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The Immortality Factor
Are we ready to live forever? By 2095, maybe sooner, it will be achieved. The fascinating account of man's mystical and scientific search for eternal life. Mummification. Alchemical Elixirs. Taoist Disciplines. Embryonic Breathing. Fountain of Youth. Cryonics. Cellular Rejuvenation. Cloning. "A subject of interest to everyone...A book about the possible extension of life without the hysterical optimism that is so prevalent in works of this kind." -- David Hendin, author of Death as a Way of Life.
392 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
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May 17, 2023
A JOURNALIST LOOKS AT SCIENTIFIC PROPOSALS TO EXTEND LIFE
Author Osborn Segerberg Jr. wrote in the Preface of this 1974 book, “I am not a scientist, historian, educator, philosopher, or theologian, nor have I held government office allowing me to be privy to special information. Therefore I… am beholden to no particular institution or cause of school of thought or field of study or discipline except journalism… For a quarter of a century I have earned my living in a variety of roles and media of journalism… These assignments have required dealing with the full spectrum of human activities and making editorial evaluations in a professional and publicly accountable way… My purpose in writing the book is to bring to general attention a subject sequestered from public discussion… The book is written with the conviction that everyone should be aware of a contingency important to his welfare and/or that of posterity so that he can exert his rightful influence in the issue.”
He said in the Introduction, “Survival … is the ultimate test we have for efficacy, or congruence with reality, whether applied to a belief… or an individual and his descendants, his group, his species… Death and immortality … have held us in their thrall… We have learned enough about the nature of life to cause certain scientists to ask whether the human lifespan is, indeed, fixed. Or, is the human lifespan potentially mutable? If mutable, is it, indeed, finite? Or, is it possibly open-ended?” (Pg. xxi)
He explains, “Myths document that the idea of immortality accompanied death and in some cases---in Genesis, for instance---preceded its discovery. Sir James Frazer, the British explorer of primitive cultures, found that ‘belief in immortality has been remarkably widespread and persistent among mankind…’ However, [he] restricts the primitive belief in immortality to an indefinite persistence of personality after death…” (Pg. 51)
He reports, “The new science of cryobiology---the study of life (and death) at low temperatures---already has achieved noteworthy accomplishments, freezing and successfully thawing both human blood and sperm. But when one extends this performance to the entire human being, one meets a complexity barrier… it does not know how or why extreme cold either protects or injures living tissue… Professor J.K. Sherman of the University of Arkansas’ School of Medicine … believes freezing and thawing human beings at this time is premature and won’t work. The Cryonics people might be prepared to grant everything this medical scientist says except the absoluteness of his conclusion. In reply, Cryonics says to medical science: Let’s get on with it. The sooner we gain this essential basic knowledge, the better. When we do, our clients at least will have a chance to benefit from it. Besides, what do dead people have to lose from Cryonic suspension.” (Pg. 116-117)
He states, “Aging, then, is a process so complex that we can gauge it only with a series of complementary and sometimes overlapping frameworks. There is chronological aging… When coupled with biological aging---the basic process in any living thing expressed in the rate of development and length of the life cycle of members of particular species---chronological age can tell us with great precision how ‘old’ an organism is… With … adult human beings, biological aging remains valid as a generality and chronological age is a reasonable indicator, but both diminish in reliability when applied to any specific case. A better indicator is measuring to see how well the bodily systems are functioning and how much reserve capacity they retain… Of course this physiological age can be influenced by pathological aging, the unhealthy or abnormal acceleration of degenerative processes by disease… Both of these kinds of aging are regulated or importantly influenced by psychological aging … and by social or sociological aging.” (Pg. 211)
He suggests, “For all these years we have been transfixed by the medium, but what a message cancer cells bring! The elixir is not an impossible dream. The fountain of youth exists. Fruit still grows on the tree of life. Paradise is not lost. We can return to Eden, theoretically. Achieving the goal, like going to the moon, becomes a problem for technology.” (Pg. 315)
He concludes, “Now, we are reaching the end of the evolutionary road. In order for life to be carried forward by the ageless individual, he must continually renew himself intellectually and psychologically---just as his cells are doing physically---in order to keep adapting to the changing environment. Can we do that indefinitely?...If the conquest of death is biologically attainable, would we human beings give up this ancient dream voluntarily? Even if to persist risks terminating the species? IS the price too high? After all, we, the members of the final generation, would be the ones taking this last fling.” (Pg. 343-344)
This book may appeal to persons studying life extension, Cryonics, and similar topics.
