September 21, 2010

Inventing Immortality : A thought experiment.

A few days ago as the media likened the advent of the new cancer drug 'PLX4032' to the "penicillin" moment in medical history, it got me thinking.
This new medicine uses the treasure trove of information retrieved after the completion of the human genome project a decade ago to target only the cancer affected cells and destroy them.
The trial cases of this medicine have yielded extraordinary results as it dramatically cut down tumor size in 24 out of 32 patients with late stage malignant melanoma.
The prospect of further achievements in the bio-technology field excites me. Now that we have uncovered the secrets to our own gene, the possibilities are immense.


Just like that, I came across an idea of the "Immortality drug", I don't know how medically sound my argument may be. But I believe it is possible.
If I am sounding too optimistic or over assuming, the possibility of a miracle drug which will increase the life expectancy to maybe 200 years may not sound so far fetched to you.
Lets take that case, for your sake.
Maybe they have already invented such a drug, but they are not releasing it to the public.
Maybe they are selling it only to the high-flying billionaires who love their rich, lavish life so much that they are willing to spend some billions on this just to last a few 100 years more.

Controversy theories! we love them don't we :P


But in this case, it's probably not as crazy as it sounds.
What is the biggest problem threatening human civilization at this point?

The Environment.

Global Warming has been the concern of millions of esoteric environmentalist throughout the globe, however people still don't seem to be able grasp the concept.
The melting of the polar caps is going to drown Bangladesh and many such low lying areas by 2100.
We are currently in the no-win situation in which our population is rapidly increasing and the land and other resources supporting this population is rapidly depleting.
I couldn't spell apocalypse better for you.

Now just imagine what will be the impact of this miracle immortality drug on our society.
People will all of a sudden stop dying, and the concomitant population explosion that will follow will disturb the already delicate balance between the resources and consumers in the world.

As the world will strive to reach an equilibrium between the birth rate and the death rate, land will become the most coveted resource.
And not just land, every resource on earth starting with food, water, fuel to stay warm, basic sanitation will become scarce.
Throwing us back a thousand years, when wars were fought for land domination. When this situation occurs law and order will mean nothing.

Men will become savages to protect his basic rights and resources, population will fall because of wars waged in order to acquire land and fuel.
Then religion will again gain prominence, promising salvation for those war hardened men and a peaceful life for their families.

The civilization will thus complete a cycle and make a fresh start with only those genes which managed to survive this horrific ordeal.

Although the end of the civilization is inevitable, but is it better to expedite the process?

So safeguarding the information about the immortality drug for only the handful elite will be the safest bet for the researchers and their investors in order to protect us all.

Maybe they do have an immortality drug maybe they don't, but you wouldn't know would you?

3 comments:

  1. nice thought alfa...

    But the reason for apocalypse GLOBAL WARMING is itself a big controversy. They say that some researchers have discovered that although the ice caps are melting and Antarctica is all shrinking in size, there has been a considerable rise in the ICE CAP's DEPTH :O ... the global temperature over a period of 70 yrs has been decreasing. And before the concept of global warming actually evolved the scientists were more concerned over earth entering a 2nd ice stage !!

    wht do u think ???

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  2. That's an interesting direction to look upon. However my point remains that environment is the major criteria determining how the human society rolls in the future.

    And as for the point that you raised.
    I found that global cooling was indeed the conjecture before the phenomenal global warming theory.

    "Global cooling was a conjecture during the 1970s of imminent cooling of the Earth's surface and atmosphere along with a posited commencement of glaciation. This hypothesis had mixed support in the scientific community, but gained temporary popular attention due to a combination of press reports that did not accurately reflect the scientific understanding of ice age cycles, and a slight downward trend of temperatures from the 1940s to the early 1970s."

    Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_cooling
    for more info on it.

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