The coronavirus may have you thinking about your mortality. At the end of the day, humans only have one life on this planet. Even more so, we are pretty fragile, prone to disease, destructive, and a bit stubborn. Since the beginning of time, humans have longed for eternal life," - the ability to extend ones life and youth far beyond its current limits. Nevertheless, you have to give humans their props for increasing their species life expectancy across the board over the last 200 years.
For the uninitiated, life expectancy is the expected number of years of life remaining at a particular age. Yet, as you are probably already wondering, how long can humans live? According to Our World in Data, the average life expectancy is 72.6 years. Yet as you are probably aware, there are select groups of people across the world, especially in wealthier nations, that have well exceeded this number. Some people have gone on to live 100 years, 110 years, and even beyond, with Jeane Calment of France living 122 years and 164 days.
But can humans live even longer? If you could, how long would you want to live? 200 years? 500 years? Maybe a full millennium? Though this might seem like a bit of science fiction, technology could advance to the point where humans could live forever. In fact, some futurists argue that if you make it to 2050, you are probably not going to die. So, stay inside, please.
Futurist Dr. Ian Pearson has gone on to argue that by using the power of technology, humanity might be able to merge our minds with machines, making our bodies obsolete. You could end up attending your own body funeral. Pearson paints the picture of this future,stating, One day, your body dies, and with it, your brain stops, but no big problem, because 99% of your mind is still fine, running happily on IT, in the cloud. Assuming you saved enough and prepared well, you connect to an android to use as your body from now on, attend your funeral, and then carry on as before, still you, just with a younger, highly upgraded body.
And this is just the beginning, beyond 2050, there could be many different ways you may be able to preserve your mind and consciousness. Humans might just switch to different humanoid bodies after a certain period the same way you might buy a new car with new features. Or thanks to projects like Neuralink, your mind may just be a few simple clicks away from downloading yourself into a computer or robotic body. Maybe thousands of years from now, all of humanity may decide it is better for humans to live in a massive megastructure that practically generates our own reality.
Today that is what we are going to explore. There is plenty of technology out there that could potentially change the entire direction of humanity, posing the question; will humans eventually be able to live forever?
Like most of the things on this list, this sounds like something out of a science fiction film. Yet people like University of Southern Californias Theodore Berger, Duke Universitys Mikhail Lebedev, and Alexander Kaplan of Moscow University, all believe its possible. There are already companies out there working on ways to link our minds to machines. At the moment, there are more practical reasons for this. like offering those who have mobility disabilities the ability to live more normal and fulfilling lives.
However, it can go even further than that. The mind will be in the cloud, and be able to use any android that you feel like to inhabit the real world,says Pearson. It could get to a point in which you can hire an android body for the day. Rather than travel to Jamaica, just upload your brain to an android stationed in Jamaica. Or maybe there is a great concert that you want to see, but the band is in another city thousands of miles away. You may be able to simply upload yourself to experience the show. The result of this is that humans may never need a fleshy body again.
3D printing has come a long way, virtually impacting almost every major industry across the world, including healthcare. Just in the past couple of years, researchers from separate organizations and private institutions have found ways to 3D print organs. A team of researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel unveiled a 3D printed heart with human tissue and vessels just last year.
Companies like Skorpio Medical have gone as far as to begin research in the realms of 3D printed limbs. In the near future, you may be able to simply renew a body part when it goes bad. Your body gets more and more limited as you get older. Advances in biotechnologies could put an end to this. Even more so, genetic engineering could eventually prevent the aging of cells or completely reverse it altogether. Lose a finger? Simply print a new one? Need a new arm? Call up a doctor and have them reinstall one.
Cryogenic freezing has its fair share of skeptics, but over the years, the scientific community has slowly embraced the idea. Now, you cannot freeze yourself yet and wake up, but there could be a future in which you simply put your body on ice for extended periods of time to be awakened on a given date or time.
This could come in handy during trips to distant planets hundreds of light-years away. Nevertheless, cryogenic freezing is simply an option for people who want to freeze their bodies when they pass away with the aims of bringing them back during a time period where science makes it possible. However, there is some research that centers around using cryonics to slow tissue aging.
