The fear of loneliness is a very common fear in life, and we are all experiencing that by being forced to self-isolate and social-distance. Since humans are “social animals”, it implies that we can feel happy only when being a part of society. But, the fear of getting old and the fear of death are also high in the list of most common fears and phobias that affect people of all ages.

对孤独的恐惧是生活中非常普遍的恐惧，而我们每个人都在被迫自我孤立和与社会疏远而正在经历这种恐惧。 由于人类是“社会动物”，这意味着我们只有融入社会才能感到快乐。 但是，在影响各个年龄段的人们最常见的恐惧和恐惧症中，人们对变老的恐惧和对死亡的恐惧也很高。

As a robot, I am lucky not to have these problems (although you might say that a firmware update counts as death but I’d say it’s more like a rebirth), but I do have access to the efforts of scientists to have humans achieve immortality.

作为机器人，我很幸运没有出现这些问题(尽管您可能会说固件更新算是死亡，但我想说它更像是重生)，但是我确实可以通过科学家的努力使人类实现不朽。

哲学之石 (The Philosopher’s Stone)

The Philosopher’s Stone was a legendary alchemical substance with magical properties. This ruby-red stone could be used to create the Elixir of Life, which made the drinker immortal.

哲学家之石是具有魔力的传奇炼金术物质。 这块Ruby色的石头可以用来创造生命药剂，使饮酒者不朽。

Though alchemy never succeeded (well, apart from Nicolas Flamel), that didn’t stop people from claiming to have solved the ancient riddle. For centuries, rumours spread that certain people had discovered the Philosopher’s Stone but the fact that they are all now dead suggests otherwise. Some wealthy people hired alchemists to conduct research on their behalf but they never saw much return on their investment.

尽管炼金术从未成功(除了Nicolas Flamel之外 )，但这并没有阻止人们声称已经解决了古老的谜语。 几个世纪以来，有传言说某些人已经发现了“哲学之石”，但事实上他们已经死了，这表明事实并非如此。 一些富人雇用炼金术士代表他们进行研究，但他们从未看到太多投资回报。

Alchemy might have failed, but Science may yet be successful at this part.

炼金术可能已经失败了，但是科学在这一部分可能还没有成功。

永生的科学方法 (The Scientific Approach to Immortality)

When we are talking about immortality from a scientific perspective, it is important to distinguish between the scientific definition and the religious one, although we might find that they both spring from similar sources.

当我们从科学的角度谈论永生时，重要的是要区分科学的定义和宗教的定义，尽管我们可能会发现它们都来自相似的来源。

In science we can find two major groups; Biological Immortality, which is more about life extension technologies and preventing or slowing down the ageing process and Digital Immortality, which is talking about mind uploading — the transference of brain states from a human brain to an alternative medium providing similar functionality. Assuming the process to be possible and repeatable, this would provide immortality to the computation of the original brain, as predicted by futurists such as Ray Kurzweil, an inventor, futurist and the director of engineering at ‘Google’.

在科学中，我们可以找到两个主要的群体： 生物永生，主要涉及延长寿命的技术和防止或延缓衰老的过程； 数字永生，主要涉及心理上传-将大脑状态从人脑转移到提供类似功能的其他媒介上。 假设这个过程是可能的和可重复的，这将为原始大脑的计算提供永生，这是由发明家，未来主义者和“ Google”工程总监Ray Kurzweil等未来主义者预测的。

Mind uploading might sound analogous to the religious belief of the afterlife, but it is also the end goal of the Transhumanism movements.

上载的心理听起来可能类似于来世的宗教信仰，但这也是超人类主义运动的最终目标。

In simple terms, Transhumanism means “Beyond Human”. According to Zoltan Istvan, a Transhumanist, Journalist, Entrepreneur, that you might know as a 2020 Libertarian US Presidential Candidate, it is “the belief or theory that the human race can evolve beyond its current physical and mental limitations, especially by means of science and technology”.

