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Immortality
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The Fountain of Eternal Life in Cleveland, Ohio is described as symbolizing "Man
rising above death, reaching upward to God and toward Peace."[1]
Immortality is the ability to live forever or eternal life.[2] Natural selection
has developed potential biological immortality in at least one species, Turrito
psis dohrnii.[3]
Certain scientists, futurists, and philosophers have theorized about the immorta
lity of the human body, and advocate that human immortality is achievable in the
first few decades of the 21st century, whereas other advocates believe that lif
e extension is a more achievable goal in the short term, with immortality awaiti
ng further research breakthroughs into an indefinite future. The absence of agin
g would provide humans with biological immortality, but not invulnerability to d
eath by physical trauma; although mind uploading could solve that issue.
In religious contexts, immortality is often stated to be one of the promises of
God (or other deities) to human beings who show goodness or else follow divine l
aw. What form an unending human life would take, or whether an immaterial soul e
xists and possesses immortality, has been a major point of focus of religion, as
well as the subject of speculation, fantasy, and debate.
Contents [hide]
1
Definitions
1.1
Scientific
1.2
Religious
2
Alchemy
3
Physical immortality
3.1
Causes of death
3.1.1 Aging
3.1.2 Disease
3.1.3 Trauma
3.1.4 Environmental change
3.2
Biological immortality
3.2.1 Biologically immortal species
3.2.2 Evolution of aging
3.3
Prospects for human biological immortality
3.3.1 Life-extending substances
3.3.2 Technological immortality
3.3.3 Cryonics
3.3.4 Mind-to-computer uploading
3.3.5 Cybernetics
3.3.6 Evolutionary immortality
4
Religious views
4.1
Ancient Greek religion
4.2
Buddhism
4.3
Christianity
4.4
Hinduism
4.5
Judaism
4.6
Taoism
4.7
Zoroastrianism
5
Ethics of immortality

5.1
Undesirability of immortality
6
Politics
7
Symbols
8
Fiction
9
See also
10
References
11
Further reading
12
External links
12.1
Religious and spiritual prospects for immortality
12.2
In literature
Definitions[edit]
Scientific[edit]
Life extension technologies promise a path to complete rejuvenation. Cryonics ho
lds out the hope that the dead can be revived in the future, following sufficien
t medical advancements. While, as shown with creatures such as hydra and planari
an worms, it is indeed possible for a creature to be biologically immortal, it i
s not known if it is possible for humans.
Mind uploading is the transference of brain states from a human brain to an alte
rnative medium providing similar functionality. Assuming the process to be possi
ble and repeatable, this would provide immortality to the computation of the ori
ginal brain, as predicted by futurists such as Ray Kurzweil.[4]
Religious[edit]
See also: Soul
The belief in an afterlife is a fundamental tenet of most religions, including H
induism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Islam, Judaism, and th
e Bah' Faith; however, the concept of an immortal soul is not. The "soul" itself h
as different meanings and is not used in the same way in different religions and
different denominations of a religion. For example, various branches of Christi
anity have disagreeing views on the soul's immortality and its relation to the b
ody.
Alchemy[edit]
Main article: Alchemy
See also: Elixir of life and Philosopher's stone
Physical immortality[edit]
Physical immortality is a state of life that allows a person to avoid death and
maintain conscious thought. It can mean the unending existence of a person from
a physical source other than organic life, such as a computer. Active pursuit of
physical immortality can either be based on scientific trends, such as cryonics
, digital immortality, breakthroughs in rejuvenation or predictions of an impend
ing technological singularity, or because of a spiritual belief, such as those h
eld by Rastafarians or Rebirthers.
