Jude Santos' CMSC 10 Blog

Biochips, the Path to a Brighter Tomorrow, or Evil Spawn of Satan?

Biochip technology is something frequently espoused as a work of evil by conspiracy theorists, a possible mind-control weapon created by the likes of big pharma and, for some reason, Bill Gates, who is probably the least malevolent person in the pool of billionaires to choose from. Elon “I’m actually a catgirl” Musk or Marky Mark The Zuccermanberg are far more likely to utilize such tech for unscrupulous means. Evil billionaires and conspiracies aside, biochip technology is something that is viewed with suspicion and paranoia, a view which I myself share, though not to the level of tinfoil hat wearers.
Biochips, like so many things in today’s world, seem like something straight out of science fiction. A multipurpose chip that is embedded within our bodies that renders things like physical currency or keys obsolete does seem somewhat futuristic. To me it seems like a glorified credit card that has extra benefits and is really, really hard to steal and use for one’s self unless you have a surgeon on hand and technical expertise to bypass the fact that it probably only works for the original owner. In that regard, I feel like it would make the world somewhat safer. I am wary, however, of what may happen if and when methods are devised to abuse them. Although it certainly makes things far more convenient, something that stores so much valuable information in one, no matter how well protected, can and will be sought after and undermined, and the consequences of a successful break-in would indeed be dire. It may definitely eliminate many of the world’s problems, but with the way humanity is, we will find or create new problems to challenge it, essentially just moving the goalposts. Moved as they may be, such a change would present a much more difficult hurdle to jump over for most prospective ne'er-do-wells looking to do harm, so it’s a step in the right direction.
If the Philippines were to implement such technology and make it mandatory, big fat if of that happening anytime soon across the whole population, then I would probably just accept it as the next big step. By the time we get around to actually chipping the population, then the technology must have been streamlined, having been developed to a point where it is quick and safe to embed and also reliably secure. Otherwise our government faces the task of performing surgery on over a hundred million citizens, and they aren’t exactly doing the best job with what they already have to do, so I am doubtful that they’d be able to do it until that level of biochip technology is reached. Optimistically, biochip tech would better the world, but as I have said before, the goalposts will simply be moved, with the same problems in new forms popping up. If there is a will, there is a way.

Eternity Through Technology, Bang or Bust?

The concept of immortality is one that has enthralled the minds of man for ages, and understandably so, as it allows for an escape from life’s greatest unknown and constant; death, and what actually happens after it. We have many stories about man searching for eternal life, from that of Gilgamesh, to Qin Shi Huang’s retrospectively, humorously ironic attempt at using mercury, of all things, to live forever. As technology advances at a breakneck pace, the question comes up again in a new form, that is, can it be used to attain immortality?
Stories of characters transferring their consciousness into a computer are not too uncommon in science fiction, Mr. House from the Fallout Universe is an example from the top of my head. As far as I know, we aren’t quite there yet with our technology, as computers have yet to parallel the human brain in its capabilities. While the idea of transferring one’s consciousness into an android body seems interesting at first, I believe that technology must be capable of completely emulating humans, otherwise what would the point be? If I am limited to mere sight and hearing, this new body would lose its novelty extremely quickly, as while I have gained eternity, I will have lost too much for it to be worthwhile. Furthermore, is this new body capable of emulating our endocrine systems? While android me wouldn’t have the emotional capacity to feel sorrow over it, as he would be without hormones, it would certainly take away any joys to be had in seeing a future beyond what a regular human body can live to reach. Unless technology reaches that point where that is a one-to-one copy of a human body, sans the mortality, then I personally wouldn’t bother. Were it to somehow emerge in my lifetime, I expect it to be at a point where I am old and have had enough of life, and even then, let’s be real, there is no way such technology would be anywhere near affordable to the common man, so I still wouldn’t bother, be it in sickness or old age.
On a related note, if such technology were to come out, it would either need decades upon decades of precursor life-extending research and technology to be affordable or socially acceptable, or to be top-secret and reserved only for the world’s elites. In the former case, technology allowing for immortality through an artificial human-like body being made public in a world that already has a background of technology that extends our lifespans past their normal biological limits would be rather easily accepted as the next step. In the latter case, where such tech is developed much sooner, it would have to be exorbitantly expensive, and only really available to the richest of the rich. It would be something they would need to keep secret, as the social upheaval from learning that they have immortality all to themselves would be truly massive.