Part 16 (1/2)
GEORGE 2048: Okay, but consider that you can be with your favorite entertainment star. Okay, but consider that you can be with your favorite entertainment star.
MOLLY 2004: I can do that in my imagination any time I want. I can do that in my imagination any time I want.
RAY: Imagination is nice, but the real thing-or, rather, the virtual thing-is so much more, well, real. Imagination is nice, but the real thing-or, rather, the virtual thing-is so much more, well, real.
MOLLY 2004: Yeah, but what if my ”favorite” celebrity is busy? Yeah, but what if my ”favorite” celebrity is busy?
RAY: That's another benefit of virtual reality circa 2029; you have your choice of millions of artificial people. That's another benefit of virtual reality circa 2029; you have your choice of millions of artificial people.
MOLLY 2104: I understand that you're back in 2004, but we kind of got rid of that terminology back when the Nonbiological Persons Act was pa.s.sed in 2052. I mean, we're a lot more real than ... umm, let me rephrase that. I understand that you're back in 2004, but we kind of got rid of that terminology back when the Nonbiological Persons Act was pa.s.sed in 2052. I mean, we're a lot more real than ... umm, let me rephrase that.
MOLLY 2004: Yes, maybe you should. Yes, maybe you should.
MOLLY 2104: Let's just say that you don't have to have explicit biological structures to be- Let's just say that you don't have to have explicit biological structures to be- GEORGE 2048: -pa.s.sionate? -pa.s.sionate?
MOLLY 2104: I guess you should know. I guess you should know.
TIMOTHY LEARY: What if you have a bad trip? What if you have a bad trip?
RAY: You mean, something goes awry with a virtual-reality experience? You mean, something goes awry with a virtual-reality experience?
TIMOTHY: Exactly. Exactly.
RAY: Well, you can leave. It's like hanging up on a phone call. Well, you can leave. It's like hanging up on a phone call.
MOLLY 2004: a.s.suming you still have control over the software. a.s.suming you still have control over the software.
RAY: Yes, we do need to be concerned with that. Yes, we do need to be concerned with that.
SIGMUND: I can see some real therapeutic potential here. I can see some real therapeutic potential here.
RAY: Yes, you can be whomever you want to be in virtual reality. Yes, you can be whomever you want to be in virtual reality.
SIGMUND: Excellent, the opportunity to express suppressed longings ... Excellent, the opportunity to express suppressed longings ...
RAY: And not only to be with the person you want to be with, but to become that person. And not only to be with the person you want to be with, but to become that person.
SIGMUND: Exactly. We create the objects of our libido in our subconscious anyway. Just think, a couple could both change their genders. They could each become the other. Exactly. We create the objects of our libido in our subconscious anyway. Just think, a couple could both change their genders. They could each become the other.
MOLLY 2004: Just as a therapeutic interlude, I presume? Just as a therapeutic interlude, I presume?
SIGMUND: Of course. I would only suggest this under my careful supervision. Of course. I would only suggest this under my careful supervision.
MOLLY 2004: Naturally. Naturally.
MOLLY 2104: Hey, George, remember when we each became all of the opposite gender characters in the Allen Kurzweil novels at the same time it? Hey, George, remember when we each became all of the opposite gender characters in the Allen Kurzweil novels at the same time it?
GEORGE 2048: Ha, I liked you best as that eighteenth-century French inventor, the one who made erotic pocket watches! Ha, I liked you best as that eighteenth-century French inventor, the one who made erotic pocket watches!
MOLLY 2004: Okay, now run this virtual s.e.x by me again. How does it work exactly? Okay, now run this virtual s.e.x by me again. How does it work exactly?
RAY: You're using your virtual body, which is simulated. Nan.o.bots in and around your nervous system generate the appropriate encoded signals for all of your senses: visual, auditory, tactile of course, even olfactory. From the perspective of your brain, it's real because the signals are just as real as if your senses were producing them from real experiences. The simulation in virtual reality would generally follow the laws of physics, although that would depend on the environment you selected. If you go there with another person or persons, then these other intelligences, whether of people with biological bodies or otherwise, would also have bodies in this virtual environment. Your body in virtual reality does not need to match your body in real reality. In fact, the body you choose for yourself in the virtual environment may be different from the body that your partner chooses for you at the same time. The computers generating the virtual environment, virtual bodies, and a.s.sociated nerve signals would cooperate so that your actions affect the virtual experience of the others and vice versa. You're using your virtual body, which is simulated. Nan.o.bots in and around your nervous system generate the appropriate encoded signals for all of your senses: visual, auditory, tactile of course, even olfactory. From the perspective of your brain, it's real because the signals are just as real as if your senses were producing them from real experiences. The simulation in virtual reality would generally follow the laws of physics, although that would depend on the environment you selected. If you go there with another person or persons, then these other intelligences, whether of people with biological bodies or otherwise, would also have bodies in this virtual environment. Your body in virtual reality does not need to match your body in real reality. In fact, the body you choose for yourself in the virtual environment may be different from the body that your partner chooses for you at the same time. The computers generating the virtual environment, virtual bodies, and a.s.sociated nerve signals would cooperate so that your actions affect the virtual experience of the others and vice versa.
MOLLY 2004: So I would experience s.e.xual pleasure even though I'm not actually, you know, with someone? So I would experience s.e.xual pleasure even though I'm not actually, you know, with someone?
