We had a discussion in the WEPR a couple months back about transferring bodies and what effect that would have on the psyche, mind, and functionality of the human body. All knowledge and evidence points to the fact that the brain is responsible for all manners of consciousness and activity. Given this, it would be possible that, given the necessary surgeries needed to transplant a brain into a fresh body, the consciousness of the transplant-or would use the vessel and live on. Once man1 reaches an old age, he can use a brain transplant to use a new vessel to become man2, but with his own consciousness. If he was 80 before and is using a 20 year old man, he would add 60 more years to his conscious life.
Complications of various manners can occur:
Immorality, for example, dictates that it would be wrong of a man to take someone else's body for his own, just to live longer. Even though the transplant-ee signed the waiver to allow man1 to take his body, the majority may think of this as wrong.
Socially, how would you interact with others, and vice-versa? You just took the body of a 20 year old man that had his own friends and family, while your own family is pretty much gone. Would you be with man2's peers or with man1's peers that are in generations 3 and 4?
Lawfully, how would you be tagged and ID'd? Jonathan Morrison (man1) or Samuel Watson (man2)? Would businesses and workplaces accept one that took the body of another man? Would you be shunned among your co-workers, or instead be revered, as you would have half a century of field experience?
Naturally, how would the flow of nature go, if many other people decided to transplant their brains, assuming morality accepts it? Our population expenditure would dramatically increase, wouldn't it?
Morality#2, what would others think if you were to mate with what used to be your family, but physically not? Biologically, the two are supposed to be strangers, thus fit to mate and would produce healthy children with none of the complications that mating with blood members would ensue.
Personally, would Man1 stomach the fact that he's using another man (or woman?) as a vessel? Would he be able to function normally, or would he break down? I suppose that would have to depend on Man1's original psyche.
I personally find this an interesting thread, and I would love to hear from the rest of you. Think: living for more than 120 years. No one has ever done that before in recorded history. Would it not be insurmountably awesome?
I would also like to resurrect Moegreche from the nether so I could hear his insight on this. :3
the cells would die slowly, and the telomeres in the rest of the body wouldn't always hold.
This wouldn't be a problem as soon as you find a way to use telomerase to work in neurons. Telomerase already keeps the telomeric ends in the gonadic cells whole so that no information is lost from one generation to another.
mutations would occure, no doubt.
That can be a problem, but cells with mutations would mostly simply die. Cancer is still a threat as long as there is no way to operate it correctly; maybe this will be possible once, who knows.
and you know the law of murphy wich is not of murphy: everything what can go wrong, goes wrong.
That's not a law, that's only statistic probabilities.
it could take a long time, but not into enternety.
I don't like the term eternity. I prefer to say, potential immortality is possible.
Immortality could be possible but we should advance more and testing it on other humans is dangerous. So unless we are sure we are ready You do not need to worry too much.
but would you WANT to be immortal? everything would stay the same, for no kids are allowed to be born, becouse overpopulation would occure if new people were born. after a while, everyone would have done what they could do on earth, and the huge boredom would begin...
well, the transplant theory is interesting, but somewhat flawed. after a few transplants, wouldn't the brain begin to decompose? therefore, you would prolong your life, not be immortal.
well, 1st I would like to state that I AM IMMORTAL. 2nd Humans are mortal and WILL stay that way. 3rd All kinds of things would go wrong if humans lived forever, such as overpopulation which is already a huge problem that everyboody chooses to ignore
hmm, i've thought of something. technically, we are immortal. so long as someone, somewhere, remembers us, or writes about us, we are immortal (figuratively).
although, biologically, we are somewhat immortal. the genes of the first human being are still inside us, and so long as the human race is able to reproduce, those genes will stay immortal
the overpopulation argument isn't really applicable to a discussion on whether or not immortality is possible... that would go more for a "why immortality should not be sought after" thread...
w/ current technology it is possible that humans may seek to colonize other celestial/astral bodies. ie. the moon, space stations, mars, (even saw some theories for mercury...if u keep a giant vehicle moving in between the shadow of night and the light of day then u stay in a livable temperature... and u could use the light of day to power the giant vehicle...just food for thougth)
i've read some wiki and some other sites where it has been said that mature neurons do not replicate... and on the small chance they do... they're most likely cancerous. I did however come across a tidbit that stated that astrocytes... not neurons themselves but basically the helper cells aid in maintaining the neurons.... may actually divide and sometimes undergo a change in which they transform into neurons... or just function as neurons. It would seem that you could use this as a method of producing new neurons.... but the problem lies in that you'll eventually run out of room in ur cranial cavity and your brain will grow till the pressure of the skull acting back on it gets strong enough to do damage enough to kill it and you. ....so maybe you'd have to remove the skull?
it's an idea, but theres a problem with that: the skull protects the brain from damage (a helmet). you would have "more" brain, but less protection, say, if you fell or someone punched your head
I don't know if the brain would really grow that much, I mean, naturally after a certain age it doesn't grow, but rather diminishes. But it's interesting, I didn't know that astrocytes had the potential to take over nervous-like functions. Makes my idea of a cybernetic host body even more conceivable
