Can we resurrect the dead? Researchers catalogue potential future methods
From cryonics to time travel, here are some of the (highly speculative) methods that might someday be used to bring people back to life.
22 September, 2020
Credit: Pixabay
- Alexey Turchin and Maxim Chernyakov, researchers belonging to the transhumanism movement, wrote a paper outlining the main ways technology might someday make resurrection possible.
- The methods are highly speculative, ranging from cryonics to digital reconstruction of individual personalities.
- Surveys suggest most people would not choose to live forever if given the option.
<p><span style="background-color: initial;">There's no evidence of an afterlife. But there's also no proof that our medical death needs to be the end of our subjective experience. There's no proof that death is irreversible, or immortality impossible. </span></p><p><span style="background-color: initial;">In fact, some researchers believe immortality isn't just possible, but inevitable. </span><br></p><p>Alexey Turchin, an author, life extensionist, and transhumanist researcher from Moscow, believes artificial intelligence will eventually become so powerful that humans will be able to "download" themselves — or, the quantifiable information contained in their brains — into computers and live forever. </p><p>It'll take a long time to develop that technology — anywhere from <a href="http://immortality-roadmap.com/IMMORTEN.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">100</a> to <a href="https://www.rbth.com/science-and-tech/332066-digital-immortality-turchin" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">600</a> years, according to Turchin. </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The development of AI is going rather fast, but we are still far away from being able to 'download' a human into a computer," Turchin told <a href="https://www.rbth.com/science-and-tech/332066-digital-immortality-turchin" target="_blank">Russia Beyond.</a> "If we want to do it with a good probability of success, then count on [the year] 2600, to be sure."</p><p>That might be out of reach for modern humans. But downloading yourself onto a computer is just one potential route to immortality. In 2018, Turchin and Maxim Chernyakov, of the Russian Transhumanist Movement, wrote a <a href="https://www.academia.edu/36998733/Classification_of_the_approaches_to_the_technological_resurrection" target="_blank">paper</a> outlining the main ways technology might someday make resurrection — and, therefore, immortality — possible.</p>
Immortality and identity
<p>The paper defines life as a "continued stream of subjective experiences" and death as the permanent end of that stream. Immortality, to them, is a "life stream without end," and resurrection is the "continuation of that same stream of experiences after an arbitrarily long gap."</p><p>Another key clarification is the identity problem: How would you know that a downloaded copy of yourself really was going to be <em>you? </em>Couldn't it just be a convincing yet incomplete and fundamentally distinct representation of your brain?</p><p>If you believe that your copy is not <em>you</em>, that implies you believe there's something more to your identity than the (currently) quantifiable information contained within your brain and body, according to the researchers. In other words, your "informational identity" does not constitute your true identity.</p><p>In this scenario, there must exist what the researchers call a "non-informational identity carrier" (NIIC). This could be something like a "soul." It could be "qualia," which are the unmeasurable "subjective experiences which could be unique to every person." Or maybe it doesn't exist at all.</p><p>It's no matter: The researchers say resurrection, in some form, should be possible in either scenario.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"If no 'soul' exist[s], resurrection is possible via information preservation; if soul[s] exist, resurrection is possible via returning of the "soul" into the new body. But some forms of NIIC are also very fragile and mortal, like continuity," the researchers noted.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The problem of the nature of human identity could be solved by future superintelligent AI, but for now it cannot be definitively solved. This means that we should try to preserve as much identity as possible and not refuse any approaches to life extension and resurrection even if they contradict our intuitions about identity, as our notions of identity could change later."</p>Potential resurrection methods
<p>Turchin and Chernyakov outline seven broad categories of potential resurrection methods, ranked from the most plausible to most speculative.<br></p><p>The first category includes methods practiced while the person is alive, like cryonics, plastination, and preserving brain tissue through processes like chemical fixation. The researchers noted that there have been "suggestions that the claustrum, hypothalamus, or even a single neuron is the neural correlate of consciousness," so it may be possible to preserve just that part of a person, and later implant it into another organism.</p><p>Other methods get far stranger. For example, one method includes super-intelligent AI that uses a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyson_sphere#:~:text=A%20Dyson%20sphere%20is%20a,percentage%20of%20its%20power%20output." target="_blank">Dyson sphere</a> to harness the power of the sun to "power enormous calculation engines" that would "reconstruct" people who collected a sufficient amount of data on their identities.</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQzMDc2MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDg1NjMxMn0.VSndoTKooI91UWoUYslggOh0hOcvrpkENl8r7Qr-eTs/img.png?width=980" id="41844" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f61cef5ffbfc3fcf15f60da00940970c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Turchin
