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The Scientific Conquest of Death The Scientific Conquest of Death The Scientific Conquest of Death Essays on Infinite Lifespans Immortality Institute www.librosenred.com CDD 814 Immortality Institute The scientific conquest of death : essays on infinite lifespans. – 1a. ed. – Buenos Aires : LibrosEnRed,2004. 296 p. ; 22x14cm. ISBN 987-561-135-2 1. Ensayo Estadounidense I. Título C.E.O.: Marcelo Perazolo Contents Director: Ivana Basset Interior Design: Vanesa L. Rivera Commissioning Editor: Bruce J. Klein Editor in Chief: Sebastian Sethe Editorial contributions: Devon B. Fowler, Justin Loew, Reason, Casey S. Tompkins Cover Art: Tyrone Pow This book was initiated, compiled, and edited by members of the online organiza- tion, Immortality Institute (http://imminst.org). All articles including tables, graphics, illustrations and any other material remain the intellectual property of the original author. Arrangement and compilation of this publication is the intellectual property of Mr. Bruce J. Klein, Birmingham, Alabama. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, pho- tocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author (in case of single articles) or the publisher (in case of multiple articles), except for purposes of criticism or review. All contributors have agreed to waive any financial rights they might hold in relation to the sale of this publication. All profits made from the sale of this publication go to the Not-for-Profit registered institution “Immortality Institute” (Alabama, USA). Design, typesetting, and other prepress work by LibrosEnRed www.librosenred.com © LibrosEnRed, 2004 ISBN: 987-561-135-2 First english edition - Print on Demand TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 7 CHAPTER I: SCIENCE 11 BIOLOGICAL IMMORTALITY 17 Michael R. Rose, Ph.D. THE WAR ON AGING 29 Aubrey de Grey, Ph.D. THE DREAM OF ELIXIR VITAE 47 João Pedro de Magalhães, Ph.D. THERAPEUTIC CLONING 63 Michael D. West, Ph.D. NANOMEDICINE 77 Robert A. Freitas Jr., J.D. HUMAN BODY VERSION 2.0 93 Raymond Kurzweil, Ph.D. PROGRESS TOWARD CYBERIMMORTALITY 107 William Sims Bainbridge, Ph.D. WILL ROBOTS INHERIT THE EARTH? 123 Marvin L. Minsky, Ph.D. MEDICAL TIME TRAVEL 135 Brian Wowk, Ph.D. CHAPTER II: PERSPECTIVES 151 SOME ETHICAL AND THEOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS 157 Brad F. Mellon, Ph.D. SUPERLONGEVITY WITHOUT OVERPOPULATION 169 Max More, Ph.D. EMANCIPATION FROM DEATH 187 Mike Treder THE SELF-DEFEATING FANTASY 197 Eric S. Rabkin, Ph.D. TIMECONSCIOUSNESS IN VERY LONG LIFE 211 Manfred Clynes, Ph.D. CONFESSIONS OF A PROSELYTIZING IMMORTALIST 223 Shannon Vyff SOME PROBLEMS WITH IMMORTALISM 233 Ben Best AN INTRODUCTION TO IMMORTALIST MORALITY 239 Marc Geddes SHOULD WE FEAR DEATH? EPICUREAN AND MODERN ARGUMENTS 257 Russell Blackford, Ph.D. CHAPTER III: RESOURCES 271 “WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER?” 275 BIBLIOGRAPHY 277 AUTHORS 285 PUBLISHERS NOTES 293 INTRODUCTION The mission of the Immortality Institute is to conquer the blight of involuntary death. Some would consider this goal as scientifically impossible. Some would regard it as hubris. Others say: “Don’t mention the ‘D –word’, it will just scare people, and turn them away from the very real possibility that modern science will help us to dramatically extend our healthy life span.” What should we make of this? Is it possible that scientists – or at least humankind – will “conquer the blight of invol- untary death?” If so, to what extent will we succeed? What is in fact possible today, and what do the experts predict for the future? Is such a thing as ‘immortality’ feasible? Moreover, is it desirable? What would it mean from a political, social, ethi- cal and religious perspective? This book will help to explore these questions. When the Institute was approached regarding the possibility of distilling some of the lively and insightful debates that take place within its online forums into book form, questions arose over what such a book should contain. In the last few years, a couple of very good books on the scientific conquest of death have been published. (These are indexed in the bibliography at the end of this work.) How would this book be special? After careful consideration, the answer seemed clear: This should be the first truly multidisciplinary approach to the topic. We would discuss not only biological theories of aging, 7 Introduction but also biomedical strategies to counter it. Moreover, we would consider alternative approaches such as medical nano- technology, digitalization of personhood, and cryobiological preservation. But this would only be part of the whole. We also wanted to tackle some of the questions that are usually left unanswered in the last chapter of scientific books: If we accept that radical life extension is a real scientific possibility, then where does that leave us? Would it create overpopulation, stagnation and perpetual boredom? How would it change our society, our culture, our values and our