Causes of death[edit]
Main article: Death
There are three main causes of death: aging, disease and physical trauma.[5]
Aging[edit]
Aubrey de Grey, a leading researcher in the field,[6] defines aging as "a collec
tion of cumulative changes to the molecular and cellular structure of an adult o
rganism, which result in essential metabolic processes, but which also, once the
y progress far enough, increasingly disrupt metabolism, resulting in pathology a
nd death." The current causes of aging in humans are cell loss (without replacem
ent), DNA damage, oncogenic nuclear mutations and epimutations, cell senescence,
mitochondrial mutations, lysosomal aggregates, extracellular aggregates, random
extracellular cross-linking, immune system decline, and endocrine changes. Elim
inating aging would require finding a solution to each of these causes, a progra
m de Grey calls engineered negligible senescence. There is also a huge body of k

nowledge indicating that change is characterized by the loss of molecular fideli

ty.[7]
Disease[edit]
Disease is theoretically surmountable via technology. In short, it is an abnorma
l condition affecting the body of an organism, something the body shouldn't typi
cally have to deal with its natural make up.[8] Human understanding of genetics
is leading to cures and treatments for myriad previously incurable diseases. The
mechanisms by which other diseases do their damage are becoming better understo
od. Sophisticated methods of detecting diseases early are being developed. Preve
ntative medicine is becoming better understood. Neurodegenerative diseases like
Parkinson's and Alzheimer's may soon be curable with the use of stem cells. Brea
kthroughs in cell biology and telomere research are leading to treatments for ca
ncer. Vaccines are being researched for AIDS and tuberculosis. Genes associated
with type 1 diabetes and certain types of cancer have been discovered, allowing
for new therapies to be developed. Artificial devices attached directly to the n
ervous system may restore sight to the blind. Drugs are being developed to treat
a myriad of other diseases and ailments.
Trauma[edit]
Physical trauma would remain as a threat to perpetual physical life, as an other
wise immortal person would still be subject to unforeseen accidents or catastrop
hes. The speed and quality of paramedic response remains a determining factor in
surviving severe trauma.[9] A body that could automatically repair itself from
severe trauma, such as speculated uses for nanotechnology, would mitigate this f
actor. Being the seat of consciousness, the brain cannot be risked to trauma if
a continuous physical life is to be maintained. This aversion to trauma risk to
the brain would naturally result in significant behavioral changes that would re
nder physical immortality undesirable.
Environmental change[edit]
Organisms otherwise unaffected by these causes of death would still face the pro
blem of obtaining sustenance (whether from currently available agricultural proc
esses or from hypothetical future technological processes) in the face of changi
ng availability of suitable resources as environmental conditions change. After
avoiding aging, disease, and trauma, you could still starve to death.
If there is no limitation on the degree of gradual mitigation of risk then it is
possible that the cumulative probability of death over an infinite horizon is l
ess than certainty, even when the risk of fatal trauma in any finite period is g
reater than zero. Mathematically, this is an aspect of achieving "actuarial esca
pe velocity"
Biological immortality[edit]
Human chromosomes (grey) capped by telomeres (white)
Main article: Biological immortality
Biological immortality is an absence of aging, specifically the absence of a sus
tained increase in rate of mortality as a function of chronological age. A cell
or organism that does not experience aging, or ceases to age at some point, is b
iologically immortal.
Biologists have chosen the word immortal to designate cells that are not limited
by the Hayflick limit, where cells no longer divide because of DNA damage or sh
ortened telomeres. The first and still most widely used immortal cell line is He
La, developed from cells taken from the malignant cervical tumor of Henrietta La
cks without her consent in 1951. Prior to the 1961 work of Leonard Hayflick and
Paul Moorhead, there was the erroneous belief fostered by Alexis Carrel that all
normal somatic cells are immortal. By preventing cells from reaching senescence
one can achieve biological immortality; telomeres, a "cap" at the end of DNA, a

re thought to be the cause of cell aging. Every time a cell divides the telomere
becomes a bit shorter; when it is finally worn down, the cell is unable to spli
t and dies. Telomerase is an enzyme which rebuilds the telomeres in stem cells a
nd cancer cells, allowing them to replicate an infinite number of times.[10] No
definitive work has yet demonstrated that telomerase can be used in human somati
c cells to prevent healthy tissues from aging. On the other hand, scientists hop
e to be able to grow organs with the help of stem cells, allowing organ transpla
nts without the risk of rejection, another step in extending human life expectan
cy. These technologies are the subject of ongoing research, and are not yet real
ized.[citation needed]
Biologically immortal species[edit]
See also List of long-living organisms
Life defined as biologically immortal is still susceptible to causes of death be
sides aging, including disease and trauma, as defined above. Notable immortal sp
ecies include:
Bacteria
Bacteria reproduce through binary fission. A parent bacterium splits it
self into two identical daughter cells which eventually then split themselves in
half. This process repeats, thus making the bacterium essentially immortal. A 2
005 PLoS Biology paper[11] suggests that after each division the daughter cells
can be identified as the older and the younger, and the older is slightly smalle
r, weaker, and more likely to die than the younger.[12]
Turritopsis dohrnii, a jellyfish (phylum Cnidaria, class Hydrozoa, order Anthoat
hecata), after becoming a sexually mature adult, can transform itself back into
a polyp using the cell conversion process of transdifferentiation.[3] Turritopsi
s nutricula repeats this cycle, meaning that it may have an indefinite lifespan.