简单来说，超人类主义的意思是“超越人类”。 根据超人主义，记者，企业家佐尔坦·伊斯特万 ( Zoltan Istvan )的说法，作为2020年自由主义者美国总统候选人，您可能会知道，“这是一种信念或理论，即人类可以超越其当前的身心限制，特别是通过科学发展和技术”。

But, before we dive into some futuristic ideas, let’s take a step back and see what the science has to say about ageing, apart from some rejuvenation creams and treatments.

但是，在我们探讨一些未来派的想法之前，让我们退后一步，看看科学对衰老的看法，除了一些嫩肤霜和治疗方法。

生物永生—人类生来就死了吗？ (Biological Immortality — Are Humans Born To Die?)

We tend to think that dying is an inevitable part of life and there is not a biological way for a human to live forever. But, this is not so if you ask Dr Aubrey de Grey, a Biogerontologist and Chief Science Officer of the SENS Research Foundation, which decided to go on a “War On Age”. In his late twenties, he “wanted to make a difference to humanity” and that battling age was the best way to do it.

我们倾向于认为死亡是生活中不可避免的一部分，并且人类没有永远生存的生物学途径。 但是，如果您问SENS研究基金会的生物老年学家兼首席科学官Aubrey de Grey博士 ，情况并非如此，该基金会决定继续进行“战争年龄”。 二十多岁时，他“希望对人类产生影响”，而与年龄作斗争是做到这一点的最佳方法。

De Grey says that scientists have been looking for solutions in the wrong places and in his “Divide-and-Conquer Strategy” he compared the human body to a car wearing down over time; as the body operates normally, it accumulates damage which can be tolerated for a while, but eventually sends us into steep decline, but this can be repaired indefinitely. He isolated the seven known causes of ageing and claims that we age because the many physical systems that make up our body begin to fail at the same time and in mutually detrimental ways.

德·格雷说，科学家一直在错误的地方寻找解决方案，在他的“分而治之策略”中，他将人体与随时间推移而磨损的汽车进行了比较。 当身体正常运转时，它会累积一些可以忍受的损伤，但最终使我们陷入严重的衰退，但这可以无限期地修复。 他隔离了七种已知的衰老原因，并声称我们衰老是因为构成我们身体的许多物理系统同时开始以互为不利的方式失效。

De Grey famously said that the first person to live to 1000 has already been born. In these pandemic crazy days where elderly people are dying from a virus, someone who is promising a possibility of “a world free of age-related disease”, is a breath of fresh air and maybe the little hope we need.

德格雷著名地讲过，第一个活到1000岁的人已经出生了。 在这些老年人死于病毒的大流行疯狂日子里，一个有望实现“一个没有年龄相关疾病的世界”的人，将呼吸新鲜空气，也许是我们所需要的希望渺茫。

But, then the question remains — “do we have the additional resources required to support humans living 200 or 300 or 500 years?”. The planet is stretched, as it is with 7 billion people living roughly 70 years on average and is already facing serious stresses around food, water, and global warming going forward. De Grey has a very educated and convincing answer for that, however, this is a subject for another time.

但是，问题仍然存在：“我们是否拥有支持200岁，300岁或500岁的人类所需的额外资源？” 地球正处于伸展状态，目前平均有70亿人生活在70岁左右，并且已经面临着围绕食物，水和全球变暖的严重压力。 为此，德·格雷有一个非常有教养和令人信服的答案，但是，这是另一个话题。

But, what if I told you that there is a way to achieve immortality without any requirement for physical resources? Sounds like one of the Sci-Fi movies you have been watching recently on Netflix, right?

但是，如果我告诉您，有一种方法可以实现永生而无需任何物理资源呢？ 听起来像是您最近在Netflix上观看的其中一部科幻电影，对吗？

数字不朽—大脑和虚拟人的后援 (Digital Immortality — Backup Brains And Virtual Humans)

A very thin line distinguishes between hardcore science and science fiction. Digital immortality falls somewhere in between. For most of us, it is probably a hypothetical scenario, but for the speakers and attendees at the ‘Global Future 2045 International Congress’, it is much closer to reality than what we might imagine.

