Quest For Immortality

There is a common concept of immortality as a continued spiritual existence, after bodily death. In fact, many people today believe that this is the only type of immortality that exists. This is the same as belief in the immortal soul or the philosophy of dualism. These types of belief in spiritual immortality is a center dogma of nearly every sect in Islam, Judaism, Christianity and Hinduism.

For example, the patriarchs of the Hebrews and their like-minded descendants and followers thought that their life or existence here was initially a gift of God, and that this gift was permanent and irrevocable. Proponents of such views believe that humans will never actually die in the sense of non-existence. In Buddhism, as well, there is a concept of immortality in that there is a cycle of death and rebirth, and that all of life is made up of spokes in a great cycle of becoming.

Many atheists and scientists are skeptical of the concept of human immortality. Though, it must be stated that there are also many leading scientists that do believe that consciousness continues after physical death. Researchers and scientists in the areas of quantum physics, psychology, and all kinds of other areas of science have found evidence enough that suggests to them that life does not simply come to an end at the point of physical death.

Other definitions of immortality include the concept of leaving one’s legacy behind, through achievements and/or acts of generosity. This particular perspective of immortality is quite different form other definitions of immortality, as it places emphasis not on the continuity of an individual’s physical, intellectual or spiritual self, but instead on how it is that one will have benefited the greater good of the community or humankind on a larger scale.

Then there are those that believe there is some way to achieve actual physical immortality, thus avoiding death altogether. These people tend to believe in the possibility of immortality in a very literal, and physical sense, instead of or in addition to spiritual immortality.

Many Chinese and European alchemists were people that believed in the possibility of physical immortality. It is said that Chinese alchemists accidentally invented gunpowder during pursuit of a recipe for immortality. And Juan Ponce de Leon was pursuing the ‘fountain of youth’ when he ventured to Florida in 1513.

There is also the Arthurian legends where the Knights of the Round Table go in search of the ‘holy grail’, which is believed to be a potion or object that effects physical immortality on all those who use or intake fluid by it.

Technological immortality is the term given to the opportunity for longer life spans made possible by scientific innovations into a variety of fields, such as nanotechnology, emergency room procedures, human physiology, genetics, regenerative medicine, engineering, microbiology, as well as others.

An important focus of such technological immortality ideas are a combination of cloning, cryonics and nanotechnology. It is believed that these fields will play center roles in the innovations apropos extremely extended life spans. Robert Freitas, a leading medical nanorobotics theorist thinks that we may be able to create microscopic medical nanorobots that would be able to travel throughout our bodies via the bloodstream and seek out dangerous elements such as cancer cells and bacteria, and remove them.

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