[3] Its immortal adaptation has allowed it to spread from its original habitat i
n the Caribbean to "all over the world".[13]
Hydra is a genus belonging to the phylum Cnidaria, the class Hydrozoa and the or
der Anthomedusae. They are simple fresh-water predatory animals possessing radia
l symmetry.[14]
Bristlecone pines are speculated to be potentially immortal;[citation needed] th
e oldest known living specimen is over 5,000 years old.
Evolution of aging[edit]
Main article: Evolution of aging
As the existence of biologically immortal species demonstrates, there is no ther
modynamic necessity for senescence: a defining feature of life is that it takes
in free energy from the environment and unloads its entropy as waste. Living sys
tems can even build themselves up from seed, and routinely repair themselves. Ag
ing is therefore presumed to be a byproduct of evolution, but why mortality shou
ld be selected for remains a subject of research and debate. Programmed cell dea
th and the telomere "end replication problem" are found even in the earliest and
simplest of organisms.[15] This may be a tradeoff between selecting for cancer
and selecting for aging.[16]
Modern theories on the evolution of aging include the following:
Mutation accumulation is a theory formulated by Peter Medawar in 1952 to explain
how evolution would select for aging. Essentially, aging is never selected agai
nst, as organisms have offspring before the mortal mutations surface in an indiv
idual.
Antagonistic pleiotropy is a theory proposed as an alternative by George C. Will
iams, a critic of Medawar, in 1957. In antagonistic pleiotropy, genes carry effe
cts that are both beneficial and detrimental. In essence this refers to genes th
at offer benefits early in life, but exact a cost later on, i.e. decline and dea
th.[17]
The disposable soma theory was proposed in 1977 by Thomas Kirkwood, which states
that an individual body must allocate energy for metabolism, reproduction, and
maintenance, and must compromise when there is food scarcity. Compromise in allo

cating energy to the repair function is what causes the body gradually to deteri
orate with age, according to Kirkwood.[18]
Prospects for human biological immortality[edit]
Life-extending substances[edit]
There are some known naturally occurring and artificially produced chemicals tha
t may increase the lifetime or life-expectancy of a person or organism, such as
resveratrol.[19][20]
Some scientists believe that boosting the amount or proportion of in the body of
telomerase, a naturally forming enzyme that helps maintain the protective caps
at the ends of chromosomes,[21] could prevent cells from dying and so may ultima
tely lead to extended, healthier lifespans. A team of researchers at the Spanish
National Cancer Centre (Madrid) tested the hypothesis on mice. It was found tha
t those mice which were genetically engineered to produce 10 times the normal le
vels of telomerase lived 50% longer than normal mice.[22]
In normal circumstances, without the presence of telomerase, if a cell divides r
epeatedly, at some point all the progeny will reach their Hayflick limit. With t
he presence of telomerase, each dividing cell can replace the lost bit of DNA, a
nd any single cell can then divide unbounded. While this unbounded growth proper
ty has excited many researchers, caution is warranted in exploiting this propert
y, as exactly this same unbounded growth is a crucial step in enabling cancerous
growth. If an organism can replicate its body cells faster, then it would theor
etically stop aging.
Embryonic stem cells express telomerase, which allows them to divide repeatedly
and form the individual. In adults, telomerase is highly expressed in cells that
need to divide regularly (e.g., in the immune system), whereas most somatic cel
ls express it only at very low levels in a cell-cycle dependent manner.
Technological immortality[edit]
Main article: Transhumanism
Technological immortality is the prospect for much longer life spans made possib
le by scientific advances in a variety of fields: nanotechnology, emergency room
procedures, genetics, biological engineering, regenerative medicine, microbiolo
gy, and others. Contemporary life spans in the advanced industrial societies are
already markedly longer than those of the past because of better nutrition, ava
ilability of health care, standard of living and bio-medical scientific advances
. Technological immortality predicts further progress for the same reasons over
the near term. An important aspect of current scientific thinking about immortal
ity is that some combination of human cloning, cryonics or nanotechnology will p
lay an essential role in extreme life extension. Robert Freitas, a nanorobotics
theorist, suggests tiny medical nanorobots could be created to go through human
bloodstreams, find dangerous things like cancer cells and bacteria, and destroy
them.[23] Freitas anticipates that gene-therapies and nanotechnology will eventu
ally make the human body effectively self-sustainable and capable of living inde
finitely in empty space, short of severe brain trauma. This supports the theory
that we will be able to continually create biological or synthetic replacement p
arts to replace damaged or dying ones.
