How close are we to conquering death?

Question

The background for this question is basically I am struggling with the problem of coping with grief of loss of loved ones, past or imminent. (See Death)

However, I have been aware of the concept of Mind uploading although I do not know how much of it are we close to realizing it. Then it dawned on me that what if we truly can survive death via transhumanism. Will it mean that humanity has conquered "mortality"?

1. If mind uploading is realized, will it prove the claim that the concept of Death is an illusion?

2. How much of the concept of brain emulation is fact? Is there a time frame when we will be able to use this in daily life?

Answer 1

Ultimately, all transhumanistic defiance-of-death is a postponing of the inevitable. The second law of themodynamics puts a death date on the life of the energetic universe itself. There is little useful philosophy that can be done past this point. It is certainly possible (and entertaining) to consider a universe in which we discover ways to bypass entropy itself, but that is (at present) a waste of ontological effort.

At this point, we can begin to enter more prescriptive modes of philosophy and consider the individual's relationship with death--and there are very powerful paths down that route, beginning most obviously with mid-twentieth century European existentialism. That leaves the immediate scope of your question, however, so we won't tarry down those paths at present.

Answer 2

As wiki definition, cognition is a group of mental processes that includes attention, memory, producing and understanding language, learning, reasoning, problem solving, and decision making.

Here we can group it to three...

1. Information Gathering.
2. Information Storing.

3. Information Processing.

   All the three stages depend on physical and genetical capability of the person. Hormonal behaviour of the persons affects heavily Information Processing and to an extend on Information Gathering. As the three factors varies for each person, the three process also varies.

   Information is stored in the memory as a highly complex relational database along with the logic of relating the data. When we think the logic of compiling the relational data may be pre-compiled or be combination of partly compiled logics. While processing or storing of compiled data it may depend on your three factors, similar previous reactions (reasoning), present emotional mood(hormonal).

So in case of Mind uploading what are u going to upload...... Data, logic,...???

1. Data without logic is junk........!!!
2. Data and logic without matched surroundings is again junk (identity crisis).
3. How can we selectively extract required data from the actual data.

With present technology on my belief only we can check the neurological impulses of a human reaction.

In conclusion in present science isn't it an unrealistic methodology.......???

Answer 3

Most of the premises of your question are wrong from an Buddhist point of view. You assume death and ego (idea of the self) as true which are considered illusions. See three marks of existence. ref here

Explanation:

Suffering is often produced by attachment to an false idea, desire or not acceptance of existence as it is. One of those features of existence is impermanence (nothing lasts forever). If you attach yourself emotionally to something believing that it will last forever when it doesn't you'll feel devastated. eg. "models who thinks their looks will last all their lives", "actors and actresses who are emotionally dependent on fame because they need other people to admiring them to feed their egos".

How close are we to conquering death? If mind uploading is realized, will it prove the claim that the concept of Death is an illusion?

OK let's suppose you and your loved ones are in computers now as immortal avatars. What if one of those instances are deleted or one server is formatted? Isn't that death too? What if your uploaded wife decided to leave you and have a life on her own? Isn't that break up a form of "death" too? Again this view is produced by a lack of acceptance of impermanence and an emotional attachment. It has to do more with psychology and less with philosophy.

Suppose we were in that mind uploaded word of immortal avatars and they made 5 copies of you. Which one would be you? What if they decided to split up and have a life of their own? After 300 years impermanence they would have changed completely and also would you! What if we are all copies of the same instance with different avatars changed by impermanence through millenea? Then "ego" or idea of the self is also an illusion a creation of the mind and also a creator of endless suffering.

Death is just a form of impermanence which is sometimes good and sometimes bad that needs to be accepted. Is that lack of acceptance that causes most suffering. Mind uploading would be submitted to the same marks of existence as this world (bardo) assuming that we are not in a computer program already.