You have probably heard it before, but we are probably living in a virtual world, at least that is one people who buy into simulation theory believe. However, in the coming age of electronic immortality, living in the virtual world may become an alternative to living in the current one. Think of it like that episode of San Junipero from the popular Netflix series Black Mirror. Perhaps in the future, androids are extremely expensive, but the cheaper alternative is to have some humans uploaded into a cloud-based virtual reality system, a place where you could spend all eternity living in peace with an avatar of your choosing. Most people already live on the internet, so in most cases, it is just a matter of time?
But, what could come after creating a virtual world? Though this could happen far beyond 2050, we are talking thousands of years; it could be possible. In short, humanity might be able to simulate reality on a universal scale using what is known as a matrioshka brain. Based on the Dyson sphere, a matrioshka brain is a hypothetical megastructure proposed by Robert J. Bradbury. The idea was proposed when imagining the type of highly advanced civilizations that are out there in the universe as this would be an impressive Class B stellar engine, employing the entire energy output of a star to drive computer systems.
Our entire species could be uploaded on this computer system able to simulate reality and remake the universe as we know it. Though this idea may seem far from reality, the idea of uploading the mind to a computer seemed like a distant fantasy at some point.
One of the lesser-known projects that Elon Musk is working on centers around the star-up Neuralink. The company has ambitious plans to directly link brains and computers using a simple, noninvasive device that we can install in our brains. The current fascination with brain-computer interface centers around helping those with neurological mobility issues. However, Musks project extends far beyond that. The eventual goal is to create a "digital superintelligence layer" to link humans with artificial intelligence. As stated in the Neuralink San Francisco presentation, "Ultimately, we can do a full brain-machine interface where we can achieve a sort of symbiosis with AI."
But why stop there? Developments in robotics and prosthetics could open the gates to human-robot hybrids. You may be able to simply go in for a procedure to get bionic eyes, a robotic arm, new legs, etc., all with features that suit your needs and wildest dreams. Just like a toolbox, you could be able to switch out different arms, fingers, and legs for different activities.
Do you think it will be possible for humans to live forever? Share your opinion in the comment section.
Read more:
- Inside facility storing hundreds of corpses with the hope of using technology to restore them to full health - UNILAD - March 18th, 2024 [March 18th, 2024]
- Cryonics: Could you live forever? | BBC Science Focus Magazine - April 8th, 2023 [April 8th, 2023]
- Introduction to Cryonics - Alcor - February 18th, 2023 [February 18th, 2023]
- Inside Philip Rhoades' bid to be frozen in a new Australian cryonics ... - February 15th, 2023 [February 15th, 2023]
- About Cryonics - The Cryonics Institute - February 2nd, 2023 [February 2nd, 2023]
- Ted Williams - Wikipedia - November 25th, 2022 [November 25th, 2022]
- Arizona cryonics facility preserves bodies to revive later - November 23rd, 2022 [November 23rd, 2022]
- 200 Frozen Heads and Bodies Await Revival at This Arizona Cryonics Facility - Smithsonian Magazine - October 21st, 2022 [October 21st, 2022]
- Why the sci-fi dream of cryonics never died - MIT Technology Review - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- 3 Things That Kept Me Up After The Kardashians, Season 2, Episode 4 - British Vogue - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- Think Outside The (Titanium) Box: Isochoric Cryopreservation Could Save Lives - Forbes - October 17th, 2022 [October 17th, 2022]
- 184 Frozen Bodies Are Waiting To Be Resurrected | History of Yesterday - History of Yesterday - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- The First Person To Be Cryonically Frozen and Preserved for the Future - History of Yesterday - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- Why TV vampires have our undying attention - The Boston Globe - October 8th, 2022 [October 8th, 2022]