Cryonics[edit]
Main article: Cryonics
Cryonics, the practice of preserving organisms (either intact specimens or only
their brains) for possible future revival by storing them at cryogenic temperatu
res where metabolism and decay are almost completely stopped, can be used to 'pa
use' for those who believe that life extension technologies will not develop suf
ficiently within their lifetime. Ideally, cryonics would allow clinically dead p
eople to be brought back in the future after cures to the patients' diseases hav
e been discovered and aging is reversible. Modern cryonics procedures use a proc
ess called vitrification which creates a glass-like state rather than freezing a

s the body is brought to low temperatures. This process reduces the risk of ice
crystals damaging the cell-structure, which would be especially detrimental to c
ell structures in the brain, as their minute adjustment evokes the individual's
mind.
Mind-to-computer uploading[edit]
Main article: Mind uploading
One idea that has been advanced involves uploading an individual's habits and me
mories via direct mind-computer interface. The individual's memory may be loaded
to a computer or to a new organic body. Extropian futurists like Moravec and Ku
rzweil have proposed that, thanks to exponentially growing computing power, it w
ill someday be possible to upload human consciousness onto a computer system, an
d exist indefinitely in a virtual environment. This could be accomplished via ad
vanced cybernetics, where computer hardware would initially be installed in the
brain to help sort memory or accelerate thought processes. Components would be a
dded gradually until the person's entire brain functions were handled by artific
ial devices, avoiding sharp transitions that would lead to issues of identity, t
hus running the risk of the person to declared dead and thus not a legitimate ow
ner of his or her property. After this point, the human body could be treated as
an optional accessory and the program implementing the person could be transfer
red to any sufficiently powerful computer. Another possible mechanism for mind u
pload is to perform a detailed scan of an individual's original, organic brain a
nd simulate the entire structure in a computer. What level of detail such scans
and simulations would need to achieve to emulate awareness, and whether the scan
ning process would destroy the brain, is still to be determined.[24] Whatever th
e route to mind upload, persons in this state could then be considered essential
ly immortal, short of loss or traumatic destruction of the machines that maintai
ned them.[clarification needed]
Cybernetics[edit]
Main article: Cyborg
Transforming a human into a cyborg can include brain implants or extracting a hu
man processing unit and placing it in a robotic life-support system. Even replac
ing biological organs with robotic ones could increase life span (i.e., pace mak
ers) and depending on the definition, many technological upgrades to the body, l
ike genetic modifications or the addition of nanobots would qualify an individua
l as a cyborg. Some people believe that such modifications would make one imperv
ious to aging and disease and theoretically immortal unless killed or destroyed.
Evolutionary immortality[edit]
Joseph Wright of Derby, The Alchymist, In Search of the Philosopher's Stone, 177
1
Another approach, developed by biogerontologist Marios Kyriazis, holds that huma
n biological immortality is an inevitable consequence of evolution. As the natur
al tendency is to create progressively more complex structures,[25] there will b
e a time (Kyriazis claims this time is now[26]), when evolution of a more comple
x human brain will be faster via a process of developmental singularity[27] rath
er than through Darwinian evolution. In other words, the evolution of the human
brain as we know it will cease and there will be no need for individuals to proc
reate and then die. Instead, a new type of development will take over, in the sa
me individual who will have to live for many centuries in order for the developm
ent to take place. This intellectual development will be facilitated by technolo
gy such as synthetic biology, artificial intelligence and a technological singul
arity process.
Religious views[edit]
Main articles: Afterlife and Soul
As late as 1952, the editorial staff of the Syntopicon found in their compilatio
n of the Great Books of the Western World, that "The philosophical issue concern

ing immortality cannot be separated from issues concerning the existence and nat
ure of man's soul."[28] Thus, the vast majority of speculation regarding immorta
lity before the 21st century was regarding the nature of the afterlife.
