# Will humans become Gods? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 4, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579 "2003-10-04T19:05:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Vriggs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a4c791/32.png) [@Vriggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vriggs)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/1 "2003-10-04T19:05:48Z")
I was thinking… (a dangerous thing indeed)… I was considering what will happen to us when our sun burns out in 5 or 6 billion years. At that point in time what will the human race be? Consider the advances we’ve made in the last 100 years. The last 1000. Then consider a billion years ahead. We can bend and manipulate nearly anything we encounter. We’ve mapped every element matter is made of, even those that don’t exist! Technologically, ecologically, artistically, - what is the limit? Is there a limit? Will time and space be under our mastery as well? Will we have perfected our morality? Will we become immortal? Will we find our God? If we do will we be able to understand our creation? Will the sun burning out even be a concern to us? I am sure I trivialize the questions that must be asked with this thought. Will we create our own worlds? Will we do it as our God has? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/2 "2003-10-04T19:14:03Z")
I dunno, but I’m not sure “our God” has done much of anything, as per your last sentence. ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/3 "2003-10-04T19:41:09Z")
Only if you’re a Mormon. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/4 "2003-10-04T20:02:27Z")
What humans eventually become is dead. ---
**Author:** ![Soup\_du\_jour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Soup\_du\_jour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soup_du_jour)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/5 "2003-10-04T20:35:25Z")
The planets will be colonized before the sun burns out, methinks. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/6 "2003-10-04T21:02:23Z")
I think we’ll probably end up killing ourselves in some stupid war long before anything like that happens 🙂 Maybe, though, a few billion years later, some newly evolved form of life will uncover our species’ remains and worship us as gods – until they study us just a little more and learn just what idiots we actually were. ---
**Author:** ![TVAA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@TVAA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVAA)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/7 "2003-10-04T21:23:50Z")
We already are, silly. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/8 "2003-10-04T23:05:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Vriggs \* > **I was thinking… (a dangerous thing indeed)… > I was considering what will happen to us when our sun burns out in 5 or 6 billion years.** We should worry about a time a little closer than that, perhaps 1.5 billion years from now, when the temperature of the Earth reaches 50 Celsius. However if we survive that period, and the subsequent red giant phase, we will have ten billion years of heat off the white dwarf which our sun will become. > [@](#): > > \*\* > At that point in time what will the human race be? Consider the advances we’ve made in the last 100 years. The last 1000. Then consider a billion years ahead. We can bend and manipulate nearly anything we encounter. We’ve mapped every element matter is made of, even those that don’t exist! Technologically, ecologically, artistically, - what is the limit? Is there a limit? Will time and space be under our mastery as well? Will we have perfected our morality? Will we become immortal? \*\* up to this point I have to say yes, it is possible that we may do any of these things; the acheivements of the human race and our descendants are only limited by the laws of thermodynamics (in my opinion)… > [@](#): > > \*\* > > Will we find our God? If we do will we be able to understand our creation? \*\* ah- I am afraid that there is no guarantee that any entity in our universe will ever understand our creation, or our creator(s). > [@](#): > > \*\* > > Will the sun burning out even be a concern to us? I am sure I trivialize the questions that must be asked with this thought. > Will we create our own worlds?\*\* Have you seen the Matrix? Then check out Nick Bostrom’s ideas in that respect- we will not be able to create real worlds, but we may create worlds that seem to be real, and better than the real world in every tangible respect. > [@](#): > > \*\* > Will we do it as our God has? \*\* Amost certainly not- depending on what our God has actually done in the first place, which we may never know. * * * SF worldbuilding at [http://www.orionsarm.com/main.html](http://www.orionsarm.com/main.html) ---
**Author:** ![juan2003](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@juan2003](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/juan2003)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/9 "2003-10-05T00:01:01Z")
> [@](#): > > **Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.** > _Arthur C. Clark_ Our current technology would make us godlike to the ancients. Advances in science and technology will give future generations powers that we would consider to be godlike today. Morality will be become more complex as our technological capabillities increase. The only way we can improve our morality is to give it serious thought. Human life spans will increase, but when we get to the point of being able to extend our lives indefinitely there may be greater moral implications. Ultimately we will find the concept of God to be not only unnecessary but also detrimental to society. We’ll be much better off when we focus our energies on non-imaginary things. By the time the sun burns out, we’ll have colonized other star systems. Earth and the solar system will just be part of ancient history. ---
