Most people in contemporary society would scoff at the concept of a literal immortality. The idea that we could preserve our bodies and our beings in an everlasting life is a pipe dream, something that isn't conceivable in the realm of science, right? Scientist Ray Kurzweil doesn't think so. In fact, he believes we're on our way to immortality within a matter of twenty years through nanotechnology. Whether or not what Ray says is ludicrous, it does bring up certain ethical dilemmas.
The nature of the universe seems to be degenerative and chaotic. Living beings are no different. We all age, we all die. It is as it is, whether we like it or not. Death, ironically, is a part of life. And our survival instincts compel us to avoid death. This may in part explain why the idea of the eternal has been a part of life for as long as life could think. Dating back to the earliest written records of man, we see immortality spring on to the scene with the Epic of Gilgamesh. Today, the idea of immortality still permeates society. Most people have, in one manner or another, religious belief in the divine that attests to a metaphysical immortality (some sort of afterlife). And then there's the realm of thought itself, that abstract concepts such as freedom transcend reality as an everlasting truth. Even in science we see that, for example, the universe may very well expand on into infinity.
No one would deny that an inner hunger makes the prospect of immortality at least immediately appealing. We see through the many attempts of individuals to find some sort of "fountain of youth" or even people's desires to simply leave their mark in history that a part of us wants to go on even after we're long gone. And let's be honest. Even if you're convinced that immortality in the physical sense is an immoral thing, you can't tell me that you wouldn't want some of the attributes of an immortal, omnipotent, omniscient being. Perhaps you'd want control of time and the aging process temporarily (so that you could live as long as you like, and then die when you feel the time is right). Or maybe you'd want some of the other potential benefits of nanotechnology, be it super strength or a higher plane of intellect.
Unfortunately, though, we probably all know from experience that what is desirable is not automatically good. Just as much as I am enraptured by immortality, I am equally terrified by the implications of such a thing. Life, as I see it, is made meaningful by death. It may be all about the journey (life) but if there is no finish line (death) toward which we strive then it is not definably a journey at all. It leads nowhere. Immortal life is not life, it might as well be death because it is devoid of meaning. Not to mention, there are all kinds of problems that would arise with it (how would we control population? how would we stop people from committing immoral actions?).
Ultimately, I think immortality is something better left beyond the reach of science and within the reach of science fiction (and religion, pop culture, and so on and so forth).
What about you? What if we could become immortal? Would that be an inherently good thing? What effect would this have on the way we live (such as local and international laws)? How would we have to redefine what it is to be human, to be alive, to exist even?
Source: Immortality only 20 years away says scientist
Sunday, November 8, 2009
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Immortality is something that I do not like the sound of. Of course I would love to be able to control time and control my future in ways that were never before seen as possible. However, to be immortal would essentially make life meaningless. Like you said, what is a journey that never comes to an end? People would be living forever, re-populating without anyone dying. This would lead to even worse overpopulating than we already see today within the larger cities. How would we be able to control such a large growing population when we can barely control the one we have got now? Crime would increase, unemployment would increase, and living conditions on Earth would decrease due to excess pollution. Life is a journey that is meant to have an end. Immortality, while a nice thought, should never be anything more than that, a thought. Let’s not change what was created for a reason. Life and death go hand in hand as death essentially makes life meaningful.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what my opinion on morality is. On one hand it would be sweet to live forever. What you could do if you were going to live forever would be endless. Also, people wouldnt have to die horrible deaths.
ReplyDeleteBut on the other hand part of life is to die. Wouldn't you always wonder what would happen to you after death? And if we didn't have the technology to enlarge our world, to build housing out side of this universe our world would definately become over populated. Eventually people wouldnt be able to move. Which leads to more problems, like said above, pollution, crime and unemployment.
I feel like because I'm so interested in what happens after death, I feel like I'm leaning towards not having immortality exist. There are too many negatives for being immortal.
I think that immortality would defy the whole meaning of life as we know it. Every living creature experiences death at some point. It is the natural way of life. If science were to start playing around with the natural order of the universe, there would be so many complications. For instance, would it be possible to control what age a person remains for the rest of their life? Along with practical questions come social and emotional questions. If a person lives forever and all of their loved ones and everyone they ever knew dies, they would most likely be extremely saddened. What also makes this topic intriguing is that most religions believe that people do "live" forever in some type of form like a soul. Our physical bodies decay and what we refer to as our "life" ends but we still live according to many religions. Allowing people to remain on earth as a human body would, as mentioned, cause numerous population problems. Overall I believe that immortality would be inherently negative in our world. The natural cycle of life and death exists for a reason and it should not be disturbed.
