which could see the Reds become the first side in Europe to win a Quadruple since Celtics Lisbon Lions in 1967.

With those changes, Klopp came up trumps. Naby Keita made the most tangible impact by scoring the winning goal, the midfielder showing the touch of Salah as he danced around Martin Dubravka in the Newcastle goal, which was only made possible by James Milners tackle to win back possession with Newcastle centre-back Fabian Scharr way out of position.

Newcastle wanted a foul for Milners challenge and upon first glance it seemed they had a case. But Milners sliding tackle was as clean as his polished performance in a Liverpool midfield that dominated their hosts.

Milner, Keita and Jordan Henderson all earned Liverpool the control Klopp craved, with the slender scoreline no reflection of their dominance. Klopp could have enjoyed a much more serene afternoon on the Tyneside sunshine if his forwards were as sharp as his midfielders.

Sadio Mane missed gilt-edged chances in either half, while Dubravka denied both Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz. Given the stakes and precarious nature of their lead, Liverpool would not have been blamed for showcasing a degree of edginess as the clock ticked down, but on the rare occasions Newcastle broke through Klopps engine room, his back four blocked the path to goal.

Not until the 86th minute was Alisson troubled and even then, the Liverpool keeper dealt with Bruno Guimaraes shot from outside the box with the minimum of fuss. That was the closest Newcastle were allowed to Alisson none of the four shots they attempted were within 25 yards of the Liverpool goal. To highlight their dominance, the Reds rattled 24 shots towards Dubravka, 17 from inside the box.

Howes side can hardly be blamed for their pragmatism against Klopps all-conquering Reds, but they made little of what few opportunities they had to test the Liverpool defence. The passing into Allan Saint-Maximum while he played in a central role was shoddy with his team-mates seemingly forgetting his strengths and playing into his feet with his back to goal rather than down the sides of Liverpools centre-backs. On the few occasions the black and white units linked up, Liverpool simply stepped up and Newcastle never fathomed how best to break a high line without straying offside.

Aside from a lack of ruthlessness in front of goal, Klopps players did everything else necessary to alleviate the risk in the managers approach. But as with seemingly everything else at present, Klopp got his calculations right and Liverpool move on to Villarreal for the second leg of the Champions League semi-final while turning the screw on Manchester City with the absolute minimum of fuss.

Read this article:

Early winner: Jurgen Klopp gambles but Liverpool roll on with ruthless efficiency - Football365

This story is part of Future Tense Fiction, a monthly series of short stories from Future Tense and Arizona State Universitys Center for Science and the Imagination about how technology and science will change our lives.

For someone like me, Nefirahs client said, its not a question of whether or not Ill be remembered. The question is precisely how.

This high up above New York City, the roof penthouse of one of its tallest buildings, the view was a gray boil of smog, and sometimes the glint of windshields as pedal cabs moved through the streets. A few electric-powered vehicles here and there, like the chauffeured one that had brought Nefirah, but for the most part foot or pedal traffic.

Shed had to get up early to take the car. Never a case of a client accommodating her schedule. Always the other way around.

This one, K, had chosen an outdoor balcony for the audience. A smear of glass showed where the reality of air was walled off. The genetically modified houseplants showcased olive and purple blossoms, shaped like open-walled cages. Thumb-sized finches flitted among them, their colors matching the blossoms. Every once in a while, a lizard made of silver wire flickered across the tiles underfoot, cleaning up bird droppings or falling petals.

The only overt artifice was a subtle letter etched into the glass in one corner. When you were singular and rich enough to take a single symbol as your name, you didnt need to wallow in it.

But you wouldnt want anyone to miss it, either.

You will make me immortal, the woman who was a single letter said to Nefirah. Ive read about your installations.

You understand that its not you in the installation, Nefirah said wearily. Shed had this talk before. The I-word. Immortality. Impossible. Its a differentiable neural computer.

I want to be a tree, K said. The biggest tree outside thisworld.

K just shrugged. I understand that. How could you

A look raking up and down Nefirahs form, the sort of look shed had before from clients used to being paid the most attention in the room, a sort of how could I possibly be dependent on this person expression that mingled irritation and contempt, as K continued, hope to put all of me in a container? I know it wont be me. Ill stay here on Earth.

