> This is kind of removed from the main topic of immortality, but I'll get to that later. I think the Rosetta Project is forgetting something. This may be a better way to show the language than many other ways, but I have noticed two problems. When the real Rosetta Stone was discovered, it was plainly readable and could be recognized as a way to translate the language by anyone looking at it. If some future group of people find the new Rosetta, they will see a flat rock with some scratches. How would they know to look at it under a microscope? Also, after a while the stone would probably be worn down, possibly beyond readability, by environmental effects.

You should check out the Web site. The text spirals inward on the disc. It starts out readable (in a few languages, but the English is clearly visible to my eye from their pictures) and then spirals down smaller. The whole idea is that if you find the disc and have no clue what it is, it will become obvious how it works. It's quite intuitive, actually. Physical factors are a problem, but keep in mind that engravings on stone represent some of the oldest documents we have today. The Long Now Foundation plans on mass producing these disks, following the principle that "Multiple copies keep things safe."

> To immortality, I say that it would be a great achievement for humankind, but a horrible thing to actually be subjected to. Living for thousands, even millions, of years after a person should have died would take its toll on the body. Anyone who is over 100 isn't very likely to get up and take a car to visit the movies, are they? This inability to really do much wouldn't necessarily increase the wisdom of the person, as they would be limited to a small area (without books or movies, their eyes would probably be out of service before they were a few thousand years old) with little to no physical ability to do much of anything.

The implication in my post was that we could prevent these negative effects from happening. Most of them are from disease and body parts that have run their course. Replacement organs and probably nanotechnology could fix many of the problems that plague us today. Obviously nobody wants to live as a vegatable.

(There is also the possibility of simply transferring yourself into a machine, which is a whole different can of worms.)

Stephen