Cheating Death

By Khushi Duggal

Immortality has been a fascinating concept to human beings for centuries.

Hindus believe in the concept of the immortality of the soul. In Buddhism, it is believed that the individuals can transform the physical body into an immortal body of light called the

rainbow body. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam believe that immortality is achieved through the resurrection of the body at the time of the Final Judgment- given as a gift from god.

While religion has provided scriptures and stories on immortality, science is constantly attempting to make it a reality.

The medical world has made quite the progress. Body part renewal through genetic engineering is one way. Vital body organs could be replaced with newer, younger, healthier organs. Many scientists around the world are working on creating human organs using 3D printers containing living cells, which could make organ donors redundant. UCLA chemical engineer James Gimzewski created a synthetic brain by treating a grid of tightly packed copper posts with silver nitrate. It grew nanowires that mirror the branching of neurons. When the wires were hit by an electrical signal, the nanowires organized information as a brain does.

Preservation of bodies using cryogenics in a process called vitrification is another attempt. The body is placed in an ice-water bath and ice-resistant chemicals are pumped in, replacing water content in blood to prevent cell damage when the body hardens. This is done in the hopes that, eventually, the body will be revived.

Vitrification has been used to effectively preserve blood, stem cells, and semen. But restoring life to a vitrified human remains a distant prospect. Interestingly, conspiracy theorists believe that Walt Disney’s body was cryogenically frozen and that the movie ‘Frozen’ was made to prevent people from finding this information on the internet. Officially, Dr. Bedford, a former professor at UC Berkley, was the first human to be cryogenically preserved. He’s been at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation since 1991.

Although these methods seem convincing, some notable arguments were posed against immortality through medicine. Firstly, when would the physical ageing stop? If you had to be immortal, you want to look your best, not age indefinitely. Then, the question of brain capacity- the brain can store infinite memories- but retrieval would become extremely difficult as memories accumulate. Finally, the issue of bodily wear and tear- inflexibility of the eye lens, bones becoming brittle, skin becoming inelastic- would all require repair mechanisms.

Technological methods seem more realistic- this encompasses mechanical additions, modifications to the body parts or total replacement, using nanotechnology.

Human beings could extend their lifespan using android bodies. Your original body would not be preserved but your mind could be stored on a computer. You would live in the world using a highly realistic robot body- connected to your digital mind. It is eerily similar to the video game ‘Detroit: become human’. We are quite close to making android living a reality- considering how we have managed to emulate neural activity through artificial intelligence and make lifelike robots.

Science has evidently taken steps towards immortality. However- if immortality does become a reality, chaos would ensue. Here’s why.

The most obvious problem with immortality is population growth. One solution is to have a completely static population in which reproduction is banned, and the birth rate equals the death rate- nil. It comes with its own problems- it goes against the basic instinct of human beings to reproduce. Also, economic growth is dependent upon population growth so everyone would have to work forever.

Natural selection A.K.A survival of the fittest is extremely important for human beings to evolve and accustom themselves to the ever-changing environment. With immortality, it would not take its due course, preventing the evolution of human beings into more advanced forms.

Also, the preservation of the youth of the mind is as important as that of the body. If the mind undergoes significant changes in 80 years, what can we expect in 800? Perhaps periodic memory removal could make immortality more enjoyable- but the concept is painfully unrealistic.

Are human beings unhappy with their lifespan? After all- life spans are relative. A crow lives for 7 years - a minuscule duration to human beings, who live for 80 years, but a long time to the mayfly, which lives for 1 day. A lifespan takes into consideration many aspects and is carefully crafted for each organism. The problem must be deeper.

The desire for immortality then may lie in a fear that plagues the mind of every individual - the fear of death. But if we look deeper, we may turn to the words of philosopher Miguel de Unamuno: “ The harsh reality is that death comes either ‘too early or too late’ "

In the Mahabharata, Bhishma is granted the boon of ‘death upon desire’. When he finds himself incapacitated on a bed of arrows during the war, he first passes on his wisdom to Yudhishthira and then draws his life to a close-by choice. The contrast with immortality is clear- If he were impaled on the bed of arrows without being able to die, it would certainly be a curse.

A character from the Czech opera ‘The Makropulos Affair’ called Elina drinks an elixir that keeps her at age 42 forever. However, by the time she is over 300 years old, she has experienced everything she wants. There is nothing left to live for. She stops drinking the elixir and releases herself from the tedium of immortality.

The moral philosopher Samuel Scheffler at New York University points out that human life is intimately structured by the fact that it has a fixed time limit.

To put it simply- the fact that we are aware that we must die is an important motivation for us to live meaningful lives.

We hardly need philosophers to convince us of that- for many people, there are fates worse than death: assisted dying clinics to demonstrate that many people will choose to die rather than carry on in pain and illness. But that’s a topic for another article.

Immortality is more complicated than it first appears.