Bitterness salted that statement. Neither of them said the truth: that K, unable to handle the rigors of space travel, would be one of the few super-wealthy left behind on the devastated Earth. Others had gone long ago to living centers on Mars or the moon. Rumors said Elon Musks most recent clone planned still to conquer Venus.

The Earth had been used up. Its fruits and flowers taken. The rest crumpled and discarded by people like this.

Nefirah knew better than to say, You cant afford it, the way she would have to most. Instead she asked, What do you want me to put your mind in?

I want to be a tree, K said. The biggest tree outside this world.

A finch hopped onto her shoulder, pecking at the fabric as though she were a tree already. She brushed it away with an efficient gesture.

Outside the world? Nefirah said, and thought she knew what the woman would say next. But the words were not what she expected.

Ill fund the entire Love project if you do what I want.

Generation ship Love was the largest, longest-running crowdfunding campaign of all time. Kicked off by an initial, rare cooperation between multiple countries, it had limped along for over four decades now. Its initial crew had aged out of eligibility, and others after them.

Love had inspired three different reality shows; one ran for nearly a decade, doing its best to stir up drama while the people whose existences they were documenting tolerated them for the sake of the revenue they brought in. You could still buy plenty of merchandise; gear from the earliest, least successful show was the most collectible.

Countless podcasts and blogs were devoted to analyzing the Love, decrying it, hinting that it was part of a vast conspiracy, outright stating that it was part of a vast conspiracy, shipping various personnel together in fanfic couplings, on and on.

So many documentaries, and one tell-all memoir, which was why no one spoke to her Aunt Samirah anymore and also why Samirah had retired to the most luxuriant of Mars living centers.

A late-night talk show punchline: the project that kept going and going and going. The countries involved in its genesis had long ago given up, leaving the individuals involved in the project to keep it lurching forward. Still, it had come closer to success than any other generation ship project. And unlike any of the others, it still had hope.

Nefirah knew the details of the ships journey toward completion intimately. How could she not? The project had eaten the lives of so many close to her.

The countries had given up on the Love project within a decade, but it continued due to the six families who had taken to the Love with revolutionary zeal. They were why the idea had persisted so long, staggering from one iteration of its budget to another. Six families, though by now there were enough intermarryings that it seemed a single entity, a mass of Hernandezes, Ibrahims, Kims, Muhammeds, Parks, and Smiths that most of them just called the Family.

So many worked on the project, knowing they wouldnt be on it. Some might have been hoping for a place, sure, who wouldnt? But Family members committed themselves to the Love, regardless of where they fell on its potential roster. Nefirahs grandmother had been part of the original group, and shed borne six children, five of whom had followed in her footsteps, and brought others into the fold as well.

But enrollment on the Loves crew wasnt a hereditary thing, just as it wasnt for sale. Either would have been antithetical to its spirit. Instead, there were formulas and calculations. The denizens of the ship would be chosen for a variety of characteristics that they would pass onto their descendants. That would be incorporated in humanity to come.

And here was K, with an arrogance that marked so many of Nefirahs clients, proposing something just as antithetical, because it suited her. She would make it entirely her memorial, a ship dedicated to her and her wealth.

K would pay any price for that. But what would it cost Nefirah?

Shell fund it all, said cousin Ali. Ive confirmed it. He looked dazed, breathless.

Since Nefirah had seen him last, hed gotten a full-body mobile tattoo, writing flickering under the skin, spelling out Love in dozens of languages. A recent style in the family, another fundraising measure. Ali would be prepared to tell anyone who asked about the project, ready to sign them up for the notification list.

She says youll be able to describe the modifications to the core gardens she wants.

A redwood, she said. Sequoia sempervirens.

What?

The innermost garden space. She wants a redwood tree in it. The tree will be so large that the space will need to be reconfigured to be built around the tree.

Ali was quick to piece things together. And that tree will hold one of your installation computers?

It will be a computer, she said. Im working with neural computers. Living ones.

Why a redwood?

Nefirah had asked that, too.

Theyre a very American tree, K told her at their first meeting. Larger than life.

Monumental.

K continued as though Nefirah had not spoken. They dont exist anymore the way they used. A couple of small groves in biodomes, the one in Bezos-ball-land, the hollow earth project.

A gesture out at the city. My ancestors built this country, but the place they started was California. San Francisco. I hiked among redwoods as a child. Some of those trees were over 2,000 years old.

