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Altered Carbon is one of the best sci-fi series of books I have ever read, and now the story has been made into a Netflix series. After watching the first couple, I'm pleased that, by and large, they've stayed true to the books.
The series throws up some interesting points of debate. Within the altered carbon universe, every human being on earth is fitted with a stack at the age of one.
Your stack records every aspect of your life, all your personality traits and memories. If your body and/or brain suffer enough damage to die, no matter, your stack has all the info you need, and you can be resleeved into a new body.
This state of affairs makes a mockery out of mortality, as human beings can (as long as they have the money and the willing), live forever.
Endless Possibility
Perhaps first, we should ponder as to whether it will ever be possible to live forever. After all, what's the point of discussing ethical dilemmas that we'll never have to face?
As humans, we have the unerring knack of making the impossible possible, so much so, that it is very difficult for us to imagine a time when current technology wasn't possible.
Take for instance flight, almost as soon as we became aware of ourselves, human beings have been obsessed with flight. Flying myths have endured through countless fables and religious texts.
However for most of human history flight was impossible, in fact the mere notion ridiculous. Then one day in 1919 the Wright brothers shattered impossible, and less than a hundred years later, you can buy a remote control, mini flying machine to fly around your house!
No Room For A God
One of the interesting things that Richard K. Morgan, author of Altered Carbon, explored, was whether religion would die out in the face of our immortality.
After all, it is perhaps the recognising of our own finite mortality that religion has flourished so. Without a fear of death, many might feel that there was no need for a god, real or imagined.
However we see a very specific religion blossoming in the Altered Carbon world. A religious sect believe that being spun up (revived after death) is somehow insulting god, and therefore they decree that once you die, you should not be revived, or you go to hell (presumably when you finally die).
I wonder though, what would really happen? My guess is that religion would slowly die out, seeing as most religions manipulate our fears about what happens to you 'after' you die (which by the way is nothing). So without a fear of death, perhaps it is organised religion that would die?
Education And Other Hidden Benefits
Of course when stories like Altered Carbon tackle issues like these. They are doing so through a dystopian lens, simply because it is more fun and entertaining to do so.
However art does not always reflect life, and there are often factors that come into play that Hollywood et. al. never properly deal with.
For instance, if I know that I'm going to live for at least 500 years or maybe even more, then spending 50 of those years in education wouldn't be a bad thing.
You quite literally would have all the time in the world to do exactly as you pleased.
Mortality And Motivation Earnest Bedfellows
Often we marvel at how great historical figures got their stuff together at very young ages. But of course, they weren't considered young back then, it is only now that we live twice as long as we did in Mozart's time, that it seems young.
However when you are living in a paradigm whereby you are considered in the winter of your life at 45, then you best be getting a move on if you want to make your mark on the world.
Think though, what it would be like if humans averaged a thousand years, or simply didn't die if they didn't want to. What would that do for our motivation as a society?
Is It Ethical?
Will it be wise to move into a state of immortality when we can't take care of all the people who are around today?
Who knows? Maybe by that time we would have advanced as a society and there is less unnecessary hunger and suffering.
One thing I do know, is I want to be immortal; why the hell not? As much as I'm curious about the ancient past, and have often played the; 'which era would you visit if you had a time machine?' game. However I'm much more curious as to what (if anything) we'll be up to in a thousand years, or even just one hundred.
Basically I want to be around to see it all, and I'm lucky enough (and hopefully young enough), to have been born into a time whereby I may not die, ever, unless I want to; and that suits me just fine.
DO YOU WANT TO BE IMMORTAL OR DOES THAT 'FREAK YOU OUT'? DO YOU THINK IT IS ETHICAL, RIGHT OR NATURAL; SHOULD WE JUST EMBRACE OUR COMING DIGITAL IMMORTALITY, OR SHOULD WE BE AFRAID?
AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!
Uh, where to start here?
First, let me tell you, I dint read that book, or watch the show. But, for what you say, I will really need that one stack, I have some things that I would love to remember. :D
Second, Do I want to be immortal? Of course!
I even google it "How to become a vampire?" (No results that helped me with this one. :D)
Freak me out? No.
It is ethical, right or natural?
Maybe it was all inevitable, unavoidable collision between mankind and technology. Singularity, or you can call it Transcendence.
It will be an exciting journey, building an ultra-super-intelligence. But the most important part of the journey is destination.
There will always be some group of people/religions that will try to stop that from happening, but is the inevitable way for humans and evolution. The Next big step.
Should be afraid?
Is up to ourself to figure out what we want, and do we truly believe that AI is something good or bad. For example, in one of the last TV shows of X-files, they try to scare (Maybe scared, is not a good word to explain that, but to put them in the wrong direction of thinking about the next step of evolution) people, tell them that digital immortality is bad.
