Introduction – “The Reversal of Death”

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It has become evident to the world’s leading-edge scientists that the means to fulfill the age-old obsession of the afterlife is achievable.

Future generations will reach a state of technology in which it is possible to recreate the mind of a deceased individual by mapping out their brain’s connectome and beginning the necessary steps of restoring their mind. This has become imaginable over the decades by a paradigm shift in the science behind consciousness. So, what is “consciousness?”

Consciousness is the state of awareness which you and I experience privately. It is the aggregate of biological processes in the neural system and, in particular, the central nervous system. When these biological systems eventually fail, the perception of the world and sense of self that is experienced by an individual goes along with them, and, much like before the brain had formed, the individual would experience nothing. Said individual would cease to have any more thoughts.

What a thought fundamentally emerges from is the transmission of data. It’s information in the form of molecules in a fleeting, short-lived signal, which triggers its retention in brain cells by changing synaptic morphology. It is in essence not “real” when it is not occurring. What is real and concrete, however, is the storage unit of this signaling process, the neuron. The neuronal dendrite matures and its spinal structures develop, increasing receptor surface area, and allowing for a greater intake of neurotransmitters the next time this particular pathway is activated.

Your neurons, when they receive these neurotransmitters, generate thoughts. It is because these chemicals and associative cognitive structures are made up of the atoms that make up you; they are your thoughts. It is essentially their assembly that caused your ‘consciousness’ to initially develop. When the molecules responsible for your cognition formed functioning neurons, which formed specialized circuits of concentrated activity, they brought your world into focus.

By restoration of a deceased person’s cognitive structures responsible for the storage of memories and mental processes, said person would, after a brief break in conscious perception, experience a continuation in cognition instead of the eternal “blankness” or emptiness which they would otherwise experience directly after death. This is similar to when brain activity “shuts down” during a comatose state (and to a lesser degree, sleep) and the individual experiences an interruption in ‘consciousness’ until the brain restarts once more.

How the neurons work in conjunction to produce the seamless sensation of being alive is not yet clear to scientists. However, we know where the general processes for memory consolidation and thoughts lie. The code for thoughts lies within the specific organization and function of the neurons themselves, and in the future, we will be able to reverse-engineer the machinery responsible for cognition and begin the crucial steps of restoring once-deceased minds by artificial synthesis of their physical components.

Although simple to describe on paper, these steps are incredibly difficult to execute in reality – they require great strides in science and technology, including a more thorough understanding of the fundamental forces of matter, a better grasp of molecular biology and neuroscience, and the introduction of specialized technology. This may be achievable by future generations at a progressive yet slow pace. Alternatively, it is speculated that technology will reach an acceleration in the rate of growth like nothing evolution has ever seen before. What may seem complex and unattainable today will become feasible to future generations; the impossible gradually becomes more realistic as time goes on. If something were possible naturally, i.e, your birth and existence, then it is absolutely possible to emulate those natural processes artificially. What follows is the inevitable revival of every sentient being to have ever lived.

This task would anticipate another technological milestone: a mechanism to observe the past to obtain the preservation of each person’s neural structure. If future generations can one day “see” into the past, then it is reasonable to assume they are looking into the past and observing our current lives play out “now“. If this technological milestone is attainable, then it is reasonable to assume that they will employ this mechanism and observe the timeline of life on Earth to create a census of all living creatures to have ever existed. Once in observation of the past, they can decipher the unique code of matter present within our neural networks. Depending on the extent of their technological capacity, it may be the case that every thought which has ever been had by any living being throughout history can be accessible for observation.

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Daud Sheikh is the Chairman of the New York Transhumanist Party since October 2022. He is the author of The Reversal of Death, which can be purchased in an electronic Kindle edition on Amazon.