Replace afterlife with Heaven (I would rather not see hell) and that is my answer.

Nope, being a lich/werewolf is way better.

Edit: Or whatever Alex Mercer became.

Maybe I'd go for some interior-robotics to enhance things like strength, reaction time, etc., but I would not give up my feeling or body. If I could never have pleasurable six again, I'd rather just forgo the whole thing.

Also, screw being immortal. I don't want to live forever.

I'll put it like this: yes. If I could be a cyborg, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Having control over the most minute functions of my body, in addition to superhuman strength and durability, more than make up for any flesh lost in the process. My only condition would be that my original brain remains mostly intact: I don't want to be "dead" while some copy with my memories and thoughts runs around alive.

As long as I can still function the way I do now and everything works, I don't see why not. I mean I would want to still look like I did before the procedure. I wouldn't want metal parts hanging out or something. Also if there is an artificial brain I would want my consciousness transferred. I would not want to have to die to make an exact robot replica of me, that would defeat the purpose. Imagine being able to turn off pain. it would be the end of disease, back pain, and all sorts of other pains and sicknesses we biological beings endure.

Depends. Will I be 100% me psychologically? Can the robotic part be under the hood, undetectable and can I still have children and six? Then do I get abnormal strength and do I become ageless?

If all yes then yeah. If there is one no then no.

Why do all cyborgs look inhuman? Surely when we're finally capable of creating cyborgs, we'll also be able to make them look human.

If I'd look human after the process, sure I'd do it. If not... maybe. Depends. If I was on my deathbed? Sure. If I was supremely happy? Probably not.

It is essentially a philosophical question, and only a religious one depending on one's metaphysical position. But you're right, it's not only a can of worms, it's THE can of worms. They don't call it "The Hard Problem" for nothing.

In response to the question, I don't think any of us could stop being human, because if we stopped being human, we would no longer be "us". I cannot become a robot. "I" would cease to be, and a robot would take my place. Even if the robots could behave as if they were human, there is no way to know if they possessed anything like consciousness as we understand it, or whether they might be http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/zombies/.

So, no, I would not give up being human. I know what it is to be human. I have no idea of the qualities of the phenomenological experience of being a robot (or even if robots are capable of having phenomenological experience at all). The only way to know is to experience it first hand, and that's a one-way street.


Ah, but that is the fundamental problem. Is the "transfer" of consciousness from one brain to another possible? Does the idea of transferring consciousness even make sense?

Consider this scenario. We have a machine that can "transfer" your consciousness from your organic brain to a synthetic brain. Let's assume that the process ends with your organic brain being melted into goo after your consciousness has been transferred to the synthetic brain.

In your new robot body with synthetic brain, you wake up and say, "I'm Cabius, and it's great to be a robot!"

Now, suppose the machine malfunctioned and your original organic brain was not destroyed. It wakes up in your original organic body and says, "Wait, I'm Cabius, and I'm still human."

They can't both be you, and it seems self-evident that the organic you, with your original brain, is the real you (it was the real you before you entered the machine, after all). The "transferred" consciousness, if it even exists, cannot be you. Inasmuch as you are your consciousness, there can be only one of you. A consciousness separate from your own phenomenological experience is, by definition, not you.

I would argue that consciousness, by it's very nature, cannot be transferred. Consciousness is not an object. It is not physical. We humans have been attempting to objectify consciousness since the beginning of human thought, and it has only led us around in circles.

Actually, disregard my last post. I want my fingers to be like Inspector Gadget's fingers.

No, for a few reasons:
1. Blade Runners
2. Brain-hackers (that guy in DX:HR)
3. To paraphrase the film Troy: "Our mortality makes everything more beautiful."
4. there's some theory that as you age, time seems to go faster. While it may not be true, I'd rather not find out myself.

There is no way I can undergoa process that makes me unhuman. A Cyborg is only a human with non-organic applications. For example if all parts of me were robotic except my brain, I would still be human.

