Fernando Alcoforado*
This article represents the continuation of the article whose title is Como fazer com que as utopias planetárias se realizem visando a construção de um mundo melhor (How to make planetary utopias come true with a view to building a better world) [1]. This article is the tenth of 12 articles that address the 12 planetary utopias that need to be realized with a view to building a better world and contributing to the achievement of happiness for human beings, individually and collectively. This article aims to present what has been done to make the tenth of the utopias considered, that of achieving the immortality of human beings, become a reality to eliminate the dystopia represented by the inevitability of the death of human beings.
The article O homem em busca da imortalidade (Man in search of immortality) [2] reports that the human obsession with overcoming death has long existed. In the past, man sought to overcome death through religions. In the contemporary era, people began to believe that it would be possible to overcome death through the use of science and technology. The belief that, if it is not possible to overcome death, but that it would be possible to prolong life considerably, it is based on the fact that man’s life expectancy increased from 30 years in 1500, 37 years in 1800, 45 years in 1900 , 46.5 years in 1950 and 80 years in 2012. The article under the title Quem quer viver 1.000 anos? (Who wants to live 1,000 years?) [3] reports that the achievement of a longer existence in the 20th century resulted from the improvement of sanitary conditions in cities and the creation of public health services. Furthermore, science discovered vaccines and antibiotics that made it possible to prevent diseases and control epidemics. The increase in educational and income levels also contributed to improving the quality of life and further extending longevity in the third or – perhaps we could say – fourth age.
The article A era dos homens imortais (The Age of Immortal Men) [4] informs that the year 2045 will mark the beginning of an era in which medicine will be able to offer humanity the possibility of living for a time never seen in history. Organs that are not working can be exchanged for better ones, created especially for us. Parts of the heart, lungs and even the brain can be replaced. Tiny computer circuits will be implanted in the body to control chemical reactions that occur inside cells. We will be just a few steps away from immortality. This is the prediction of a group of scientists known for being at the forefront of research covering topics such as computer science, biology and biotechnology. Among them are George Church, professor at Harvard University in the United States, gerontologist and biomedical specialist in anti-aging Aubrey de Gray and engineer Raymond Kurzweil, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). They are the leaders of a kind of new philosophy, called Singularity.
According to inventor and futurist Raymond Kurzweil, the “father” of the much talked about concept of Singularity, we are heading towards the difficulty of distinguishing between what is organic and what is machine in the future. Artificial intelligence will evolve so much that by 2025 it will be difficult to recognize a human being from a robot. It is worth noting that singularity marks a transition point between two “domains”, or two “worlds”, at a point or instant. In astronomy, singularity means a place in space (black hole) where a body does not age because time stops. In medicine, the heralds of immortality claim that it is nothing more than a real consequence of an ongoing revolution that is already causing the increase in human life expectancy to skyrocket at unprecedented speed. Considering the speed of innovations, a person born in 2050 will have a 95% chance of living a thousand years, according to Aubrey de Grey. At this moment, the aforementioned group of scientists is involved in the growth of the Singularity University, already located in Silicon Valley, in the United States. Making an analogy with single-celled bacteria that live for millions of years without aging, members of the Singularity University state that our germ cells, such as eggs and sperm, can also live indefinitely, which they claim believes in the greatest extension of human life.
The certainty of this group of researchers in the success of their research is supported by the advances already achieved and those that will certainly come. In the opinion of these researchers, based on the resources we currently have, a child born today could live until at least 150 years old. One of the fields in which advances have been most notable is that of stem cells. In the area of cardiology, experiments with 16 people with heart failure, all of whom had part of their heart tissue regenerated with stem cells taken from the organ itself. The replacement of diseased organs with healthy ones is another of the reasons given by scientists to justify the belief in a spectacularly long life. It has already been possible to create and implant the trachea, bladder, urethra and blood vessels in humans. And there are experiments in creating more organs, including the heart and liver.
The article A era dos homens imortais (The Age of Immortal Men) [4] reports that one of the most important factors associated with a man’s lifespan is his genetics. Your DNA indicates what your average lifespan will be and can also bring about changes that predispose you to diseases. Therefore, much of the effort is focused on inventing resources that interfere with each person’s genetic material. Avoiding the possible damage that food can cause to DNA is also a support point for science that seeks immortality. According to the main representative of the Singularity, engineer Raymond Kurzweil, a calorie restricted diet, with only the nutrients necessary for life, can lead us to live much longer. These are just examples of the instruments currently available to help the human race surpass longevity limits.
Another researcher dedicated to the study of human longevity is Lawrence Alexander, surgeon, urologist and neurogeneticist, who presented, through You Tube, a video filmed on October 6, 2012 under the title O declínio da morte – a imortalidade em um futuro próximo? (The decline of death – immortality in the near future?) [5], when he announced that genome sequencing will allow us to achieve personalized medicine, guided by our genetic characteristics that, through modeling carried out with increasingly powerful computers, we will be able to understand the human body. According to Lawrence Alexander, progress will develop in three waves. First, with medical electronics that can now, through implants in the brain, treat Parkinson’s disease, treat depression and Alzheimer’s disease. Then comes the wave of bioengineering and, finally, nanomedicine, medicine on a microscopic scale. From 2020, we can expect decades of extra life. It is possible, according to Lawrence Alexander, to reach a life expectancy that we cannot imagine today.
