It is always seemed to be a good reasoning to think of something worth to leave behind in the earth, something worth to change into it, the dreams we build, and the signs our presence leaves in the other people. What about in terms of other internetting it, however? This question has brought shivers in my spine as I think of my accounts on social media platforms with lots of sensitive and personal information uploaded on them and many more accounts that I own.
It is essential to note that the notion of digital afterlife is still emerging and often overlooked, despite the fact that life, death and afterlife have been discussed since antiquity.
Just imagine that virtual persona you have been developing over the years persists even after your physical life is extinct. Relative and friends will still be able to go through your social media, emails, text messages, photos, videos, and other contents which will also be available to the future generations. These have raised serious questions about memory and how we are likely to manage our identities in the virtual world.
If it is still possible to speak of a theoretical anticipation of a concept, then it can no longer be claimed that the digital afterlife is merely theoretical.
As for those, the creation of the memorial accounts on certain social networks, such as Facebook for instance, let members of the family share and contribute memories and tributes. Besides social networking, we have organizations such as Anderson Archival to preserve and classify digital as well.
Neural Link was launched by Elon Musk precisely with the idea of allowing people to have a brain-computer interface. Perhaps we have a situation that is not entirely dissimilar to that depicted in modern movies, where people can transfer their consciousness into computers and exist in a living data form forever. However, it also raises ethical issues on owning human remains and whether or not they have the right to be privy to the information being uploaded in cyberspace. Which organization will own the new digital interface with our brainstem: The real question that remains is, who will define the usage?
Even when grappling with these complex issues, one is quickly and considerably struck by the fact that the digital afterlife is an engaging concept whose merits deserve further exploration. It forces us to question our own conscience and even our narcissistic categorizations of longing for everlasting fame and being remembered.
Tomorrow’s dawn heralds the Singularity