The quest for immortality is something that has obsessed scientists, philosophers and humankind in general for thousands of years and the idea that we could somehow become exempt from death still fascinates today. Themes of unending existence are littered throughout popular culture and give us a hint of how we might achieve this coveted status.
Freeze your body
If you have sufficient funds and the right contacts, you could arrange for your body to be frozen in the hope that technology will advance enough to allow you can be thawed out and brought back to life. The theory of cryonics has been used in many features films. In movies such as Ridley Scott’s Alien (1979) and Passengers (2016), cryonics is used to enable space travellers to sleep through long journeys without ageing. Critics of this method have suggested that the essence of a person could be lost during this process and that the revived body would be a soulless zombie. But maybe that is a price you are willing to pay.
Image: Pixabay
Upload yourself to a computer
The director of engineering at Google, Ray Kurzweil, once suggested that immortality could be achieved by uploading a person’s consciousness to a computer. This concept has been used as a plot device in many movies including Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Tron, The Lawnmower Man, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Transcendence. The joint BBC and HBO TV show, Years and Years, also featured mind uploading. Would you be happy to be transformed into data and communicate through Alexa?
Become a vampire
This might be one of the least practical ways of achieving immortality but it may also be the most fun. Judging by the amount of vampire-themed media in pop culture, you could be forgiven for thinking these bloodthirsty creatures are amongst us. You can get your vampire kicks from numerous movies and TV shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the Twilight Saga. Video slot fans can play the classic Immortal Romance or the newly-released sequel Immortal Creatures developed by Microgaming. You can grab your Immortal Creatures spins at many top online casino sites and immerse yourself in their world. If that is not enough, there are hundreds of books and comics with a vampire theme, including Charlaine Harris’s extremely popular Southern Vampire Mysteries.
The tricky part is finding a vampire to exchange blood with – apparently, less than a teaspoonful is enough to do the job. And once the process is complete, there is still the question of whether you are actually alive or not. So, are you willing to become undead to achieve immortality?
Image: Pixabay
Is it worth it?
Before pursuing any of these methods to obtain everlasting life, you need to ask yourself if it is something you want. Philosophers have long discussed issues related to immortality and whether life without death would become unbearable and meaningless. The highly-respected British philosopher Bernard Williams concluded that “No life can have enough constancy to count as one person’s while at the same time having enough variety to count as worth living.” Now there’s something to think about when you are eating your cornflakes in the morning.