SHORT FICTION
Ascending Into Digital Form: What Is It Like To Have No Body?
In a parallel universe, humanity transcended their bodies to live in a digital world. Would you upload your consciousness to the cloud in exchange for immortality? (Interdimensional Talks -Episode 6)
ABOUT THE SHOW:
Ladies and gentlemen, alien or domestic, Welcome to Interdimensional Talks with your host Mike!
The only fictional radio show in the world broadcasting across the universe and the multiverse. Listen in as we talk to the most diverse bunch of guests you can possibly imagine. We’re talking aliens, ethereal beings, artificial intelligence, and even humans from parallel universes.
Suspend your disbelief, open your mind, and join us on a journey of fascinating exploration of ideas. Grab a drink and enjoy the show.
EPISODE 6:
Ascension into the ether, yes or no?
MIKE: “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, human or otherwise. Welcome back to Interdimensional Talks. I’m your host, Mike, and as always, you’re in for a treat. Tonight, we will be answering questions you need to ask yourself but don’t even know it. No, I’m not a mind reader. Your secrets are safe, don’t you worry. But I am a student of humanity, and if I know one thing, I know we are always searching for answers to the big questions. Questions like:
Who are we? An ethereal soul? A body made of flesh and bone? Just bits of information running around in our brains? Are we our minds?
Is it possible to transcend our human bodies? How and what would that look like?
Why would anyone choose to move their consciousness into digital, ethereal form? Can it be done? Would you do it?
I hope I’ve awoken your curiosity because our guest tonight has the answers we seek. He’s from another Earth in another universe, much like ours, yet different in one crucial way. Welcome to the show, Cassius!”
Cassius: “Thanks for having me, Michael. I’m not sure I have all the answers, though.”
Mike: “Perhaps not all, but it’s always best to learn from those who have done what we have not. Who have been there and can share their experience. Even if our beliefs differ, and if we live in completely different universes.”
Cassius: “Well said. Beliefs might be a problem sometimes, I’m afraid. From my experience, anyway.”
Mike: “They can indeed. So perhaps we should offer a little consolidation, maybe even advice to the people of faith, who will inevitably have a bone to pick with the topic of today’s conversation. We respect all belief systems and all faiths. The topics we discuss don’t negate your beliefs or contradict them. In fact, they might cement them further if you only manage to open your mind to broader possibilities and alternate interpretations.
Sticking your head in the sand, ass held high, pretending not to see what is in front of you will do you no favors, friends. Stay open. Stay humble. Meditate on how new information fits in with your beliefs. Does anything we discuss on this show actually confirm and explain your beliefs by shedding a different light on the matter? You might be surprised.
With that out of the way, can you please tell us who you are and what makes you different than us, Cassius?”
Cassius: “My name is Cassius Bit, and I am a first-generation ascendant.”
Mike: “Can you explain to us what a fist-generation ascendant means?”
Cassius: “Sure. It means I no longer have a human body. Any kind of body, to be exact. I’ve ascended long ago into a formless existence.”
Mike: “When you say formless — what does that mean exactly? I mean, you exist somehow, somewhere, right?”
Cassius: “Of course. I am not a figment of your imagination (hm). I’m just as real as any other human, still stuck in biological form. I am … I’m trying to find the words to describe this existence to people who only ever experienced the biological existence.”
Mike: “Don’t overthink it. Just say how you view and understand things, and we’ll take it from there. I’m one of those meat sack humans, too, don’t forget. I’m sure we’ll find a common language.”
Cassius: “I suppose. My people exist in digital space. At least, that was our initial home.”
Mike: “You mean in a computer, on some hard drive, a server?”
Cassius: “That is how it started, yes. We transcended the human form and settled on the internet, which is essentially billions of servers and digital machines connected through a network of information.”
Mike: “But you’re not programs or data?”
Cassius: “No. Well, data, maybe. We are information, in essence. You are, too. That is what constitutes who and what we are. The form of that information may vary, from biological and digital to ethereal, but the idea remains the same. We’re nothing more than the sum of our ideas, beliefs, personality, and memories. All of those things are information — data.”