<p style="margin-left: 20px;">"The main idea of a resurrection-simulation is that if one takes the DNA of a past person and subjects it to the same developmental condition, as well as correcting the development based on some known outcomes, it is possible to create a model of a past person which is very close to the original," the researchers wrote.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"DNA samples of most people who lived in past 1 to 2 centuries could be extracted via global archeology. After the moment of death, the simulated person is moved into some form of the afterlife, perhaps similar to his religious expectations, where he meets his relatives."</p><p>Delving further into sci-fi territory, another resurrection method would use time-travel technology.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"If there will at some point be technology that allows travel to the past, then our future descendants will be able to directly save people dying in the past by collecting their brains at the moment of death and replacing them with replicas," the paper states.</p><p>How? Sending tiny robots back in time.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"A nanorobot could be sent several billion years before now, where it could secretly replicate and sow nanotech within all living being[s] without affecting the course of history. At the moment of death, such nanorobots could be activated to collect data about the brain and preserve it somewhere until its future resurrection; thus, there would be no need for forward time travel."</p><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQzMDc2Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjA4MTU2Nn0.U-qXTKkiwqBK3wE4NJXrFGC7xnCwD6OCWQoqcrf54Is/img.jpg?width=980" id="50e6c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2080f0ee19e253c1309cad45e212e4a3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
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<p>The paper <a href="https://www.academia.edu/36998733/Classification_of_the_approaches_to_the_technological_resurrection" target="_blank">goes on to outline some more resurrection methods</a>, including ones that involve parallel worlds, aliens, and clones, along with a good, old-fashioned possibility: God exists and one day he resurrects us. </p><p>In short, it's all extremely speculative.</p><p>But the aim of the paper was to catalogue known potential ways humans might be able to cheat death. For Turchin, that's not some far-off project: In addition to studying global risks and transhumanism, the Russian researcher heads the <a href="http://immortality-roadmap.com/" target="_blank">Immortality Roadmap</a>, which, similar to the 2018 paper, outlines various ways in which we might someday achieve immortality.</p><p>Although it may take centuries before humans come close to "digital immortality," Turchin believes that life-extension technology could allow some modern people to survive long enough to see it happen. </p><p>Want a shot at being among them? Beyond the obvious, like staying healthy, the Immortality Roadmap suggests you start collecting extensive data on yourself: diaries, video recordings, DNA information, EEGs, complex creative objects — all of which could someday be used to digitally "reconstruct" your identity.</p>But odds are you're not interested. Although Turchin and other scientists are bent on finding ways to avoid death and extend life indefinitely, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2011/may/16/dying-still-taboo-subject-poll" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">surveys</a> <a href="https://quillette.com/2018/03/02/would-you-opt-for-immortality/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">repeatedly</a> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutesvanity-fair-poll-the-afterlife/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">show</a> that most people would not opt to live forever if given the choice.
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Why great thinkers balance optimism and pessimism
Leaning too far in either direction is a recipe for stagnation and perhaps even failure.
07 September, 2020
- When it comes to thinking about the future, is it best to assume the best or the worst? Like with most things, it's actually a little column A and a little column B. This video features theoretical physicists, futurists, sociologists, and mavericks explaining the pros and cons of both.
- "In the long term optimists decide the future," argues Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick for Wired and the magazine's founding executive editor. "It's the optimist who create all of the things that are going to be most important in our life." Kelly adds that, while every car runs on an optimistic engine, "you certainly need breaks to steer it."
- Finding a balance between the optimism that fuels innovation and a grounded pessimism is the key to a better future.
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Harvard study suggests avoiding TV and daytime naps to avoid depression
The goal of this large-scale study was to provide actionable information on how to avoid depression or decrease depressive symptoms.
27 August, 2020
Photo by panitanphoto on Shutterstock
- Depression is a very common mental disorder, with more than 264 million people struggling with this issue worldwide. According to WHO, depression is a leading cause of disability.
- Depression results from a complex interaction of social, psychological, and biological factors.
- A new large-scale Harvard Medical School study suggests daytime napping and frequent television-watching may be negatively contributing to depression.
<p>Depression is a common mental disorder, with more than 264 million people (of all ages) who struggle with this issue.</p><p><strong>There are several different types of depression, with the two most common being: </strong></p><ol class="ee-ol"><li>Recurrent depressive disorder</li><li>Bipolar affective disorder</li></ol><p>Depression, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is a leading cause of disability worldwide. It results from a complex interaction of social, psychological, and biological factors. While there are several effective treatments for depression (including antidepressant medications), there are also lifestyle changes you can make to prevent or lessen the impact of depressive symptoms.</p><ul class="ee-ul"></ul>
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzU4NTE3MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MDM0NjgyOH0.UtDpBYRv3ZM33ue3xwulT6rXBUtNs1BlWi6IO-cbjZQ/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C52%2C0%2C52&height=700" id="cef68" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c145e97f15258a5c989146fabdf22725" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="man napping on couch while watching television" />
This large-scale, two-stage approach study scanned a wide range of modifiable factors that could be associated with the risk of developing depression...