Ancient Greek religion[edit]
Immortality in ancient Greek religion originally always included an eternal unio
n of body and soul as can be seen in Homer, Hesiod, and various other ancient te
xts. The soul was considered to have an eternal existence in Hades, but without
the body the soul was considered dead. Although almost everybody had nothing to
look forward to but an eternal existence as a disembodied dead soul, a number of
men and women were considered to have gained physical immortality and been brou
ght to live forever in either Elysium, the Islands of the Blessed, heaven, the o
cean or literally right under the ground. Among these were Amphiaraus, Ganymede,
Ino, Iphigenia, Menelaus, Peleus, and a great part of those who fought in the T
rojan and Theban wars. Some were considered to have died and been resurrected be
fore they achieved physical immortality. Asclepius was killed by Zeus only to be
resurrected and transformed into a major deity. In some versions of the Trojan
War myth, Achilles, after being killed, was snatched from his funeral pyre by hi
s divine mother Thetis, resurrected, and brought to an immortal existence in eit
her Leuce, the Elysian plains, or the Islands of the Blessed. Memnon, who was ki
lled by Achilles, seems to have a received a similar fate. Alcmene, Castor, Hera
cles, and Melicertes were also among the figures sometimes considered to have be
en resurrected to physical immortality. According to Herodotus' Histories, the 7
th century BC sage Aristeas of Proconnesus was first found dead, after which his
body disappeared from a locked room. Later he was found not only to have been r
esurrected but to have gained immortality.
The philosophical idea of an immortal soul was a belief first appearing with eit
her Pherecydes or the Orphics, and most importantly advocated by Plato and his f
ollowers. This, however, never became the general norm in Hellenistic thought. A
s may be witnessed even into the Christian era, not least by the complaints of v
arious philosophers over popular beliefs, many or perhaps most traditional Greek
s maintained the conviction that certain individuals were resurrected from the d
ead and made physically immortal and that others could only look forward to an e
xistence as disembodied and dead, though everlasting, souls. The parallel betwee
n these traditional beliefs and the later resurrection of Jesus was not lost on
the early Christians, as Justin Martyr argued: "when we say ... Jesus Christ, ou
r teacher, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we
propose nothing different from what you believe regarding those whom you conside
r sons of Zeus." (1 Apol. 21).
Buddhism[edit]
The goal of Hinayana is Arhatship and Nirvana. By contrast, the goal of Mahayana
is Buddhahood.
According to one Tibetan Buddhist teaching, Dzogchen, individuals can transform
the physical body into an immortal body of light called the rainbow body.
Christianity[edit]
Main articles: Eternal life (Christianity), Christian conditionalism and Christi
an mortalism
Adam and Eve condemned to mortality. Hans Holbein the Younger, Danse Macabre, 16
th century
Christian theology holds that Adam and Eve lost physical immortality for themsel
ves and all their descendants in the Fall of Man, although this initial "imperis
hability of the bodily frame of man" was "a preternatural condition".[29] Christ
ians who profess the Nicene Creed believe that every dead person (whether they b
elieved in Christ or not) will be resurrected from the dead at the Second Coming
, and this belief is known as Universal resurrection.[citation needed]

N.T. Wright, a theologian and former Bishop of Durham, has said many people forg
et the physical aspect of what Jesus promised. He told Time: "Jesus' resurrectio
n marks the beginning of a restoration that he will complete upon his return. Pa
rt of this will be the resurrection of all the dead, who will 'awake', be embodi
ed and participate in the renewal. Wright says John Polkinghorne, a physicist an
d a priest, has put it this way: 'God will download our software onto his hardwa
re until the time he gives us new hardware to run the software again for ourselv
es.' That gets to two things nicely: that the period after death (the Intermedia
te state) is a period when we are in God's presence but not active in our own bo
dies, and also that the more important transformation will be when we are again
embodied and administering Christ's kingdom."[30] This kingdom will consist of H
eaven and Earth "joined together in a new creation", he said.
