Yes, I do have
too much spare time. But the whole
cybernetic immortality thing
got me thinking.
Let's say we get the technique down -- we can upload our consciousnesses to a computer before our physical bodies die out. We are effectively immortal -- barring accidents like being shot while corporeal, or massive power failures while digital, we can live forever. And we know it.
What would society be like?
Well, first of all, there would be no rush to get things done while we were corporeal. Assuming we had robots around to do the menial labour and wise ancestors happily being educated and creative on the data nets...
What would we do, anyways?
Three things I can think of:
Not a bad life, huh? And when you got bored of that, or too old, or if you'd already had a couple of kids, you would start the uploading process.
The cool thing about this is that we wouldn't need to make AIs. The best way to grow an intelligence is inside a human body.
The form that has been our only stage for millions of years would suddenly be only a larval beginning to something much greater...
Fun to think about. Probably won't happen in my lifetime.
sigh