Becoming immortal is one of mankind’s many quixotic notions that most people will relegate to the world of fantasy and science fiction. However, there is a subset of prominent scientists who believe that immortality is not only attainable, but it is something that will come to fruition in as little as 25 years. This idea is shared by men like Google’s Director of Engineering, Ray Kurzweil; Tesla Motors CEO, Elon Musk; and one of the most interesting presidential candidates outside of Donald Trump and Deez Nuts, Zoltan Istvan. All three men identify as trans-humanist, and for those who don’t know, trans-humanism is the idea that mankind will one day be able to transcend our biological limitations through the use of science and technology; not to mention, the movement has accumulated over 3 million supporters worldwide.So the question remains, with the multitude of prominent intellectuals who believe immortality is a tangible goal, just how will they go about achieving it? Well, the six answers below could possibly hold the key to everlasting life.
Number Six: Uploading Minds to Computers. Futurists believe that at some point in the near future we will be able to copy and scan all of the data that exists in our brains and upload the information into a computer. This will allow us to perpetually exist as incorporeal inhabitants of cyberspace. Of course, the idea of mind uploading is still purely science fiction, but if it ever becomes tangible, progeny could possibly live in a limitless world, that echoes notions expressed in the Matrix; minus the robot despots.
Number Five: Lab-Grown Organs. According to OrganDonor.gov, every ten minutes another person’s name is added to an organ donor’s list, and an average of 22 people die each day while waiting for a transplant. Lab-grown organs have the potential to prodigiously increase lifespans by making new fresh organs so ubiquitous that getting a heart transplant will be as simple as changing a tire. Human windpipes have already been successfully grown and transplanted into sufferers of esophagus cancer, so the life extension capabilities this technique has to offer could make death by organ failure (aka Death by natural causes) a thing of the past.
Number Four: Becoming Cyborgs. Another possible method to indefinitely increase our lifespans is to take a page from the movie RoboCop and merge our bodies with machines. By replacing limbs, failed organs, and whatever other corporeal part not operating properly with machines, humans will be able to shed the frail bodies bestowed upon them by evolution and acquire parts that are tough and everlasting.
Number Three: Nano-Technology. Nano-science epitomizes the phrase “Big things come in small packages”. Nano-tech is what we get when things operate on an incredibly small scale. In fact, things on the nano-scale are so small it will take 100,000 nanometers to equal the size of a strand of hair. Nature uses the nano-scale as it’s building blocks for everything; which means that through mastery of this technology, humans can manipulate nature and become veritable gods. By injecting tiny nano-sized robots into a person, doctors will have their own little patrol unit that inspects, protects, and repairs a person’s body. Also, Nanotech could be the reason why people will forego the traditional burial routine and embrace cryonics. Cryonics, or the act of freezing oneself, is the go-to method for science fiction writers who want a contemporary character to end up in a future world. However, what science fiction gets wrong about cryonics is the fact that people aren’t going to just wake up from a cryogenic sleep, be thawed out, and not have any physical damage. That’s where nanotech comes in. The tiny robots can fix the damage caused by cryonics and help one live life among progeny.
Number Two: The Singularity. The end of humanity will not come about via some doomsday scenario like a nuclear holocaust or the rapture. It will come about when man transcends his biological limitations due to gaining an unfathomable amount of intelligence. That is of course if you believe in the Singularity. The Singularity is a scientific term that states humanity will reach an epoch where intelligence is 1 trillion times more powerful than it is today; thus spawning creative and intellectual growth so vast that mankind will evolve into what can best be described as gods.
Number One: Young Blood. Scientists believe that infusing the elderly with the blood of the young can reverse the effects of aging. In fact, there have been several studies which prove their hypothesis plausible. Scientists infused elderly mice with the blood of younger mice and as unbelievable as it may sound, the older lab rats began to develop new cells in their brain at an exponential rate. Also, their brains began to resemble the brains of younger mice aesthetically. While on the other hand, infusing younger mice with the blood of their elderly counterparts had an adverse effect. It left the young rodents with minimal neurons and a rapidly decaying brain.