Author Osborn Segerberg Jr. wrote in the Preface of this 1974 book, “I am not a scientist, historian, educator, philosopher, or theologian, nor have I held government office allowing me to be privy to special information. Therefore I… am beholden to no particular institution or cause of school of thought or field of study or discipline except journalism… For a quarter of a century I have earned my living in a variety of roles and media of journalism… These assignments have required dealing with the full spectrum of human activities and making editorial evaluations in a professional and publicly accountable way… My purpose in writing the book is to bring to general attention a subject sequestered from public discussion… The book is written with the conviction that everyone should be aware of a contingency important to his welfare and/or that of posterity so that he can exert his rightful influence in the issue.”
He said in the Introduction, “Survival … is the ultimate test we have for efficacy, or congruence with reality, whether applied to a belief… or an individual and his descendants, his group, his species… Death and immortality … have held us in their thrall… We have learned enough about the nature of life to cause certain scientists to ask whether the human lifespan is, indeed, fixed. Or, is the human lifespan potentially mutable? If mutable, is it, indeed, finite? Or, is it possibly open-ended?” (Pg. xxi)
He explains, “Myths document that the idea of immortality accompanied death and in some cases---in Genesis, for instance---preceded its discovery. Sir James Frazer, the British explorer of primitive cultures, found that ‘belief in immortality has been remarkably widespread and persistent among mankind…’ However, [he] restricts the primitive belief in immortality to an indefinite persistence of personality after death…” (Pg. 51)
He reports, “The new science of cryobiology---the study of life (and death) at low temperatures---already has achieved noteworthy accomplishments, freezing and successfully thawing both human blood and sperm. But when one extends this performance to the entire human being, one meets a complexity barrier… it does not know how or why extreme cold either protects or injures living tissue… Professor J.K. Sherman of the University of Arkansas’ School of Medicine … believes freezing and thawing human beings at this time is premature and won’t work. The Cryonics people might be prepared to grant everything this medical scientist says except the absoluteness of his conclusion. In reply, Cryonics says to medical science: Let’s get on with it. The sooner we gain this essential basic knowledge, the better. When we do, our clients at least will have a chance to benefit from it. Besides, what do dead people have to lose from Cryonic suspension.” (Pg. 116-117)
He states, “Aging, then, is a process so complex that we can gauge it only with a series of complementary and sometimes overlapping frameworks. There is chronological aging… When coupled with biological aging---the basic process in any living thing expressed in the rate of development and length of the life cycle of members of particular species---chronological age can tell us with great precision how ‘old’ an organism is… With … adult human beings, biological aging remains valid as a generality and chronological age is a reasonable indicator, but both diminish in reliability when applied to any specific case. A better indicator is measuring to see how well the bodily systems are functioning and how much reserve capacity they retain… Of course this physiological age can be influenced by pathological aging, the unhealthy or abnormal acceleration of degenerative processes by disease… Both of these kinds of aging are regulated or importantly influenced by psychological aging … and by social or sociological aging.” (Pg. 211)
He suggests, “For all these years we have been transfixed by the medium, but what a message cancer cells bring! The elixir is not an impossible dream. The fountain of youth exists. Fruit still grows on the tree of life. Paradise is not lost. We can return to Eden, theoretically. Achieving the goal, like going to the moon, becomes a problem for technology.” (Pg. 315)
He concludes, “Now, we are reaching the end of the evolutionary road. In order for life to be carried forward by the ageless individual, he must continually renew himself intellectually and psychologically---just as his cells are doing physically---in order to keep adapting to the changing environment. Can we do that indefinitely?...If the conquest of death is biologically attainable, would we human beings give up this ancient dream voluntarily? Even if to persist risks terminating the species? IS the price too high? After all, we, the members of the final generation, would be the ones taking this last fling.” (Pg. 343-344)
This book may appeal to persons studying life extension, Cryonics, and similar topics.
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