spirituality? If science allows us to vastly extend our life span, should we do so? It became clear that a single author, however knowledge- able, could not possibly address this kaleidoscope of topics adequately. Thus, we decided to publish a compilation of essays. Some stem from an open call for papers, some are invited contributions by established authorities in a particular field, and a few are specially selected reprints. From among the numerous contributions, we carefully choose the best in our eyes. Considering the multitude of topics and the quality of the submissions, it was an exceptionally difficult task. The result can only ever be a compromise. A compromise between conveying scientific information adequately, and accessibility to the lay reader; between philosophical depth, and the desire to stress relevancy; and, of course, between limitless curiosity, and the very limiting constraints of space. We hope that you like the result. 8 Essays on Infinite Lifespans OVERVIEW This book is divided into two sections: science, (includ- ing biology, biomedicine, nanotechnology, digitalization and cryonics) and perspectives (including literature, history, phi- losophy, sociology and ethics). This is not a strict division, as scientific possibilities are the starting point for all philosophy, and, in turn, the scientists in this book are not blind to the philosophical implications of their work. All essays are followed by their relevant citations. All web hyperlinks are valid as of April 2004. Please do not hesitate to call the Institute if a link is out of date, as we might be able to help chase it down. Please also note that the Institute provides additional graphics, charts, and other relevant mate- rial online and free of charge to all purchasers of this book at http://imminst.org/book1. This book concludes with remarks, an extensive bibliog- raphy for further reading, information on the contributing authors, and a few words of thanks. But – as we shall soon learn – there is no time to waste: Follow us into an exploration of the scientific conquest of death. The road to immortality is just the turn of a page away. 9 CHAPTER I: SCIENCE Biomedicine, nanotechnology and other strategies e start, as is proper, by defining the subject matter. WWhat is immortality? How can we define it in a sci- entifically sensible manner? Is immortality even biologically possible? These and other questions will be addressed in “Bio- logical Immortality” by Michael R. Rose, Professor of evo- lutionary biology at the University of California, Irvine and author of Evolutionary Biology of Aging, a book that created a complete departure from the views that had dominated the field of aging research since the 1960’s. We will learn that far from being a scientific impossibility, there are now good rea- sons for thinking that biological immortality is fundamentally possible. If aging can, in theory, be conquered – how would, how should we go about it? Aubrey de Grey, an authority in the field of anti-aging theory from Cambridge University, out- lines a general strategy for proceeding with “The War on Aging.” In his essay, Aubrey de Grey touches on numerous issues, both scientific and societal, that will be taken up later in the book. After these introductions, we move to consider individual aspects of this strategy. Firstly, on the biomedical side, microbi- ologist João Pedro de Magalhães provides a summary overview of how “The Dream of Elixir Vitae” might be realized. One of the most topical and promising approaches to extending healthy life span is stem cell tissue engineering. 13 Biomedicine, nanotechnology and other strategies Michael West, president of Advanced Cell Technology and one of the “founding fathers” of modern stem cell research has written “Therapeutic Cloning.” It gives us an exciting insight not only into the scientific background, but also into his very personal experiences and hopes in relation to the con- quest of death. While stem cell research is still an immensely dynamic field, we have recently seen the emergence of another exciting area of potential anti-aging treatments: “Nanomedicine” – the science of creating medical devices through nanoscale and eventually molecular manufacturing – has received intense media scrutiny and generous public funding in the US and Europe. Robert A. Freitas, a true pioneer in this area, describes how tiny machines could be effective in the conquest of death. As a special bonus, a second part of this chapter, including numerous illustrations, is published online - http://imminst.org/book1. Once inspired to consider molecular-sized machines, we are not limited to healing and repairing our aging bodies: Ray Kurzweil, well known futurist and the recipient of the 1999 US National Medal of Technology introduces us to “Human Body Version 2.0,” where advanced technol- ogy constructs and defines the very substance that we are made of. This introduces a second vision of immortality, one that ventures beyond biology. Dr.
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