OUR QUEST FOR IMMORTALITY…

"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work.
I want to achieve it through not dying."
-- Woody Allen

Is the quest for immortality overrated… Is it not the quality of life -- not the quantity. There are those that say -- immortality is not far -off (if you're rich enough, of course)… Life extension, longevity, anti-aging -- with all kinds of cutting edge techniques, therapies, pharmaceuticals, stem cells, replacing of organs with artificial organs -- some people believe it is a lot closer than you think… They say, the first person to live to be 1000 years old.., is alive today… (that's kinda trippy)

And what about the ethical ramifications… Really -- is it ethical to hack the code of life..?

Besides the physical… There is the mental aspect -- we have know we are aging and will die. Even though we don't know the exact time or year of our death.., we are pretty sure we are not going to live to be 1000 years old… With all the advances in medicine and nutrition.., more people trying to use organic product, watch their diets -- yes, we have definitely extended our life span…

With this race to exceed all barriers of time -- are we neglecting to see what is human..? In our efforts to become almost God-like, are we neglecting what is human… I saw an interview with some really old guy (around 115 years old) -- he couldn't wait to die! His body and mind worked but not that well, Im sure there were other age related problems he was experiencing.., and he was all alone. He out lived all his wives some of his children, all his friends were long dead… He was a sad, lonely old man with a deteriorating body and mind.

"The insatiable thirst for everything which lies beyond, and which life reveals,
is the most living proof of our immortality." -- Charles Baudelaire

In this search for the fountain of youth.., have we considered all… Or are we so driven to succeed -- to accomplish the goal of living forever, that we are looking at this equation with tunnel vision.., and not even considering the human aspect, at all… We have all heard of.., and are quite familiar with Frankenstein -- a mad scientist playing around with immortality creates a monster.., that is feared, hated and hunted…

The anti-aging industry generates over $80 billion per year.., and to some degree, Im sure some people squeak out a few more years with all that wheat grass or aloe vera juice… But there are billionaires right now, that have teams of scientists truing to untangle the editable riddle of aging… Trying to decipher, what exactly causes it -- and how do we combat it.

This fascination with eternal life is not new… Going back to Imperial China, where emperors would die from drinking potions made of mercury with the hopes of living forever. And in 1942 3 10 year old boys agreed to give their blood to a dying Pope in the hopes that, old life could be rejuvenated through the blood of the young -- they all died. Throughout history shady alchemists have been conning the rich and whoever had some money to spend on some of the latest snake-oil… Even so-called "doctors" became gravely themselves, in their search for perfect formula, that would extend life -- some losing their eyesight from harmful vapors, others asphyxiated from toxic vapors.

And in more present time.., in the 1970's a group of "anti-aging" researchers, made the bold statement -- with enough financing we will (science will) figure out the, as of yet, unsolved mystery of aging… A few years after that a company claimed they were coming to market with immortality drugs.., and that very same year a San Francisco newspaper claimed the average life could be extended to well over 500 years of age…

"Nobody wants to die but it is life’s best invention,
it is the mechanism of change." -- Steve Jobs
People have been trying to cheat death since the beginning of time.., and the only difference today is -- they actually think they might do it (but didn't they always think that…)… With some people having so much freakin' money -- they are spending huge amounts of it on the quest for immortality -- at a price, of course.

Dmitry Itskov, a Russian with too much money started a foundation, whose point is to solve the mortality equation by 2045 -- by becoming "neo-humans" with our minds backed up in cyberspace. Futurist Ray Kurzweil, who was hired by Google believes that humans will merge with computers in the not to distant future to become immortal. And the founder of Paypal plans to live for hundreds of billions of years (I wonder how long it will take him too pee when he's 300 years old)…

Obviously it's in our nature to try and solve things, just outside of our grasp -- it always has been… It leads to invention, innovation, cures -- it makes us human. But are some things better left alone… Besides all the ethical and religious ramifications -- where would we put everyone! If nobody died anymore.., and more people keep being born -- it's gonna get pretty crowded, pretty fast. We'd burn through much more resources, more food, more water… And, as the market would ask -- does it make economic sense…

I guess we would have to rethink the age of retirement and social security :))

To date the oldest living human being was Jeanne Calment -- a French woman that lived to be 122 years old (and she smoked until she was 117)… While there is nothing wrong with trying extend our lives a few years (maybe more than a few) especially if you are a billionaire -- there is the risk of obsession… Becoming so consumed with living forever.., that we forget to live for the moment. Trying to conquer, what has always eluded us.., we miss out on the time we have on this earth… And in an cruelly ironic twist, the thing we were searching for.., LIFE -- we have wasted in a futile effort for immortality...

What ever happened to live fast -- and die young!!!

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