Not sure how you mean that - isn't the whole basis of religion that believers are immortal? Isn't that in the final analysis its whole drawing power, and the reason so many people are willing to turn their backs on science and reason and embrace religion instead, or compartmentalize?
Exactly, religious people don't care about immortality in life because they believe they will be immortal in the after life, in heaven.
Again - a stab at clarification - as I understand his other posts - it is about striving for immortality by doing science.
And that religious people have no motivation to further research in that direction - because they believe they already have it.
Which - in my understanding - is a bad thing, in the OP´s sense.
Religious people holding back longevity and immortality research - or am I wrong here?
You are right, StephL. I believe, and I hope I'm not offending anyone, that immortality in life using science is the only way to become Immortal, because I don't believe in the after life, and if more people have the same perspective as I do, there would be more research in that field.
That might be what he meant, but he said this:
Quote Originally Posted by LouaiB View Post
religous people tend to not care about the concept of immortality, or desire it
So maybe if he meant it the way you say he could reword the OP and get it on track. My point being that obviously religious people care very deeply about immortality, but because they believe they already have it taken care of, they aren't interested in scientific ideas about it (or increasing longevity).
Let me clear something out. I mean Immortality in life. That's why religious people don't care about it, because they have it in the after life(or at least that's what they believe).
A very important question:
If said person became immortal, would we still age? Because the older you are, the more likely you are to suffer from some neurodegenerative disease (like Alzheimer's), along many other health issues.
Non-religious immortality and religious immortality seem to be very different concepts, because the later one ignores the physical body (and ironically enough, still assumes that we will be entities capable of experiencing reality).
Yes, without the aging process, because that is the concept, stoping the aging process for you to never get old and die.
I almost feel like a lot of religious people want to die, because this life is quite an ordeal for them. They would rather take their death-reward for subscribing to the religion. I think that's another reason why religious people might be more inclined towards disinterest or outright opposing longevity research. Longer life means longer time away from 'paradise'.
Yes, that is exactly the case, religious people even desire death if they are unhappy with their lives, so of course the concept of immortality in life doesn't appeal to them at all.
Well, if greater longevity or immortality were achieved technologically then you wouldn't be the only one - that would only apply to magical immortality
Yes, technological immortality.
There's the problem of resources - we cant have enough energy to sustain 8 billion brains at the same time forever. There's got to be sacrifices - and now we enter the murky areas of morality and consequences.
Well, it wouldn't be so hard when we achieve it(if we do). When humans become more advanced, obstacles become much easier. I'm sure people had similar doubts when,for example, flu shots where invented, because distribution and quantity was a big deal, and look how easy and simple it is now.
I'm not religious but I don't like the concept of immortality.
I prefer the concepts of cycles and rebirth, with the new washing out the old, and everything having its time and then yielding its energies to the next generation of things in the cycle. The journey from birth to death and the epic tale between I feel is the defining and key experience of being human. I do not think you have lived a full life until you've stood at the doors of death. And then the story has its final chapter, and you get your final retirement.
In a way I find the concept of immortality to be a bit of a red herring to tell the truth. Immortality, in the sense we're talking about, is better called something like permanence of consciousness. But I tend to think that consciousness is somewhat illusory and, more importantly, overvalued. After you're done being human you'll start being trees and flowers, and that doesn't sound so bad to me. You will be recycled into the next generation of life and even though your memories will be gone, the bits and pieces of biology that had constituted your body will go on living in other beings. It's hard to express it like I want to.
Conscious is what makes you, you're personality, your self. Losing it will mean losing everything you have. Man I hate dying.
|
|
Bookmarks