Love the article but don't think it's quite fair to say "at essentially zero physical cost" when you are talking about extending life technologically/virtually. Not preserving (either in part of in total) the body/brain my consciousness was born into does represent a significant cost to me. And it's value remains to be seen.
True, the civilizational and existential cost is huge, actually ultimate. It will cost us everything we are.
But the “economic” cost at the moment of transition is zero. What leads to it costs a lot in economic terms, but when the time comes, this event is predetermined, so it cannot have its own cost. Unlike interstellar travel, which will always remain very costly operations without any progression in efficiency - supposedly they happen.
Love the article but don't think it's quite fair to say "at essentially zero physical cost" when you are talking about extending life technologically/virtually. Not preserving (either in part of in total) the body/brain my consciousness was born into does represent a significant cost to me. And it's value remains to be seen.
True, the civilizational and existential cost is huge, actually ultimate. It will cost us everything we are.
But the “economic” cost at the moment of transition is zero. What leads to it costs a lot in economic terms, but when the time comes, this event is predetermined, so it cannot have its own cost. Unlike interstellar travel, which will always remain very costly operations without any progression in efficiency - supposedly they happen.