Torn Branches: A Science Fiction Review

An interesting piece from Scientific American on the influx of money from silicon valley rich-listers into life extending technology . Examples include Larry Page, Larry Ellison, and Peter Thiel, who have donated nearly half a billion in various research ventures for extending life indefinitely. The article responds to the investment into life extending technology with three points: "First, the second law of thermodynamics is paramount in the universe, so entropy will get us in the long run, if not the short..." "Second, extrapolating trend lines far into the future is problematic. Accelerating change may not continue at those rates nor apply to all technologies..." "Third, according to a 2007 review paper in the journal Clinical Interventions in Aging entitled “The Aging Process and Potential Interventions to Extend Life Expectancy,” there is no single cause of aging and more than 300 theories for why cells deteriorate and stop dividing..." Not one ...

I've been reading a bit about the concept of transhumanism lately as it is often used as a plot device in many of the sci fi novels, movies, and games I play. If you're interested, like me, I suggest taking a look at Nick Bostrom's description of the subject here . I particularly like this summary quote: "Transhumanists view human nature as a work-in-progress, a half-baked beginning that we can learn to remold in desirable ways. Current humanity need not be the endpoint of evolution. Transhumanists hope that by responsible use of science, technology, and other rational means we shall eventually manage to become posthuman, beings with vastly greater capacities than present human beings have". Nick Bostrom is also famous for his simulation theory hypothesis which states that at least one of the following statements is very likely to be true: The fraction of human-level civilisations that reach a posthuman stage is very close to zero; The fraction of posthu...