ShouldScientistsPursuethePossibilityofHumanImmortality?

Youwanttobeabletopayallofyourbills,right?Ifwepursueimmortalityallyour
moneywillbegoingtowardsalltheresearchthatisneeded.Immortalityshouldnotbepursued
becausetheworldwouldoverpopulate,theresearchisexpensive,andbecauseofourmental
health.Theseareonlysomeofthereasonswhyweshouldntpursuehumanimmortality.
Weshouldntevenattemptmakinghumansimmortalbecauseofthecostofresearch.In
2013,146.1milliondollarswasspentonhumanembryonicstemcellresearch.Nottomention
theother42milliondollarsspentonregularstemcellresearch.So,guesswhereallofthismoney
iscomingfrom?Everyoneandanyonewhopaystaxes.Andwhatifitdoesntwork?Whatif
theycantmakehumansimmortal?Whathappenstoallofourmoney?Itsnotlikewecanask
foritbackiftheresearchdoesntsucceed.
Inaddition,weshouldnotresearchimmortalitybecausetheworldwouldoverpopulate.
Dyingisapartoflife,itisanessentialcomponentofanyhealthyecosystem.Theglobewould
decaybecauseofthestrainsweputontheearthtocaterourneeds.Iwouldconsiderwatching
theearthspopulationgouportolookatanaveragebirthtodeathrate.Estimatedin2011the
birthratewasabout360,000birthsperday.Butthedeathrateisonlyabout151,600deathsper
day,thatsabouta208,400difference.Imagineifthatgapbetweenthebirthandthedeathrate
justcontinuedtogrowbecauseofimmortality.Whoknowswhatwouldhappentoourworld
withallthosepeopleandhowlongitwouldhavetolast.
Thefinalreasonisthat,yes,wewouldbeimmortalandourbodieswillstillbeyoungbut
whataboutourminds?Wewouldstillbementallygettingolder.Yourbrainanditsabilityto
storeandremembermemoriesislimited.Andyoudontonlyuseyourbraintostoreinformation
butbeingabletorememberitinamomentsnotice.Yes,yourlifecanbeimmortalandyoucan
haveasmanyexperiencesasyouwantbutyourbrainsabilitytorememberthemwontbeso

great.Yourmindwouldstillmentallybedecaying.Wecouldbecomeprisonersinourminds
becauseofhumancapacityforreason,emotion,andmemory.
Although,immortalityisntcompletelyahorribleidea,ithassomeadvantages.Some
mightarguethatwecanfinanciallybenefitfromlifelongevity.KevinMurphyandRobertTopel
oftheUniversityofChicagoBusinessSchoolestimatedthateliminatingdeathsfromheart
diseasewouldmakeaneconomicvalueof$48trillion,andcuringcancerwouldbeworth$47
trillion.Cuttingthedeathrateofheartdiseaseorcancerby20%wouldbeworthabout$10
trilliontousAmericans.Onefinalbenefitoflifelongevityisthatwewouldbeabletoseeanddo
moreinourlives.Wecouldseegenerationsupongenerationsofourchildrenandgrandchildren.
Wewouldnothavetoworryasmuchaboutseeingourchildrengrowupandbecomesuccessful,
andseeingourgrandchildrendothesame.WewonthavetothinktoourselvesIhopeIgetto
meetthembeforeIdie,becauseourlifespanwillbesolong.
Inconclusion,scientistsshouldnotpursuehumanimmortality.Ourpopulationwould
skyrocket,wewouldspendmillionsofdollarsinresearchwiththepossibilityofitnotbeing
evenpossible,andourmindsjustcouldnottaketolivethatlong.Thosearethereasonswhywe
shouldnotbecomeimmortal.

WorksCited
NonBenefitsofLifeLongevity:
"Birth&DeathRates|EcologyGlobalNetwork."
EcologyGlobalNetwork
.N.p.,n.d.Web.30
Mar.2015.<
http://www.ecology.com/birthdeathrates/
>.
Fauen,Eva."10TerrifyingDownsidestoImmortalityListverse."
Listverse
.N.p.,12Dec.2012.
Web.30Mar.2015.
<
http://listverse.com/2012/12/12/10terrifyingdownsidestoimmortality/
>.
NIHStemCellResearchFunding,FY20022013.In
StemCellInformation
[WorldWideWeb
site].Bethesda,MD:NationalInstitutesofHealth,U.S.DepartmentofHealthand
HumanServices,2014[citedMonday,March30,2015]Availableat
<
http://stemcells.nih.gov/research/funding/pages/Funding.aspx
>
BenefitsofLifeLongevity:
Klatz,ByRonaldM.
TheBenefitsofImmortalityIncreasingHumanLifespansbySeveral
DecadesCouldsaveTrillionsofDollarsinMedicalCostsasWeWipeoutHeart
Disease,Cancer,andOtherMaladies.
(n.d.):n.pag.Web.
<
http://www.drklatz.net/Futurist.pdf
>.
http://www.lef.org/magazine/2009/8/TurningonImmortalityTheDebateOverTelomeraseAct
ivation/Page01
Than,Ker."TowardImmortality:TheSocialBurdenofLongerLives."
LiveScience
.TechMedia
Network,22May2006.Web.01Apr.2015.
<
http://www.livescience.com/10458immortalitysocialburdenlongerlives.html
>.