Ice cold
Elisa Vincitorio
I understand taking a few vitamins here and there to increase time and quality of life here on earth, but some people are taking the idea of life extension to extreme degrees.Intelligent people including scientists and businessmen are investing millions of dollars into a vast mess of longevity research theories that they hope will pay off, at least before they die.
Many longevity scientists are actively in pursuit of a “cure for aging,” according to an article in Portfolio magazine titled, “Never Say Die”.
The last time I had a birthday, I don’t remember thinking I had a disease.
The quest for the fountain of youth has been around since Adam rose from the dust, or the sea, whichever you prefer.
To some today, this white dragon seems within reach due to massive strides in the medical and technology fields.
We have made advances in stem cell research, cell generation and artificial intelligence.
It’s a beautiful thing that human nature causes us to expand our minds and reach further than our grasp, but there is one method of life preservation that seems, to me at least, insulting to our intelligence.
Right here in good old Scottsdale, there is a place called Alcor where 77 “customers” chill out at -197 degrees in liquid nitrogen freezers until medical science renders humans immortal.
Alcor takes special care of their mostly millionaire patients.
Customers can choose to have either just their heads, or for a heftier price of $120,000, their entire bodies preserved.
When clients are approaching death, Alcor’s team will hover patiently nearby and as soon as the person is declared legally dead, they rush the body to ice.
From there, they drain the blood and replace it with preservatives until the body, or the head, is placed in liquid nitrogen.
This is hardly the idea of resting in peace.
Maybe one day in the future science will be able to thaw these people out for good.
But even longevitists say that could be up to 300 years from now.
Imagine if we had this technology 300 years ago and people were coming out of cryonic suspension in the year 2008.
Could people from 300 years ago really adjust to the America now?
It is certain that the world be a lot different in 2308 especially considering the rate at which technology is skyrocketing today.
I’m all for curing diseases and advancing medicine, but this idea of immortality is not very well thought out.
Humans have made this world a wonderful place one small achievement at a time but death is and should always be certain.
