Further Information About the Future of Cyberconsciousness
CyBeRev means cybernetic beingness revival. The purpose of CyBeRev is to prevent death (longecity.org) by preserving sufficient information about a person so that recovery remains possible by foreseeable technology. If CyBeRev people are recoverable in the future, then they were never really dead in the first place. Real death occurs when information about a person becomes so disorganized that no technology could restore the original state. This is called the information-theoretic criterion for death. Various definitions of death, such as cessation of heartbeat, have been abandoned as technology (such as defibrillators) demonstrated recovery was possible. The Terasem Movement www.terasemcentral.org believes that future technology will be able to recover full functionality for CyBeRev people as follows:
1. Before legal death is declared, a CyBeRev person stores digital bemes of their mannerisms, personality, recollections, feelings, beliefs, attitudes and values with as great a fidelity as is possible;
2. Future developments in software technology (such as mindware and thoughtware) will enable the stored CyBeRev information to be organized into a coherent consciousness and sense of self indistinguishable from the original CyBeRev person;
3. Future developments in virtual reality technology will enable the recovered conscious CyBeRev person to enjoy a robust life within cyberspace;
4. Future developments in mind-uploading technology will enable the recovered conscious CyBeRev person to transfer their mind into a synthetic body (including brain), such as one made out of nanotechnological materials, providing mobility and sensation that will continually improve until it is equivalent to, and eventually superior to, human mobility and sensation;
5. Future developments in regenerative medicine will enable the recovered cyberconscious CyBeRev person to mind transfer into a flesh body (including brain) grown from totipotent stem cells (which may but need not be based upon their original DNA) in which genetic engineering techniques have suppressed the development of a separate mind.
6. Future developments in human emulating robotics will enable mankind to design, develop, produce and distribute revolutionary, interactive bio-inspired conversational robots.
CyBeRev is a form of cyberbiotechnological time-travel, in which an ailing person is transported into a future time when cyberbiotechnology is advanced enough to manage their medical issue. A good analogy is the medical space-travel that occurs today when a person is severely injured in a remote jungle. If left in the jungle, they would die. But by transporting them to a modern hospital their vitality can often be restored. For CyBeRev people, the "modern hospital" is in the future rather than in another country.
CyBeRev may also be of value to cryonauts (alcor.org or cryonics.org) because it is not clear how much memory will be preserved after cryogenic revival. A person's CyBeRev self can help fill in any blanks. Cryonicists may also see value in CyBeRev as a back-up strategy in case their bodies perish prior to biostasis being performed.
Terasem believes CyBeRev is crucially important because inter-generational life-spans directly implement our core belief in diversity, unity and joyful immortality. Consequently, Terasem is committed to using its resources to educate the public regarding CyBeRev and to accomplishing demonstration projects amongst its members.