However I feel like I'm nitpicking, so just get to your question. I wouldn't do it unless it's a minor "improvement" or no ones can actually see my "cyborgness". Maybe I will need more drastic "improvements" when I'm old (what I doubt will ever happen, because I'm a half-demon).

edit: I once heard a story from someone who got his eye cut out for a strange pagan cult and replaced it with a mechanical eye.

I'd happily give up my "humanity" in return for a longer or better life. I wouldn't do it if it made me dependent on a corporation or government to maintain my mechanical elements though. I also wouldn't mind if it visibly changed me.

Yes if:

- It meant I lived forever
- Didn't have to charge up because I had a cell powered by Nuclear fusion.. how much of a drag would it be plugging into a power point everyday?
- Looked human still... I'd hate to walk round looking like C3PO
- Still had control over my free will and wasn't controlled by anyone
- No one knew I was not human, I'd rather just blend in
- ... and as long as my man pole still worked for you know... using on the ladies

This is a nonsensical phrase.

So if people became machines, we wouldn't need to eat right? Overpopulation would become a non-issue? Taken to a further extreme you could say if we were electronic then a body as such wouldn't be needed at all, but at this point we really aren't human anymore. I do wonder at some point in the future if organic life will become obsolete, it sort of makes sense, as frightening as it is, but many of mankinds problems would be solved if we were machines: ageing, poverty, disease, death... we could even be "programmed" to never feel anger or sadness, to never comit a crime, to cause harm to another etc... freaky!

However, I wouldn't give up my humanity (I would accept super strong arms or something though, as long as they look Human) simply because I believe I have a soul, and a machine does not, therefore a machine can never truly be alive, no matter what it feels, thinks or believes.

Check out the latest Asimo 2012 features, it is crazy how close we are to robot walking among us... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8UeT9r4cmg

haha i like your mind

Well, i don't see the human body as anything but "hardware", a tool required to live in this world. As long as my mind, me, stays the same upgrading the hardware would not be out of the question.


But if we could achieve immortality reproduction becomes meaningless. Dangerous even, given that death would not cull the population naturally. And with some brain implants i bet one can get an endorphin dose without the messy, sweaty part

Only if I get x-ray vision and the strength of ten gorillas. Oh, and chainsaw hands! Bzzzzzzzz!

It is true, and, barring some illness or misfortune, you will be finding that out for yourself.

not like that, but a robo arm or leg would probably be sweet. My buddy got his leg blown off in iraq, so getting a sophisticated replacement would sure make life easier for people. Also how the hell would anyone afford being turned into a robocop reject? Theyd probably cyborg-ify you then make you work off the debt with suicide missions and stuff

Shadowrunning... ?

No, because it would probably mean that I could be "hacked", since I would probably be connected to the internet or something similar.
If, however, I could be sure I couldn't be controlled like a machine (doesn't "robot" mean servant originally?), then yes, why not.

Nah, I don't think so. It's a cross between metaphysical and biological reasons; technology is limited and doesn't actively adapt to changing circumstances.
Imagine having a flashy synthetic body, only to be considered archaic and not worth 'upgrading' after a (short) time, say a century or two.

Also, what about our 'humanity', if our organic bodies are severely damaged, doctors try to preserve them. If we all had synthetic bodies it'd be easy to scrap them if too severely damaged regardless of consciousness.

1. You'd still be living longer than non-synthetics.
2. Why would it be any easier to scrap a cyborg (who does, after all, still have a human consciousness) than it is to scrap a bag of flesh? If anything, the inverse would be true.

Would I trade my body for an android? No thanks, I enjoy all five of my sense's and much else thank you very much; I have no idea why anyone, who doesn't have a a perhaps serious medical condition, would ever choose to be a damn machine. A world where people with the most money can buy the most sophisticated body parts and upgrades, can't see any class warfare, criminal enterprise or civil unrest in this future at all...


No it isn't, you are a human being; if they took you out of that and put your consciousness into a macine or whatever you'd just be an intelligent lifeform formally of the human species.