Nefirah had left it at that, but she wasnt dumb. She knew what was going on. She told Ali, Its her way around the restrictions on naming things after people.

Restrictions that had been a deliberate choice by the original Love designers, even though it shot down a major chance at fundraising. Nothing exalting individuals, everything celebrating the communal, including the name Love, an emotion that only existed in the spaces between people.

Ali thought. Amor flickered on his cheekbone, then was replaced by kanji characters. She could tell he didnt like the idea. But he was weighing it against the chance of the Love getting finished in their lifetime.

She wanted him to say no. Instead he said, Ill check with the planners.

When the word came back from the group that steered all design decisions, they had come to the choice that she knew they would. This wasnt the smallest of compromises, but the gardens could be adapted.

So much of the original plan had been adapted over the years as new technologies appeared and made some things obsolete, others smaller and more efficient, or precipitated new needs, changing specifications or models or even underlying tech.

At the projects start, they hadnt even known how theyd propel the ships! Plans for Bussard engines, for solar sails, and other, wilder possibilities before someone finally made Deuterium reaction drives practicable.

But someday it would simply change too far away from the original and everything would be lost. Love had to be implemented soon. Because the day was coming when the world would simply be too poor to keep the project going.

And that made it impossible to say no to K.

When she turned 18, Nefirah had opted to become one of the family members who devoted themselves to study and aimed for a lucrative career to bring in money for the project.

Upon graduation, shed surveyed the possibilities. Someone joked that morticians always had money and shed thought about her interestsarchitecture, computers, landscape design. Then that jumble coalesced in her mind into a single idea: memorials.

Dannefer v. Lucky the Lockman had established in 2033 that what the mem-tech created was a replica and not an actual person, no matter how many times they passed the Turingtest.

The Atelier was the first project she had created by herself. Bankrolled by a billionaire fashion designer who had taken a scattershot approach to immortality. Nefirahs proposal had been one of several hundred.

Had the designer known that hers would be the one to launch the fad, that the wealthy would flock to the idea? Start a career that stretched 20 years now? She thought they might have, but when she asked, they said it had been the only one that appealed to them.

Why? She wasnt sure. Shed designed as she would have designed for herself, a cathedral carved into a hillside, and aeolian pipes in it and grown into the trees outside. Shed picked pines for that installation, since they grew quickly. Nowadays it was much easier to accelerate growth and she would have opted for something deciduous, so the songs would change over the seasons, affected by the amount of leaves.

It was the only installation among all the submissions that didnt reference clothing. Shed tried to create the feeling that shed thought underlay the design aesthetics underlying their clothing, rather than the garments themselves.

She came to the designers site in simple black-printed clothing, the anonymity of mass culture, and didnt go in through the special entrance, but rather the one that anyone could take.

Every installation contained a version of the mind it had been patterned after. But it was, as shed told K, not immortality. Dannefer v. Lucky the Lockman had established in 2033 that what the mem-tech created was a replica and not an actual person, no matter how many times they passed the Turing test.

Tiny rooms offered private spaces where one could commune with that mind. Hers was barely big enough to hold her. Shed patterned the rooms after anchorite cells, bare stone and lines, so all you had to think about was the communion.

But she didnt speak for most of the time she was there, simply sat on the stone floor, listening to the winds cadences and thinking about the design decisions shed made.

Not just this place, but how shed structured her life. Her existence was a sculpture in time, dedicated to the Love. She didnt need anything more than that, to know that shed help the human race survive. That her Familys dream would come true.

When she finally stood, she said to the air, Why did you want this memorial? Youd already affected history.

To remind them I was a person, came the designers soft tones. No recognition tinged it. Another design decision. Shed kept herself out of the data. The slight friendship had been theirs. It didnt belong to time.

What did belong to time? Could K claim it the way she proposed to? Or ratherNefirah knew that she could. But should she?

She returned to her lab and began creating proof of concept trees.

The advantage of wetware computers was their complexity; instead of the 0/1 gates that made up a binary computer, a cell could hold much more sophisticated data structures. A tree would work well. But she didnt want the scale of space a redwood would take. She started with a simpler tree, the gingko.

That was something they had perfected in working on the generation ship, developing technology that was closer to living things than anything before. It made it able to self-heal, self-administer like a living creature.

The ship would be one of the most amazing things ever created by humanity, and it was so close. Theyd ridden the waves of public funding, of crowdfunds and grant-chasing, no matter how small.

