Can Transhumanism Help Achieve Human Immortality? – Science World Report

First Posted: Mar 23, 2017 04:34 AM EDT

Chappie as seen in the movie that introduces us to transhumanism. (Photo : Sony Pictures Entertainment/YouTube screenshot)

When one sees the fictional characters in movies, especially the immortal ones like the robot in the movie Chappie, would not one feel if that were possible in real life? If yes, could a person be immortal somehow? Technically, that is an elusive possibility, which is what Marc O'Connell's famous book on transhumanism speaks of.

People's organic body rots away with time, but there is a process that can stop it. Scientists have been using cryogenic facilities to keep various organs alive and healthy, so why not apply that to a fully functional human body?

As per research work at Alcor Life Extension Foundation, which performs cryogenic researches, as a person dies, the body can be immediately taken to a liquid nitrogen-filled chambers and frozen to keep it fresh. Either the whole body is frozen or just the head, and it is kept that way till the day comes when proper facilities are available to transfer the consciousness or similar attributes in humans into machines, according toNPR. The process is quite similar to what people do with fruits and vegetables. They are stored in refrigerators to keep them fresh. The same when done with human bodies or organs to also keep them fresh for very long periods.

When speaking to O'Connell, he noted of his obsession to understand the scientific ways to achieve immortality in humans. His book, To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death,notes of the humanly desires to become an actual God. Even the opening page of his book offers a famous quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson saying, "A man is a God in ruins." This gives readers an insight that his books are planned towards a quest to learn more or achieve human immortality.

As noted by O'Connell, man is considered to be a defective God. He notes that since the occurrence of "The Fall," humans have lost their powers of immortality. Thus, they have been searching ways to restore it. Will science be able to help achieve it? Or is the dream of achieving human immortality just a myth? Let us assume that scientific ways are there to make it possible, but it would require one to be transferred to a non-human entity. Will people be willing to give up their organic self to achieve this?

The concept behind achieving human immortality is based on transferring one's life essence into an artificial machine. But, O'Connell says that it is impossible to do so at the moment. According to him, the human body is the very essence of life. Also, transferring it to some machine would not be achievable with merely codes and connections.

However, people should know that transhumanism exists. Even their interacting with the world through cell phones is a mode of transhumanism. Therefore, people might look up for mixing with machines and moving a step towards human immortality.

Tagstranshumanism, cryogenics, Human Immortality, Marc O' Connell

Read this article:

Can Transhumanism Help Achieve Human Immortality? - Science World Report