The desire to avoid death is universal.
Through the centuries, from the Peaches of Immortality in Chinese mythology, to taunting Jesus and consuming Amrita, from angering the Gods to searching for the Fountain of Youth and the philosopher’s stone, there are several weird mythological theories to back up the concept of Eternal life. Hundreds of legendary minds have given up their life trying to merge the roads to fiction and facts, driven by the desire to unveil the secrets, which in all too many ways ended up driving them mad.
But what if? What if the eternal life was closer than what we could ever imagine?
This is exactly what the initiative 2045 argues. That by the year 2045, humans will beat death. And not by some strange miraculous medical procedures. As suggested by a Russian billionaire Dimitri Itskov, the founder, the main objective of this mega-science project is to create technologies enabling the transfer of an individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality.
The initiative is based on the theory of technological singularity. A point in time (probably around 2045) when artificial intelligence will be able to surpass a man’s abilities. We, as humans, will be able to transfer our consciousness into these highly intelligent robots called Avatars. The goal, as believed, is to enable the fullest possible interaction between the world’s two very complex traditions- science and the society. Let us create not simply a new civilization, but a new mankind.
The project foresees the evolution in the form of four periods of growth identified as · 2015-2020 The emergence and use of android avatars. These avatars will be based on a brain-computer interface and will hence, be capable of various extreme operations including their use in medicine for rehabilitation of lost senses and the physically disabled with the providence of prosthetic limbs.
· 2020-2025 The immense automation brought to the life support system will prove to be extremely useful for the people with completely worn out or irreversibly damaged bodies but an intact brain. This way, by linking the human brain to an avatar will allow them to return to a fully functioning body. Bringing such a technology to use will greatly increase the possibility of bio-electronic devices and hence a huge IT revolution.
· 2030-2035 Designing a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with further means to transfer the latter to an artificial carrier. This step will profoundly change the way the world operates. It will not only give the hope of cybernetic immortality but will also create a human affable artificial intelligence which might in turn empower the ordinary people to restore or modify their brain several times and hence, expand the human capabilities greatly.
· 2045
The year 2045 has all the ingredients of a good science fiction movie in store! This will be the time when independent minds will receive artificial bodies with capabilities exceeding far from that of the actual human bodies. This will be the time when humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a complete transition and undergo an evolution into completely new species. This will be the time when bodies consisting of Nano-robots will become affordable and attainable by ordinary people. This, the year 2045, will be the time when it would be possible to completely substitute the human brain, by what we call, the neuronal networks which are basically self-learning systems consisting of interconnected units which can imitate the human brain by responding to stimuli and learning from them.
Where are we now?
The initiative has made some headlines and hence gathered some social supporters too. However, although the social side of the initiative is growing at a reasonable pace, the growth in real scientific and intelligence sector seems stalled. The technology, it exists. And is real. But at this moment, it’s far from what power the brain of homo-sapiens holds and is capable of.
The Critics
The critical aspects of the more ethical and cultural values have risen. These have much in common with the doubts of the seekers of the Philosopher’s Stone and the alchemists in the past. That let’s say Eternal life did exist. Why would it bring peace and serenity to the society? And even if it did, would it be satisfying for the needs of Humanity 2.0?
But either way, the year 2045, singular; or not, could bring with itself the keys to many doors. Technology could open up a new world.
Or, will it be the year in which we once again realize how much there is about us, which we do not understand yet?
TECHnBUZZ 