Now they had K. All that the Family wanted, in exchange for Nefirahs work. Shed given so much of her life to the project and now here was the expected day, arriving when shed learned to no longer expect it.

She printed out little blue pots, over-glazed with circuitry, for them, set them in the growth inducers, watched them sprout over the coming days. The tiny gingkoes were charming with their delicate, fan-shaped leaves. When the first was ready, she showed it to another cousin, Sammi.

How does it work? Sammi said dubiously.

Here, give me your arm, she said, and tapped at the panel set in Sammis forearm, then passed it back so Sammi could tap in the access code to authorize the app shed just installed.

They waited for it to install.

Where are you on the List? her cousin asked, not meeting her eyes. That signaled some change in Sammis own status, probably upward.

Still below the line, she said. Still not close enough to the top of the list to make it aboard.

Not by far, though? Sammi said.

She shook her head and shrugged all at once. You could do that, could pretend that you hadnt tracked this figure as obsessively as everyone else close to the line. The line fluctuated, that was one of the things about it. Rumor says theyre going to do a refactoring, major criteria changes, in a few months.

No one could predict how the line would shift, let alone the ordering, in a major refactoring.

This could make you a Contributor.

Thats someone who makes a major change or addition, she protested. Not about fundraising.

Not just because you secured the funding, her cousin said. At her blank look, she scoffed and pointed at the trees. Theyll add more organic life to the project. Did you really not think how major this was?

I was always part of the garden group, she said.

Implementing your trees will be a group effort, Sammi said. But you came up with all of this on your own.

Sammis arm dinged to indicate the app was ready, and she held it back out to Nefirah. She opened the app and clicked through the +organism screen, adding new options.

Hello, she said to it.

Hello, maam! it piped cheerfully.

Thats the Sporty default, isnt it? Sammi said.

Yup, same one that drives a lot of todays toys, she said. I needed a personality to put into it, and that ones public domain.

Because youre advertising the company every time you use it, said with folded arms. Most of her family had strong opinions on advertising and ethics, not a trait that had helped them advance the ships progress, but understandable.

Itll get rewritten before anyone else accesses it, she said. Thats one of the differences between the end result and these.

How so?

They learn from everyone around them and add it to the mix. And personalities get created, amalgamations of those among them, storing strands of memory.

Is that how the redwood will function?

No. Thats not at all what K wants. She wants herself undiluted.

Sammi shook her head, expression incredulous. Youd think she started, poised to reignite a thousand Family discussions about the fate of humanity, of the necessity of setting aside individual ambition and petty pride for the common good, but Nefirah cut her off.

Shes the customer, she said. If shes paying the tab, she gets to decide whats on it.

Originally posted here:

The Woman Who Wanted to Be Trees, by Cat Rambo. - Slate

(Photo credit:Somnium Space)

Almost five years ago, Artur Sychovs father was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, which would ultimately kill him within a few years. The news of his fathers illness devastated Sychov. It kind of hit me that the time I had with him was limited, he told me last week. At the time, Sychovs children were just a few years old, and it pained him to think that they might grow up without a memory of their grandfather.

In those moments, he started to wonder if there was some way in which his children might be able to have a conversation with their grandfather, even after he was gone.

Sychov is the CEO and founder of Somnium Space, one of the many versions of the metaverse that have sprouted up in recent years. Unlike many of its competitors, Somnium Space is already compatible with virtual reality headsets, allowing for an immersive 3D experience.

The death of Sychovs father served as the inspiration for an idea that he would come to call Live Forever mode, a forthcoming feature in Somnium Space that allows people to have their movements and conversations stored as data, then duplicated as an avatar that moves, talks, and sounds just like youand can continue to do so long after you have died. In Sychovs dream, people will be able to talk to their dead loved one whenever they wish.

Literally, if I dieand I have this data collectedpeople can come or my kids, they can come in, and they can have a conversation with my avatar, with my movements, with my voice, he told me. You will meet the person. And you would maybe for the first 10 minutes while talking to that person, you would not know that it's actually AI. Thats the goal.

To Sychov, these are the sort of potential innovations that make the metaverse a new arena of human experience worth investing in. They think that it's about selling NFTs and brands selling their stuff, but it's not about that, he told me. It's much deeper.