ReplyDeleteImmortality would change every aspect of life itself, and I believe it would reduce the quality of life as well. If we knew we were going to live forever, we would never want to do anything productive. People would not want to work as hard to get things they desired because they would always have "tomorrow" to do that. Crime rate would probably increase too. How bad would 10 years in prison be in the realm of immortality? Population would be a whole other issue in itself, and the world would not even be able to function with so many people on it forever. As much as living forever sounds like it would be a good idea, it would be the worst thing to happen to the human race. We are meant to die, it is not a side effect of living.
ReplyDeleteReading this post made me think a lot about the idea of immortality and the implications it would cause in our world if everyone lived forever. Obviously, the biggest problem would be population size, and eventually there would be too many people for our Earth to support. While the idea of living forever is appealing when you think about it, the later consequences would be scary and upsetting. When I first thought about it, I considered how amazing it would be to have all the time necessary to do whatever I wanted. I could have multiple degrees, multiple careers, and do anything and everything that I had ever wanted to do. But at the same time, where would my motivation come from? What would push me to do things, to get things done, knowing that if I failed I had all the time in the world to try again later? In my opinion, as mattp said, life is all about the journey. But as scary and as sad as it is, there must be an end and a time limit to the journey to push us to be the best person we can be in the time we have. While the idea of immortality is amazing initially, thinking further eliminates a lot of the things that make life so unique and interesting.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the idea of immortality is better left for science fiction. It is fascinating and i love to read about it in the books and see it in movies. However, like you said, death is a part of life. I think that we have to make the most of the time given to us in our lives rather than prolonging life. Why would anyone really want to live forever anyways? Even if our bodies and features could remain age 20 forever would it not get boring? How long can you possibly be 20 for until you go crazy? There will still be people who age naturally and die. Those people will be friends and family. I would not want to live without them forever.
ReplyDeleteWe are born, we live, we die. It is the natural order of the universe. Immortality, however, should be confined to the imagination.
I also believe that although the idea of immortality is fascinating, it should be reserved for science fiction. The purpose of life is not to live forever, but to make your stay on the Earth meaningful while you are here. I liked how Matt phrased it: "It may be all about the journey (life) but if there is no finish line (death) toward which we strive then it is not definably a journey at all." Death is a natural part of the life cycle and, although it is depressing to think about, it is necessary and inevitable. Just think about what the world would be like if everyone were immortal. Sure, technolgy and history would be more advanced than ever, since the knowledge of geniuses would never die out. Anyone could interact with anyone and know the reasoning behind any theory proposed (I'm thinking in terms of scientific, philosophical, or historical theories). But the world would become one cluttered mess of anarchy with each person thinking that he is the omnipotent and all-powerful divine creature that lives forever and knows all the answers to everything. Society would crumble and the government would inevitably grow more corrupt as the days passed on. The span of a lifetime can be made meaningful by what you do on your daily journey. Your physical being does not have to always exist, but your legacy can live on forever.
ReplyDeleteImmortality has been something that humans have been fascinated and obsessed with since the beginning of time. Is it really a good thing though? i believe that death is a part of life and would change the lives of everyone drastically. People would not be so willing to do anything productive. I believe that people's morals would drastically decrease and how would we be able to provide enough living space for everyone? The qualities of everyones lives would decrease or would ultimately lead to endless confrontation. We see immortality as an amazing thing but that is only because the only education we have on immortality is what see in movies and read about in fairy tales, where is it made out to be the best possible thing any human could have. In reality, I believe that it could ruin much of what we know and are accustom to today.
ReplyDeleteI think everyone has the "peter pan" mindset of never wanting to grow up somewhere in their minds. I don't necessarily think that immortality is something our society could handle. I find myself fearful of death now, reason being I'm only 18 years old. However, lets say I were 100. I think deep down I'd still be worried, death is something unknown, but I would be more at ease with it because I was able to experience a lot more in my lifetime.
ReplyDeleteAs cool of a concept as immortality is, I have a hard time seeing it happening. Would everyone live forever or just some people. What about people like dictators and terrorists? Would we want them to live forever?