- David Suzuki: Gaia theorist James Lovelock was always ahead of the times - NOW Toronto - August 10th, 2022 [August 10th, 2022]
- expert reaction to paper suggesting that cellular and tissue function can be restored in pigs after death - Science Media Centre - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- David Suzuki: Gaia theorist James Lovelock was always ahead of the times - The Georgia Straight - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- Does Life on Earth Have a Purpose to Ancient Ghost Tracks of the West (Planet Earth Report) - The Daily Galaxy --Great Discoveries Channel - August 6th, 2022 [August 6th, 2022]
- Cryonics Technology for Pet Market Is Expected to Boom | Praxair,Cellulis,Cryologics,Cryotherm,KrioRus,VWR,Thermo Fisher Scientific - Digital Journal - June 24th, 2022 [June 24th, 2022]
- Cryonics company hopes to use legal loophole to freeze people alive - June 22nd, 2022 [June 22nd, 2022]
- Russian Cryonics Couple Danila Medvedev and Valerija Udalova's Bad Breakup Led to Heist Of Frozen Brains - The Daily Beast - April 11th, 2022 [April 11th, 2022]
- Buckys 10 Trigger Words Explained - Bucky's Metal Arm - February 24th, 2022 [February 24th, 2022]
- Severance Offers a Surreal, Allegorical Twist on Work-Life Balance - The Ringer - February 19th, 2022 [February 19th, 2022]
- U.S. Cryonics Lab Currently Keeping The Heads And Bodies ... - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Preserving Bodies in a Deep Freeze: 50 Years Later ... - February 17th, 2022 [February 17th, 2022]
- Suspended animation - Wikipedia - January 24th, 2022 [January 24th, 2022]
- Delving into the sci-fi world of cryonics - SaskToday.ca - January 24th, 2022 [January 24th, 2022]
- Cryonics Technology Market Overview by Industry Dynamics, Regional Analysis and Forecast 2021 to 2026 Industrial IT - Industrial IT - January 3rd, 2022 [January 3rd, 2022]
- If cryonics suddenly worked, wed need to face the fallout ... - December 13th, 2021 [December 13th, 2021]
- Cryonics Institute - Wikipedia - December 13th, 2021 [December 13th, 2021]
- Frozen for the future: Does Minnesota have any cryonics ... - December 13th, 2021 [December 13th, 2021]
- News - Cryonics: Alcor Life Extension Foundation - November 17th, 2021 [November 17th, 2021]
- Death - Wikipedia - November 17th, 2021 [November 17th, 2021]
- How much would you pay to come back from the dead? The starting price is 60k - The Telegraph - November 13th, 2021 [November 13th, 2021]
- Review: Irresistible and observant realms of science fiction revealed in 19 stories - SF Chronicle Datebook - November 13th, 2021 [November 13th, 2021]
- Humans could 'live forever' as firm offers 'immortality' freezing for 478-a-year - Ammon News - October 30th, 2021 [October 30th, 2021]
- Halloween fun to be had at Metro area haunted houses - Polk.Today - October 30th, 2021 [October 30th, 2021]
- Cryonics Technology Market to Witness Highest Growth In Near Future | Praxair, Cellulis, Cryologics, Cryotherm, KrioRus, VWR, Thermo Fisher Scientific... - October 15th, 2021 [October 15th, 2021]
- Fact check: False claim that Walt Disneys frozen body will be thawed in December - USA TODAY - October 3rd, 2021 [October 3rd, 2021]
- Will Walt Disney's Frozen Body Be Thawed in December 2021? - Snopes.com - October 3rd, 2021 [October 3rd, 2021]
- Scorned wife raids ex-husbands cryogenics lab stealing frozen brains of people who hoped to be brought b... - The Sun - September 12th, 2021 [September 12th, 2021]
- Two cryopreservation companies, run by ex-spouses, fight over frozen corpses and one tries to remove the bo... - Market Research Telecast - September 12th, 2021 [September 12th, 2021]
- Could suspended animation send you into the future to become the smartest person alive? - SYFY WIRE - September 2nd, 2021 [September 2nd, 2021]
- Conclusive Study of Cryonics Technology market 2021 forecast to 2027 The Manomet Current - The Manomet Current - August 20th, 2021 [August 20th, 2021]
- UFOs and the Boundaries of Science - Boston Review - August 4th, 2021 [August 4th, 2021]
- Frequently Asked Questions | Cryonics Institute - July 12th, 2021 [July 12th, 2021]
- Is Walt Disney's Body Frozen? - Biography - July 10th, 2021 [July 10th, 2021]