Sychovs moment of revelation came when he realized the awesome data collection potential of virtual reality, a technology that he called magical when we spoke. The amount of data we potentially could record about you is probably on the magnitude of, I'd say realistically, 100-to-300 times more than when you're on a mobile phone, he said. Virtual reality technology can collect the way your fingers, mouth, eyes, and entire body move and and quickly identify you more precisely than fingerprints, Sychov told me.

Available research backs up his claims there. One October 2020 study published in Nature, for example, concluded that after less than five minutes of tracking peoples body motions, virtual reality technology could identify someone with 95 percent accuracy out of a group of 500 people. That's why VR is so powerful, he said. You will not fool it.

Somnium Space has also invested in and partnered with Teslasuit, a company with no relation to Elon Musk that is developing a full-body haptic suit for VR. The suit will not only allow those wearing it to receive electrical signals comparable to human touch, but also provide extra data thanks to the inclusion of a medical-grade biometric scanner that collects cardio and stress levels, according to Sychov.

Sychov also claimed that the data will be able to collect how you speak and sound, though he didnt provide much detail about how that would work, except to make a passing mention of how he sometimes gets tricked for a few minutes when speaking to online chatbots. The same will happen in VR with time, he suggested, but even more convincingly.

With all that data stored, Somnium Space will then work to create an immortal mirror image of users with the same visual movements and manner of speechthe stuff of an exhausting amount of science fiction ranging from Dollhouse to Dune to Man of Steel, the plot of which revolved around Henry Cavill and Michael Shannon fighting over a thumb drive containing a sentient representation of Russell Crowe, who, though long dead, sought to mentor his son Cavill.

We can take this data and apply AI to it and recreate you as an avatar on your land parcel or inside your NFT world, and people will be able to come and talk to you, Sychov told me.

The first step is to start the process of recording and storing the data of those who wish to pay for and partake in Live Forever mode. Somnium Space plans to get underway on it this year, though it will limit the data collection to the movements and sounds users make when they are on their own plots of land, known as parcels in metaverse parlance.

Somnium Space hopes to roll out the first set of AI versions of its users, in which people will be recreated as avatars with their movements and basic conversational abilities, by next year.

But the beauty of the idea, according to Sychov, is that this other version of you can continue to evolve alongside artificial intelligence technology in the coming years, even if all the data was collected years ago. Let's say you die or someone dies, Sychov explained to me. With the same amount of data we collected about you, with the progression of AI, we can recreate you better and better over time.

The prospect of a virtual-reality company having access to that much data about its users is concerning to say the least, something Sychov didnt shy away from when I asked him about it.

That's why Facebook is so scary, he said the first time we spoke. It's scary to have Facebook as the leading metaverse.

Unlike Meta, formerly known as Facebook, Somnium Space doesnt make money by selling peoples data to advertisers. We are a decentralized world, Sychov said. We don't want to know your name. We don't care about who you are.

Sychov believes he is creating a more responsible business model that he hopes will allow users to feel comfortable forking over limitless amounts of data to the company for analysis. The Live Forever feature will be off by default, and the company says it will not collect data on anyone unless they opt to pay for it. The company hopes to make the price as low as possibleSomnium Space charged early adopters around $50 for a yearbut Sychov predicted the intensive costs of data storage will always necessitate some payment.

(If you don't pay, we will never collect a single point of data, because we dont sell your data, he emphasized. You have the control.)

Those who choose to partake will be able to turn the record function on and off as they wish and tell the company to delete all data should they ever choose, though Sychov noted that the more data Somnium collects, the more accurate the other version of you will be in the future.

Though it is a young company, Somnium Space has already dealt with death on its platform. One of its landowners died unexpectedly in what Sychov described as a tragic moment for the company. At the familys request, Somnium Space transferred ownership of his parcels to a friend who built a memorial that still stands within the metaverse.

But even with all the ethical preparation and experience the company can muster, there will be inevitable and justifiable ethical questions about allowing a version of a self to continue on in perpetuity. What if, for example, the children of a deceased Somnium Space user found it painful to know he was continuing on in some form in their metaverse?

These things, we'll have to figure out with our legal team, Sychov said, and also with our users.

The rest is here:

Metaverse Company to Offer Immortality Through Live Forever Mode - VICE

This fast-paced sci-fi mystery by MUMPA Lawrence Durbin is an exciting read for those who enjoy thrillers with a touch of romance, humor, and spirituality.