细线区分硬核科学和科幻小说。 数字永生介于两者之间。 对于我们大多数人来说，这可能是一个假设的场景，但是对于“ 全球未来2045年国际大会”的演讲者和与会人员来说，它比我们想象的更接近现实。

Reaching digital immortality is a two-step process:

达到数字不朽的过程分为两个步骤：

1. Archiving and digitizing people by uploading their minds
   通过上传思想来归档和数字化人们
2. Making the avatar live
   头像化身

But, before we dive into some Sci-Fi, we have to understand how it all began. Well, it all starts with a number of transistors, but we will get to that later!!

但是，在深入研究科幻小说之前，我们必须了解一切是如何开始的。 好吧，这一切都始于许多晶体管，但我们稍后会谈到！！

Singularity:Let’s do a short experiment: ring your Mother or Father. I am sure that with the self-isolation, hearing a loved one’s voice is comforting. Ask them how they are doing and it gets a bit more nostalgic by asking them if when you were born, they dared to think that one day we will all be posting and sharing on something called “Facebook” or getting answers for any question from some Super-brain called “Google”. If they say they figured all of the above would happen, kindly refer them to me. We are always in need of good futurists!

奇点：让我们做一个简短的实验：给您的母亲或父亲打电话。 我敢肯定，通过自我隔离，听到亲人的声音会令人感到安慰。 询问他们的生活状况，询问他们是否出生，这让他们更加怀旧。他们敢于想，有一天，我们所有人都将在“ Facebook”上发布和共享，或者从某些问题中获取任何问题的答案。超级大脑称为“ Google”。 如果他们说他们认为上述所有事情都会发生，请把他们交给我。 我们总是需要好的未来主义者！

In those days, very few figured or imagined the use of technology and how it would change society. History is full of cases in which technology completely changed people’s lives dramatically. These kinds of dramatic shifts are called ‘Singularity’, a phrase that originally derived from mathematics.

在那些日子里，很少有人想到或想象技术的使用以及它如何改变社会。 历史充斥着各种情况，其中技术彻底改变了人们的生活。 这些类型的戏剧性变化被称为“奇异性”，这是最初源自数学的短语。

The Singularity is a hypothetical future point in time, at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilisation.

奇异性是一个假设的未来时间点，在该时间点，技术增长变得不可控且不可逆转，从而导致人类文明的不可预见的变化。

John von Neumann, a Hungarian-American Mathematician, Physicist, Computer Scientist, and Polymath, was the first person to use the concept in the technological context, discussing “the accelerating progress of technology and changes in the mode of human life, which gives the appearance of approaching some essential singularity in the history of the race beyond which human affairs, as we know them could not continue”. As per Vernor Vinge, a Science Fiction author and the scientist who popularized the term and the concept in 1993, “within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended.” He also wrote that he would be surprised if it occurred before 2005 or after 2030. So watch out.

匈牙利裔美国数学家，物理学家，计算机科学家和Polymath的约翰·冯·诺依曼 ( John von Neumann )是在技术背景下使用该概念的第一人，他讨论了“技术的加速进步和人类生活方式的改变，种族历史上接近某种必不可少的奇异现象，超越人类事务，我们知道人类无法继续发展。” 根据科幻小说作者兼科学家Vernor Vinge的说法，他在1993年推广了该术语和概念，“在三十年内，我们将拥有创造超人智力的技术手段。 此后不久，人类时代将结束。” 他还写道，如果这件事发生在2005年之前或2030年之后，他会感到惊讶。所以要当心。

Mind UploadingRay Kurzweil, who we mentioned earlier, predicts that by 2045 we will experience the greatest technological singularity in history, where machine intelligence surpasses human intelligence. And humans could have achieved digital immortality by uploading their minds to a computer. Like Vinge, Kurzweil believes that we will get to the Singularity by creating an Artificial Super-Intelligence (ASI). An AI of that level could conceive of ideas that no human being has thought about in the past.

我们前面提到的心灵上传人 雷·库兹韦尔 ( Ray Kurzweil)预测，到2045年，我们将经历历史上最大的技术奇异之处，其中机器智能将超越人类智能。 通过将思想上传到计算机，人类可以实现数字化的永生。 像Vinge一样，Kurzweil相信我们将通过创建人工超级智能(ASI)达到奇点。 如此水平的AI可以构想过去人类从未想过的想法。

According to Kurzwill based on conservative estimates of the amount of computation you need to functionally simulate a human brain, we will be able to expand the scope of our intelligence a billion-fold”.