Hinduism[edit]
See also: Naraka (Hinduism)
Representation of a soul undergoing punarjanma. Illustration from Hinduism Today
, 2004
Hindus believe in an immortal soul which is reincarnated after death. According
to Hinduism, people repeat a process of life, death, and rebirth in a cycle call
ed samsara. If they live their life well, their karma improves and their station
in the next life will be higher, and conversely lower if they live their life p
oorly. After many life times of perfecting its karma, the soul is freed from the
cycle and lives in perpetual bliss. There is no place of eternal torment in Hin
duism, although if a soul consistently lives very evil lives, it could work its
way down to the very bottom of the cycle.[citation needed]
There are explicit renderings in the Upanishads alluding to a physically immorta
l state brought about by purification, and sublimation of the 5 elements that ma
ke up the body. For example, in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (Chapter 2, Verse 1
2), it is stated "When earth, water fire, air and akasa arise, that is to say, w
hen the five attributes of the elements, mentioned in the books on yoga, become
manifest then the yogi's body becomes purified by the fire of yoga and he is fre
e from illness, old age and death." This phenomenon is possible when the soul re
aches enlightenment while the body and mind are still intact, an extreme rarity,
and can only be achieved upon the highest most dedication, meditation and consc
iousness.[citation needed]
Another view of immortality is traced to the Vedic tradition by the interpretati
on of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi:
That man indeed whom these (contacts)
do not disturb, who is even-minded in
pleasure and pain, steadfast, he is fit
for immortality, O best of men.[31]
To Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the verse means, "Once a man has become established in
the understanding of the permanent reality of life, his mind rises above the in
fluence of pleasure and pain. Such an unshakable man passes beyond the influence
of death and in the permanent phase of life: he attains eternal life ... A man
established in the understanding of the unlimited abundance of absolute existenc
e is naturally free from existence of the relative order. This is what gives him
the status of immortal life."[31]
An Indian saint known as Vallalar claimed to have achieved immortality before di
sappearing forever from a locked room in 1874.[32][33]
Many Indian fables and tales include instances of metempsychosis the ability to ju
mp into another body performed by advanced Yogis in order to live a longer life.[c

itation needed]
Judaism[edit]
Question book-new.svg
This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve th
is by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (June 2015)
The traditional concept of an immaterial and immortal soul distinct from the bod
y was not found in Judaism before the Babylonian Exile, but developed as a resul
t of interaction with Persian and Hellenistic philosophies. Accordingly, the Heb
rew word nephesh, although translated as "soul" in some older English Bibles, ac
tually has a meaning closer to "living being".[citation needed] Nephesh was rend
ered in the Septuagint as ???? (psuch), the Greek word for soul.[citation needed]
The only Hebrew word traditionally translated "soul" (nephesh) in English langua
ge Bibles refers to a living, breathing conscious body, rather than to an immort
al soul.[34] In the New Testament, the Greek word traditionally translated "soul
" (????) has substantially the same meaning as the Hebrew, without reference to
an immortal soul.[35] Soul may refer to the whole person, the self: three thousand
souls were converted in Acts 2:41 (see Acts 3:23).
The Hebrew Bible speaks about Sheol (????), originally a synonym of the grave-th
e repository of the dead or the cessation of existence until the Resurrection. T
his doctrine of resurrection is mentioned explicitly only in Daniel 12:1 4 althoug
h it may be implied in several other texts. New theories arose concerning Sheol
during the intertestamental literature.
The views about immortality in Judaism is perhaps best exemplified by the variou
s references to this in Second Temple Period. The concept of resurrection of the
physical body is found in 2 Maccabees, according to which it will happen throug
h recreation of the flesh.[36] Resurrection of the dead also appears in detail i
n the extra-canonical books of Enoch,[37] and in Apocalypse of Baruch.[38] Accor
ding to the British scholar in ancient Judaism Philip R. Davies, there is little
or no clear reference either to immortality or to resurrection from the dead in t
he Dead Sea scrolls texts.[39] Both Josephus and the New Testament record that t
he Sadducees did not believe in an afterlife,[40] but the sources vary on the be
liefs of the Pharisees. The New Testament claims that the Pharisees believed in
the resurrection, but does not specify whether this included the flesh or not.[4
1] According to Josephus, who himself was a Pharisee, the Pharisees held that on
ly the soul was immortal and the souls of good people will be reincarnated and pa
ss into other bodies, while the souls of the wicked will suffer eternal punishment
. [42] Jubilees seems to refer to the resurrection of the soul only, or to a more
general idea of an immortal soul.[43]
Rabbinic Judaism claims that the righteous dead will be resurrected in the Messi
anic age with the coming of the messiah. They will then be granted immortality i
n a perfect world. The wicked dead, on the other hand, will not be resurrected a
t all. This is not the only Jewish belief about the afterlife. The Tanakh is not
specific about the afterlife, so there are wide differences in views and explan
ations among believers.[citation needed]
Taoism[edit]
See also: Chinese alchemy, Taoism and death and Xian (Taoism)
It is repeatedly stated in Lshi Chunqiu that death is unavoidable.[44] Henri Masp
ero noted that many scholarly works frame Taoism as a school of thought focused
on the quest for immortality.[45] Isabelle Robinet asserts that Taoism is better
understood as a way of life than as a religion, and that its adherents do not a
pproach or view Taoism the way non-Taoist historians have done.[46] In the Tract
ate of Actions and their Retributions, a traditional teaching, spiritual immorta
lity can be rewarded to people who do a certain amount of good deeds and live a
simple, pure life. A list of good deeds and sins are tallied to determine whethe

r or not a mortal is worthy. Spiritual immortality in this definition allows the

soul to leave the earthly realms of afterlife and go to pure realms in the Taoi
st cosmology.[47]
Zoroastrianism[edit]
Zoroastrians believe that on the fourth day after death, the human soul leaves t
he body and the body remains as an empty shell. Souls would go to either heaven
or hell; these concepts of the afterlife in Zoroastrianism may have influenced A
brahamic religions. The word immortal is driven from the month "Amurdad", meanin
g "deathless" in Persian, in the Iranian calendar (near the end of July). The mo
nth of Amurdad or Ameretat is celebrated in Persian culture as ancient Persians
believed the "Angel of Immortality" won over the "Angel of Death" in this month.