Award-winning essayist and bestselling author of thrillers and mysteries Lawrence MUMPA Durbin introduces the real possibility of human immortality with his latest fantasy thriller, 1000 YEARS of Talks with GOD.

1000 YEARS of Talks with GOD focuses on Little Methuselah, Jonathon Donald whose age is 120, face is 25, and body is 20 who has survived the intrusion of world governments and threatening human thugs by adopting two essential strategies: seek cover when in danger and keep moving.

This fiction-fantasy thriller introduces all four JDs, featuring one Jonathon Donald who regularly interviews the Supreme Intelligence with a sense of humor getting answers to mankinds most pressing and universal questions.

Throughout the book, Jonathon evades high-tech intelligence agencies around the globe, falls in love with a mere (and hilarious) mortal, C & W gal Megan Riles, and sometimes performs Paul Bunyan-like feats which, unfortunately, makes it necessary for him to move on yet again. 1000 YEARS of Talks with GOD is a story about getting it right. That humans need to learn and perfect their lives, if they just have the time.

For more information about 1000 YEARS of Talks with GOD and MUMPA Lawrence Durbin, visit his website atmumpabooks.com.

About MUMPA Lawrence Durbin

MUMPA Lawrence Durbin is an award-winning essayist and bestselling author of thrillers and mysteries. He often writes stories with the fantasy of all fantasies immortality of the body or soul as an underlying theme. MUMPA became interested in immortality thirty-five years ago while living in St. Augustine, Florida near the site of Ponce de Leons 1513 discovery, the Fountain of Youth.

MUMPA is a participating member of American Writers and Illustrators. He received his degree in Education and Government from Kent State University and a CFP degree from the College for Financial Planning in Denver, Colorado. He has been a CFP instructor at the University of Akron, operated a 14-person financial and estate planning firm, and has traveled the globe extensively.

Media ContactCompany Name: Happy Self PublishingContact Person: MUMPA Lawrence DurbinEmail: Send EmailPhone: +754-248-2488Country: United StatesWebsite: http://www.happyselfpublishing.com/

See the original post here:

Explore the Thrills of Human Immortality with 1000 YEARS of Talks with GOD - Digital Journal

MIT biology professor Yukiko Yamashita has spent much of her career exploring how asymmetrical cell divisions occur. This type of cell division allows cells to differentiate into different types of tissue, and also helps germline cells such as eggs and sperm to maintain their viability from generation to generation. Credit: M. Scott Brauer

The MIT biologist Yukiko Yamashitas research has shed light on the immortality of germline cells and the function of junk DNA.

When cells divide, they usually generate two identical daughter cells. However, there are some important exceptions to this rule: When stem cells divide, they often produce one differentiated cell along with another stem cell, to maintain the pool of stem cells.

Yukiko Yamashita has spent much of her career exploring how these asymmetrical cell divisions occur. These processes are critically important not only for cells to develop into different types of tissue, but also for germline cells such as eggs and sperm to maintain their viability from generation to generation.

We came from our parents germ cells, who used to be also single cells who came from the germ cells of their parents, who used to be single cells that came from their parents, and so on. That means our existence can be tracked through the history of multicellular life, Yamashita says. How germ cells manage to not go extinct, while our somatic cells cannot last that long, is a fascinating question.

Yamashita, who began her faculty career at the University of Michigan, joined MIT and the Whitehead Institute in 2020, as the inaugural holder of the Susan Lindquist Chair for Women in Science and a professor in the Department of Biology. She was drawn to MIT, she says, by the eagerness to explore new ideas that she found among other scientists.

When I visited MIT, I really enjoyed talking to people here, she says. They are very curious, and they are very open to unconventional ideas. I realized I would have a lot of fun if I came here.

By studying fruit flies, Yukiko Yamashita has discovered the function of DNA segments that were previously thought to be junk. Credit: MIT

Before she even knew what a scientist was, Yamashita knew that she wanted to be one.

My father was an admirer of Albert Einstein, so because of that, I grew up thinking that the pursuit of the truth is the best thing you could do with your life, she recalls. At the age of 2 or 3, I didnt know there was such a thing as a professor, or such a thing as a scientist, but I thought doing science was probably the coolest thing I could do.

