100 trillion connections, that's all we would need to download our brains and live infinitely on a computer, it does sound like a lot but with the way technology is moving that could soon be a reality and an alternative to a coffin.
I'm not sure I'm on board with this idea though, while I normally love the perks and ideas that technology brings forth, this idea has me less than enthused. I do think it would be nice to be able to talk with a loved one after their body has left this world, but the thought of them trapped inside a machine does not put my mind at ease.
Let's say this is a total possibility, and somehow we could capture the soul of another person, leaving out all pain from disease and old age. Then when we kick the bucket, we get to join them in their electronic limbo and the cycle repeats itself. I find myself wondering if it would be like living in the matrix and using Skype to video chat with someone in the living world.
This sounds like a movie and not a possibility for our future. I'm not sure I like the idea of my mother inside one of these things, alone and waiting for us to contact her one day. After her transference to the digital realm I'm sure she would have someone to talk to everyday for a few months until the novelty wore off, then people would only chat with her occasionally. That and the fact that she would never be able to hug a grandchild or one of her children bothers me as well.
We could speculate that by downloading Albert Einstein's brain that he could still help us with the mathematically challenging unanswered questions of the universe. What if he didn't want to? What if he or any other famous genius decided that they didn't want to help anymore?
The important thing to remember about your brain is that it is yours, and only you know how to work it. Einstein's brain didn't just pop out equations, he had to sit and ponder these things, sometimes for years, so just because you download his complete psyche into a machine does not mean that you or anyone else will be able to use it. It's a complex machine that only he knew how to use.
Obviously this has serious religious ramifications as well, I'm sure the churches around the globe will have something to say about this and it will not be good. Going to heaven will take on a whole different meaning.
Yay or Nay, What do you think?
Scott Goerz
