Immortality is a long-coveted fantasy of many a fictional supervillain and one which has intrigued many among us. It’s an idea which invokes both wonder and fear, but often sought by those who desire to stay alive for varied reasons. How does one gain immortality? Is modern transhumanist science – combining the powers of tech with one’s human bran and body – the answer? At what cost would one want to become immortal? Would it a gift, curse or perhaps both at the same time? Dr. David Martorano explores the questions from varied points of view while telling a fascinating story in Immortality.
In the book, Dr. Martorano takes the reader to New Babylon, a post-E-pocalypse technology-dominated future world run by artificial intelligence and occupied by the results of humans merging with computers (similar to the vision of today’s transhumanists, some of whom are devising microchips for human brains).
The author’s fictional world has some interesting parallels to our own: The corporate technocrats, the tech-worshippers, those wary of the dangers of a technocracy, anti-tech extremists and many who are caught in the middle.
Dr. Mortorano cleverly balances the positive impacts of alternative intelligence and transhumanist tech with its destructive potential, asking two rather interesting questions: What happens if people lost much of their humanity in exchange for computer-based convenience and could powerful artificial intelligence gain a level of humanity as the two entities interact? He offers perspectives on the latter through an AI named MARTIN, who balances his role in the world and his familiarity with humans. Dr. Martorano takes a rather intriguing look at the world today’s Transhumanists fantasize about through their ambitious lenses. He also looks at the extreme on the other side, which see technological progress as dangerous and, in some cases, evil.
Readers will both be engulfed by the story and provoked into thought about a question scientists, theologists, philosophers, storytellers, politicians and free-thinkers have asked for decades: Could Artificial Intelligence, as it keeps moving toward its full potential, evolve or destroy humanity?
About Dr. David Martorano: Dr. Martorano is a visionary board-certified informatician and psychiatrist with a distinguished career in management and clinical care. After completing his medical training at Columbia University and his residency in psychiatry at UCLA’s Neuropsychiatric Institute, Dr. Martorano has dedicated over a decade to advancing clinical services and medical leadership.His expertise spans psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, and addiction treatment. He has honed his skills at prestigious institutions such as UCLA’s Addiction Medicine Clinic, Mood Disorders Clinic, Anxiety Disorders Clinic, and Interpersonal Psychotherapy Clinic. His research background includes groundbreaking work in reproductive neuroendocrinology at the Rockefeller Institute and contributions to electrophysiology and alternative medicine literature.