[48]
Ethics of immortality[edit]
See also Life extension
Ethics and politics of life extension
The possibility of clinical immortality raises a host of medical, philosophical,
and religious issues and ethical questions. These include persistent vegetative
states, the nature of personality over time, technology to mimic or copy the mi
nd or its processes, social and economic disparities created by longevity, and s
urvival of the heat death of the universe.
The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the first literary works, is primarily a quest of
a hero seeking to become immortal.[6]
Undesirability of immortality[edit]
Physical immortality has also been imagined as a form of eternal torment, as in
Mary Shelley's short story "The Mortal Immortal", the protagonist of which witne
sses everyone he cares about dying around him. Jorge Luis Borges explored the id
ea that life gets its meaning from death in the short story "The Immortal"; an e
ntire society having achieved immortality, they found time becoming infinite, an
d so found no motivation for any action. In his book "Thursday's Fictions", and
the stage and film adaptations of it, Richard James Allen tells the story of a w
oman named Thursday who tries to cheat the cycle of reincarnation to get a form
of eternal life. At the end of this fantastical tale, her son, Wednesday, who ha
s witnessed the havoc his mother's quest has caused, forgoes the opportunity for
immortality when it is offered to him.[49] Likewise, the novel Tuck Everlasting
depicts immortality as "falling off the wheel of life" and is viewed as a curse
as opposed to a blessing. In the anime Casshern Sins humanity achieves immortal
ity due to advances in medical technology, however the inability of the human ra
ce to die causes Luna, a Messianic figure, to come forth and offer normal lifesp
ans because she had believed that without death, humans could not live. Ultimate
ly, Casshern takes up the cause of death for humanity when Luna begins to restor
e humanity's immortality.
Politics[edit]
Although some scientists state that radical life extension, delaying and stoppin
g aging are achievable,[50] there are no international or national programs focu
sed on stopping aging or on radical life extension. In 2012 in Russia, and then
in the United States, Israel and the Netherlands, pro-immortality political part
ies were launched. They aimed to provide political support to anti-aging and rad
ical life extension research and technologies and at the same time transition to
the next step, radical life extension, life without aging, and finally, immorta
lity and aim to make possible access to such technologies to most currently livi
ng people.[51]
Symbols[edit]
The ankh
There are numerous symbols representing immortality. The ankh is an Egyptian sym

bol of life that holds connotations of immortality when depicted in the hands of
the gods and pharaohs, who were seen as having control over the journey of life
. The Mbius strip in the shape of a trefoil knot is another symbol of immortality
. Most symbolic representations of infinity or the life cycle are often used to
represent immortality depending on the context they are placed in. Other example
s include the Ouroboros, the Chinese fungus of longevity, the ten kanji, the pho
enix, the peacock in Christianity,[52] and the colors amaranth (in Western cultu
re) and peach (in Chinese culture).
Fiction[edit]
Main article: Immortality in fiction
Immortal species abound in fiction, especially in fantasy literature.
See also[edit]
Ambrosia
Amrita
Bioethics
Biogerontology
Chiranjivi
Crown of Immortality
Dyson's eternal intelligence
Eternal youth
Ghost
Immortal DNA strand hypothesis
Immortalist Society
Internal alchemy
Lich
List of people claimed to be immortal in myth and legend
Methuselah Mouse Prize
Molecular nanotechnology
Negligible senescence
Tipler's Omega Point
Organlegging
Posthuman
Queen Mother of the West
Rejuvenation (aging)
Simulated reality
Suspended animation
Nikola Tesla
Undead
Vampire
Xian (Taoism)
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Further reading[edit]
Allen, Richard James (1999). Thursday's Fictions. Wollongong: Five Islands Press
. ISBN 0-86418-596-0.
