Computer \"reads\" memories... (Humans)

by dhw, Monday, April 12, 2010, 14:00 (5338 days ago) @ BBella

BBELLA: But, because everything would be your choice, why could you not retain a physical body and it not be subject to deterioration, etc.? Why would the physical body be the cause of much suffering if we were perfect and in a perfect environment?-There seems to have been a subtle change in your challenge! We were asked what would be our chosen, or wished-for Ultimate Truth, and I interpreted this as meaning, for instance, whether God existed, whether there was an afterlife, and if so what it would be like. I didn't equate this with my being given the powers of God, and a free hand to change the laws of Nature! No, my UT is that there is no God and no other being with such powers. That includes me. My approach is to accept the reality of Life on Earth as it is (i.e. a given truth we can do nothing about, not an "ultimate" truth), and to fit the UT round that. I don't think it's possible for my body to die and yet live on as itself. All physical things change. All living, physical things die. Bodies have physical needs: food, drink, sex, protection. If we are to enjoy the physical pleasures, we have no choice but to accept the associated physical and psychological pains. You can't eat meat without killing, you can't have a winner without a loser, you can't always have the sexual partner you want, you can't move without the risk of a fall or a collision. I think it's impossible to eliminate suffering if we retain a physical body. This I take to be a given, unalterable truth. And so for me the only conceivable way of preserving identity and eliminating suffering after death is a form of life that is independent of transient physicality. That would be my ideal UT, "given what already exists" (as you wrote to Matt).-Actually, I think this fits in rather nicely with your hologram idea, because after death and the loss of the physical container, we would be left with our identity, memories, thoughts and continuing psychic pleasures, but the sufferings would have become dreamlike. Yes, it's a bit sad that we'd have to sacrifice sex and chocolate and cricket, but that could be a small price to pay!-In your post to Matt, you mentioned imagining the loneliness of God. Among the many possible scenarios, this has always struck me as one of the most plausible. Lonely and bored, he devises the game of life, then sits and watches. Still lonely, but not so bored.