Genetic Engineering

[ZombiezuRFER]

Furthermore, it should happen within your expected lifetime.

[ChaosWulf]

Sounds fun. hmmmm super soldier furries.

[anoni]

It will happen but not because of genetic engineering. Please read my above post.

@Anoni
Technology: we have the technology to do many things, even mind uploading. Thing is, though, that the thing preventing widespread use is the knowledge has yet to be learned. This will happen in time.
Finance: immortality is a very attractive concept, and I highly doubt that too few wealthy businessmen will buy new bodies to become immortal. Finance is currently a non-issue.
Ethics/Morality: the arguments against any form of transhumanism has been irrational and unacceptable, and needs to be campaigned against. But, this is also the hardest fight to win, because people will accept namecalling and rationalization as rational. Thing is, the majority of people will desire transhuman technologies and this muddled ethics debate will end.

I'm just saying it's coming no matter what, at least other than any existential risks.

Technology: I wouldn't be so sure about that. I don't think we have a computer capable of the computational capabilities to process the human mind and even knowledge is important. If we did not have the knowledge of something, how do we know our technology is capable of achieving it?
Finance: Wealthy business men maybe would like immortality. But for that to happen, it would be quite a large investment and their would need to be some serious evidence to suggest that it would work for wealthy business men to actually invest as much that is required for such an agency.
Social/Ethics: I'm not too certain about that. There is still racism, homophobia, discrimination, supernatural belief, belief in ghosts and other things. Irrationality seems to be a trait of mankind.

[ZombiezuRFER]

Technology: Yeah, we have the capability to simulate a human brain, its just that it would take an extremely large computer to do so currently. Being able to make electronics interact with neurons, we can replace neurons with chips and make the brain a computer. Thing is, we don't know enough about the brain to make this a simple or easy process.
Finance: Business men will invest, because even if the process to do so is not known, the immortality factor is very desirable. Thing is, I know the way to immortality, the whole brain transplant thing, so it'll be fairly easy enough.
Ethics: More and more people are opening up to transhumanism. Thing with transhumanism is that its just the New Rock and Roll

[anoni]

Technology: I don't see how that's a plus on your argument
Finance: Yes, Immortality is very desirable, but people don't invest on things, even if it's immortality, unless they are confident it will work.
Ethics: But is the process fast enough?

Again, I'm not saying it won't be done, I'm just saying that it won't be done for at least another 30 years

[ZombiezuRFER]

30 years is more of an at most. it is more likely it will be at least 5 years to start with designer babies, 12 years for sufficient gene therapy, and 15 years for immortality. Double those and that should be the maximum amount of time for those to crop up.

One thing to remember is The Law of Accelerating Returns, which states that technology advances on at least a quadratic scale. That means your estimate of least time is just far too big.

[anoni]

I see technology as not an infinite exponential process, but a process similar to where there is a peak of rate increase that slowly descends after that, though we haven't reached the peak yet.

  Well, I believe we are at kind of stalemate here, because I believe that both our claims are equally valid, the problem with predicting the future is there is so little you can actually grasp things on. We don't exactly have sufficient statistical data to accurately predict much of anything in terms of this regard. So, I think we have to end of this discussion like this.

  We'll see what happens

[ZombiezuRFER]

I suppose your right.


As for predicting the future, its really hard because we're on the verge of another technological singularity, the point where it becomes near impossible to predict the exact details of what happens next.
Also because of that, it means any science fiction set past 2030-2040 is pure Space opera now if it doesn't include any large-scale transhumanism.

[anoni]

hehe
Some do, like Mass Effect, though the scale on it was not large in terms of AI's and mental uploading due to legal limitations of that era

[ChaosWulf]

Wow this discussion is awesome although I not really contributing. It's still fun to read and the mass effect series is awesome but I don't think we wil be seeing mass relays but we might.

[anoni]

  Well on that note, we may actually be able to travel to other galaxies instantly! As in, FTL, it's actually pretty amazing. This MAY be achievable in the form of teleportation and the use of Quantum Entanglement.

  The idea is that when two particles interact, they become quantum entangled, which means that the properties of one particle are dependent on the properties of the other particle and vice versa. If they are not disturbed, they can remain in this tangled state and be moved apart, the particles could be hundreds of miles apart. As the properties of one particle are dependent on the other, if one particles property changes (such as it's spin) the other particles property will change instantly in the appropriate format (the other particle would spin in the opposite direction). The idea here is that the speed in which the two properties change is instant, faster than the speed of life.

  So if we could theoretically discover how to use this practically, then instant teleportation may be a very real possibility!

[ZombiezuRFER]

Don't forget about the Alcubierre drive!
The idea of warping space around your ship to transport it faster than light by transporting space alongside the ship.
To paraphrase someone, "Einstein said we can't move faster than light on the stage. But, he didn't say anything about moving the stage faster than light..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive

[MrRazot]

Teleportation scares me
In my view it's like copy-pasting on a computer then deleting the original.
Until we can be certain how the human conscience works, I aint goin in no telly-portation device.
Portals however...

Damn if I was loaded with cash, I would put so much into research and development of genetics and interstellar travel

[ZombiezuRFER]

That's just Star Trek teleportation, real teleportation is just instant transfer of an object to another place. IIRC, we have already done it to a single photon.

[anoni]

Particles zip in and out of our perceptions of existence all the time
It's really quite freaky to think about