The article Quem quer viver 1.000 anos? (Who wants to live 1,000 years?) [3] informs that the English biogerontologist Aubrey de Gray linked to the University of the Singularity is convinced that aging is a biological process that can perfectly be controlled, in the same way that science has already managed to combat many diseases that were previously considered as incurable. De Grey, who has a degree in computer science but has become one of the world’s leading theorists on human longevity compared the human body to a car. With periodic and adequate maintenance – fix a defect here, add lubricant there, replace an old part there – you can significantly increase the useful life of a car. Although the human body is much more complex than a car, De Gray believes it is possible to do the same by regularly combating the processes that lead to aging and cell death. It is difficult to find anyone in the scientific community who agrees with De Grey’s wild predictions. The predominant opinion in the scientific community is that, despite all the technology, there should be no significant advances in human longevity in the near future. On the subject, scientists gathered in a panel promoted a few years ago by Scientific American magazine did not give reasons for much optimism considering all the imminent achievements, such as gene therapy and the possibility of replacing almost all natural organs, and even human hibernation, life expectancy on the planet will reach, at most, 140 years in 2500.
The article Mundo rumo à singularidade humana (World towards human singularity) [6] presents the great revolution represented by human singularity that could occur in the future. What is Singularity? It is the characteristic of what is singular, that is, uncommon, unusual or extraordinary. Singularity is a term that refers to something or someone that has a unique characteristic. The idea of singularity can be used to present physical characteristics and behaviors of human beings that differ from what is considered standard. Human singularity concerns the use of science and technology to create a new category of more evolved human beings. Human singularity means making human beings defy the limits imposed by nature. Human singularity is achieved with transhumanism, which is a philosophy that aims to improve the human condition through the use of science and technology (biotechnology, nanotechnology and neurotechnology) to increase cognitive capacity and overcome physical and psychological limitations of human beings.
The idea of altering or increasing the capacity of the human body through technology is as old as humanity itself. From the moment humans created tools and learned to use fire, humanity surpassed its biological limitations. Evolution has given humanity the most sophisticated intelligence of any animal on the planet, and humans have used this intelligence to overcome their biological deficits. Transhumanism talks about using this dynamic to not only impact the world around us, but also, to augment or even replace our biology with technology. While humanity has corrected poor vision with corrective lenses, straightened a person’s teeth with braces, or countless other examples of humans altering bodies or senses through technology, the transhumanist wants to replace the eye entirely or make mental transfers. A transhuman, then, is someone who has taken that step and upgraded their body in a way that not only corrects a deficient part to behave as commonly expected, but replaces something that functions perfectly well to do something more than is biologically possible.
As computing technologies advance alongside biotechnology, there is a growing convergence between the two in the form of neural interfaces that in the future could open the door to connecting the human mind directly to Artificial Intelligence in order to facilitate greater learning, mental transfer and overcome neurological conditions. How can we make human beings improve significantly in a matter of decades, or even a few years? The answer is transhumanism, a movement determined to use revolutionary technologies to transform humanity into something superior. Some authors believe that humanity would already be transhuman, because medical progress in recent centuries has significantly altered the human species. However, it was not carried out in a conscious and, therefore, transhumanist way. A common feature of transhumanism and philosophical posthumanism is the future vision of a new intelligent species, into which humanity will evolve and eventually complement or replace. Transhumanism stresses the evolutionary perspective, including at times the creation of a highly intelligent animal species through cognitive enhancement (i.e., biological elevation), but clings to a “posthuman future” as the ultimate goal of evolution.
REFERENCES
- ALCOFORADO. Fernando. Como fazer com que as utopias planetárias se realizem visando a construção de um mundo melhor. Available on the website <https://www.academia.edu/104881861/COMO_FAZER_COM_QUE_AS_UTOPIAS_PLANET%C3%81RIAS_SE_REALIZEM_VISANDO_A_CONSTRU%C3%87%C3%83O_DE_UM_MUNDO_MELHOR>.
- ALCOFORADO, Fernando. O homem em busca da imortalidade. Available on the website <https://www.academia.edu/10435699/O_HOMEM_EM_BUSCA_DA_IMORTALIDADE>.
- DEMARCHI, Celia. Quem quer viver 1000 anos? Available on the website <http://super.abril.com.br/saude/quem-quer-viver-1-000-anos-445501.shtml>.
- OLIVEIRA, Monique. A era dos homens imortais. Disponível no website <http://www.istoe.com.br/reportagens/paginar/192193_A+ERA+DOS+HOMENS+IMORTAIS/1>.
- ALEXANDER, Lawrence. O declínio da morte – a imortalidade em um futuro próximo?Available on the website <http://www.youtube.com/watch?featur>.
- ALCOFORADO, Fernando.Mundo rumo à singularidade humana. Available on the website <https://www.academia.edu/43517794/MUNDO_RUMO_%C3%80_SINGULARIDADE_HUMANA>.
* Fernando Alcoforado, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, of the SBPC- Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science and of IPB- Polytechnic Institute of Bahia, engineer from the UFBA Polytechnic School and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, college professor (Engineering, Economy and Administration) and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning, urban planning and energy systems, was Advisor to the Vice President of Engineering and Technology at LIGHT S.A. Electric power distribution company from Rio de Janeiro, Strategic Planning Coordinator of CEPED- Bahia Research and Development Center, Undersecretary of Energy of the State of Bahia, Secretary of Planning of Salvador, is the author of the books Globalização (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,http://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globalização e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, São Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporânea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2010), Amazônia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, São Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudança Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revoluções Científicas, Econômicas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Invenção de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017), Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associação Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018), Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019), A humanidade ameaçada e as estratégias para sua sobrevivência (Editora Dialética, São Paulo, 2021), A escalada da ciência e da tecnologia e sua contribuição ao progresso e à sobrevivência da humanidade (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2022), a chapter in the book Flood Handbook (CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida United States, 2022) and How to protect human beings from threats to their existence and avoid the extinction of humanity (Generis Publishing, Europe, Republic of Moldova, Chișinău, 2023).
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