If our existence is purely physical and temporary then what's the point of life extension?
Because it's purely physical and temporary. Limitations tend to increase the value of things in our minds. Besides, what's the point of more experience except to experience more? Are you going to turn down a good meal just because it will be gone when you're done?
Ultimately, it's irrelevant. Whether or not I want there to be a dual existence has no bearing on whether or not it's true. Following the evidence we currently have available leads me to the conclusion that we do not possess a dual existence.
If the human mind is just the result of sufficiently dense neural tissue and nothing more, then what is so special about it that makes it worth preserving?
That's up to us to decide. If you don't feel there's anything about you that's worth preserving then you don't have to. Other people may feel they have more they want to do or more they can contribute. I wouldn't mind spending another hundred years coming up with the perfect novel. I would find great satisfaction in the act of creating that. In the end this isn't about what we want, it's about what we can do.
Why not just focus on the development of AI? If we're intent on creating a lasting legacy it seems to me better to start with a blank slate without all our cultural, instinctual, and evolutionary baggage.
I believe the efforts are related. If we can create an AI then we'll have taken another step toward preserving our own intellect. Maybe you're right, it'd be better to start off with a blank slate but again, I'm not a transhumanist. I can't answer that question.
Because it's purely physical and temporary. Limitations tend to increase the value of things in our minds. Besides, what's the point of more experience except to experience more? Are you going to turn down a good meal just because it will be gone when you're done?
Ultimately, it's irrelevant. Whether or not I want there to be a dual existence has no bearing on whether or not it's true. Following the evidence we currently have available leads me to the conclusion that we do not possess a dual existence.
That's up to us to decide. If you don't feel there's anything about you that's worth preserving then you don't have to. Other people may feel they have more they want to do or more they can contribute. I wouldn't mind spending another hundred years coming up with the perfect novel. I would find great satisfaction in the act of creating that. In the end this isn't about what we want, it's about what we can do.
I believe the efforts are related. If we can create an AI then we'll have taken another step toward preserving our own intellect. Maybe you're right, it'd be better to start off with a blank slate but again, I'm not a transhumanist. I can't answer that question.