Russian Scientists Seek Immortality by 2045

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ProdigalSon4293 said:
cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/07/human-immortality-could-be-possible-by-2045-say-russian-scientists.html

Would this be against the Catholic Church? Would YOU want to take part in something like this if it became both affordable and available?
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No. The perpetuated ‘being’ would be capable of suffering. To prolong existence would therefore be an act of pointless cruelty. We, who are born, all deserve the suffering of life, as an expiation for Original Sin. But once we receive the gift of death, we are released.

It also undermines the meaning of being human.
 
colmywaykurtz said:
I would tend to agree. In the Dune novels of Frank Herbert, the character Duncan Idaho is given something like this through cloning him (into what they called a “ghola”)—several times, actually. And just as you say, he, with his ongoing consciousness, found none of his subsequent lives as meaningful or satisfying as his original. Getting perpetuated was a kind of living hell for him.
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St. Therese of Lisieux had an interesting take on hell. Without making the post too long, she basically believed that at the point of death we see the true horror of all that we have done and are offered forgiveness. We either accept it in the ultimate of humility or reject it out of pride. We choose, then, to spend eternity in self-absorption or in the Beatific Vision which satisfies all human desires to the inexhaustible ultimate. With total clarity, we “volunteer” for the one or for the other.

Everlasting terrestrial life comes pretty close to her concept of hell.
 
This reminds me of a couple of (very different) novels I’ve read recently: That Hideous Strength by CS Lewis, and Old Man’s War by John Scalzi. Clearly this idea of keeping a disembodied head or brain alive has been around for a long time - CS Lewis wrote his book around 1943, and I gather that even there he’s satirizing an old idea from early science fiction or the occult. I’m also reminded of “Futurama” where it seems like every famous or significant person from the 20th century is still hanging around somewhere in the distant future as a talking disembodied head.

The Scalzi book is pretty entertaining - a little different twist on the idea of achieving a sort of immortality by transferring the mind or consciousness to a new “container”. It has a little throwaway line in there on the theological ramifications, which in context is pretty funny.
 
Old news - wasn’t there a guy searching for the fountain of youth centuries ago?
 
Maybe longer than you think—in the epic of Gilgamesh, the Sumerian hero, he journeys to the sea bottom to find the plant that confers immortality, brings it back up to land, and then a serpent eats it, depriving him of the ultimate “prize.” Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?
 
Qoeleth said:
No. The perpetuated ‘being’ would be capable of suffering. To prolong existence would therefore be an act of pointless cruelty. We, who are born, all deserve the suffering of life, as an expiation for Original Sin. But once we receive the gift of death, we are released.

It also undermines the meaning of being human.
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I don’t think I would want it for this very reason. Seems to me that this would just be prolonging death, similar to keeping someone on life support forever who has no hope of recovery. That’s not something I would want.

To put it succintly: “Dyin’ ain’t much of a livin’, boy.”
 
An interesting question is: Will God allow mortal man (who became that by sin) through his own efforts to become immortal again?

I suspect it won’t happen.
 
I think it is highly doubtful that they will be successful, but if this is really for real, I would not want any part of it.

Honestly, I just want to live my life, and then die to join Jesus in heaven.

If someone wants to prolong their life via robot, it just sends a message to me like they think this life is all there is.
 
ProdigalSon4293 said:
cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2012/07/human-immortality-could-be-possible-by-2045-say-russian-scientists.html

Would this be against the Catholic Church? Would YOU want to take part in something like this if it became both affordable and available?
Click to expand...
No I wouldn’t and I think the Church would condemn any such attempts. I wonder who will be the first poor schlub to take part in their grand experiment - that is who will play Alcasan to our Filostrato at our modern Nice?
 
Authors long past being buried have their ideas today alive in books. Singers long past have their voice and melodies continuing to vibrate in listeners ears in recordings. Actors & Actresses who left this world still show their smiles, tears and laughter everyday through screens.

What we are encountering is what they left. No different than what we may save in organic memory in the future.

When we leave this earth we do not return until we are raised. (This has been revealed to us from the highest authority.)
 
To summarize a problem with this line of work - they are not seeking immortality for Man, they are seeking a form of immortality for a man or a few men. What is the purpose, ultimately – that a few may extend their lives greatly and wield power over the many who serve them? To do away with the need for “messy” things like organic life, childbirth, etc? To forestall death indefinitely, and thereby even more greatly magnify our fear of death? Of course in the early days of this techology, the supposedly immortal would also be at the mercy of the mortal, who could presumably pull the plug at any moment, so the immortal would need to devise ways for the system to be self-sustaining and self-perpetuating.

I was thinking more about the idea of disembodied brains in pop culture & sci-fi, and what came to mind is an old Star Trek episode, where Kirk & company get transported to a planet that is ruled by super-intelligent “highly evolved” beings that exist as disembodied brains, and rule over a whole planet of “thralls” who fight for the entertainment of the brains… 200 quatloos on the newcomers! And so forth. Perhaps this is the future we seek?
 
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