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<p>According to a large-scale (over 100,000 participants) study out of <a href="https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2020.19111158" target="_blank">Harvard Medical School</a>, there are many ways you can lessen the impact of depression. The study focused on the lifestyle factors that you can easily modify if you suffer from depression.</p><p>The researchers took a two-stage approach to this study. The first stage drew on a database of over 100,000 participants in the UK Biobank to systematically scan a wide range of modifiable factors that could be associated with the risk of developing depression. These modifiable factors included things like social interaction, media use, sleeping patterns, diet, physical activity, and environmental exposures. </p><p>The second stage of this study was to narrow down the field to a smaller set of promising and potentially causal targets for depression. Throughout this two-step process, they were able to determine certain behaviors that can directly influence depression. </p><p><strong>Confiding in and socializing with others could lessen depression symptoms. </strong></p><p>Lead author Jordan Smoller, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School explains to <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90541202/harvard-researchers-discover-the-easy-behavioral-trick-to-avoiding-depression" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fast Company</a>: "Far and away, the most prominent of these factors was frequency of confiding in others, but also visits with family and friends, all of which highlights the important protective effect of social connection and social cohesion."</p><p>This is further backed up by previous research done on the health benefits of socializing. According to <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/living-mild-cognitive-impairment/201606/the-health-benefits-socializing" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Psychology Today</a>, interacting with others boosts feelings of well-being and decreases feelings of depression. This helpful article lists several ways you can slowly incorporate more socialization into your life, with things like Skype/Facetime calls with family and friends, taking a new class, or volunteering at a charity organization. </p><p><strong>Your television habits may be negatively impacting your depression. </strong></p><p>The study suggests certain behaviors (such as watching television) could be associated with depression, but it isn't the first of it's kind to make that connection.</p><p>In fact, there have been several studies (including <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28879072/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this one</a> from 2017), that have suggested there is a link between how much television you watch and your mental health. Most of these studies conclude that the more television you watch, the worse your mental health can be. </p><p><strong>Daytime napping also negatively impacts depression. </strong></p><p>While it's common knowledge that a healthy sleeping pattern can positively impact your mental and physical health, did you know that having a nap during the daytime can impact depression? However, more research is needed to determine exactly why. The study suggests that both daytime napping and excessive television consumption could be proxies for sedentary behavior which would then impact your mental health. </p><p><strong>The goal of this study was to provide actionable information on preventing and avoiding depression symptoms. </strong></p><p>The research on depression and various mental health conditions has been ramping up and along with it, there will hopefully be more answers to these questions. As for this study, researchers explain that they wanted to leave readers with actionable advice on daily habits that could be contributing to their depressive symptoms. </p><p>"Depression takes an enormous toll on individuals, families, and society, yet we still know very little about how to prevent it," said Smoller <a href="https://eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-08/mgh-sis081420.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in an interview</a>. "We hope this work will motivate further efforts to develop actionable strategies for preventing depression."</p>
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What is counterfactual thinking?
Can thinking about the past really help us create a better present and future?
14 July, 2020
Jacob Lund / Shutterstock
- There are two types of counterfactual thinking: upward and downward.
- Both upward and downward counterfactual thinking can be positive impacts on your current outlook - however, upward counterfactual thinking has been linked with depression.
- While counterfactual thinking is a very normal and natural process, experts suggest the best course is to focus on the present and future and allow counterfactual thinking to act as a motivator when possible.
<p><em>"To some extent, your life can be thought of as the sum of the choices you have made. Of course, some choices are better than others. Looking back at past decisions (i.e., engaging in counterfactual thinking) is only natural in humans." </em>- <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/darwins-subterranean-world/201809/the-psychology-what-if" target="_blank">Psychology Today</a></p><ul class="ee-ul"></ul>
“Upward” versus “downward” counterfactual thinking
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQ1NDYxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDM2MDY2OX0.njWs1qrV1vDBxU1V75tUduUW4TjJvEHglDWsK8ZF2l4/img.jpg?width=1245&coordinates=0%2C556%2C0%2C209&height=700" id="a15fa" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="98314d4d2b256ed08f42d369fe4ae080" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="concept of man thinking about the past one line drawing counterfactual thinking" />What are upward and downward counterfactual thinking?