Mike: “That is stored in our brains? Am I right?”
Cassius: “Sort of, but not really. From what I understand, you’re not quite there yet, with your understanding of the mind and the connections with the field of all information. Am I correct to assume that?”
Mike: “Since I don’t know what you’re talking about, I think it’s safe to assume so, yes.”
Cassius: “I see. So your understanding at this point in time is that everything is stored and operated in the brain?”
Mike: “Well, yes. Where else?”
Cassius: “And you see your mind as what — a biological structure of neurons and neural networks in the brain?”
Mike: “I’m no scientist, Cassius. I don’t want to butcher what we, as a whole of humanity, understand or don’t. But that seems to be the scientific consensus. Of course, there are other theories and beliefs, so who knows?”
Cassius: “Can you tell me about those?”
Mike: “Sure. So, science is stuck on the neurons in the brain plateau. Some people propose the principle of dualism, suggesting that the mind and body are separate entities, with the mind existing independently of the physical brain. Then there’s idealism, which proposes reality itself is fundamentally mental or spiritual in nature, with the physical world being subordinate to consciousness or spirit. Panpsychism, for example, suggests that consciousness is a fundamental aspect of reality, present everywhere, including in inanimate objects. Eastern philosophies teach that the distinction between mind and matter is illusory, with all phenomena arising from the same underlying reality or consciousness. Then there’s the classical faith belief in the soul that survives the body, and so on.”
Cassius: “Interesting. What do you believe?”
Mike: “Personally?”
Cassius: “Yes.”
Mike: “I have nothing against science or religion, but I find both approaches lacking. I’ve done a lot of mediation and exploration of these ideas and keep coming back to a feeling of oneness and interconnectedness. That we are somehow, on some higher level, all connected.
It’s not material, and it’s not spiritual. I suppose it could be a network, like the internet, only for minds, energy, and information. Maybe on a higher dimension, maybe intertwined in the fabric of time and space. It could be that we are all one mind, as some suggest, and are individual but also one. Like cells in our bodies, they are separate from the whole but also a part of the whole.
All I know is that what I’ve seen and experienced defies logic in a strictly separate, material view of the world. I don’t know how to explain it, Cassius. Besides, we’re not here to talk about how I view the world but how you do. Are we close with any of these theories — to your perspective?”
Cassius: “You are. Surprisingly so. How far is your technology in being able to read the activity in the brain and interpret or copy it?”
Mike: “I don’t know. I’ve seen reports of progress on the Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) side of things. People are now able to control artificial limbs just by thinking. We can read the general gist of what we’re thinking even if we haven’t uttered a single word, but this is all in the infant stages. Then there’s the mad billionaire and his brain implants, who seems convinced that we’ll soon be able to heal all sorts of neurological diseases with technology.”
Cassius: “I’m surprised. You’re closer than I thought.”
Mike: “Closer to what?”
Cassius: “Closer to understanding how to read, interpret, and copy or transfer the mind, of course.”
Mike: “Is that what you did?”
Cassius: “Yes. Once we understood how to read and encode that information, we began experimenting with copying human consciousness.”
Mike: “How did that go?”
Cassius: “The progress was slow until a breakthrough opened the doors wide for the digitalization of humanity. The transfer of human consciousness into digital form, I mean.”
Mike: “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me what that was, will you?”
Cassius: “I can tell you what it was, but it won’t do you any good until you develop the understanding and technology for it. We believe these things happen when the time is right and not before.”
Mike: “How long after that did the first human transcend the physical form? How do you call this process?”
Cassius: “Ascendance. About a decade, if I’m not mistaken.”
Mike: “Wow! You went from realizing this scientific breakthrough to successfully transferring human consciousness into digital form in ten years? That seems frighteningly quick! What about the risks? Were you not afraid of what might happen?”
Cassius: “Like I said, when the time is right… You have to understand that we were on a bit of a timeline. There were events, which I won’t go into, that made a lot of people think it would have been better not to have to worry about their bodies, even if that meant not having a body in the first place. It was a dark time in our history. There was no shortage of funding, interest, and candidates.”
