Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimbozu
I'm saying that we're going to run into population problems before we have the technology to actually cure aging. We're going to hit population problems within the next 50-100 years, which is going to be way before we have people living to 200. And so we're going to have to deal with it before we have to deal with everyone living to age 1000. Presumably the issue of overpopulation will be resolved in a 100 or 200 years by a "data bank of human consciousness." You can live you're life the way you want to, but when you feel like you've had enough, you transfer you're thoughts into a giant computer and live in the virtual community there, where you would essentially have the powers of a god (in that virtual universe). There are certain people who think this will happen sooner rather than later, and that we're never going to have to deal with overpopulation problems in the future.
I think you will find that as technology develops, so does our capacity to actually exist in a communally governed society. We will eventually develop a secure enough internet protocol that we can vote online. Any question of state can be answered by the people, not by those elected by the people. We could presumably have a vote every day, or at least every week, on policy decisions and such, which means it would actually be the will of the people, not the will of the will of the people.
Democracy seems to be the way of the future (not that I'm saying there isn't anything better) and with technological advances it will seem all the more true.
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The transferring thoughts on to a computer is interesting, but I'm not sure you can destroy the brain as a material without destroying the consciousness that it holds. If a copy of you is made and the original destroyed (aka teleportation & what I think you're suggesting), to everyone else it seems like you're fine, but from your perspective you just died. At least, that's what I'm taking from what you said. Either way, we'll run out of places to store these brains, so I think the eventual answer would to be sterilize large portions of the race since we'll be living forever anyways.