I just had to point out a workshop in Second Life advertised under the provocative headline:

Fourth Annual Geoethical Nanotechnology Workshop to Explore: What Geoethical Management, If Any, is Appropriate for the Nanotechnology Necessary for Cryonic Revival and/or Downloaded Cyberconsciousness?

Actually - um, cyronic - isn’t that like freezing yourself? I suppose if the Singularity doesn’t arrive on schedule it might start looking like an option, but I’m continuing to hold out hope that while my mind might be numb that I don’t need to pack it in ice for the coming millenia.

Maybe I’ll head over for this discussion of cyronic revival and the “atom-by-atom assembly techniques that are subject to a consensual review, approval and audit process”.

Can’t help wondering, after all, how you consent, and who does the audit. The event is put on by the Terrasem Movement which “is a 501c3 not-for-profit charity endowed for the purpose of educating the public on the practicality and necessity of greatly extending human life, consistent with diversity and unity, via geoethical nanotechnology and personal cyberconsciousness; concentrating in particular on facilitating revivals from biostasis. Terasem focuses on preserving, evoking, reviving and downloading human consciousness.”

OK - the downloading human consciousness thing I get. After all, Philip thinks we’ll be able to do that in SL any time soon, according to comments he made to Hamlet Au.

Sign me up!