The Quest for Human Immortality

Posted by Rob A on April 10th, 2019

Scientists had been toiling for years to crack open the conundrum of human immortality. They sought to discover if it was something that they could achieve, what lengths they would go to achieve it and what effects it would have on society. There were, of course, many who protested the very notion of immortality, considering it inhuman to not be able to expire. Though the protests continued for a long period of time, the idea had been too alluring to abandon, and scientists forged ahead with their plans.

Human longevity had proven to only be good for around 75 years on average, which had begun to be a problem mainly for those in high places of society. They were the ones with the wealth and interest in pursuing immortality. Many were afraid to lose their material good and didn't want to pass down their wealth. This was a great point of dispute in society, as those with less argued how it was fair that those with more would be given a chance to have a longer life. Regardless of the political debates, the scientists worked endlessly to achieve their goal. Longevity was simply not good enough, they were looking for complete immortality and an inability to pass due to disease or natural causes.

The scientist were first able to unlock the secret of immortality through experimentation with stem cells and tissue regeneration. They decided to make the first immortal human being female, and dub the project the "Eve Project". The irony of a wife and mother being the first to live forever was not lost on those on either side of the immortality debate.

Longevity turned out to be a simple limitation that scientists worked hard to overcome despite the fears and protests of many. While they toasted their success, many had doubts as to the long-term ramifications of human beings living forever. The Earth already had issues with hunger, overpopulation and overcrowding. Living forever would exacerbate these problems immeasurably. This was not something that anybody had thought was worthy enough to let the project be stopped. Those against the project said that it was arrogant of scientists to make the decision that man should live eternally. These fears were not addressed and the long-term effects were yet to be felt, causing those against the debate to only have speculation to fuel their fears.

While the end of this project is still in question for many years, there are those that felt that the idea of longevity and immortality was best left to nature. Despite these fears, human beings now lived in a world where they were faced with a decision of whether to live forever or eventually expire. The battle lines were drawn, and the debate was politicized, but only argued and never solved. As usual, mankind used their debate to divide instead of unite and reach some kind of common goal.