Written by Dirk Jan Buter

Forget the coconuts: Choose your world or build your own paradise

Forget the coconuts: Choose your world or build your own paradise

Written by Dirk Jan Buter on March 26, 2024. Photo by Lotte (AI).

I signed up for cryonics, a procedure that freezes people just after they die. People undergoing this procedure hope that science will reach the point where they can later be brought back to life and restored to a healthy and youthful state. Now, why do I want that, and how do I see the future?

Life After Cryonic Sleep

It’s impossible to predict what life will be like after my cryonic sleep. I can only fantasize about it. What kind of world would I like to wake up to? To answer this question, I have asked the following sub-questions: What do I like about the world, and what is its essence? What do I dislike about it, or rather, what would I like differently? I couldn’t have come up with the answer in 5 minutes. I’ve been thinking about this for years, and here’s my answer:

The Unchanging Core of Life

Will I paint a picture that is very different from the current world we know now? I’m going to disappoint you now. Of course, a lot will change in the technological field, and hopefully, we are at the point where we have colonized space. Most likely, we have discovered other life forms on alien planets. But that’s not what I mean. Do I want to lie on the beach with a coconut drink all day? No, I don’t. Life’s core should not change: Loving and caring for each other.

I believe wars and other drama should stop. Once we get to know the world, life, and people, that is unnecessary. We are all different and have our dreams, wishes, norms, and values. We can do this very well if we don’t get in each other’s way. How? I came up with something about that.

Upgraded Cells and 3D Printing

Let’s start with a technical story. Because, as you know, life exists out of cells. As it were, a cell is a minicomputer containing a program called DNA. These cells work together and together form a whole body.

This computer is very advanced, yet here and there, fixing is needed, and its lifespan is also limited. We will use the cells in the modern world but vastly upgraded.

In the future, you can print everything in 3D and no longer have to go to the store. Just download a model and print it. If this advanced 3D printer can print food and biological tissues, living standards will rise dramatically.

People will improve themselves physically and mentally, and their environment will change with them. There is then an enormous need for materials. The materials then become very scarce and expensive.

The Role of Building Blocks

Due to the enormous scarcity of materials, people are more inclined to recycle products. The recycling process, in turn, creates a huge energy requirement.

I’ve come up with a solution for these problems: creating building blocks. We will reuse these building blocks in another product or limb for a living being.

There is then a distinction between dumb, intelligent, and living blocks. From this, there are numerous other subtypes of blocks.

The condition is that the blocks are simple, have a long lifespan, and can work together to form a larger object with its function and purpose.

Simulating Life on Earth

Because those materialistic things aren’t very useful in the long run and don’t help tensions between people and groups, it’s a better idea that we can simulate life on Earth exactly with a supercomputer. Simulate in such a way that no one can tell the difference. Everything feels, smells, hears, tastes, and looks natural so that we can upload ourselves in this simulation.

Shaping Your Ideal Existence

It’s a good idea to create multiple subworlds. You can then choose which subworld you want to live in. Choose the world that suits you best, and if you don’t like that at all, a change, then choose the subworld, which is a copy of the Earth as we know it today.

In such a subworld, you can shape it with a group and determine the rules. Which subworld do you choose? Do you go back to the primitive world of the North American Indians, or do you prefer the Aztec era? How about a cyberpunk sci-fi world, or instead, just in 2023? But will you choose a peaceful world or go for the warlike destructive drama?

Valuing Life and Caring for Others

Now you know the answer to my question: "What kind of world would I like to wake up to?". I want to choose for myself how I live, and I also don’t want to force anything on anyone. Life has value in the sense that you can share it with others. The rest is of secondary importance as long as we care for each other and are loving.

What is cryonics?

Cryonics is a procedure in which people who are clinically dead are frozen. People who undergo this procedure hope that in the future, science will reach the point where they can later be revived and restored to a healthy and youthful state. A process is also known as vitrification, in which the organism is cooled using cryoprotectants to prevent cellular damage due to ice formation.

Inspiration

A source of inspiration for writing this article was the book Engines of Creation by K. Eric Drexler. It’s a 1986 book about nanotechnology. The book discusses several concepts related to the future of nanotechnology. It is a beautiful book and an eye-opener for me.

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