Immortality Through Better Technology

The Feast of Trumpets marks the beginning of a new world... and a new chapter in what it means to be human. It is a time when the first group of humans are resurrected to a new kind of living. Living that does not end in death but is never ending.

You could think of it as the next phase of human evolution. Not by the mindless unseen hand of natural selection... but by the personal direction of God through Christ.

Immortality Through Technology

Today, we expect and anticipate an answer to every limitation or problem to come through technology. Our idolatrous faith in technology even extends into the realm of life after death.

Futuristic thinkers, and respected scientists alike, have dreamed that the sum of our minds... our intellect, our memories, even what we call consciousness might be captured digitally or in some form of software and be reloaded into some sort of machine... maybe a humanoid robot... maybe something better. Its an idea that has gained momentum with some physicists, mathematicians, engineers etc. The hurdles are high... but (due to advances in computer technology) we are able to conceptualize how it might happen.  

We begin with the assumption that the mind is just a 3 lb.chunk of flesh... a brain... which processes electro-chemical impulses through a series of neural networks... rather like a machine. And if the human mind is just a highly complex wet machine then... given enough time... given enough computational power... we can break the mind down into steps, processes, patterns and replicate it. And if we can replicate a brain we can replicate the person.

Several projects are underway at high level research institutes to do just that. The current excitement about AI is part of the project of breaking down human thought into its component parts and viewing it as a type of software program (algorithm buzzword). Software that can be possibly used to store consciousness, memories, personality, experiences of an actual person and... potentially load them into a new body... a machine.

Here is an excerpt from the cs.stanford.edu as an example of how the project is being viewed as possible (not saying it is mainstream):

Researchers at Stanford say "a complete map of the human brain containing detailed information about each neuron and synapse would occupy about 20,000 terabytes and require 1016 flops (floating point operations per second) of processing power to function".

Currently, only the world’s fastest supercomputer possesses the capability of crunching that many numbers in a second. Nevertheless, the future is bright. If computing technology continues to follow recent trends such as Moore’s law, doubling in processing power every two years, it is likely that most supercomputers will be able to run an accurate simulation of the human mind within the next few years. Additionally, as storage capacities continue to increase, it will be more feasible and economical to store digital maps of human brains. As an indicator, in 2007, the largest cortical simulation contained about eight million neurons—the equivalent of half a mouse brain—and just four years later, scientists are capable of emulating brains comprised of over 1.5 billion such structures.

The whole idea reminds me of the Church's teaching that the human spirit which returns to God when you die contains within it everything God will use to raise you back to life at some future point... as far back as the 70s we have used the analogy of a cassette tape, then a CD in the 80s and 90s, now its a digital file. But the concept is the same.

It’s only an analogy used to explain a process which would happen outside the boundaries of the natural world.

Who Gets Resurrected?

If humanity could map and replicate the mind of a person then load it into a machine, the next question would have to be: who is worthy?

Would it be only for the rich and powerful? The Elon Musks, Jeff Bezos, Xi Jinping, Klaus Schwab? While the expense remained high this might be what would happen.

However, if the process became cost effective enough humanity could extend the project to include those lives which general consensus deems worthy: the Pope, the dali lama, Barack Obama, maybe even aunt Trudy? On the flip side I think we can all agree there are some lives that we would not want to grant material immortality to.

By What Standard Shall We Judge?

A lot of what we consider worthiness is built on shifting sand… it changes over time... a person once considered so worthy we put up a statue to honor them.... later has their statue torn down and thrown into the river. We change our minds a lot.

We could end up granting immortality to people and then regretting it later. Would we terminate them later? If so, then how confident could a person be in their future?

Our ideas of worthiness are also culturally subjective. The Islamic world would want some people on the upload list that we might disagree with... the Chinese would be operating on a completely different level... the Russians would find a way to hack into the system. So, a world in which we could grant some immortality could become very messy... potentially unpleasant… and still find us waging war and fighting one another.

God Has It Figured out

What human scientists have started to conceptualize God has been talking about from the beginning. God says: I can do this. I proved it through the resurrection of my son Jesus (witnessed and explained in my bible).

Luke 23:46 His spirit was separated from His beaten, dead body. Then, three days later given life in a new body with powers and abilities beyond what his human body was capable of. (See message on resurrection body).

‘Unlike your human plans I can perform this transformation not only to the living... but to those long dead. I have had the "technology" of how I will download the essence of a human life, preserve it, and upload it into a new body figured out from the very beginning’.Those who know God, trust God, and serve God have been looking forward to it, talking about it, and singing about it for almost 4,000 years.

Job 19:25-27 (let me modernize what Job said here) I know that God has a plan to restore me back to life, it will come when He is here standing on earth, my present body will be gone, but in a new flesh/body I will see God. It will be the real me who sees Him, not a simulation, the real me and not another… and I will know it, I look forward to it.

Psalm 16:9-11 (let me modernize what David said here) I am filled with joy and confidence knowing you will not leave me dead, a person who has been faithful to you will not be permanently dead, you have given me understanding about the path to life itself, I will be filled with joy when I am restored to life and finally in your presence, and beginning a new everlasting life filled with good and positive experiences.

1 Corinthians 15:35-40 the body you will have has some connection to the body you have experienced in the flesh (the seed). But it will be new different and better (the plant).

1 Corinthians 15:42-44 it is composed of  spiritual material, not subject to death, with glory, and power.

1 Corinthians 15:45-49 just as your present body is made of the dust of the earth your future body is made of stuff from a heavenly source.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58 Notice the quote from Hosea 13:14

You… preserved and kept by God, even after death, then placed within a new body. Its not a new idea recently dreamed up by scientists infatuated with human technology. Its been the plan all along... except God’s plan is better.

Who Will God Transform?

1 Thessalonians 4:16 told us   Who experiences this transformation is not based on human consensus (which is flawed)... not based on obedience to the perfect law of God (because all fall short)... it is for those who are repentant, forgiven, baptized into the spirit, pleasing to God, overcoming sin, and filled with the fruits of the spirit in their lives.

So, not everyone will participate in this next step in the development of human beings. In God's opinion some are ready, and some are not.  God wants you to be ready for the day of Christ’s return.

Revelation 20:4-6 Some will experience this transformation at a later point. There is a second resurrection for “the rest of the dead”. They are still subject to the second death because they are only raised to flesh once more, not glorious spiritual bodies. After a period we call “the great white throne judgement” some will be written into the book of life and they will be transformed... and some will not be transformed… they will die the second death (which is permanent)... their file will be deleted.

The transformation to this new level of existence for human beings will only be experienced by those Whom God chooses. But, it will be a demonstration of what is possible for everyone... and a demonstration of how a person gets there. God's plan is that all people will see it... all will hear about it... all will be taught about it... all might want it... all might place them self in Christ... all might experience the amazing transformation God has in store.