Physical Immortality

Until the onset of the current Age of Darkness (circa 2001), progressive and scientific types excitedly spoke about a venture known as the genome project. Though the specifics of mapping genes and chromosomes are way over the heads of most of us, all of us can relate to what it might one day achieve: Physical immortality.

Almost everybody I ask about this says the equivalent of, “I don’t want to live forever.” But what if you could have your 25-year-old body back along with the life experience you now possess? This would eliminate most diseases, even those which are genetic in nature. With the possible exceptions of a few religious people, who believe something better awaits them on “the other side,” I don’t see many turning this down.

Imagine if individuals such as Einstein didn’t die. How much accumulated knowledge could they contribute to society? Imagine Einstein’s take on global warming, alternative fuels, or stem cell research.

Just to seriously envision being 25 years old forever takes more than just imagination. Could mankind emotionally or spiritually adjust? Everything has a beginning and an end, right? That’s all we’ve known. If we change that, then what are the implications?

Think about career. Say you’ve been an architect the past 40 years. It’s been great, but you’re getting a little burned out. No problem. You go back to school, study nuclear physics, and 10 years later you’re teaching at a University, still with a 25-year-old body. When you tire of nukes, you might want to try your hand at professional sports. Nothing is out of reach.

What about menial labor? Even garbage collectors have an end in sight, and few plan on doing it their entire lifetime, much less throughout eternity. More importantly, armies and police departments might find people willing to put their lives on the line for causes they don’t fully embrace or understand in short supply. Who would fight our wars, or arrest criminals?

Honestly, the guy who collects my garbage every Thursday for 7 bucks an hour means much more to me than Kobe Bryant, who makes millions every year. Without garbage collection, street sweepers, and various other maintenance workers even immortality could suck.

Genetic modification or various forms of brainwashing may provide at least a partial solution. Like creating a race of worker bees. A more ethical and practical approach to the problem might include mandatory public service, similar to jury duty. Once a month, you’re on garbage duty; one year out of every ten you serve in the military. Still not ideal, but better.

Then there’s the love/relationship/marriage concept. The notion of “til death do you part” disappears. What’s left? At age 25, the male sex drive rivals any force in the Universe. I don’t see many men choosing monogamy with this much testosterone pumping through their bodies. Not for long, anyway.

Religion in the sense we know it today must either cease to exist or experience a dramatic shift in paradigm. Let’s say I’m a follower, and all my spiritual hopes and desires are based on the notion of dying and going to Heaven. Then, one day I receive this injection, meaning I’m not going to die, at least not from natural causes. I will never see Jesus. Nor will I ever again be with my grandparents, or my wife who died in childbirth. They, who are waiting for me, will continue to wait throughout eternity. I, on the other hand, will rise in the morning, go to work, pay the bills. My spirituality is dead.

Many religious people with whom I’ve spoken treat physical immortality with everything from ridicule (“It can never happen. Oh, and despite what you might have heard, the world IS flat.”) to attacking it as the Mark of the Beast. The Dalai Lama does not. He simply states that if we end the death part of the cycle we must also end the birth part of the cycle, which makes a lot of sense.

If we keep popping out babies at today’s pace but people stop dying of natural causes, only disaster can happen. State-sponsored birth control would have to be implemented, which surely would offend civil rights groups, not to mention organized religions who believe it’s God’s will to have as many babies as possible.

Which brings up another interesting point: There would be no children. Could we truly be happy in a world without Santa Claus or Saturday morning cartoons? Who would we take to soccer practice?

Who would get the injection, and who would decide? If I were handicapped and believed in reincarnation, I might refuse the injection. Then again, I might not. What about the mentally retarded?

As in all other areas of our lives, money plays an important role here as well. How much does the injection cost? How much is not dying worth to you? A million? Ten million? If you are put on a payment plan you could plan on being in debt for about a thousand years, depending on how much money you make. You’re essentially a slave.

What about prison? If you’re sentenced to life, what does that mean? Will there be a way to reverse the immortality so you grow old and die?