aria
Former Moderator
- Joined
- Dec 4, 1977
- Posts
- 39,546
Okay, so apparently the Pope has been in even worse health these past couple of weeks -marked by the fact that he appointed 44 new Cardinals (who make up the group the vote the new Pope). This made me think:
What if the Pope were turned into a cyborg?
Now I know its a little bizarre, but I really don't mean this to stomp on Catholicism. I'm actually curious what'd happen. The Bible and Catholic Doctrine probably don't say a whole lot about it. I'm not saying let's turn JP2 into a human computer, I'm just saying lets buttress his body with robotic parts so that he won't die (or at least not for a while -remember, he's a tough Pope, he survived being shot in an assassination attempt).
Of course, making a "Robo-Pope" does open a few interesting questions: The Pope directly inspired by the word of God, so what he says goes. Would that still apply if he had, say, a cyborg nervous system to remove the Parkinsons? If I were to be an armchair religious scholar, I would think that the Pope's inspiration goes directly to his brain. I know some people say its the "soul", but I'm fairly sure it's located in the brain too. I don't see how having a few robotic parts would affect that.
When I talk about Cyborgs, I'm not talking about making him fit insite a desktop computer. It's simply to augment his body so that the whole person keeps on living -no more, no less. Of course, since his body would rely on those part, he would be part man, part machine: All Pope.
Think that's going to far? Well, as far as I know it would be perfectly all right for the Pope fo have a pace-maker -which is a robotic part. How about an electric wheelchair? How about an electric wheelchair with a breathing aparatus? How about Steven Hawking? See: There's already a lot of early cyborg-creation going on right now. The problem most people have is that they associate it with sci-fi charaters like Robocop, the Borg, et al [Note: the Terminator was not a cyborg]. In reality, as long as your not affecting the mind of the person involved, the extra hardware is just a form of medical treatment. After all: we're trying to make him live longer.
The next question is what happens if the Pope does, basically, live forever? It seems that the Cardinals would have an easier job for a while, not needing to select a successor. Assumably, since the Pope is not dead and cannot retire, his connection with God would not cease. I wouldn't fear turning the Pope into some kind of immortal rival of God since (a) he'd still be a human, albeit an old human and (b) the Pope is probably not going to start trying to become a false idol himself. To digress into humor for one moment, I do wonder if he should then change his name to Pope John Paul the Infinite.
Still, any cyborg body that is created is still subject to failure. It's likely that the Pope would indeed pass no matter what the additional part. In that sense, nothing will really change about the Pope and his duty, other than that he'd live longer.
I say we do our best to help him keep on helping the world.
What if the Pope were turned into a cyborg?
Now I know its a little bizarre, but I really don't mean this to stomp on Catholicism. I'm actually curious what'd happen. The Bible and Catholic Doctrine probably don't say a whole lot about it. I'm not saying let's turn JP2 into a human computer, I'm just saying lets buttress his body with robotic parts so that he won't die (or at least not for a while -remember, he's a tough Pope, he survived being shot in an assassination attempt).
Of course, making a "Robo-Pope" does open a few interesting questions: The Pope directly inspired by the word of God, so what he says goes. Would that still apply if he had, say, a cyborg nervous system to remove the Parkinsons? If I were to be an armchair religious scholar, I would think that the Pope's inspiration goes directly to his brain. I know some people say its the "soul", but I'm fairly sure it's located in the brain too. I don't see how having a few robotic parts would affect that.
When I talk about Cyborgs, I'm not talking about making him fit insite a desktop computer. It's simply to augment his body so that the whole person keeps on living -no more, no less. Of course, since his body would rely on those part, he would be part man, part machine: All Pope.
Think that's going to far? Well, as far as I know it would be perfectly all right for the Pope fo have a pace-maker -which is a robotic part. How about an electric wheelchair? How about an electric wheelchair with a breathing aparatus? How about Steven Hawking? See: There's already a lot of early cyborg-creation going on right now. The problem most people have is that they associate it with sci-fi charaters like Robocop, the Borg, et al [Note: the Terminator was not a cyborg]. In reality, as long as your not affecting the mind of the person involved, the extra hardware is just a form of medical treatment. After all: we're trying to make him live longer.
The next question is what happens if the Pope does, basically, live forever? It seems that the Cardinals would have an easier job for a while, not needing to select a successor. Assumably, since the Pope is not dead and cannot retire, his connection with God would not cease. I wouldn't fear turning the Pope into some kind of immortal rival of God since (a) he'd still be a human, albeit an old human and (b) the Pope is probably not going to start trying to become a false idol himself. To digress into humor for one moment, I do wonder if he should then change his name to Pope John Paul the Infinite.
Still, any cyborg body that is created is still subject to failure. It's likely that the Pope would indeed pass no matter what the additional part. In that sense, nothing will really change about the Pope and his duty, other than that he'd live longer.
I say we do our best to help him keep on helping the world.
