The awareness of our mortality and the quest for its overcoming has been a driving force in the evolution of the human Soul. Underlying the significance of this process, Giegerich says in Soul and World…
The moment his mortality had come home to man he ipso facto was also beyond it—of course logically, negatively (not literally) beyond it. And because he was beyond it he possessed an immortal soul, a life after death, and even his descent was ultimately an “extraterrestrial” one from above, from Heaven, from the gods.
Jung saw death as the entry to another stage in life and encouraged us to pursue it positively.
Recent developments in brain research and the emergence of transhumanist concepts as promoted by Ray Kurzweil and Dmitry Itskov’s 2045 project offer a new form of immortality through avataric embodiment. To quote D.I. Dubrovsky an associate of Itskov’s: “Cybernetic immortality (is it a) Fantasy or scientific problem?”
Even today, a sort on immortality is offered by Facebook through the legacy contact feature that allows your account to be contacted after you are gone. LifeNaut’s digital life project service (https://www.lifenaut.com) is another avenue for using Artificial Intelligence to create a backup of your mindfile and DNA to create a digital clone that can interact with future family members and others. Alternatively, we could consider Humai (http://humaitech.com ) who wants to transplant our brains into an elegantly designed bionic body.
So are we on the verge of the discovery of a technology-fuelled magical path to paradise? Who of us will go? It there an entry requirement? What are the benefits and is there a price that must be paid? Is this the avenue for development of machine Souls?
These are new questions for the new age in which we are living, but their roots are as ancient as nascent human consciousness and have underpinned great stages of human civilization including; Egyptian, Persian and Christian.
In his talk, Robert will explore the challenging ground of digital immortality in terms of its archetypal roots, historical development and its modern-day manifestation. Is this the start of a golden age for humanity where we will be the last generation to die or is it the harbinger of the machine apocalypse and our consignment to the depths of a cold, infinite digital hell? This is something that we need to know as we contemplate our options and our future.
Robert Dommett is the President of the Sydney Jung Society. He has been studying Wolfgang Giegerich’s writing for over four years and has presented in Berlin at the inaugural 2012 ISPDI conference held to further Giegerich’s work. He is a systems analyst, researcher and developer of social profiling & market segmentation systems for use in the corporate sector and has focused his research interests on the application of cloud-based synthetic human populations.
Robert is an avid reader in the areas of depth psychology, ancient religions, soul, consciousness & artificial intelligence. And has a particular interest in the works of post Jungian author Wolfgang Giegerich, Islamic scholar Henry Corbin and the ERANOS Conferences. He is currently the Technical Director of RDA Research, a leading market analytics agency.
Date: 11th November 2016
Time: 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Venue: Mitchell Theatre Level 1 Sydney Mechanics' School
of Arts, 280 Pitt St, Sydney
Cost: Members $15 Non-Members $25 Non-Member
Concession $20
Preferred payment by Cash or Cheque. No need to book.
Just pay at the door. Everybody welcome.
*Psychotherapists and other practitioners can obtain credit for Professional Development hours recognised by CAPA, PACFA and ACA for this presentation.