Yamashita majored in biology at Kyoto University and then stayed to pursue her PhD, studying how cells make exact copies of themselves when they divide. As a postdoc at Stanford University, she became interested in the exceptions to that carefully orchestrated process, and began to study how cells undergo divisions that produce daughter cells that are not identical. This kind of asymmetric division is critical for multicellular organisms, which begin life as a single cell that eventually differentiates into many types of tissue.

Those studies led to a discovery that helped to overturn previous theories about the role of so-called junk DNA. These sequences, which make up most of the genome, were thought to be essentially useless because they dont code for any proteins. To Yamashita, it seemed paradoxical that cells would carry so much DNA that wasnt serving any purpose.

I couldnt really believe that huge amount of our DNA is junk, because every time a cell divides, it still has the burden of replicating that junk, she says. So, my lab started studying the function of that junk, and then we realized it is a really important part of the chromosome.

When I visited MIT, I really enjoyed talking to people here, Yamashita says. They are very curious, and they are very open to unconventional ideas. I realized I would have a lot of fun if I came here. Credit: M. Scott Brauer

In human cells, the genome is stored on 23 pairs of chromosomes. Keeping all of those chromosomes together is critical to cells ability to copy genes when they are needed. Over several years, Yamashita and her colleagues at the University of Michigan, and then at MIT, discovered that stretches of junk DNA act like bar codes, labeling each chromosome and helping them bind to proteins that bundle chromosomes together within the cell nucleus.

Without those barcodes, chromosomes scatter and start to leak out of the cells nucleus. Another intriguing observation regarding these stretches of junk DNA was that they have much greater variability between different species than protein-coding regions of DNA. By crossing two different species of fruit flies, Yamashita showed that in cells of the hybrid offspring flies, chromosomes leak out just as they would if they lost their barcodes, suggesting that the codes are specific to each species.

We think that might be one of the big reasons why different species become incompatible, because they dont have the right information to bundle all of their chromosomes together into one place, Yamashita says.

Yamashitas interest in stem cells also led her to study how germline cells (the cells that give rise to eggs and sperm cells) maintain their viability so much longer than regular body cells across generations. In typical animal cells, one factor that contributes to age-related decline is loss of genetic sequences that encode genes that cells use continuously, such as genes for ribosomal RNAs.

A typical human cell may have hundreds of copies of these critical genes, but as cells age, they lose some of them. For germline cells, this can be detrimental because if the numbers get too low, the cells can no longer form viable daughter cells.

Yamashita and her colleagues found that germline cells overcome this by tearing sections of DNA out of one daughter cell during cell division and transferring them to the other daughter cell. That way, one daughter cell has the full complement of those genes restored, while the other cell is sacrificed.

That wasteful strategy would likely be too extravagant to work for all cells in the body, but for the small population of germline cells, the tradeoff is worthwhile, Yamashita says.

If skin cells did that kind of thing, where every time you make one cell, you are essentially trashing the other one, you couldnt afford it. You would be wasting too many resources, she says. Germ cells are not critical for viability of an organism. You have the luxury to put many resources into them but then let only half of the cells recover.

Read this article:

Unraveling Stem Cells' Secrets: Immortality of Germline Cells and the Function of Junk DNA - SciTechDaily

This month could be your chance to win a stunning hamper from the Celtic company 'Moon Mn' in partnership with the Irish Heritage Tree.

Moon Mn Women's Celtic Circles is an international community of women, whose heart beats with Celtic soul and is for those who love the Moon, Celtic and nature-inspired books, diaries, journals, and gifts.

During the month of April, Moon Mn is giving one lucky IrishCentral reader a chance to win a hamper which includes the fully illustrated book "Goddesses of Ireland - Ancient Wisdom for Modern Women", leaf jewelry pendant and earrings set, a moonlight candle pot and their iconic 'Phases of the Moon' luxury velvet art cushion.

If you would like to enter the competition to win a fabulous Moon Mn hamper all you have to do is complete the form below:

The competition closing date is May 12, 2022.

An extract from the Moon Mn Diary-Journal 2022 by Dr. Karen Ward.

Known as The Tree of Enchantment the Willow tree in Irish Gaelic is Saille/Sail/Saileach similar to the Latin term Salix. There are three varieties native to Ireland - the Rusty, the Grey, and the intriguingly titled Goat.

