Immortality

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Recommended: intimations of immortality

“It is death that gives urgency to life. It drives us to discovery, to cross oceans and reach into the emptiness of space” says the Herald Tribune columnist Rich Brooks (Thompson). The thought of being immortal is extremely alluring. To live in an ageless body, have all the time in the world to basically do whatever is something that every person has thought of. Immortality has always been a myth, but with technology continuing to advance everyday with alarming speed, it might soon be possible. Scientist Ray Kurzweil and many others have even predicted that this goal could be reach in the next twenty years. However, if sometime in the future scientists do discover a way to enable humans to live forever, behind all of the sugar coating, they will discover that immortality is actually a curse.

Since the beginning of time, people have searched for a way to prolong their lifespan or to regain their youths. In Greek mythology, Aurora, the goddess of the Dawn, married a mortal Tithonus (“Greece Greek”). She went to Zeus and begged him to grant him immortality. Zeus agreed but did not add eternal youth into the deal because he was jealous. Tithonus aged to the point where he could no long move, pleading to die. In despair, Aurora turned him into a grasshopper to free him. In the year 1513, it is said that the Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon traveled to Florida in search of The Fountain of Youth (Stibich). The legend claimed that anyone who drank from this fountain would never grow old. He gave up though after years of searching. There is also the myth of the Holy Grail. According to the medieval legend, Jesus Christ drank from this cup at the Last Supper (Advameg). The grail is believed to have mystical powers for instance, bring eterna...

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...mpson, Tamara. "Longer Lifespans Could Make People Feel Dissatisfied and Less Human." Gale. N.p., 2009. Web. 5 Dec 2011. .

Moody, Errold. "LIFE EXPECTANCY TABLES." Department of Health and Human Resources. N.p., 1996. Web. 5 Dec 2011. .

Magalhaes, Joao. "Cellular Senescence." senescence.info. N.p., 2008. Web. 5 Dec 2011. .

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