Human Immortality Could Be Possible by 2045...

**Wrath** · 08-02-2012

Getting your brain transplanted into a robot body? Sounds creepy as hell...

If Dmitry Itskov's 2045 initiative plays out as planned, humans will have the option of living forever with the help of machines in only 33 years.

It may sound ridiculous, but the 31-year-old Russian mogul is dead serious about neuroscience, android robotics, and cybernetic immortality.

He has already pulled together a team of leading Russian scientists intent on creating fully functional holographic human avatars that house artificial brains which contain a person's complete consciousness - in other words, a humanoid robot.

Together, they've laid out an ambitious course of action that would see the team transplant a human brain into an artificial body (or 'avatar') in as little as seven years time.

Now, Itskov is asking the world's richest people for help in financing the project.

In exchange, he's offered to coordinate their own personal immortality projects for free.

"I urge you to take note of the vital importance of funding scientific development in the field of cybernetic immortality and the artificial body," he writes in an open letter to members of the Forbes World's Billionaires List.

"Such research has the potential to free you, as well as the majority of all people on our planet, from disease, old age and even death."

Itskov goes on to offer skeptics a meeting with "a team of the world's leading scientists working in this field " to prove the viability of the concept of cybernetic immortality.

And while many are skeptical that such a plan could ever come to fruition, Popular
Science Magazine points that phase one -- creating a robot controlled by a human brain -- is already well within reach.

"DARPA is already working on it via a program called "Avatar" (which, incidentally, is also the name of Itskov's project) through which the Pentagon hopes to create a brain-machine interface that will allow soldiers to control bipedal human surrogate machines remotely with their minds," writes PopSci's Clay Dillow.

"And of course there are all the ongoing medical prosthesis projects that have shown that the human nervous system can interface with prosthetic enhancements, manipulating them via thought. Itskov draws a clear arc from what we have now to the consciousness-containing holograms that he envisions. All we have to do is attack the technological obstacles in between, one at a time, until we get there."

Discovery's Alyssa Danigelis takes an opposing stance to the very idea.

"There's a world of difference between pursuing a brain-controlled exoskeleton to help paraplegics regain control and wanting to essentially upload a human brain into an artificial body," she writes.

"I read a sci-fi novel involving disembodied live brains once. It didn't turn out well"

**DarkVincent07** · 08-02-2012

I'd do it if I was going to die/at the end of my ropes.
If I turned into an abomination or something went wrong I'd just let them put me down

**Dave-The-Rave** · 08-02-2012

If this is viable when I'm about to die I am definitely signing up for it. I want to be a Transformer.

**Ghost-Rhayne** · 08-02-2012

If he's appealing for funds, this bitch needs to get his shit all up in kickstarters shit.

**Chille** · 08-02-2012

Immortality is a bad thing, it isnt good.

**DeviousOne** · 08-02-2012

I dont know if i want to live forever...or would want to be a robot just to stay alive

**Nitey** · 08-02-2012

I wonder how sex would work?

**DeviousOne** · 08-02-2012

there would be no sex so no point in living for ever

**podsaurus** · 08-02-2012

Originally Posted by DeviousOne

there would be no sex so no point in living for ever

This man speaks wisely.

Even with no sex if I were to live forever my body better be a sexy beast!

**Dave-The-Rave** · 08-02-2012

Maybe install an orgasm button to your body.

**SchaffinOSX** · 08-02-2012

There's a few things to consider:

- How would immortality be abused? This would certainly be abused by the worst of society, like dictators and tyrants looking to keep eternal rule over their subjects.

- What would happen to the world population? If people are still dying but physical bodies still roaming the world, we'd indefinitely have a population crisis. Even in the modern day our natural resources are being strained by the size of the human population.

When we're talking about using this as a means of curing disease and disability, I'm all for it. "Avatars" could become available through application, and only humans who need the avatar would be granted one. So if you had a deadly disease, had a disability that prevented you from living a normal life, etc., you could be granted an avatar. The healthy among us, however, would be unable to get the avatars. Obviously in this scenario, there is no immortality involved. The avatars could require some sort of yearly maintenance to continue running, and once a user has reached say, 95 or 100, they're no longer eligible for said maintenance.

**F34R** · 08-02-2012

I already sent my pre-order in.

**DeviousOne** · 08-02-2012

Originally Posted by SchaffinOSX

There's a few things to consider:

- How would immortality be abused? This would certainly be abused by the worst of society, like dictators and tyrants looking to keep eternal rule over their subjects.