This beautiful deciduous tree grows in damp soil reaching 35-50 feet in height with green elongated leaves and extremely strong stems, branches, and roots. The male and female catkins flower on different trees and are pollinated both by insects and the wind. One of the fastest growing trees, Willow has a short lifespan of about 30 years with its branches often called sallies referring to its Irish and Latin names.

Willows amazing ability to take root from the tiniest twig pushed into the earth symbolizes the hope of rebirth while raindrops from the drooping branches of the willow resemble tears hence the weeping Willow. Thus associated with water and moonlight, so beloved by witches means this distinctive tree is a symbol of grief and immortality.

Did you know that... Willows coppiced and the pliable wood is impermeable to water and so was used to make clogs, cricket bats, house building, baskets, lobster pots, bee-hives and coracle boats? Also, Willows natural compound salicin is used in the production of the painkiller aspirin. For thousands of years, herbalists knew that the chewed bark, twigs, and leaves would heal fevers, rheumatism, indigestion, headaches, and childbirth pains.

As the Ogham tree S for the 5th lunar month 15th April - 12th May, Willow is one of the seven sacred trees of the Irish grove according to Robert Graves.

The Druids added its wood to their Bealtaine (also Beltane) fires and folk names include Osier, Sallow, Witches Aspirin, Wicker and Withy. As a symbol of grief, the Celts planted Willow by graves so the soul could rise to immortality continued nowadays with the use of eco-coffins.

Great Mother Willow a Willow Tree story extract from the Moon Mn Diary-Journal 2022 by Katherine Piccott, Word-weaver, Goddess Lover, Moon-watcher, Star-gazer and Canadian Family Business Co-Owner:

"I remember the day when I first saw the Great Willow tree in our local park. I was in wonderment of her shape and size, as if from a fairy tale or another mystical realm. When I was a child walking through her branches that grew downward, felt as if opening curtains to a magical place full of secrets yet to be discovered. Awakening my inner child's curiosity, my eyes looked upward at her mighty trunk carved with initials, names, and hearts, of people and lovers that came to visit her beauty.

Facebook: Katherine Piccott

As I blossomed into my teenage years the Great Willow was a constant in my life, as the local park was the place to gather and hang out with friends. It was the place where I would meet my future husband, where we would court and the place we would bring our own children to visit over the years. She has watched me grow from a child into a young woman. In my late thirties, I began to deepen into my spiritual journey of self. Discovering what touched and spoke to my soul, my truths, and personal beliefs, I was drawn many times to the Great Willow for her guidance and medicine. She offered me a place of comfort, peace and solitude, a sacred place where my soul could just be. She always welcomed me, holding me in her mighty branches, that wrapped around me in her great arms of love.

Now we sit together, my growth mirroring hers, both of us rooted deeply in the foundations of who we are. Harsh weather and mighty winds have battered us, tossing us about in life, swaying and bending us in all directions. It is in this deep, rooted foundation we hold strength and hope, riding out these storms in life, becoming a beautiful and graceful dance of releasing.

Like the Great Willow, I reach upward from this solid foundation of self, towards father sun, mother moon, and star brothers and sister, their lighted rays bringing in new vision, perspective, and growth. And like the carvings upon her trunk - all those who have touched her soul, so have the people I have met upon my lifes voyage.

Their blessings and lessons are a part of me, as much as I am a part of them. For me, the Great Willows branches are her most beautiful aspect. How they reach outward to return downward as if to kiss Mother Earth, a giving back of respect. There are many pathways I have branched out on, high, low, twisted, and straight and all return me back to Mother Earth, to honour her, to release into her, and to heal from her, giving heartfelt thanks for all she has blessed upon me.

The Great Mother Willow represents my birthing to my returning. She is the wisdom keeper of all above, below, and in between. She is my continuous place of comfort and peace. She is my cocoon of love, as she wraps me in her mothering arms.

Moon Mn Women's Celtic Circles is an international community of women, whose heart beats with Celtic soul, mn being the word for women in the Irish Gaelic language and pronounced meh-naw. We commune daily through the pages of the Moon Mn Diary-Journal while gathering online for Lunar Gatherings and ceremonial Rites of Passage Courses. Find out more here.

You can follow Moon Mn on Facebook and Instagram or e-mail them at moonmna@moonmna.ie

This article is proudly presented in collaboration with Moon Mn and Irish Heritage Tree Program.

Here is the original post:

GIVEAWAY: How you can win this fabulous Celtic hamper from Moon Mn - IrishCentral