**Author:** ![peacefulprotester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a8b319/32.png) [@peacefulprotester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peacefulprotester)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/10 "2003-10-05T00:02:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by juan2003 \* > \*\*Our current technology would make us godlike to the ancients. Advances in science and technology will give future generations powers that we would consider to be godlike today. > > Morality will be become more complex as our technological capabillities increase. The only way we can improve our morality is to give it serious thought. > > Human life spans will increase, but when we get to the point of being able to extend our lives indefinitely there may be greater moral implications. > > Ultimately we will find the concept of God to be not only unnecessary but also detrimental to society. We’ll be much better off when we focus our energies on non-imaginary things. > > By the time the sun burns out, we’ll have colonized other star systems. Earth and the solar system will just be part of ancient history. \*\* wow, whenever I think about this stuff, I get lonely…☹ ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/11 "2003-10-05T02:41:19Z")
Didn’t Tipler make this case in “The Physics of Immortality”? Wasn’t his “Omega Point” a supercomputer that would reconstruct reality or something? Sorry, if you haven’t read the book this won’t mean anything to you. In fact, it may not mean anything if you have. (-: ---
**Author:** ![Rashak\_Mani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@Rashak\_Mani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rashak_Mani)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/12 "2003-10-05T04:17:30Z")
What the OP really wants to know is if there is a practical limit to development… mechanical wise… its just a question of competition and resources. As for what the future holds for human bodies and minds I am not so positive. We are pretty limited in that aspect… billions of years of development might have us teleporting around different stars… not sure it will make us stop killing each other thou. ---
**Author:** ![coffeecat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coffeecat/32/3405_2.png) [@coffeecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffeecat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/13 "2003-10-05T04:35:00Z")
From _A Canticle for Liebowitz_ (I’m doing this from memory, so it’s probably not an exact quote): Neither infinite power nor infinite knowledge can make man into God, for first there must be infinite love. ---
**Author:** ![Svt4Him](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@Svt4Him](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svt4Him)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/14 "2003-10-05T05:56:49Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/15 "2003-10-05T06:10:18Z")
Whenever we engage our rationality on matters of the spirit, we engage in theology. This is a bad move, but we can’t help it. We’re smart, not wise. Is there any human excercise more obviously futile than theology? Hunting butterflies with a hammer. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/16 "2003-10-05T06:38:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Vriggs \* > \*\* > Will we create our own worlds? Will we do it as our God has? \*\* Not if I can help it. Can’t let you puny little buggers get any real power. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/17 "2003-10-05T06:48:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by juan2003 \* > \*\* > Ultimately we will find the concept of God to be not only unnecessary but also detrimental to society. We’ll be much better off when we focus our energies on non-imaginary things. > \*\* :dubious: Detramental? How so? ---
**Author:** ![MrVisible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@MrVisible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrVisible)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/18 "2003-10-05T07:14:08Z")
The question is so broad as to be essentially meaningless. First off, it all depends on how you define the term “god.” If it means the ability to create universes, then I’m iffy on whether it’s possible that humans will get to that point. However, I am constantly awed by our potential as a race. If the next hundred years keep up the same pace of innovation as the past hundred, our technology will be near-unrecognizable. If the next millennium keeps pace with this one just past, I literally cannot imagine what’s possible. A billion years? The mind boggles. There are technologies which we’ve just begun to understand which, if mastered, will redefine our entire relationship with our physical environment, and others which will redefine what it means to be human. And don’t get me started on where I see communications going… Humans are amazing creatures. I have faith that we will continue to be so, right up until the universe itself ceases to exist. And possibly beyond. [sub]For more in this passionately optimistic technologically utopian vein, check out Kim Stanley Robinson’s excellent _Red Mars_, and its sequels.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/19 "2003-10-05T07:37:18Z")
Humankind can create whatever it can dream. After all, we created God. Whether we WILL create whatever can be dreamed is another question–one of practicality. I don’t think humankind will ever completely exterminate itself. More likely, we will deal ourselves a drawn-out series of devastating blows-- each one knocking back human progress hundreds or thousands of years (similar to the “Dark Ages” but sometimes longer and much more severe) thereby preventing all of our dreams from ever being realized. It is rather like a house of cards-- each time we start building from scratch… sometimes we build a tall one, sometimes a short one, but inevitably it all comes crashing down; usually by our own unsteady hand. Other, exterior, things too can destroy our card house; metaphorically speaking a mere breath of wind-- realistically speaking, a meteor strike, (relatively) sudden climate change, or our sun burning out. These forces from without are much more likely, in my opinion, to cause human extinction than we are ourselves. Ultimately, we are no more than dust and no less than God. We exist now, yet someday we will not. Who will miss us? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579/20 "2003-10-05T14:41:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joel \* > \*\*:dubious: Detramental? How so? \*\* Just suppose for one second that there isn’t a god… Do you see from this perspective that the energies devoted to a non-existent god, and the societies divided by conflicting notions of differing non-existence gods, are each detrimental effects? Funnily enough **juan2003** even qualified their assertion, that belief in god(s) maybe seen as detrimental, with someting akin to the first of these points. Perhaps you didn’t read that far. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-humans-become-gods/205579.md?page=2)