The other day I heard a scientist say on a TV programme that by 2075 they will have identified the aging gene and it could then be possible to remove it and make humans immortal. The thought stunned me a little and made me feel slightly envious. There is nothing to remind you so much of your own mortality as when something happens that threatens that mortality, whether actually or possibly, like what happened to me two weeks ago.
I now know that I was not in any real danger of dying from a tiny blood clot in the brain, but at first this seemed like a real possibility to me. That I might die, I thought, was not such a big deal, but that I might die so young didn't really please me. There are still so many things that I want to do, not really important things, but experiences that I think about having. Knowing that in a generation or two general illnesses like those I suffer from, and even death itself, might be eradicated is a truly amazing thought.
But then I got to thinking about how they would implement an immortality programme across the globe. The more I thought about it, the less likely it seemed to me that everyone would benefit from such an advance in genetic science. Rather, I suspect that certain individuals, possibly the super rich and powerful, would be allowed access to such genetic technology and thereby create a class of immortals who would then control access to their exclusive dominating club.
And how would such immortal humans be affected psychologically? Much of what we do in our lives is done because of the pressures of time. We go to school for a certain period of time and then find jobs and raise families. Who we are is often determined by the age we are - a child, a parent, a grandparent. We also try to cram as many experiences as we can into the time we have in life. There is pressure to act so that we don't "waste time". But an immortal will presumably have no such time pressures. Immortal psychology will undoubtedly be very different to what we know now.
And what of religion? Gods and religion are necessary to perpetuate the self-centred hope that we are in fact immortal beings. That death is merely a doorway into an eternal life. But if we are making immortals without a god's assistance, then what reason is there for a god? And if there are no gods and religions, which currently serve as standards of morality, then what will replace them? Will the chosen immortals in fact become gods and their sense of morality be imposed on everyone else?
There are undoubtedly benefits to human immortality, but I have a nagging suspicion that such benefits will be relatively limited.
28 October 2004
Dion Marc Delport