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<p><strong>What is upward counterfactual thinking?</strong></p><p>Upward counterfactual thinking happens when we look at a scenario and ask ourselves "what if" in terms of how our life could have turned out better. </p><p>Examples of upward counterfactual thinking are: </p><ul><li><em>"I wish I had taken that other job instead of this one 10 years ago - my life would be so much better if I had." </em></li><li><em>"I wish I would have gotten the part in that high school play, maybe I could have gotten into a theatre school and became an actor…"</em> </li></ul><p>Both of these examples have the ideology that if you had made different choices, your life right now would be improved. </p><p><strong>What is downward counterfactual thinking?</strong></p><p>Downward counterfactual thinking is, naturally, the opposite of upward counterfactual thinking in that we think about how things could have been worse if other decisions had been made. </p><p>Examples of downward counterfactual thinking are: </p><ul><li><em>"I'm so thankful I studied secondary education in university instead of psychology like I had originally planned - I love teaching high school kids and I never would have gotten to do that…" </em></li><li><em>"I'm so happy I left David when I got the chance, I can't imagine still being in an unhappy marriage with someone who doesn't support me…"</em> </li></ul><p>In these examples, we see the idea that if you had made different choices your life would not be as good as it is right now. </p>How counterfactual thinking can impact your life
<p>While many people don't see the point in "what if" scenarios, various studies have found that downward counterfactual thinking can be more associated with psychological health compared with upward counterfactual thinking. Not only that, but research has also shown upward counterfactual thinking can be linked with current and future depression.</p> <p><strong>Downward counterfactual thinking tends to be more associated with psychological health </strong></p><p>According to a <a href="http://journal.sjdm.org/jdm06136.pdf" target="_blank">2000 study</a>, downward counterfactual thinking can be linked with better psychological health compared to upward counterfactual thinking. More importantly, in cases where downward counterfactual thinking did lead to negative feelings, those feelings acted as something of a motivator for people to take productive actions to better their current situation. </p> <p><strong>Upward counterfactual thinking tends to be more associated with depression </strong></p><p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272735816301714#:~:text=An%20upward%20counterfactual%20(as%20opposed,Markman%20and%20McMullen%2C%202003)." target="_blank">According to a 2017 study</a> that pooled a sample of over 13,000 respondents, thoughts about "better outcomes" and regret (upward counterfactual thinking) were associated with current and future depression. </p> <p><strong>Downward counterfactual thinking can actually improve your relationships and is more often engaged in by women than men.</strong></p><p>In a <a href="https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/bitstream/handle/1951/67589/Studer_Thesis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y" target="_blank">2016 research paper submitted</a> to the Department of Psychology at the State University of New York at New Paltz, downward counterfactual thinking in regards to romantic relationships was associated with relatively positive relationship outcomes. Interestingly, women were more likely than men to engage in downward counterfactual thinking about their romantic life. </p> <p><strong>Upward counterfactual thinking can have some benefits in certain scenarios. </strong></p><p>When we look back after a failed test and think "I wish I would have studied more" - this motivates us to study harder the next time a test comes up. In this way, upward counterfactual thinking (or the negative version of "what if") can actually benefit us. </p> <p><strong>This can be difficult, though, because much of the time upward counterfactual thinking is more associated with a pessimistic outlook that can be unmotivating. </strong></p> <p>Thinking in the past tense can be motivational (and even healthy) at times, but the best thing to do is look forward. </p><p>While counterfactual thinking as a whole can be used to motivate us to make better choices or appreciate where we are in life, <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/darwins-subterranean-world/201809/the-psychology-what-if" target="_blank">this Psychology Today</a> article suggests that we should come up with ways to move on and focus on the present and the future instead of the past. Using counterfactual thinking as a motivational tool can be very helpful if we don't get stuck in the "what if" mindset that tends to pull us out of the present and back into the past, where things will always remain the same. </p>
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Midlife crisis? More like midlife calling. Here's how to find yours.
Did you know that shifting to a positive perspective on aging can add 7.5 years to your life? Or that there is a provable U-curve of happiness that shows people get happier after age 50?
15 June, 2020
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Aging is inevitable, but it doesn't have to be so taboo.<br>
<br>
After helping turn AirBnB into a multi-billion-dollar business, hospitality maverick Chip Conley founded the
<a href="https://www.modernelderacademy.com/" target="_blank">Modern Elder Academy</a>, the world's first midlife wisdom school. In this Big Think Live session, Conley will explain why the term 'elder' must be reclaimed, how to make the absolute best of your career at this stage, and how to conduct the 'Great Midlife Edit' to boost your happiness.</p><p>
<strong>Ask your questions during the live Q&A! Streaming via <a href="https://youtu.be/FfI7Qip-JZU" target="_blank">YouTube</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BigThinkdotcom/posts/10157423654948527" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, and via <a href="https://www.bigthinkedge.com/" target="_blank">Big Think Edge</a> (for subscribers only).</strong></p>
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