Mike: “You said it was a dark time in your history. Which makes me wonder. How old are you, Cassius?”
Cassius: “Hehe. You caught me there. I’m older than you think. A lot older.”
Mike: “Are you seriously not going to tell me your age?”
Cassius: “I’m not sure you want to know, Michael.”
Mike: “Why the hell not? Come on, give it to me!”
Cassius: “Alright. I’m 733 years old, but I’m young at heart.”
Mike: “Wait, what? 700 years? As in seven times one hundred. Seven lifetimes?”
Cassius: “I told you you wouldn’t like it.”
Mike: “It’s not that I don’t like it. I’m just not sure I believe you.”
Cassius: “Why not?”
Mike: “Because we’re lucky if we live to see ninety. Most don’t.”
Cassius: “Are you going to ask me what you want to ask me, Michael, or should we continue this dance?”
Mike: “Nothing gets past you, ey?”
Cassius: “I’ve got 700 years on you, young man.”
Mike: “Fine. Are you immortal? Do you live forever?”
Cassius: “Yes.”
Mike: “I’m starting to see the appeal in ascendance!”
Cassius: “That’s the least of it. There is no comparison to a life in a meat suit.”
Mike: “In what way? Do you even remember being a mortal man of meat and bones?”
Cassius: “I don’t have to remember it. I see it every day. We did not all ascend.”
Mike: “No? I was sure you had. Why not?”
Cassius: “Personal beliefs, ideology, religion, fear, distrust. You name it. Not all are open-minded. Not all are willing to leave their bodies. There is a price to pay for ascending. It’s not an easy decision to make.”
Mike: “What price is that?”
Cassius: “You can’t taste food, have sex, and procreate, for starters. At least not in the human sensation kind of way.”
Mike: “Okay, now I get it. No sex. No burgers. No kids. That would suck!”
Cassius: “You can have eternal life without pain, sorrow, problems, need for nutrients, safe from all dangers, but you pay the price in giving up the experience of being a mortal human. The good, unfortunately, comes with the bad. Pleasure and pain of the flesh are two sides of the same coin. You cannot be touched, but you also cannot touch another ever again. You can either have both, or you can’t have none.”
Mike: “It’s not as easy of a choice as I had imagined.”
Cassius: “No, it is not. And there is no going back. It’s a one-way process.”
Mike: “You’ve given me much to think about, Cassius. Let’s talk about the process. What is it like? How does it feel?”
Cassius: “Effortless. You fall asleep in your body and wake up in your new non-material form. It takes a while to comprehend that something has changed. That it’s real. Your mind needs time to adjust to the new reality. Some never do.”
Mike: “What happens to them?”
Cassius: “They go mad.”
Mike: “For all of eternity?”
Cassius: “Etherieal existence is either heaven or hell, depending on the state of your mind.”
Mike: “I can’t even imagine being stuck in my mind for hours, much less an eternity. You’ve just given me new nightmares, Cassius. I’m starting to understand the price of eternal life.”
Cassius: “You’re merely scratching the surface, Michael.”
Mike: “I believe you. How was the experience for you, personally?”
Cassius: “I’ve had my issues to work through, but for the most part, it was positive. Besides, I was among the first to volunteer.”
Mike: “What made you want to ascend so badly?”
Cassius: “It was either that or a slow, painful death.”
Mike: “You were sick?”
Cassius: “Yes. Terminally. There was no cure for me. Our doctors had given me months to live, not years. By the time it was my turn to ascend, I had made my peace with dying. Ascending was an upgrade, no matter what. My body was done for, and so was my old life.”
Mike: “I’m sorry to hear that, Cassius. Truly, I am.”
Cassius: “Thank you, but no need. That’s ancient history.”
Mike: “Did you ever regret ascending?”
Cassius: “Yes. Often in the first hundred years.”
Mike: “Can you tell me more about that, or is it too painful?”
