Death has always been considered as the ultimate truth in any religion or culture in the globe across history. You may escape all the harsh sufferings of life but death eventually clenches and dictates you to your grave. But still humans have always been fascinated by the idea of living till eternity. The Great Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang ingested pills of Mercury in his search for immortality elixir. Ancient Greek alchemists created the magical philosopher’s stone to cheat death.
But what actually is death? Is it an inevitable devilish episode of life or merely a disease which science has yet to perceive a cure. Modern advancements in medical science and increased life expectancies in people have aided us to believe the latter. In the 1930s and 40s, two new machines were commonly used to extend life. We got the ‘Defibrillator’ that could restart the heart followed by the ‘Respirator’ that could pump the lungs with air. But not all these organs are required to be functioning at all times for anyone to be alive. Hence the focus shifted to the most important organ of the human body – The brain. Though it sounds fictional, Artificial intelligence provides a solution to immortality by uploading one’s brain and consciousness into a supercomputer where the person can stay forever but will lack any physical form.
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In general, technically to live forever you must actually be alive. But what about bringing you back from the dead? In 1926, Scientist named Dr. Sergei Brukhoenko, drained dogs of blood and they died while connected to a machine called ‘Autojektor’. After ten minutes of wait, the Autojektor recycled their bodies with reoxygenated arterial blood and then the dogs came back to life. This major experiment redefined our understanding of death as not a moment in time but a long process.
Cryonics is the preservation of dead human bodies in extremely cold temperatures, below -238 degrees Fahrenheit. Currently you could get yourself cry preserved immediately after death for the low price of 200,000$. Or if that is a little rich for your blood, just the head for 80,000$ in the hopes that one day science will be able to revive you. Maybe one day science will overcome death itself – humanity’s greatest fear. So the question is if given the alternative, Will you choose to live forever?
