[ExI] Will head transplants be the new life extension method?

[Tara Maya]

Indeed, a 3D printed body or robotic body seems like it might work. It's a complex thing, but nearly as complex as the tech we'd need to actually copy the brain itself. So if there were a way to preserve the brain inside the head and just find a new body, that might work until real uploading or fully re-growing a body were possible.

I can't help but think of Futurama's Heads in Jars.

Tara Maya
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On Jun 6, 2014, at 8:13 AM, Mike Dougherty <msd001 at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Fri, Jun 6, 2014 at 9:59 AM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
>> That notion solves the cruel and unusual angle on the capital punishment
>> debates, sort of.  Or perhaps it opens a new one.  We can imagine states
>> going to forms of execution which would kill the brain but not damage the
>> body much, such as immersing the prisoner pure nitrogen for a couple
>> minutes, brain dies, body scarcely notices, gets a new honest head.
>> 
>> On the other hand, if the stem cell guys work out a means to reconnect the
>> spinal cord, then the person who received the body eventually retrains the
>> control system so she can walk about.  Then she goes to states which do not
>> currently allow capital punishment and goes about telling everyone how she
>> is alive thanks to a body transplant from a murderer, and that the murderer
>> was given a couple more years of life as well, etc.  That might encourage
>> the rest of the states to pass laws allowing capital punishment with the
>> option for body transplant followed by a pardon.
> 
> I certainly don't want to rain on your macabre party, but couldn't we
> set our sights a little higher?  Why must one person's head-swap be at
> the expense of another?  Where's all the post-scarcity thinking
> solutions that involves 3d printing a new body, or assembling one from
> a commodity parts bin?  Maybe your healthcare doesn't cover the newest
> medical technology, so you get last year's surplus at a cut rate*
> 
> I was only being semi-facetious about robot bodies.  We're already
> working on prosthetic arms and legs being controlled by neural
> interface.  I hope by the time we're seriously considering head
> transplants we have that well-in-hand* such that neural interfaces to
> whole a body prosthetic is "only" an engineering challenge  (rather
> than social/ethical quagmire)
> 
> For those on the waiting list for body prosthesis, life will likely
> consist of virtual world rehab exercises to become accustomed to the
> new UI.  For some, shelf-life* might be an alternative to cryotank
> while they wait for their opportunity to upload.
> 
> 
> * sorry, i love puns.
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