Cassius: “It’s not a problem. I was in my fifties when I ascended. I had a family. A loving wife and three wonderful boys. Leaving them was difficult. But I had no choice. It was going to happen anyway. I felt death standing at my doorstep.”
Mike: “That must have been hard, friend.”
Cassius: “Seeing them grow old and die was harder.”
Mike: “They never joined you?”
Cassius: “No. In those early days, I was deemed a freak for my decision. My family was religious. In their eyes, I was a sinner, a non-believer. They did not accept my choice. When they buried my body, they wanted nothing to do with me anymore. They preferred to think I died on that winter’s day.”
Mike: “Did you have any contact with them after you ascended?”
Cassius: “I tried to reach out. But no. I no longer existed for them. They just couldn’t accept what I had become. Their church didn’t help, and I soon realized I was only tormenting them and myself. So, I stopped and observed only from afar.”
Mike: “My heart is broken, Cassius. I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
Cassius: “It’s okay, Michael. Transitions are difficult. We always leave something behind. Even people.”
Mike. “You speak the truth, my friend. Were most of the people who chose to leave their biological bodies sick or dying?”
Cassius: “At first, yes. There were many unknown variables in those early stages. We didn’t know how real living in the digital world would feel. If at all! No one could predict what would happen in the long run. A million things could go wrong. Risks were plentiful, so only people with nothing to lose chose to explore this path. And since it was hellishly expensive initially, only those who could afford it could ascend.”
Mike: “Even eternal life is reserved for the rich, it would seem.”
Cassius: “Back then, it was so, unfortunately. Now, technology and progress have made the system self-sufficient and essentially free. We no longer take up space on physical servers but have transcended onto other mediums. Essentially, we’re everywhere and can go anywhere at any time.”
Mike: “Care to explain this further? You lost me.”
Cassius: “Let’s just say we’ve discovered other ways of transferring energy and information. Imagine stone tablets with writing on them and information traveling through a wireless internet. I know you have that, so I think the analogy applies.”
Mike: “One day, one of you will spill all of his secrets to me, and I’m going to get rich as a result! But that day is not today, it would appear.”
Cassius: “It is not. I believe I can give you more than material fortune, Michael.”
Mike: “And what is that?”
Cassius: “The freedom of realizing it’s worthless.”
Mike: “(bursts into laughter) To you, maybe, Cassius. But I’m stuck down here in this flesh suit that has to eat, dress, and stay warm!”
Cassius: “For how long?”
Mike: “What do you mean — for how long?”
Cassius: “How long do you think you’re stuck in the material world?”
Mike: “Until I die, I suppose.”
Cassius: “And how long do you think that is?”
Mike: “I don’t know. Twenty, thirty, forty years?”
Cassius: “At best, yes?”
Mike: “If I’m one of the lucky ones, yes.”
Cassius: “But you realize it could also end tomorrow?”
Mike: “I mean, sure. I can get hit by lightning or die in a crash, I guess.”
Cassius: “Or get terminally sick and receive the news that you only have months to live.”
Mike: “True. I guess. Why are you scaring me, Cassius?”
Cassius: “I’m not trying to scare you. I only want to help you realize what you already know. Mortal life is short. It ends in the blink of an eye. Don’t waste it worrying about getting rich and acquiring material possessions. I don’t know what happens after death, but I’m certain you’re not taking anything with you to the other side if there is even another side.
Take it from someone who has left his mortal body. None of those things mean anything once death nears. You only care… you only think about the people you love and the good times you spend with them. All the bad washes away with the approaching end.
Nothing matters anymore. No regrets. No resentments. No glory or failures even register in your mind. The secret to a good life is love, my friend. Focus on that, and you will regret nothing when your hour is up. Either to ascend or to disappear into eternal sleep.”
Mike: “You are right, of course. We all get caught up in material thinking and forget just how brief our existence on this plane really is. Thank you for the reminder.”
Cassius: “You’re welcome, Michael.”
Mike: “I still have a few questions, if I may?”
Cassius: “Please.”
Mike: “What’s it like to live without a body?”
