Sometime ago, I actually had the temerity to publish a post on the subject of death (you can check it out here). It seems only fair that immortality get equal time, so let’s talk about it, a bit. I think a case can be made. Historically, this is a subject that normally resides in religious theory circles, but it occurred to me that taking an objective, scientific approach to the issue might prove intellectually stimulating – possibly even spiritually stimulating. Let’s see what you think.
Current computer technology is deeply involved in the study of artificial intelligence. I’m pretty sure these guys are significantly smarter than I am, although I have never actually tested my I.Q. I have avoided it, because of the possibility of receiving a letter from the testing facility that reads, “Dear Sir, You have a two-digit I.Q. and there is a decimal point involved. Have a nice day”.
R
Brain function research shows that we only use about 4% of our memory capacity and scientists study ways to increase that to 100%. Presently, they are actually able to “read” electric impulses created the synapses of memories and thoughts. They think computers, or more specifically artificial intelligence may be one of the keys to get us closer to 100%. Artificial intelligence is the cutting edge study of machines that perceive their environment and take actions to maximize their success in that environment. They process data with the aim of solving problems. In other words, they “think” and respond. All you Steven Spielberg fans out there will probably remember his 2001 movie, AI Artificial Intelligence. AI is aiming at human level intelligence, that can solve problems and achieve goals in the world, as well as humans. This particular branch of scientific thought took root at the end of World War II. In 1950, Alan Turing, in his article, “Computing Machinery and Intelligcnce” introduced the Turing Test, which says if a machine can successfully pretend to be human to a knowledgeable observer, then we should consider it intelligent. Several respected scientists believe this can be achieved. Others think we will achieve a partial victory and still other scientists, such as Joseph Weizenbaum say that AI is obscene, anti-human and immoral. Perhaps we can leave that discussion for another time.
We’ll get back to computers, but before we get involved in all that, maybe we should discuss what the word “alive” means. It means “not dead”, right? Simple. But is it? I had a little problem with skin cancer, recently and I went to a doctor, who deadened an area on my neck, made an incision, removed a small chunk of my shoulder and neck containing melanoma cells, sewed it up and sent me on my way. I went in there with a totally functional, 100% alive body, and I assume I departed in the same condition. None of my friends greeted me by saying, “Hi. Your 94.6% alive body is looking good, since the doctor killed part of it and tossed it away.” They just say, “Hi. You look great. I’m glad you survived the cancer.” The fact is, a small part of me died in that procedure, but normal perception doesn’t even begin to recognize that in polite society.
My father had two prosthetic knee joints, in his later years and yet we all assumed he was alive, even though fairly large portions of his skeleton and musculature were removed, discarded and replaced by man-made steel and plastic.
Let’s cut to the chase and consider an extreme, but plausible, example. Suppose we run across a chap who has survived a horrible accident, and is living with an artificial heart, a man-made lung, liver and kidney and is missing both arms and legs. He moves about in an electric chair, managed by voice command and makes his living writing books by speaking into his computer mic, which translates the spoken word to print. We all admire him for his wonderful attitude and his ability to live with all those disabilities. We would never think he was 40-50% dead, because 40-50% of his body no longer exists in a living state. It doesn’t even enter our minds. So I guess we have figured out what “alive” doesn’t mean. It doesn’t mean we are required to be 100% intact and functional. In fact, it doesn’t even mean we have to be close. As a member of the human family, we can be nowhere close to 100% intact and still be instantly and naturally regarded as alive, by everyone who encounters us.
It begins to look like being alive means something more like being a capable participant in the normal ebb and flow of human interaction. Conversation, exchange of ideas, expression of feelings or opinions. If you consider the most extreme cases of human debilitation, you realize that virtually everything else you can conjure up in your mind can be subtracted from the equation in your interaction with another human and you will still regard him or her as alive, as long as the two of you can relate to each other.
But didn’t we see something like this idea at the beginning of out little discussion, when we mentioned artificial intelligence? The problem is, we were talking about a computer. On the other hand, maybe we shouldn’t have a serious problem with that, since a computer is just a collection of steel, plastic, wires and so forth, put together in a way designed to enhance our function as a human being. You know, like a prosthetic knee or a man-made heart, or the simple sutures in my neck. I wonder if we just took a small step toward immortality.
Ray Kurzweil is the next person we need to talk about. Mr. Kurzweil is a brilliant man with an impressive resume, including the development of software that anticipates currency fluctuation and stock ownership trends, a refinement of electronic synthesizers to the point of producing sound that is indistinguishable from original instruments, several contributions to the field of Artificial Intelligence and an extensive study of Singularity. He considers singularity to be a combination of three technologies: genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics. One of his stated goals is actually to bring back his late father, through scientific development of DNA from the grave, coupled with reintroduction of his father’s feelings, thoughts and ideas with the help of AI. Needless to say, Joseph Weisenbaum (mentioned above) is a strong critic of his work.
Ben Goertzel and his work come to mind, at this point. Dr. Goertzel earned a PhD in mathematics at Temple University and has taught mathematics, computer science and psychology at several universities around the world. He is a proponent of Transhumanism and has arranged for his body to be frozen, at death. His work involves creating a general artificial intelligence. To date, AI has been narrowly used in specific applications. He wants to create a machine that will act as a “baby” in an environment that it will learn from and grow and develop intellectually. He believes with the proper focus we could be as close as ten years away from that.
Scientists at MIT are presently able to electronically “extract” images, thoughts and memories from disembodied brains of recently deceased people and recreate them so they can be seen and heard by others. These memories can be put on a computer chip. Scientists can actually recreate a first kiss or other significant events.
So let’s attempt to put the bits and pieces together by asking ourselves some questions:
- If we have recently changed so much in our perception of the word “alive” that we can accept all kinds of prostheses and other man-made enhancements as part of a “living” person, would we be able someday to accept a fully robotic version of an old friend as being “alive”, as long as we could relate to him or her on an intellectual basis, because an extracted/reinstalled memory chip enables us to enjoy conversations about past memories and advanced AI enables us to enjoy discussing new ideas, exactly as if our friend still existed in his or her original biological form?
- If we get to the point of being able to clone anything or anyone (we’ve already done it with Dolly, the cloned sheep) , could we simply do that and reintroduce memory into the new version of the old, worn out body, like moving your personal things from the old car you just traded in to the shiny new one?
- When Dr. Kurzweil dies, his body will be frozen and his estate will be settled. If he manages to come back, will he get his stuff back?
- What if you could bring back a favorite pet and that precious little thing could fully remember you at first sight and resume the old, playful, unbelievably close relationship instantly? Would you do it? I wrote a post about my dog (you can see it here) and I would bring her back in a heart beat, if I could. She was amazing.
- What if you could restore the vitality of a terminally ill child, who wouldn’t otherwise have any chance at a fulfilling life?
- If this all happened, how would it affect societal order and evolution? All kinds of things would have to be redefined.
- How would it affect the world’s great religions? How would they explain it?
- Would death happen when you could no longer afford the process of continually maintaining life through artificial means?
- If so, would it create a new social classism?
- Would continued life be a status symbol?
DOLLY - The lady who started it all