Re: The Immortalists.

If you look back at my last post that's what I said.

Re: The Immortalists.

True. I should have continued with my post.

Not only does the mind require the body, but the body equally can not live without the mind.

So there is a continual cycle or dual dependence here.

To deny the vital essence or spirit or whatever we want to call it, pretty much means you believe we are robots. Actually I have a great deal of empathy with such thoughts. Humans run on an energy source, they have no idea who they are or who created them, they have seemingly no specific purpose other than to procreate/replicate and any human can be programmed or conditioned to believe / accept almost anything as truth. You can't get much closer to a robot than that.

Re: The Immortalists.

I agree humans know not who they are or who created them. Which brings me to a very old mystical saying... " To know onself, one must follow the way of the heart "

The 1800's mystic, Louis - Claude De Saint Martin, advocated that the ultimate goal for humanity was to obtain the Divine Marriage. Where one by becoming aware of the heart of God, one allows Gods entrance in our heart of hearts.

There is a old legend that brings clarity to this notion..

Once upon a time humans were said to have abused their divine power. Thus, humans were sent into exile. An exile that rendered them oblivious to their divinity. Before being exiled, the plan was to find a suitable place in exile where they would not find their divine source. It was suggested that the divine source would be buried in the ground. That was struck down knowing that humans would dig it up. Then it was suggested, that the divine source be thrown into the depth of the ocean. That too was rejected, knowing that overtime the oceans would or could not hold its secrets. Finally, the ultimate hiding place for the divine source was discovered, a place where it would never be discovered by humans and a place where humans would never think of looking. The final resting place was in the very depth of their hearts...

Re: The Immortalists.

I believe that it is perfectly possible that at some time in the future, perhaps sooner than we think, it will be possible to implant the content of our brains into a machine or, alternatively, to implant our brains as a whole into a machine capable of maintaining the organ.

In the latter case, we already have the beginnings of connecting not only motor and sensory functions of the brain to a machine, but also such senses as sight (retinal chips) and possibly other senses such as hearing, smell and taste. In this scenario, eventually the brain will die just as all organic matter 'wears out' and dies.

In the former case, connecting cameras and microphones and so on, to a machine resembling a computer is already possible, and the final step would be to upload all our memories and consciousnesses to a computer. In this case, mechanical and electronic components can easily be replaced and so could, theoretically, 'live' for ever.

In any event, if this sort of thing does come to pass, we shall be obliged to cease procreating (at least the humans who remain will) or we shall soon become overpopulated. Or perhaps all of the mechanical 'humans' will decide to kill off all of the organic humans. Haven't I watched a film like that?!

Re: The Immortalists.

In the TV program it showed a man with electrodes implanted directly into his brain and connected to a mechanical 'arm' which he was able to operate by thought- the nervous system of a man directly connected to a machine.