RAY: Well, you would be with someone, just not in real reality, and, of course, the someone may not even exist in real reality. s.e.xual pleasure is not a direct sensory experience, it's akin to an emotion. It's a sensation generated in your brain, which is reflecting on what you're doing and thinking, just like the sensation of humor or anger. Well, you would be with someone, just not in real reality, and, of course, the someone may not even exist in real reality. s.e.xual pleasure is not a direct sensory experience, it's akin to an emotion. It's a sensation generated in your brain, which is reflecting on what you're doing and thinking, just like the sensation of humor or anger.
MOLLY 2004: Like the girl you mentioned who found everything hilarious when the surgeons stimulated a particular spot in her brain? Like the girl you mentioned who found everything hilarious when the surgeons stimulated a particular spot in her brain?
RAY: Exactly. There are neurological correlates of all of our experiences, sensations, and emotions. Some are localized whereas some reflect a pattern of activity. In either case we'll be able to shape and enhance our emotional reactions as part of our virtual-reality experiences. Exactly. There are neurological correlates of all of our experiences, sensations, and emotions. Some are localized whereas some reflect a pattern of activity. In either case we'll be able to shape and enhance our emotional reactions as part of our virtual-reality experiences.
MOLLY 2004: That could work out quite well. I think I'll enhance my funniness reaction in my romantic interludes. That will fit just about right. Or maybe my absurdity response-I kind of like that one, too. That could work out quite well. I think I'll enhance my funniness reaction in my romantic interludes. That will fit just about right. Or maybe my absurdity response-I kind of like that one, too.
NED LUDD: I can see this getting out of hand. People are going to start spending most of their time in virtual reality. I can see this getting out of hand. People are going to start spending most of their time in virtual reality.
MOLLY 2004: Oh, I think my ten-year-old nephew is already there, with his video games. Oh, I think my ten-year-old nephew is already there, with his video games.
RAY: They're not full immersion yet. They're not full immersion yet.
MOLLY 2004: That's true. We can see him, but I'm not sure he notices us. But when we get to the point when his games are full immersion, we'll never see him. That's true. We can see him, but I'm not sure he notices us. But when we get to the point when his games are full immersion, we'll never see him.
GEORGE 2048: I can see your concern if you're thinking in terms of the thin virtual worlds of 2004, but it's not a problem with our 2048 virtual worlds. They're so much more compelling than the real world. I can see your concern if you're thinking in terms of the thin virtual worlds of 2004, but it's not a problem with our 2048 virtual worlds. They're so much more compelling than the real world.
MOLLY 2004: Yeah, how would you know since you've never been in real reality? Yeah, how would you know since you've never been in real reality?
GEORGE 2048: I hear about it quite a bit. Anyway, we can simulate it. I hear about it quite a bit. Anyway, we can simulate it.
MOLLY 2104: Well, I can have a real body any time I want, really not a big deal. I have to say it's rather liberating to not be dependent on a particular body, let alone a biological one. Can you imagine, being all tied up with its endless limitations and burdens? Well, I can have a real body any time I want, really not a big deal. I have to say it's rather liberating to not be dependent on a particular body, let alone a biological one. Can you imagine, being all tied up with its endless limitations and burdens?
MOLLY 2004: Yes, I can see where you're coming from. Yes, I can see where you're coming from.
. . . on Human Longevity
It is one of the most remarkable things that in all of the biological sciences there is no clue as to the necessity of death. If you say we want to make perpetual motion, we have discovered enough laws as we studied physics to see that it is either absolutely impossible or else the laws are wrong. But there is nothing in biology yet found that indicates the inevitability of death. This suggests to me that it is not at all inevitable and that it is only a matter of time before the biologists discover what it is that is causing us the trouble and that this terrible universal disease or temporariness of the human's body will be cured.-RICHARD FEYNMAN Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty-never give in.-WINSTON CHURCHILL Immortality first! Everything else can wait.-CORWYN PRATER Involuntary death is a cornerstone of biological evolution, but that fact does not make it a good thing.-MICHAEL ANISSIMOV Suppose you're a scientist 200 years ago who has figured out how to drastically lower infant mortality with better hygiene. You give a talk on this, and someone stands up in back and says, ”hang on, if we do that we're going to have a population explosion!” If you reply, ”No, everything will be fine because we'll all wear these absurd rubber things when we have s.e.x,” n.o.body would have taken you seriously. Yet that's just what happened-barrier contraception was widely adopted [around the time that infant mortality dropped].-AUBREY DE GREY, GERONTOLOGIST We have a duty to die.-d.i.c.k LAMM, FORMER GOVERNOR OF COLORADO Some of us think this is rather a pity.-BERTRAND RUSSEL, 1955, COMMENTING ON THE STATISTIC THAT ABOUT ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND PEOPLE DIE OF AGE-RELATED CAUSES EVERY DAY38 Evolution, the process that produced humanity, possesses only one goal: create gene machines maximally capable of producing copies of themselves. In retrospect, this is the only way complex structures such as life could possibly arise in an unintelligent universe. But this goal often comes into conflict with human interests, causing death, suffering, and short life spans. The past progress of humanity has been a history of shattering evolutionary constraints.-MICHAEL ANISSIMOV Most of the readers of this book are likely to be around to experience the Singularity. As we reviewed in the previous chapter, accelerating progress in biotechnology will enable us to reprogram our genes and metabolic processes to turn off disease and aging processes. This progress will include rapid advances in genomics (influencing genes), proteomics (understanding and influencing the role of proteins), gene therapy (suppressing gene expression with such technologies as RNA interference and inserting new genes into the nucleus), rational drug design (formulating drugs that target precise changes in disease and aging processes), and therapeutic cloning of rejuvenated (telomere-extended and DNA-corrected) versions of our own cells, tissues, and organs, and related developments.