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The Last Generations:
An Essay On Immortality & Evolution by Sarah Ikerd
~ Food for thought with a dash of humor ~
Somehow the fish that crawled out of the ocean made a decision and developed legs. The desire and impetus were there to make a necessary change, and it was a success.
Choosing to evolve can be viewed as always a success.
What about the curious creatures in nature who seem to have evolved away from biological death and instead, developed ways to prolong life by regeneration?
Could this be next for humans just as a matter of course and necessity? Each generation that biologically passes on, something is lost and has to be taught again, and then re-learned in a new way. This kind of evolution is rather slow, and there’s enough recorded history now to be able to see this.
Yuval Noah Harari, although his outlook is rather dark, uttered a monumental phrase for the current age: “Death is optional.” This very well could be the last generation of humans who consider death to be an inevitable, inescapable fact. That would free up a lot of energy to relax and enjoy our growth, wouldn’t it? We’ve seen a marvelous wave of mind-expanding scientific innovations in recent times, especially spurred by the inward-looking experience of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is not irreligious — the continuation of biological life is an expression of a benevolent universe, as Einstein referred to it. This is a place of life and growth. If one wants to die, so be it. That’s the way things have been, but there could also be a group of people who decide not to.
The issue of not being enough room on this planet could be rendered null by the next chapter of aerospace innovation with developments in deep space propulsion and the possibilities of active exploration and colonizing of other planets. Having the space for expansion and adaptation are just challenges for humans to overcome.
We have an infinite universe to populate. And these projects are a whole lot easier with more continuity – that is, longer life spans. There’s much to be excited about here, our evlolution on planet earth. Of course, this is my personal view.
Both innovations in biotech and aerospace are extremely supportive of longer life spans, respectively making moves towards noninvasive medicine and biological enhancements, and space travel.
Again and obviously, not everyone is going to want this. However many will probably come around given the rate of technological advancement, and how its existence expands our minds.
Generations of humans have been waiting for immortality, not just for the mere sense of pleasure and exploration, but also for the survival of us and all life as a whole. Our history of longing is palpable. Perhaps the only “hell” is continuing to believe existence has to be finite, or that has to pass on to a metaphysical realm, or that death is inevitable.
This represents a new way of being, a new level of consciousness that takes hold in one’s very cells – what's been referred to as “the biology of belief.” Cells and systems can become imbued with this new way of thinking, and reengineer themselves accordingly.
Looking around us in the cosmos there’s an infinite amount of resources, both visible to our eyes and (as yet) invisible. The human body is an open energetic system, so it seems quite plausible that biological immortality is already possible. ... It could be just a matter of redirecting consciousness and belief systems to enhance the physical.
This could be the last generation bound necessarily by the death concept. We’ll see. I for one am deeply inspired by this consideration, and the more I learn and new truth I seek, the more this gets reinforced. I have been coming into trusting my unified self as a self healing system and using meditation in part as a means of internal communication.
There may well be people who are offended by this essay or think I’m crazy. The real craziness, in my opinion, is not being open-minded, and blind to exploration. I would say that is like a fish, who saw another fish growing legs and said; “What are you gonna do that for? We’ve always been in the water – That’s how things have always been!”
That mindset of course is an evolutionary standstill.
Additionally, none of this conflicts with the existence of higher intelligence or cosmic being(s).
I would say believing in inevitable death could be viewed as just as potentially radical or irreligious as believing in infinite life in the spiritual, and even physical sense. What’s your hurry, right? This place ain’t good enough for you? This could perhaps be why the Hindu calendar still considers us in the dark ages.
Time will tell. We’ve got the awareness of quantum physics now, in which energy never dies, and everything is flexible, even the measure of time.
Concepts evolve as humanity, an integral agent in the evolution of life as a whole, co-creates reality as new generations of ideas further improve the complexity and adaptability of our biology.
... So the fish went on its path, and developed legs. It learned to crawl, then walk. And now here we are, able to tell our story!
A Question For IM Readers:
Could biological 'immortality' be next for humans as a matter of course and necessity?
Share your thoughts below!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Ikerd lives in Somerville / Greater Boston, MA. She is an Olympic Weightlifting Coach, a longevitists, musician, artist, and activist. She is the owner of Studio Shangri-La.
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