Written by Miria L.
Immortality has been quite a controversial topic in the contemporary era. On one hand, debates encircle around the moral and ethics of immortality. On the other hand, new potential methods for immortality have been proposed, and research has been conducted accordingly. Futurists and philosophers have been suggesting immortality to be achievable in the first few decades of the 21st century. Silicon Valley has been investing significant amounts of money into research, and Google billionaires have devoted millions into Calico, a company aiming to “solve death”. Although some scientists propose that immortality is biologically impossible, advancements in technology lead to the possibility for immortality in the future.
One most prominent possibility of immortality derives from the advancement of medical biotechnology. The medical biotechnology industry receives abundant amounts of research investments each year. Advancements of medical biotechnology have led scientists to develop pharmaceutical and diagnostic products to prevent diseases, and this spark may as well become the beacon to end aging and prevent death. Reaching this beacon from the perspective of medical biotechnology would require a wide variety of treatments, as aging is the outcome of complex and diverse changes in normal biological functions.
The hypothetical concept of digital immortality comes from the development of information technology. Through digital immortality, an individual’s personality and memory will be stored in digital systems. One example is the neuro-nanorobots. Neuro-nanorobots scan cell information, and will be implanted into the brain. After scanning the cell, the nanorobots will copy the information to itself, and replace the cell. The result of digital immortality may be of an avatar having the same cognitive abilities of the human individual’s personal archive.
Although there are several bright possibilities for immortality, there are concepts of immortality that are skeptical from the scientific community. The concept of Cryonics is to freeze corpses with hope that scientific advances may allow them to be revived in the future, which can cost each patient up to $200,000. While the process of reviving life can be perceived as ideal, Cryonics is regarded with skepticism within the mainstream scientific community, as future technology may not be able to reanimate the frozen and dead patients.
We do not know when, or even if, these immortality practices could be developed and made safe. However, these possibilities of eternal life open the door to studies that will further investigate the chances of immortal life.
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