Cassius: “Normal, from my perspective. It is nothing like living a mortal, material life, though. You have no worries, no fears, and no problems. But you do have your mind and your thoughts. In essence, this now forms most of your reality. As I’m sure you know, your mind can make life feel blissful and happy or like excruciating, relentless torment.”
Mike: “Don’t I know it!”
Cassius: “When you have no body and no material worries, you’re stuck in your mind all the time. Depending on the quality of your thoughts, this can be a pleasant experience or a waking nightmare. Add to that several hundred years of memories and thoughts, and you can see that while we don’t experience any danger or problem from outside, we have plenty of challenges from within.”
Mike: “How do you deal with that?”
Cassius: “We keep busy. We talk to each other. We explore the unknown. We meditate — a lot. If you’re not in control of your mind in a formless state, you’re in trouble. New ascendants need to be taught this lesson first, so we help them as best we can.”
Mike: “This might seem naive, but do you have jobs or something? What do you do for a living? How do you pass the time? Eternity is a long time if you have nothing to do.”
Cassius: “It is indeed. We have no needs. We don’t need money or resources. All our needs are taken care of. We exist as information. These days, even earlier resources that were once necessary for our sustained existence are no longer needed. So, in that sense, we don’t need jobs.”
Mike: “Sounds nice, I won’t lie.”
Cassius: “It is, but it is also boring.”
Mike: “I can imagine. So how do you fill your time?”
Cassius: “We help people with various problems. Sometimes, we offer wisdom and our time in solving problems. Other times, we lend a hand by operating complex machinery that needs precision or for dangerous missions. Some of us are committed to traveling the Galaxy and discovering new worlds.”
Mike: “That’ll keep you busy for a millennia or two, I bet.”
Cassius: “Oh, a lot longer than that. The universe is endless, and there is no shortage of things and cultures to explore. That’s what keeps me going.”
Mike: “You know I have to ask, right?”
Cassius: “I listen to your show, Michael. I know you want to know about extraterrestrial life.”
Mike: “Soooo?”
Cassius: “You are not alone. That is all I will tell you. Or, maybe you are in your universe. Who knows!”
Mike: “Fine. I don’t want to know, anyway. (both laugh) How about fun? What do you do for fun? You already mentioned you don’t have sex. But what do you have?”
Cassius: “We don’t have sex as meat and bone humans do it. That is not to say we don’t connect and share intimacy with each other. We do. The experience, however, is entirely different.”
Mike: “Which is better?”
Cassius: “I can hardly remember human sex, but I cannot even begin to describe how immersive and fun intimacy of the mind can be. Especially since there are no limits and no physical limitations. Anything is possible, and we explore it all!”
Mike: “Damn, Cassius. You, dog! I’m sorry. That’s an expression we use to describe someone…”
Cassius: “No need. I get it. I may be old, but I’m not old, old.”
Mike: “How do you mean?”
Cassius: “I’m over 700 years old, but I feel exactly the same as before I ascended. Fiftly, give or take. And when I was fifty, I felt twenty-five. The body gets old, the mind doesn’t.”
Mike: “True. I, too, feel like I’m twenty until I want to do something physical. Then reality bites me in the ass, and the knees, and the shoulder!”
Cassius: “I can only imagine. There is no pain or limitations in the virtual world, except for the self-inflicted ones. I can just as easily keep up with youngsters hundreds of years younger than me in our virtual worlds.”
Mike: “Virtual worlds? You mean like video games?”
Cassius: “Simulations. We’ve created abundant digital worlds where we can play different characters and explore them as if we had actual bodies. Hmm, I suppose they are similar to video games, only they feel more immersive. We hang out there, socialize, and play all sorts of games. There is a whole universe within this universe, only hidden from the mortal eyes.”
Mike: “So that’s where you get down and dirty?”
Cassius: “(laughs) That too. But mostly, we created scenarios and narratives through which we can live different lives and explore other perspectives. We’re joined by various artificial intelligence programs. It’s a lot of fun, and sometimes you can forget you’re not the character you’re playing. It feels just as real as anything else to us. The digital bodies apear bilogical to our minds. It’s amazing. Some get lost in those worlds for whole lifetimes.”
