Wednesday 1 May 2013

Immortality curmudgeon or optimist

They don't last forever, do they?
My fellow insomniacs will appreciate this.
ABC Radio was on CBC talking about Immortality. You can listen here.

It was the most bizarre discussion. John Martin Fischer been given $5 million to hand out to scientists and researchers. They write that he won't be doing ghost busting or seances, but what will he be looking at?

He tells us he is an immortality optimist. He is negative about the immortality curmudgeons.

Are you an immortality curmudgeon or optimist? If you could live forever, would you? Welcome to the Immortality Project. Lucretius famously said that life is a banquet. After the final course, you have to leave the dining room, for good. For many, this is life in the right proportions. But for some death is never a good option.  

Using the here and now to get a handle on the hereafter

UC Riverside philosophy professor John Martin Fischer has received a $5-million grant to study immortality, but don't expect any ghost hunting or seances.

Intimations of Immortality—and $5-Million to Study Them

The three-year effort may look at questions like how belief in an afterlife influences human behavior and how near-death experiences vary across cultures. He notes the work of thinkers like Ray Kurzweil, who predicts that humans and computers will merge, and Kenneth Hayworth, who studies "mind uploading."

I'm sure you've read of such: the light with a tunnel, or the Japanese who often have visions of tending a garden.
What seems to move him is how much is being spent on longevity.
I figure you put in your time.
You age gracefully.
Handling death is part of handling life.
The trees fall in the forest to make room for the young saplings.



3 comments:

Cloudia said...

Immortality is to be trapped in a subsidiary state

Lovable Derek said...

This is a truly fascinating post. I shall download the program next time that I go to the 7-11..... they have a wifi outlet there.
I've never felt to be important enough to be maintained forever, and have never seen any mechanism that might allow me to do so.
This tree will fall in the forest, virtually unnoticed but not quite unloved - and not quite yet I hope.
Have a great weekend.

Kay said...

I can't even imagine what it would be like to like forever... how exhausting!