From: Chris Hind (chind@juno.com)
Date: Sun Nov 17 1996 - 23:08:22 MST
>Sometimes terms like "eternal life" and "immortality" seemed to get
>tossed around pretty casually around here.
I don't know about them but immortality is more of a bonus for me rather
than a passionate desire, I want to live as long as possible so that I can
see as much progress as possible.
>This is a bit curious to me,
>since one of the main driving forces behind my leaving Xtianity (and
>ultimately bumping into transhumanism)that the idea of truly eternal
>life ceased to automatically be appealing or even make any sense.
Yes immortality won't make sense from our viewpoint today because we would
be so incredibly modified that we cannot understand it in our current
position. Hmmm. How would being a immortal uploaded digital being feel
like? There have been posts based entirely on this fact. In my opinion to
be a true atheist and not take technological immortality on faith, you must
not make immortality your primary goal and point of focus. Extending life
you can make a primary goal but not immortality itself because then it
turns into faith.
>Unfortunately,
>the answers they give tend to boil down to the most intellectually
>dishonest trick in their arsenal: It's beyond human understanding.
I REALLY hate to say it but immortality as a uploaded being really is
beyond human understanding. It sounds lame like religion but as technology
progresses we will understand it more and more. The difference between this
and religion is that with religion they say you understand after you die
with no physical proof where with this you actually will be able to see the
benefits while you're still alive guaranteeing you that it actually works.
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