'the quest for immortality goes back to adam and eve, but now some smart people are getting serious about actually bringing it within their grasp. and they're getting more attention as well.'
'ultimately, we are information. i believe that we're fundamentally a pattern of information. there's an analogy to water in a stream. the pattern that water makes as it goes around a particular rock can be the same for years, but obviously the water is different from second to second. am i the same person that you talked to years ago? actually, the particles are completely different. the pattern isn't exactly the same, either, but the pattern does have continuity.
so we are a pattern of information. and that information, ultimately we'll be able to capture that. that's another aspect of extending our lives. right now we can back up all the valuable information we have on our computers. but it's not just a poem or a metaphor to say this information in our brains, it's very literally data, but we have no backup for it. ultimately we'll be able to back it up and retain it.'
-ray kurzweil
i was very excited to read this. i've often tried to tell my friends that we're waves... waves, streams, the analogy is similar.
i'm so glad people are getting serious about extending life... and i'm very puzzled as to why people are born, live, and die, and not spend more resources to answer these questions.
