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Would YOU want to live forever?

Michael A. Dingwall (michael_a_dingwall@hotmail.com)

From ever since man has known himself – he has realized that death is inevitable. While some of us have accepted this as the end, many of us have refused to do so. Man has gone through a lot of extremes to find ways – whether real or imagined that may make his immortality possible. He has created religions with their many gods promising an eternal life – with conditions. He has advanced his knowledge of science, hoping to use this increased knowledge to live forever. However, would anybody really want to live forever?

Recently, scientists announced that they have discovered a gene in rats that if manipulated in certain ways, caused the rodents to live up to two times longer than they would normally have. They also discovered that even though the rodents were living much longer, they remained healthy. They were developing fewer of the problems that would normally be expected with aging. The scientists hope that with this knowledge, man’s immortality may be made a reality sooner. Many other scientists also believe that man should be able to live forever.

However, while it now seems that man should be able to be immortal, would it make sense? Most people would tell you that they would want to live forever, but they don’t really understand what immortality means.

For one thing – immortality would take away any purpose to living. Just think of it. No one would have any real need to get anything done. As there would be no finality to life – whatever needs to be done (which are usually the important things) can always wait. Unlike us mortals who want to see something particular happen before a certain time – especially before death, we usually do all we can to make it happen. We mortals only have one life, which is very short, and as such, we are forced to make the most of it. Immortality would render the word “urgent” redundant.

Another problem with immortality would be its hindrance to the development of the human race. Peoples tend to change very slowly in their cultural development. Individuals tend to advance their knowledge of science, technology and their development slowly, compared to those that occur over generations. Also, people tend to be very conservative – they tend not to want change.

Imagine if people were to start living forever and refusing to change for the better. Imagine those in power refusing to allow change. Imagine these people in power staying in power forever. The development of science, technology and liberalism (which, by the way is a very relative concept) would be at a snail’s pace.

It is through the replacement of generations of people that change has been facilitated. Death not only ensures a clean slate, it also ensure the fostering of new ideas and the abandonment of those that have outlived their time. Immortality would surely rob us of this most vital need.

Then there is one last reason why immortality would not make sense. Imagine if the human population should lose it main stabilizing agent – death. There would be a massive explosion of the human population. How would the Earth sustain the human race? Sure, in the future, man may begin to settle on other planets. However, would we develop the technology and the know-how to make sustainable use of other planets fast enough to keep pace with the rapidly growing population?

So, while many religious people continue to look forward to an immortal life, most sensible people must realize that immortality is not only not feasible – it doesn’t even make sense.

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