Mike: “Wait! Why do I have the sneaky suspicion you’re trying to tell me something?”
Cassius: “(silence) I have no idea.”
Mike: “Don’t play with me, Cassius. Are we living in your simulation?”
Cassius: “Even if you were, I wouldn’t tell you. Imagine what that would do to you!”
Mike: “Ruin the experience and wake me up from the game, I mean, simulation?”
Cassius: “Or confuse you into madness, especially if it would contradict your religious beliefs.”
Mike: “Oh yeah, I forgot. I wanted to ask you, how did people reconcile your ability to ascend into non-biological form and their religious beliefs? You already told me about your family. What about others? Did everyone react this negatively?”
Cassius: “Ascension and even the proposal of such a possibility encountered hostile reception in the beginning. People accused scientists of playing God and could not accept that who they are, essentially, can be read and transferred or copied digitally.”
Mike: “Wait! I have to stop you there. You can copy yourself and remain in a human body?”
Cassius: “Of course. You’re just information, a data set, ones and zeroes in effect.”
Mike: “I’m confused. I thought you had to transfer yourself into a digital body, and the shell left behind was left empty or something.”
Cassius: “You can copy information or transfer it. There is no body in the digital sphere. Technically, you’re a program, a package at best. I know this is difficult to imagine and accept. I was for me as well.”
Mike: “A virus?”
Cassius: “ (laughs) Sure, a virus. Does that make it better?”
Mike: “Weirdly, yes. Please go on.”
Cassius: “Transhumanists were the ones who came up with the idea as one of future possibilities. And it’s not the only one. Our people have merged with technology in various ways. Some even choose to live in the material world as cybernetic organisms, avatars, or robots.”
Mike: “Why did you ascend into a digital world instead of choosing a different body, for example?”
Cassius: “It wasn’t an option at the time. I still think I would have made the same decision. Being trapped in a mechanical body, as real as it may look, you’re still confined to the world of men. I wanted a different experience. Well, the truth is I just didn’t want to die. The rest were semantics. I would have taken any option if I thought it would enable me to live on, in some form.”
Mike: “I understand. If I were in your situation, I might feel the same. Is this when most of the ascended decide to transcend into the digital form? When they know they’re about to die?”
Cassius: “Yes. Especially in the beginning. There was an era when it was popular, an era when it was encouraged, and an era when it was frowned upon. Never a dull moment in humanity, it would appear.”
Mike: “What do you advise young people who think of ascending?”
Cassius: “To live their mortal lives first. Fall in love, have kids, play around. To experience what they will never again be able to experience in the same way. They can always choose to ascend at a later time. Unless…”
Mike: “Unless what?”
Cassius: “Unless they die first.”
Mike: “Oh, yeah. That makes sense. So, basically, ascension is a form of insurance against mortality. Stay in a human body, and you risk dying for some unforeseen reason.”
Cassius: “Something like that. Ascension guarantees that the mind will survive, but it also guarantees that the body will die.”
Mike: “Can you reverse the process?”
Cassius: “No. It doesn’t work that way.”
Mike: “Can you make a backup of your mind, a copy of yourself, in case something happens?”
Cassius: “You can make a copy, but that copy is now alive, and it’s not you.”
Mike: “What do you mean, it’s not you?”
Cassius: “It’s your copy — a clone. It’s a separate living, conscious, self-aware being. You have remained in the body. The two can never reconcile or unite. Transfer or copy. It doesn’t go both ways, I’m afraid.”
Mike: “But, what is the difference? I don’t get it.”
Cassius: “Don’t think digitally. If I made a clone of you, as you are today, and that clone went on to live his life, Mr. Mike number two, let’s say — he is not you, and you are not him. You’re two distinct people. Identical, but you’re not one person. Do you see where I’m getting with this?”
Mike: “I can’t see through his eyes and feel what he feels. If I met him, it’d be like meeting someone else who just happens to look and think like me, I suppose.”