Alexander, Brian (2003). Rapture: How Biotech Became the New Religion. Basic Boo
ks. ISBN 0-7382-0761-6.
Bolonkin, Alexander (2010). Rapture: Human Immortality and Electronic Civilizati
on. Publish America. ISBN 978-1-4489-3367-9.
Bova, Ben (2000). Immortality: How Science Is Extending Your Life Span-and Chang
ing the World. Avon: New York. ISBN 0-380-79318-0.
Cave, Stephen (2012). Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How it Drives C
ivilization. Crown. ISBN 0-307-88491-0.
Cullmann, Oscar (1955). Immortality of the Soul or Resurrection of the Dead?. Ar
chived from the original on 2009-10-26.
Edwards, Paul (1997). Immortality. Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-130-0.
Elixxir (2001). The Immortalist Manifesto: Stay Young & Save the World. Authorho
use Books. ISBN 0-7596-5339-9.
Freitas Jr., Robert A. (2002). "Death is an Outrage". Retrieved 2008-02-14.
de Grey, Aubrey; Rae, Michael (September 2007). Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation B
reakthroughs that Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime. New York, New York:
St. Martin's Press. p. 416. ISBN 0-312-36706-6.
Hall, Stephen S. (2003). Merchants of Immortality: Chasing the Dream of Human Li
fe Extension. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-618-09524-1.

Immortality Institute (2004). The Scientific Conquest Of Death. Libros En Red. I

SBN 987-561-135-2.
Perry, R. Michael (2000). Forever For All: Moral philosophy, Cryonics, and the S
cientific Prospects for Immortality. New York: Universal Publishers: New York: U
niversal Publishers. ISBN 1-58112-724-3.
Pickover, Clifford (2007). A Beginner's Guide to Immortality: Extraordinary Peop
le, Alien Brains, and Quantum Resurrection. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press. ISB
N 1-56025-984-1.
Rohde, Erwin (1925). Psyche: The Cult of Souls and Belief in Immortality among t
he Greeks. New York: Harper & Row.
Salmond, Stewart (1903). The Christian Doctrine of Immortality (PDF).
West, Michael D. (2003). The Immortal Cell: One Scientist's Quest to Solve the M
ystery of Human Aging. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-50928-6.
External links[edit]
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Look up immortality in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Immortality
Wikisource has the text of the 1920 Encyclopedia Americana article Immor
tality.
Immortality entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Scientists are Close to Finding a Way to be Immortal
Turritopsis nutricula:Palscience Meet The Only Immortal Species on Planet Earth
The Methuselah Foundation Aubrey de Grey's non-profit organization dedicated to
finding a cure for aging
KurzweilAI.net Ray Kurzweil resource site
BiologicalGerontology.com Chris Smelick's Biogerontology site
Vitae Institute Chris Smelick's non-profit organization
ELPIs Theory Marios Kyriazis' theory of human biological immortality
Immortality Institute Scientific and sociological discussions, activism, researc
h
Religious and spiritual prospects for immortality[edit]
"Death and Immortality" Dictionary of the History of Ideas, etext at the Univers
ity of Virginia Library
What Will Eternal Life Be Like?
"Immortality" Immortality
The Immortality of the Soul and the Resurrection of the Body Lecture by Heinrich
J. Vogel
An Essay on the Scriptural Doctrine of Immortality by James Challis
Eternity: Christ s Return, Chiliasm, Resurrection of the Dead, Judgment, Hell, Lut
her on Eternity, Heaven J.P. Meyer, The Northwestern Lutheran, August 22, 1954,
Vol. 41, # 17 to April 14, 1957, Vol. 44, #8
"How you Can Have Eternal Life" Jack Graham, PowerPoint Ministries, Christianity
.com
Got Eternal Life? Got Questions Ministries
Immortality Taoist essay, personaltao.com
The Trial to Conquer Death Ancient Scientific Yoga The First Atom's Final Attemp
t
[5] A review by Dr. Peter Fenwick of the book Human Immortality by Mohammad Sami
r Hossain
In literature[edit]
Mary Shelley's The Mortal Immortal
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Outline of life extension
Categories: AgeingLifeDeathEschatologyLife extensionMythological powersFictional
superhuman features or abilitiesImmortality
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