The way the Na'vi physically look is very appealing to me. I like tall people and I like cats, the na'vi are a nice blend of the two.

The fantastical impossible life-mate tsaheylu I find romantic, though I think I prefer serial monogamy as a human with the assumption that people can change and outgrow each other, mating for life is an awfully long time. With the na'vi however, a bond as strong as linking nervous systems I can only imagine it's being too overwhelming to ever do that with more than one sentient being, causing irrevocable emotional changes, and a closeness to which we have no equivalent. I'd be curious to know what that's like.

I'd also probably freak out with the first night I spent on Pandora, and spend hours stuck looking at tiny things like leaf venation, or the dots on my legs, or something.

I don't think I could give up my life right now for a Na'vi one, in a few years when the world's a little worse, I'd definitely reconsider it.

Oh for sure, I guess that's something I forgot to mention as well ;)
If Earth goes to ****, of course I'll be a na'vi. I just have some optimism about us coming out of this situation somehow. Not without horrible catastrophes and changes, but it's true, I'd rather live without technology on Pandora than without it on Earth.

You're right; sorry for the typo. Using ay implies the wrong diphthong; the correct one to use is ey.

What's interesting is that it's not impossible. It would just require a really, really powerful computer like this one, a connection method like Dr. Keichii Torimitsu's, correct software built on the NEURON programming, and two willing participants. Maybe in 20 years researchers will have rigged up a system that can do it. After all, it can already happen in nature with some bacteria.

I can understand that. Though I could get into a Na'vi life right now and have no qualms about it :) No reason why I couldn't pursue a career in medicine still; I'm sure the basic medical anatomy of Na'vi is similar to humans, minus a few variances.

I wish I could be as optimistic as you, but I think the human race will eventually run itself into the ground, and soon. Average people are greedy and care little for the environment; sooner or later, humans will die off and the Earth will regenerate as if they were never here, reversing all of the damage done.

Nice links :awesome: , especially about the connection method. I honestly didn't know that much progress had been achieved :)

Most people don't; it's not exactly well-publicized. That kind of thing tends to freak out average people. I'm just glad the research is happening despite public views; maybe we'll get somewhere in a few years :)

Exactly - if I COULD be 3m tall, with blue skin, beautiful eyes and a tail. I would. If I could, as an average individual, be physically superior to the greatest human who lived, I would. If I could have a lifemate and make tsaheylu and experience everything together, I would. If it was possible to bond with an ikran and ride it through the air, I would. If I could spend every night wandering through bioluminescence, with everything around having its own beauty, I would. None of that's at all remotely possible.

For me, the idea of a lifemate is better because it's being able to truly know someone on a way that most people never will, and I would far prefer that to ending up losing am ate over and over again... I think that most people would, in a perfect situation, want a mate to stay with them, and it certainly is possible with humans, just not easy and doesn't work for everyone, while the Na'vi have it much easier there...

Definitely :)

Honestly, ideally, I'd like the best of both lives. I'd like to be able to be a Na'vi physically, live somewhere really nice, be able to fly, but also still be able to occasionally enjoy things from Earth.

You're almost completely right. Increasing height to 3 meters would destroy the spinal column and cause paralysis. Blue skin, however, would be possible with tattooing or permanent ink, and maybe in the not-too-distant future, gene therapy. A tail would also be possible if it could be artificially grown and grafted on, but the technology for that is not yet available; maybe in a decade that will change. Tsaheylu would be extremely difficult to achieve, but it might be possible with lots of technology (see my post here). Riding an ikran is definitely not possible. Bioluminescence, however, might be achieved with gene therapy, since some species of fish already have that.

I second that; all I'd need from Earth is a generator, an iPad, a laptop, and a satellite connection. There would be no need to do away with technology; it would just have to be used sparingly.

Actually they did gene modified plants that glow in the dark by putting marine organisms genes into them. But of course these have to stay in the enclosed labs because no one knows what will be the result if they go into the wild...

So all you need is "the internet" basically?

:awesome::xD: - yeah I can imagine that. That image is very funny but so true. Look at all the dots indeed... :D

Carbon-fibre bones! Carbon-fibre bones! :awesome: (I've given JC crap for not justifying himself elsewhere, but that sort of thing is what I hoped there was more of: just enough explanation so we can hear, "I know this doesn't work, but it's a film. You should really just relax.")

Though if you're talking about turning a human into a Na'vi, can't you just use surgery whatevers?

For a species that has a IO cable dangling out the back of their skull, an iPad seems like an awfully crude HCI. (or should that be Na'vi-Computer interface? :party:) Wouldn't strategically-placed wireless transceivers work better? :awesome:

If it were just about becoming a na'vi physically and I didn't have to give up access to all the knowledge humans have, technological advances, etc, YES, I would be a na'vi :P I guess that question has never been posed to me, and before now, I've never even thought about it with those circumstances, but there are several situations in which I'd gladly be a na'vi.

Yep, and maybe a toothbrush.

Yes, you can. Plastic surgery coupled with permanent ink (or genetic engineering for a version of melanin that's blue) would yield something almost exactly like a Na'vi, minus the increase in height and the tail. The former couldn't be practically achieved with surgery, and the latter would require growth in a lab and grafting on once developed. Maybe they can use tissue printers for that :)

That's true, but it also assumes that the brain could adapt to control a device that is Internet-capable and designed for a 2d environment. I'm not sure if that would be possible - research would need to be done to find out.

Exactly :D
It's about gaining special, unique things, abilities no human has, and still knowing everything I did :)

I already have some of the ink part done :D
I will honestly be getting a tail when it becomes possible too.

About right for me.

If you did away with conventional web pages, and used things like Twitter, you could directly interpret 1D streams of data, which would probably be a lot easier.

I guess it would be kind of wonky to be a na'vi on Earth with nothing else different :( But ideally, the way I'd prefer it would be if I could be a human sized avatar (I like all my fingers KTHX). And of course I'd be thrilled if everyone here had this choice, and then there'd be some real na'vi at the meetup :awesome: (had a dream recently like this).

And it looks awesome :)

Me too, and the rest of the modifications to become as close to Na'vi as I can get. How long do you think it will be before that's possible? I'm betting on less than two decades.

How would you view scientific articles and know whether information was accurate and peer-reviewed, then? There would have to be some serious web infrastructure changes to make that work, but I suppose it could be done.

Which would be awesome on so many different levels :)