- What would happen to the world population? If people are still dying but physical bodies still roaming the world, we'd indefinitely have a population crisis. Even in the modern day our natural resources are being strained by the size of the human population.

When we're talking about using this as a means of curing disease and disability, I'm all for it. "Avatars" could become available through application, and only humans who need the avatar would be granted one. So if you had a deadly disease, had a disability that prevented you from living a normal life, etc., you could be granted an avatar. The healthy among us, however, would be unable to get the avatars. Obviously in this scenario, there is no immortality involved. The avatars could require some sort of yearly maintenance to continue running, and once a user has reached say, 95 or 100, they're no longer eligible for said maintenance.

Exactly i think this would just be a bad idea and we as a human race would never evolved if this were to happen

**podsaurus** · 08-02-2012

Originally Posted by Dave-The-Rave

Maybe install an orgasm button to your body.

I would probably break it from pressing too much

There's a few things to consider:

- How would immortality be abused? This would certainly be abused by the worst of society, like dictators and tyrants looking to keep eternal rule over their subjects.

Even with that tyrants can still be killed. They have a new body but they're not untouchable. All that needs to go it the brain.

- What would happen to the world population? If people are still dying but physical bodies still roaming the world, we'd indefinitely have a population crisis. Even in the modern day our natural resources are being strained by the size of the human population.

At least we wouldn't need to worry about food and water. The brain still needs water and nutrients but far less than what is needed to maintain muscles, organs etc.

When we're talking about using this as a means of curing disease and disability, I'm all for it. "Avatars" could become available through application, and only humans who need the avatar would be granted one. So if you had a deadly disease, had a disability that prevented you from living a normal life, etc., you could be granted an avatar. The healthy among us, however, would be unable to get the avatars. Obviously in this scenario, there is no immortality involved. The avatars could require some sort of yearly maintenance to continue running, and once a user has reached say, 95 or 100, they're no longer eligible for said maintenance.

That would be the best idea. It only goes to those who lets say are paralyzed from the neck down or some other issue that keeps the person from living normally.

Even with the points I made I think it would be best not to mess with this. Even if it only goes to people with a life threatening disease or disability someone is going to start a conflict over it. Even before a dictator or somebody gets the body, think of all the death and destruction that could occur just trying to obtain the body.

It's all very cool but some things I feel should not be messed with. We have enough conflict and problems now, we don't need to create more.

**DeviousOne** · 08-02-2012

talk about pushing someone buttons lol

**John25** · 08-02-2012

Originally Posted by F34R

I already sent my pre-order in.

What Pre-Order Bonuses did you Get ?? :P

**DeviousOne** · 08-02-2012

probably a larger hard drive

**Kuro** · 08-02-2012

Avatar in real life..like a boss

**Vulgotha** · 08-02-2012

I'd do it.

**DeviousOne** · 08-02-2012

Fack all that i dont want be around that long....lol

**Dave-The-Rave** · 08-02-2012

I think if this would be possible I would be tempted to become some sort of super villain and get loads of upgrades.

**Valefor** · 08-02-2012

This is Transhumanism.

I am currently reading something on the subject: The Singularity is Near, by Ray Kurzweil. Kurzweil states that technology increases at an exponential rate, not a linear rate, and believes you can look at past figures to see this is true. With that in mind, he believes that at about 2045, technology will have increased to a point that will start a Singularity, which is a point where we have built a single computer with more brain power than every single human on the planet, with artificial intelligence / self awareness. This 'computer' will then be able to improve itself over and over, and will increase the technology on Earth in ways we can't yet begin to visualise. The similarity to the Christian idea of the Rapture is uncanny, but a Singularity, according to Kurzweil, is a logical outcome of our increasing technology - no supernaturalism needed.

Transhumanists wish to be able to synthesise with technology to increase the human body - like increasing our memory capacity and eliminating involuntary death, for example. They also like to look at the potential problems that might come about through our increased technology, and seek to drive the technologies and laws that will allow such synthesis. This is just a basic overview - different people think different things, of course - but you get the idea.

A note on world population: these are problems we currently face at our current technological level, but won't necessarily be problems we will face in the future. We will have new problems, of course.

Would I, if given the choice to synthesise with technology and die at a time of my choosing, go ahead with it? Hell yes, there's a big universe I want to explore.

I'm only a quarter of the way through the book, but it's worth a read for those who are interested in this sort of thing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Singularity_Is_Near

**DeviousOne** · 08-02-2012

Interesting!

**DreDayDetox** · 08-02-2012

I won't point out names but it's threads like these that the most cynical people enjoy coming in here and shooting down the idea, no matter how great it sounds. Give it a chance FFS.