- Jeanette Winterson, stone gods, oranges are not the only ... - July 10th, 2021 [July 10th, 2021]
- Cryonics Technology Market to Eyewitness Massive Growth by 2028: Praxair, Cellulis, Cryologics The Manomet Current - The Manomet Current - July 7th, 2021 [July 7th, 2021]
- Corrections: July 4, 2021 - The New York Times - July 5th, 2021 [July 5th, 2021]
- The cryonics industry would like to give you the past year, and many more, back - bdnews24.com - June 28th, 2021 [June 28th, 2021]
- Cryonics Technology Market Analytical Overview, Growth Factors, Demand and Trends Forecast to 2027 The ERX News - The ERX News - June 28th, 2021 [June 28th, 2021]
- Cryonics During the Pandemic - The New York Times - June 27th, 2021 [June 27th, 2021]
- Heres what a trend-analyzing A.I. thinks will be the next big thing in tech - Digital Trends - June 27th, 2021 [June 27th, 2021]
- Global Cryonics Technology Market 2021: Size, Application, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies Analysis and Forecasts To 2026 The ERX News - The... - June 27th, 2021 [June 27th, 2021]
- Cryonics Technology Market Pegged for Robust Expansion by 2027 Covid-19 Analysis The Courier - The Courier - June 4th, 2021 [June 4th, 2021]
- Cryonics Technology Market 2021 Is Booming Across the Globe by Share, Size, Growth, Segments and Forecast to 2027 | Top Players Analysis- Praxair,... - April 9th, 2021 [April 9th, 2021]
- Scientist proposes new plan to "resurrect" the dead with a Dyson Sphere, kind of - Boing Boing - April 9th, 2021 [April 9th, 2021]
- Global Cryonics Technology Market Growth in the Forecast Period of 2020 to 2026 With Top Companies: , Buckeye Partners, Shell Pipeline, NuStar Energy,... - April 2nd, 2021 [April 2nd, 2021]
- Cryopreservation - Wikipedia - March 21st, 2021 [March 21st, 2021]
- Will Cryogenically Frozen People Ever Be Revived? - March 21st, 2021 [March 21st, 2021]
- Cryonics Technology Market Statistics, Facts & Figures, Size, Trends and Forecast 2025 by Leading Companies Praxair, Cellulis, Cryologics,... - March 18th, 2021 [March 18th, 2021]
- Dyson spheres: The key to resurrection and immortality? - Big Think - March 18th, 2021 [March 18th, 2021]
- Putting dead heads on ice until the technology catches up - Sifted - February 2nd, 2021 [February 2nd, 2021]
- Global Cryonics Technology Market Detailed analysis of current Industry figures with forecasts growth by 2028 | Top Players; Praxair, Cellulis,... - January 19th, 2021 [January 19th, 2021]
- Cryonic Preservation Technique Lets You Preserve Your Body And Wake Up In The Future - ED Times - January 17th, 2021 [January 17th, 2021]
- Global Cryonics Technology Market (2020) to Witness Huge Growth by 2026 | Praxair, Cellulis, Cryologics, Cryotherm, KrioRus, VWR, and more -... - January 17th, 2021 [January 17th, 2021]
- Intelliconnect (Europe) Ltd. - Cryogenics and connecting the cold bits - Design Products & Applications - January 5th, 2021 [January 5th, 2021]
- Cryonics Technology Market Key Trends, Drivers, Challenges and Standardization To 2020-2026 - PRnews Leader - October 20th, 2020 [October 20th, 2020]
- Cryonics - Wikipedia - June 1st, 2020 [June 1st, 2020]
- What Is Cryonics? - How Cryonics Works | HowStuffWorks - June 1st, 2020 [June 1st, 2020]
- The False Science of Cryonics | MIT Technology Review - June 1st, 2020 [June 1st, 2020]
- Here's How Far Cryonic Preservation Has Come in the 50 ... - June 1st, 2020 [June 1st, 2020]
- Disrupting death: Could we really live forever in digital form? - CNET - June 1st, 2020 [June 1st, 2020]
- Research Report, Growth Trends and Competitive Analysis 2020-2026 - Cole of Duty - May 14th, 2020 [May 14th, 2020]
- Why Was Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams Decapitated? - Sportscasting - May 14th, 2020 [May 14th, 2020]
- Does Trump know his own government indirectly bankrolls some key promoters of the Russiagate hoax? - RT - May 14th, 2020 [May 14th, 2020]
- Oxford academic claims future humans could live for thousands of years - Express.co.uk - March 23rd, 2020 [March 23rd, 2020]
- Cryonics, Dakota the Dog, and the Hope of Forever - Gizmodo - March 5th, 2020 [March 5th, 2020]
- Meet the Man Who Looks After Nederland's Frozen Dead Guy - 5280 | The Denver Magazine - March 5th, 2020 [March 5th, 2020]