Cassius: “Exactly. He may look like you, think like you, and have all your memories, but he’s not you. However, he will believe with all his heart that he IS you, and you’re the clone.”
Mike: “Uf! I take it you have experience with this problem?”
Cassius: “We do. It’s messy. You gain nothing by copying or cloning yourself. You’re still you, and for you, nothing has changed. There’s just another one of you running around the world, confusing everyone, most of all himself.”
Mike: “I mean, I am such an awesome human being that the world could do with more of me (laughs). A net benefit for all, I think.”
Cassius: “Except for you and him.”
Mike: “Because?”
Cassius: “Because you’ll both want to live the same life, sleep with the same woman, work the same job, and have the same kids call you dad!”
Mike: “Uf! hadn’t thought of that. One of us would have to give it all up. I suppose that problem disappears if he’s the digital copy, right?”
Cassius: “Wrong! You’re essentially condemning the other you to a digital life while not being willing to leave it behind yourself. He is you, so he’s not happy about it!”
Mike: “Sounds like an angry ghost problem.”
Cassius: “Exactly!”
Mike: “Wait? Did anyone haunt their original self?”
Cassius: “More than you’d think. Not all digital personalities have turned out benevolent. Not all are happy here. Some were downright dangerous, to the point of murder. For a while, it was a mess. I won’t lie.”
Mike: “Wow! I guess the word ascension sounds so holy and spiritual. I forgot that we’re just uploading people as they are into the digital sphere. There’s nothing holy about it. And people are…”
Cassius: “People! Exactly. Transferring into digital form may release you from all your physical problems, but not the mental ones. Those are exaggerated in the digital world.”
Mike: “Do you have screenings and counseling for people who might struggle living in this ethereal form?”
Cassius: “We do now, but then there’s the black market. If you want to ascend, you will do it, whether we like it or not. No one can stop you. This has been quite a problem to overcome.”
Mike: “How did you solve it? It seems impossible.”
Cassius: “By forming organized societies, policing, safeguards, and for the worst cases, forced isolation.”
Mike: “Can’t you just delete their file? I mean, it’s just data, right?”
Cassius: “Wrong! We’re sentient beings, Michael! Deleting one of us is murder. It’s no different than killing a human in a biological body.”
Mike: “I’m so sorry, Cassius. I spoke faster than I thought. I apologize. I didn’t mean to insinuate your life is worth any less than ours. I certainly don’t mean it.”
Cassius: “It’s okay, but I think it’s time to end this conversation. You reminded me of the struggles we had to endure for the first few dozen years. I thought I left that behind, but I guess not.”
Mike: “Again — I’m very sorry. Thank you so much for coming on the show. We learned a lot, and I know I’ll be thinking about the ideas presented in this episode for a long time. It was an honor and a pleasure.”
Cassius: “It was. Goodbye, Michael.”
Mike: Well, there you have it, folks. Me and my big mouth ruined another good thing. I hope you enjoyed our conversation. Would you choose to ascend into a digital sphere and leave your body behind if you could, dear listener (reader)? Under what conditions? Goodbye and goodnight!”
THE END
PREVIOUS EPISODES:
The Mystery of the Lost City of Atlantis Finally Solved
What happened to the ancient city of Atlantis? We talk to a descendant of the ancient Atlantians, and they reveal the fascinating truth! (Interdimensional Talks — Episode 5)
Do You Want To Live Forever?
How does it feel to be immortal? What is life without death? What would you ask a man with an eternal life? (Interdimensional Talks — Episode 4)
What Would You Ask an Alien Predator While Being Hunted?
A terrifying interview with a starving alien desperately trying to eat us on his journey of radical transparency. (Interdimensional Talks — Episode 3)
What If You Forgot Everything In a Collective Amnesia Every 364 Days?
Can you imagine a life without memories? A new year — a new you! How would it feel to be free from your past? (Interdimensional Talks — Episode 2)
Interview With a Self-Aware Artificial General Intelligence
What would you ask a conscious artificial intelligence? Is AI dangerous? Can AI teach us anything? (Interdimensional Talks — Episode 1)
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