A billionaire from Silicon Valley will be killed and his brain will be loaded into a computer, and he will pay for it
Entrepreneur Sam Altman is one of 25 people who signed up for the procedure provided by Nectome, a startup whose team claims that it can download the contents of the human brain into a computer, thereby preserving it forever.
To perform the procedure, it is necessary to go through a process similar to voluntary euthanasia — that is, to make a lethal injection, which today is legal only in five states of America.
Sam Altman is one of the most recognizable Silicon Valley natives and the founder of the startup incubator Y Combinator, which invests in startups like Nectome.
It is noteworthy that the startup does not yet have the technology necessary for the ultimate goal of the entire enterprise — digitizing the contents of the brain and its structure, its subsequent storage in a computer and, as a result, its eternal life — albeit in an unconventional form.
For today, the essence of the proposal is only to embalm the brain with a special substance that will ensure its safety and preserve it until a technology becomes available with which the contents of the brain can be translated into digital format.
Nectome's founders warn that their procedure is "100% fatal."
To keep the brain in the right form, at the time of the procedure, its tissues and cells — in general, all matter — must remain intact, so embalming must be carried out on a living brain.
To do this, anyone who wants to take this step must be connected to the equipment alive and then injected with a solution that embalms the brain.
Robert McIntyre
The company's website says that their mission is to "keep your memories intact: starting with the most memorable lines of your favorite book and ending with dinner with close friends."
Nectome
This kind of endeavor has many critics. For example, a neuroscientist from McGill University in 2015 made a sharp criticism, not only pointing out the charlatanism of many companies offering services in the field of cryonics, but also touching on the ethical side of the issue.
Michael Hendricks
Keywords: Eternal life | Silicon valley | Billionaire | Brain | Digital