Bury Me with OEM* Parts Only!
*Original Equipment Manufacturer
Ray Kurzweil predicts by the year 2045 “humans will achieve digital immortality by uploading their minds to computers.” This event is referred to as the singularity. Once singularity arrives we can forego our human bodies and exist forever through mind-clones which are created from mind-files that run on mind-ware. What next? Mind-sex? Mind-rebirth? You may scoff, but Martine Rothblatt who introduced the concept of mind-whatevers has laid out a series of issues to be considered for this new technology including mind-clone civil rights, procreation and reanimation after death.
Now maybe you think this is not such a bad thing after all. One could argue that we would continue on in a sort of cloud storage, not taking up much physical space and certainly not depleting the resources of the planet. That is except for whatever form of energy will be used to power our mind-files storage devices. But I ask you to consider, who will be maintaining your mind-files? What about mind-files hackers? Will mind-files virus protection be available? And what type of power source will have to be invented that can guarantee uninterrupted service. But wait, if you aren’t so sure about this choice there are others.
Instead of a cyber existence, technology also offers the possibility of a human-cyborg hybrid. In this futuristic realm, everything external to your brain will be replaced with prosthetics than can be wired directly into and controlled by your brain. Make no mistake; this is no longer science fiction, but science fact.
Electronic skin that can read brain activity was introduced in 2011 and is used to monitor bodily functions. People have been fitted with brain implants that plug into prosthetic limbs and have subsequently learned to manipulate those limbs with their thoughts alone. Bionic exoskeletons have made it possible for paraplegics to walk again.
Aside from the usual devices used to prolong our lives today: dialysis, pacemakers, etc, the future holds the promise for unimaginably advanced technologies. But what about the financial, ethical and moral dilemmas that would be associated with extending our life-span far beyond what we now consider normal? Given the capitalist model of supply and demand, this technology will no doubt come with a large price tag. After all how much would one be willing to pay for immortality? Somehow I don’t see the medical insurance companies picking up the tab for these procedures. Will the underprivileged be denied these life-extending options because they cannot pay…just as the uninsured are turned away today?
In this futuristic world, how will we deal with right to life issue? Will there ever be a time when…say after 200 years…it will be acceptable to request being detached from our cyber or cyborg self and, depending on our belief system, be allowed to enter oblivion, pass on to an afterlife, or be reborn. Now wait a minute, would we be reborn into a human body or a predesigned human-cyborg hybrid? And how would that work? Is it possible to have a cyber afterlife when cyber implies you are already in a state of afterlife’ness?
Speaking of birth brings up another issue. Will the human-cyborg transition take place at a certain point in the human life-cycle? Birth? Puberty? Retirement? Will we birth our children ourselves or will they come into the world through hybrid wombs?
At this point you are probably thinking that I must be the world’s biggest luddite. Let me assure you I am not. I embrace technology as a good thing when it enhances our life experiences. But not when it interferes with our humanity, leads us into a false sense of security or encourages us to think we could not possibly exist without it. For instance social media has many good uses, but think about how radically our social interactions have changed since it has become the norm for communicating within our social circle. Don’t you ever miss sitting and talking with your best friend on the phone just so you could hear their voice?
As for me, I like the life cycle just the way it is. I would rather live out my life in a non-cyber reality where I can smell the roses in my garden with my own nose, hear the ocean with my own ears, and see the smiling faces of my loved ones with my own eyes. And I am not too excited about the human-cyborg option either. So, please bury me with my original manufacturer’s equipment and as few replacement parts as possible.
