Living forever - is it possible?

1. Warm-up questions

1. Do you like science fiction films?

2. Have you ever considered what it would be like to live forever?
3. Would you like to live forever?
4. How do you think that could be done?

2. Match the words with their meanings:

3. Watch the video and answer the questions.

How close are we to uploading our minds? - Michael S.A. Graziano

Source: TedEd: How close are we to uploading our minds? - Michael S.A. Graziano

1. What does “our minds are uploaded to a digital world” mean to you?
2. What would it actually take to scan a person’s brain and upload their mind?
3. Does it surprise you this is even being considered?
4. Do you think this will one day become a reality?
5. Would you want to do this and live forever?

4. Read this excerpt about the ethics of mind uploading and answer that follow.

Scientists may one day be able to use electronic copies of human brains to explore the nature of
the mind. But is it ethical to make that e-mind suffer and die if one can resurrect it at will and

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delete any memory of the suffering?

Successfully emulating human or animal brains could pose many ethical challenges regarding the
suffering these copies may undergo, a researcher says.
Scientists are pursuing several strategies to create intelligent software. In one, called "whole brain
emulation" or “mind uploading,” scientists would scan a brain in detail and use that data to
construct a software model. When run on appropriate hardware, this model replicates the original
brain.

Although it remains uncertain whether mind uploading is possible, Sandberg is now exploring the
potential ethical consequences of software that can suffer.

"If one thinks whole brain emulation may be possible one day, then it seems plausible that an
emulation could have a mind and moral rights," Sandberg told Live Science.

Source: https://www.livescience.com/46052-mind-uploading-ethics.html

Answer the following questions about the text:

1. Have you ever thought about the possibility of an emulated mind feeling pain?
2. What kind of pain do you think this mind could have?
3. Does the idea of suffering software sound funny or odd to you?

5. Let’s continue reading the article.

Sandberg has a background as a computational neuroscientist, running computer simulations,

which are systems that mimic how brains work.
"One evening, when I turned off my computer as I left my office, I realized that I also was deleting
a neural network," Sandberg recalled. "Was I actually killing something? I quickly realized that the
network was simpler than the metabolic networks of the bacteria I was no doubt squashing just by
walking on the floor, yet I saw that a sufficiently complex network might be worth caring about."

Animal-brain emulations raise the important question of whether these copies can suffer. If so,
virtual experiments on the e-minds carry ethical considerations. "If it is cruel to pinch the tail of
biological mice, the same cruel impulse is present in pinching the simulated tail of an emulated
mouse," Sandberg wrote.

"I think a moral person will try to avoid causing unnecessary suffering, even if it is in an animal. So
if an emulated animal brain could feel suffering, we ought to avoid inflicting it if we can," Sandberg
said.

However, "there will likely not be any agreement on whether software can suffer, and no easy way
to prove it," Sandberg said. "I think we should use a 'better safe than sorry' strategy and assume
that emulated animals might have the same level of consciousness and sentience as the real
animals and treat them in ways that avoid pain. This may mean giving them virtual painkillers or
leaving out pain systems from the simulations."

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1. Have you ever thought you might be killing something by turning off your computer?
2. Do you consider yourself a moral person? Can you be moral if you think turning off your
computer is killing another type of being?

6. Let’s work on some vocabulary from the article.

7. Fill in the blanks with the words and expressions we have learned today.

consequences / emulating / sentient / better safe than sorry / plausible / inflict / emulated

1. But is it ethical to make even an _____________ creation suffer?

2. We are now exploring the _____________ of software that can suffer.
3. Successfully _____________ human or animal brains could pose ethical problems.
4. We should use a _____________________ policy rather than assume emulated beings
have no consciousness.
5. Who are we to judge who and what is _____________?
6. Is it even _____________ to believe that ‘mind uploading’ will one day be possible?
7. We need to be careful not to _____________ our beliefs on other cultures.

8. Watch this short video about other future possibilities.

World's first flying bike: 'Xturismo hoverbike' is capable of flying for 40 minutes | WION

Source: WION: World's first flying bike: 'Xturismo hoverbike' is capable of flying for 40 minutes |
WION

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 1. What does ‘the bike made its US debut’ mean?

2. Did you notice how much this gadget costs?

3. How many minutes can the bike fly?

4. Is that long enough for you to get to work and back?

9. Please read the following article about the hoverbike so we can discuss it.

Flying cars and flying bikes are expected to be the future of transportation. This is the world's first
flying bike. With the debut, the bike's capability to fly or hover above the ground blurs the borders
between fiction and reality. The makers of the hoverbike at Aerwins say that the birth of Xturismo
is the beginning of a new journey into the future of transportation. The Aerwins Xturismo
hoverbike flies above the ground using multiple propellers, drawing inspiration from the design of
a quad-copter with extra propellers. It has two big propellers in the front and the rear end is
supported by four small ones, two on each end. The primary propellers are used to provide the
necessary lift for the hoverbike. In contrast, the small ones act as a stabilizer. The propellers in the
hoverbike are powered by an internal combustion engine aided by a battery.

Source:https://zeenews.india.com/auto/meet-world-s-first-flying-motorcycle-aerwins-xturismo-ho
verbike-watch-video-2511562.html

10. Answer the questions that follow.

1. How many propellers does it have?

2. Do the smaller propellers act as a lift or a stabilizer for the bike?
3. Would you like one of these flying bikes?
4. Do you think the price is too high or would you pay it if you could?

11. Would rather

WOULD RATHER + SIMPLE PAST - used to express preferences for the present/future.

● Wouldn’t you rather we not go so fast with technology but spend time being sure about it?
● I’d rather not have my mind uploaded when I die. Thank you.

WOULD RATHER + PAST PERFECT - used to say what we wanted to happen in the past.

● I’d rather technology had not gone in this direction.

● Would you rather you had studied something else in school?

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WOULD RATHER + VERB - used to express our preferences.

● I would rather go to the movies than stay at home.

● We’d rather stay home and play board games tonight.

12. Complete the sentences.

1. I would much ___________________ gone to university in London.

2. They’d _________________ it _______________ rained yesterday than today.

3. Now that I’m sick, I’d ___________________ not ___________________ out yesterday.

4. I would ___________________ to Italy than to France.

13. Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round
pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of
rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree
with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may
see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy
enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.
Apples Inc.
1. What do you suppose they mean by crazy ones, misfits and rebels?
2. Who do you think they are talking about?
3. Would you consider yourself someone in that group or do you know anyone who might fit in
there?
4. Do you think crazy and genius often go together and if yes, do you have an example?

14. Put the correct words into the sentences.

1. The Aerwins Xturismo _____________ flies above the ground using multiple
_____________.
2. The propellers are powered by an internal combustion ___________ aided by a
____________.
3. The primary propellers are used to provide the necessary _____________ for the
hoverbike, while the small ones act as a _____________.
4. Do you think uploading a person’s mind can ______________ that person, so to speak?
5. Someone at Apple said troublemakers are _____________ pegs in _____________ holes.
6. Give me a sentence using the word ‘inflict.’
7. Explain what it means to upload a mind.

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15. Wrap-up questions
1. In general, do you feel excited about future technological inventions?
2. What ethical considerations can you think of as regards uploading someone’s mind
digitally?
3. What could happen if an uploaded mind was mixed or even missing some of the
information?
4. How many years away did the film say this scenario was?

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