We live in an era that glorifies youth, and at the same time, science promises to delay old age. James Carleton and the God Forbid panel ask, what will it mean if we let that go on without limit?
In this episode:
Old age is increasingly being viewed as a preventable disease, albeit one without a total cure – yet. Until that time, some put their hope in cryonics, freezing their bodies after death in the hope of one day being brought back to life.
The idea of whether you’d like to live more-or-less indefinitely can generate a reflexive response – and it can be for or against. For those wanting to live forever (under the right circumstances), those with an opposing view could be seen as “immortality curmudgeons”.
Many people believe in the soul – a disembodied spirit that persists after the body dies. So, if you believe in eternal life after death, does death even really matter?
More Information
Hear Matt Fisher’s full address about cryonics on Big Ideas: Pursuing immortality.
Joe Gelonesi spoke with immortality curmudgeons and optimists for the Philosopher’s Zone: Immortality.
Guests:
Professor Bryan Turner is one of the world’s leading sociologists of religion. Currently at the Australian Catholic University, he’s the author of Can We Live Forever? A Sociological and Moral Inquiry.
Dr Natasha Moore is Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity. She has a PhD in English Literature from the University of Cambridge and her most recent book is The Pleasures of Pessimism.
Dr Victoria Lorrimar is a Lecturer of Systematic Theology at Trinity College Queensland. She recently wrote a piece for the ABC Religion and Ethics page, What hope? Dreams of immortality in the time of a pandemic.
Presenter:
James Carleton
Producer:
Nick Baker