Documentary Description
The desire to overcome death is nothing new. The Epic of Gilgamesh,
the first recorded story of human history, accounts on clay tablets, a
mythical king's quest for immortality. 4000 years later, humans are
still searching for immortality. With the modernization of health care,
encouraged by biotechnology and computer science, remarkable gains have
been made in extending human life spans. A child born today can expect
to live more three times longer than in the time of Gilgamesh.
Stem
cells, caloric restriction, cryonics, nanotechnology, and transhumanism
have become the watch words of our era. Perhaps with the accumulation
of these accelerating advancements, we are indeed on the verge of a
complete reversal of the biological aging process. Regenerative
medicine in our lifetimes. And if so, if we are able to overcome aging
and then live forever, what would this mean for religion? What would
this mean for governments and social systems which rely on a noble and
timely death? Perhaps once we've conquered aging, we'll no longer even
wish to stay as vulnerable humans. Perhaps, we'll expedite our
progression from immortal beings into cyborgs and then into post-human
entities. But now, there are more pressing
questions. What about the environment? Oppression by the wealthy over
the poor? The problem of overpopulation. What about boredom with a life
that stretches out forever? And even more ominous, what if the universe
were to end in itself in a whimper, a long expanding heat death into
the infinite? If so, what's the point in trying to live forever anyways
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