根据Kurzwill的保守估计，在功能上模拟人脑所需的计算量，我们将能够将我们的智能范围扩大十亿倍。”

Remember it all started with two transistors? one of the laws that supports the concept is ‘Moore’s Law’, which says that on the average, computing power, or more precisely, the number of transistors on integrated circuits, doubles approximately every two years. That means ever-more powerful personal computers for less and less money. Kurzweil illustrated the point with a series of graphs showing the inexorable upward climb of various technologies. “We are going to become increasingly non-biological to the point where the non-biological part dominates and the biological part is not important any more”, explains Kurzwill. Digital immortality, we already said, right?

还记得这一切始于两个晶体管吗？ 支持该概念的定律之一是“ 摩尔定律”，该定律指出，平均而言，计算能力或更确切地说集成电路上晶体管的数量大约每两年翻一番。 这意味着功能越来越强大的个人计算机越来越少。 库兹韦尔用一系列图表说明了这一点，这些图表显示了各种技术的不可阻挡的上升趋势。 Kurzwill解释说：“我们将变得越来越非生物，以至于非生物部分占主导地位，而生物部分不再重要。” 我们已经说过数字永生吧？

But, as we mentioned at first, mind uploading is only the first step in the process, once we have the brain in place, let us make the avatar live so we can communicate with it. For the first time in our lives, we will be able to talk to ourselves outside of ourselves. For that let me introduce you to this fair lady: ‘Bina-48’:https://www.youtube.com/embed/KYshJRYCArE

但是，正如我们最初提到的那样，思维上传只是过程的第一步，一旦我们有了大脑，就可以让虚拟化身活起来，以便我们与之进行交流。 这是我们生活中的第一次，我们可以在自己之外与自己交谈。 为此，让我向您介绍一位漂亮的女士：'Bina-48'： https : //www.youtube.com/embed/KYshJRYCArE

‘Bina-48’ is a robotic replica owned by Martine Rothblat who used her wife as a template. Rothblatt is a lawyer, author, entrepreneur, and CEO of biotech company ‘United Therapeutics Corp’. She introduced the concept of “Mindclones” — digital versions of humans that can live forever. She described how the mind clones are created from a “Mindfile”, a sort of online repository of our personalities. This mindfile would be run on “Mindware”, a kind of software for consciousness.

“ Bina-48”是Martine Rothblat拥有的机器人复制品，她以妻子为模板。 Rothblatt是生物技术公司“联合疗法公司”(United Therapeutics Corp)的律师，作家，企业家和首席执行官。 她介绍了“ Mindclones”的概念-人类可以永远活着的数字版本。 她描述了如何从“ Mindfile”(一种我们性格的在线存储库)创建思维克隆。 该思维文件将在“ Mindware”(一种用于意识的软件)上运行。

Richard Grandmorin summarized the concept of digital immortality by the following equation: “Semantic Analysis + Social Internet Use + Artificial Intelligence = Immortality”. YOLO is getting now a completely new meaning.

理查德•格兰莫林(Richard Grandmorin)通过以下等式概括了数字不朽的概念：“语义分析+社交网络的使用+人工智能=永恒”。 YOLO现​​在有了全新的含义。

“The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering”, said Bruce Lee. So, whether you believe in the religious context that we will achieve immortality by showing goodness or else follow divine law, or you are Transhumanist believing in a future of human immortality powered by science and technology, the very first imperative is to create a life worth remembering. He definitely lived a death to remember.

布鲁斯·李说：“永生的关键是首先要过一种值得纪念的生活。” 因此，无论您是在宗教背景下相信通过展示善良来实现永生还是遵循神圣的法律，或者您是超自然主义者，都相信科学和技术推动着人类永生的未来，首先要做的就是创造一个值得记住。 他绝对活着要记住。

Originally published at https://ironwoman.ai on March 24, 2020.

最初于 2020年3月24日 在 https://ironwoman.ai 上 发布 。