Propaganda has been on her way already. But also there is Transhumanism party, in some countries they are even trying to win elections. (No luck so far.. )
There are "Three Laws of Robotic" (Also known as Asimov's Laws from 1942 and that is so far away from now.. ) I think that we need new solutions, and new laws.
I think people need to be more educated about AI, Deep Learning, Robotics, Nanotechnology, and everything that is coming. Because when we are afraid we become aggressive and blind minded. We don't think rationally, only emotions are involved, and when emotions lead intellect, certainly there is or will be a problem.
We don't wont scenarios horrified screaming humans, running out from the theatre/cinema, while the train approaches the station.
Perhaps my sentences make no sense, since it is difficult to translate into English what I really want to say. I hope at least something makes sense, and that you understood at least some of my thoughts :D
I watched the first episode last night; wouldn't have known it was a book until I read your post.
😁
Yeah it is a trilogy, and they are amazing, if you like your sci-fi books, then you'll love the Altered Carbon series :-)
Cg
Nice!
The last book I read was Ready Player One.
Your writing pushes us to ask the question..Is immortality theoretically possible?
For me First, I’m going to assume that we’re talking about humans achieving immortality. This is because, as I will later argue on my answer, ‘immortal’ organisms of some sort already exist!
I think that, in a very distant future, humans could attain immortality thanks to both science and technology.
I binged the whole thing this weekend, it was glorious. The action, the moral quandaries the wonderful noir set pieces make this an instant sci fi classic. Personally, if given the choice, I would definitely not be able to resist immortality. The show makes a very good point, regarding the state of one's mind after having lived that long. Would we still retain our humanity, or would the dark nature of our being take over?
Beautiful post,i like it.
amazing & thanks for the post....
Can't wait for next episodes. In some particular things through film I got different taste than book. Even reading have no limit in imagining the things. Film make it more real looks.
Thanks for the post @cryptogee
Why wouldn't anyone want to be immortal? Living through centuries, experiencing different times. I don't think there is any ethical issue with immortality but there is concern about the sustainability of nature and its resources. What if we don't find a way to sustainable resource production but manage to attain immortality?
What I do bilieve is that it may be possible to prolong a person's life for some centuries but putting in life back into dead bodies, I dont think that's going to happen. It will also lead to many complications . Death certificates and death sentences will be a thing of the past along with other things
First 2 episodes looked great but seemed a bit of style over substance, although this may be just exposition/word building which can take longer in a multi episode tv show than a movie. Also the cop seems a bit sterotypical... but overall scifi tvshows are improving
Started watching it earlier in the week. Watching Episode 4 whilst reading your post. Bit violent for me though. Don't enjoy those bits!
I love reading Science Fiction. It's one of my very favorite things to do. I really liked the Altered Carbon books. I didn't realize it had been made into a Netflix series.
I will definitely check it out.
I just saw the commercial and now I read your post!Now I know what I am going to do tonight! cheers @cryptogee
I definitely think that we should embrace it, because we literally have nothing to lose, so there would be no reason not to. However, at the same time, after having watched the first season of Altered Carbon, I’ve become a bit more apprehensive in my feelings on the matter, as it’s a semi complex issue to unravel.
I think that when humanity one day achieves the ability to digitize our personalities; many will do so for the sole purpose that their progenyself can live on forever. In the same way that all parents want their kids to live forever, people would want their progenyself to live forever.
It may seem selfish, but it's actually not as selfish as one might think, because it wouldn't be you, but rather a clone of you. I tend to disbelieve that actual consciousness transfer will ever be possible. I’ve explained a little bit of why I think that in this post.
As far as our progenyself is concerned, if backed up regularly, it would continue uninterrupted potentially indefinitely, and would probably never remember being destroyed, only near misses. In that sense, after much time has elapsed death would become a foreign concept to it, and that would no doubt alter its personality in great and unpredictable ways.
Yet, that wouldn’t be our personality, or experience; because we the biological would most likely have been dead and gone many eons ago. There’s a caveat to that, but it’s a big if, and it’s the idea that if somehow our consciousness was simply a unique algorithm, like a finger print, that never changes, from the moment that you are born, to the moment that you die.
If that is somehow magically the case, then the very moment that the first consciousness is cloned and activated, then both the digital, and the biological will suddenly have a sense of bilocation, wherein they will be both acutely aware of both lives simultaneously. Instantaneous quantum entanglement, if you will.
It would be like if a one-eyed individual suddenly grew a second eye. There would be an additional perspective added to the original. Now I don’t know the likely hood of this, it’s just a fantasy in my brainpan for now. Yet, even if it is not what would happen if our consciousness was cloned, maybe we can make something similar happen.
When you consider Elon Musk’s neural net, if he should one day defeat the I/O barriers in information transfer, then theoretically speaking… A man, and his progencyself; they could share their experiences both seamless, and instantaneously. This would give them, the man, and the machine a real sense of selves, and each other’s memories in real time. If one should be blotted out of existence, it might be really difficult to determine if a real death had occurred.
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