13 replies to this topic

[Tran-Gate]

I had just thought of a possibility that could have people travel into the future!!

If cloning was possible, would collecting data and storing it and cloning for a few decades later to live into the future? You would be able to share what happened in the past and explore the future. You could live like two lives.

What are your opinions about this thought?

[HDuffRules]

Could you explain that a little bit? 'cause cloning would create a completely new person, unless you're talking about transferring awareness between different bodies, there's no way to just magically live in the future.

ps. And what do you mean when you refer to "collecting data and storing it"? Lol sorry, just a little bit confused here...

[Tran-Gate]

http://www.daviddarl...eportation.html

Quote

Could you explain that a little bit? 'cause cloning would create a completely new person, unless you're talking about transferring awareness between different bodies, there's no way to just magically live in the future.

ps. And what do you mean when you refer to "collecting data and storing it"? Lol sorry, just a little bit confused here...

Lol, sorry, the link above, the bottom paragraph is kinda like what I am saying. It is kinda wierd that the site above contains what I meant.
Just to let you know, I did NOT copy that.......

[HDuffRules]

Tran-Gate, on Oct 21 2008, 07:25 PM, said:

http://www.daviddarl...eportation.html



Lol, sorry, the link above, the bottom paragraph is kinda like what I am saying. It is kinda wierd that the site above contains what I meant.
Just to let you know, I did NOT copy that.......

Link doesn't work...

[Tran-Gate]

Hmmm.......the link works for me...... I will post the paragraph for you.

Quote

Perhaps non-quantum forms of teleportation will be developed and applied to human beings. Then the original would not need to be destroyed, thus raising the specter of multiple nearly-identical copies of a person being created. Would each of these new individuals have the same rights as you – part ownership in all your belongings, some share in your spouse? A non-destructive teleporter could be used as a replicator, for virtual medicine (manipulating the stored data to create a copy better than the original), travelling into the future (creating a copy many years after the information was stored), or making backup copies (creating a copy from recently stored information if the original was involved in a mishap.)

Sorry~!!

[HDuffRules]

um.. well if we're just storing information.. ie. someone's genetic code, then when you die and you get cloned, its not like you come back to life. There's another copy of you, sure, but it wouldn't share your consciousness 'cause you'd be dead. Its kind of related to the whole nature vs. nurture, genes vs. environment thing. Genes are not completely deterministic (ever seen GATTACA? lol) and just 'cause your clone would have the same genes doesn't mean he/she is going to be exactly like you because you would be developing and maturing in different environments. So basically, yes, you can have a copy of you made in the future, but the version of you in the past wouldn't know what future you was doing/thinking/seeing, so it would be.. useless in terms of getting information, etc.

[Tran-Gate]

Gack, I guess so.......... I didn't think of it like that.

[cangor]

Yeah...I think it would be possible to have yourself cloned in the future but there'd have to be some way to preserve your memories...and that's just way beyond anything we can do now with current technology. If scientists do ever figure out how to store and implant someone's memories, then I suppose you could create a version of yourself that thought it was you, but that's assuming we can figure out how to do it and we can get all the problems with cloning ironed out.
However, cloning kinda seems inhumane and unworkable...and even not considering that, how about your "consciousness?" Like HDuffRules was saying, just because this person is exactly like you doesn't mean you'll share a common consciousness... I'm not even sure how that would work, and this is the part where you end up getting into a spiritual/religious debate. I, as a human being, believe that I have a consciousnes, that I'm not just seeing and processing information but that there is something inside me that makes me ME and not someone else...if that makes any sense. Obviously I'm not me one second and someone else the next, so a clone of me isn't going to be me, it's going to be someone else, like a whole new person. So essentially, you're not going to be able to travel through time, you'll just be able to make a copy of yourself...which isn't very exciting and even seems like it destroys your individuality and is really wrong. I suppose some people might argue that we don't even have a consciousness and "life" is just what it's like to be sensory, but I think that's ridiculous.
So, while it's an interesting idea, I don't think it's possible... though we never know unless we try I suppose.

[kobra500]

Cloning wont help, clones are born are the same age as who there cloned for, only there not, imagine a baby with severe arthritus etc, thats what cloning is like. It would work if you cloned a baby, prehaps this is old news and im wrong but regardless, cloning is making a copy of physical and basic mental, its a brand new person.

[adriantc]

kobra500, on Nov 3 2008, 03:31 AM, said:

Cloning wont help, clones are born are the same age as who there cloned for, only there not, imagine a baby with severe arthritus etc, thats what cloning is like. It would work if you cloned a baby, prehaps this is old news and im wrong but regardless, cloning is making a copy of physical and basic mental, its a brand new person.

I have to disagree - I don't think that if you clone somebody who is 60 or 70 years ago when it will be born he will have all the problems of the original... DNA is like a blueprint for the cells... DNA tells them what to do - like a programmer making a piece software. It tells the program what to do. In other words the DNA does not change over the years... the DNA remains the same from the day the sperm met the ovule. It's like a CD - once written it cannot be changed . (as far as I know the only way to alter DNA in living cells is by high radiation, but I am not sure) So if you clone somebody you would get another individual. In theory (at least) there shouldn't be any side effects. Dolly didn't die from natural cases, but because of side effects. But that is because the technology isn't fully developed yet. Maybe in 10 or 20 years there wouldn't be any side effects and the copy would be a perfect copy of the original.

There is however a problem with this "time travel by cloning" idea. The is no way to transfer or copy a conscious. We may very well get an exact copy of the original physically, but mentally it's a very different problem. In order to get the same individual mentally the only thing you can now do is subject him to the same life experience as the original. That means reliving his entire life just as the original did. Down to the very little details. You can clone Hitler and he may not be that evil. You can clone Einstein and be an idiot. There are experiences in life that alter our conscious making the original... well... original. Maybe it's the way nature makes sure a copy is just a copy of the original; not the original itself. But in time medicine may evolve to the point where we will know everything about our brains and we will be able to read our thoughts. So we could eventually copy our consciousness, once we know exactly how a neuron functions. That is the only obstacle in our immortality! But what is the point of living if there is no death involved. Life without death is just like good without evil. Still it would be really nice to see how the world will look in a thousand years... If there is a world left