EmilyEvery

3/27/15
4thhour

Ohhowwrongweweretothinkimmortalitymeantneverdying
.
(GerardWay)
Immortalityisanideaandconceptthathasbeenthrownaroundforcenturiesbetweenpeople
aroundtheworld.Alotofhumansfinditinteresting,beingabletoliveforever,neverhavingto
worryaboutdyingofoldage.However,wehavealwaysconsidereditanimpossibilityforitto
actuallybereal.Yet,thisconclusionisnotentirelytrue.Scientistshavestartedthinkingand
experimentingwithimmortalitygenesthattheycouldinjecthumanswith,givingustheability
tobeimmortal.Asinterestingandlifechangingthisnewdiscoverymaysound,thereare
multiplereasonswhyscientistsshouldnotpursuethepossibilityofhumanimmortality,such
asimmortalityoverpopulatingtheEarth,peoplewhocanaffordimmortalitywillhavetowatch
lovedonesdie,andjellyfisharenotrelatedtoHumansenoughfortheirgenestowork
efficientlyforussowecanbecomeimmortal.
ThefirstreasonthatarguesagainstimmortalityisthatitcouldoverpopulatetheEarth.
Currently,theEarthhasroughlyaround7billionpeoplelivingontheplanet.Thepopulation
numberhasincreasedasyearshavegoneon,thelifespanofhumansincreasingasweve
advancedinsurviving.However,theEarthisnotoverpopulatingcurrentlybecause,
essentially,peopledieeverysecondwhichisfollowedbyabirth,resultinginourpopulation
stayingaconstantnumber.Ifimmortalitywasapossibilityforhumans,lesspeoplewoulddie
whilethebirthratewouldremainthesame,orevenincrease,whichwoulddrasticallychange
thepopulationcount.Overpopulationwoulddecreaselessroomforpeopletolive,lessfoodto
eat,andresourceswouldrunoutatafasterrate.Thiswouldruinmankindandmostlikely
changeourentiresystemofhumanity,restrainingthebirthofchildrenandtheamountof
peoplewhocanbeimmortal.
Thesecondreasonforthisisthatthosewhochoosetobeinjectedwithimmortality
geneswillhavetowatchlovedonesaroundthemdie.Ifimmortalitywastoactuallybecome
realforhumans,therewouldbenodoubtthatitdbeexpensiveandtoughtoreceive.Not
manypeoplewouldbegiftedtohaveit,andthosewhoarewouldhavetosufferthroughtheir
familyandfriendsgrowingoldanddyingastheystaythesameagefortherestoftheirlife.
Thiswouldmostlikelycausethosewhoareimmortaltodevelopamentalissueandmight
evencommitsuicide.Obviously,thisisnotwhatwewouldwant,havingtosufferforyears
uponyearsoflosingpeopleandgrowingmentallyillovertime,whichiswhatbeingimmortal
willdotoyouifhumansmakethisdecision.
Lastly,thefinalreasonisthattheimmortalitygeneshumanswouldbeconsumingare
fromJellyfish,acompletelydifferenttypeofspeciescomparedtohumankind,whichwould
causetheexperimenttofail.Jellyfishareatypeofmarinemammalthathasnoconnections
withhumans,includingnobackbone,nofacialfeatures,noarmsorlegs,andarepoisonous,
whicharesomeofthemainstructureswelookatwhencomparingustoanimals.Sothisgoes
toshowthatourgenesarebarelysimilartooneanother,besideshavingsimilargenesforour
eyes.Thiswouldcausecomplicationswithusingimmortalitygenesfromthesemarine

animalstobeusedforhumans.Ourbodywouldmostlikelyrejectthegenesormaybeeven
dosomethingtoourbodythatisnotimmortalizing.
Amajorityofthepeoplewhoagreewithimmortalitybeingapossibilityforhumansare
notunderstandingwhatcouldhappentohumanityifimmortalitywasapossibility.Theyare
onlythinkingofthefactthattheywouldbeabletostayaliveforthousandsofyearsandnever
ageaday.Someeventhinkthatwithimmortality,wecouldkeepthosewhoareimportantand
famousintheworldaliveforever,havethemcontinuehelpingcountriesexpandeconomically
andtechnologywise.However,aftersomanyyearsofbeingalive,peoplearegoingtoget
bored,andthosewhoareareimportanttotheworldwontwanttocontinuehelpingus
anymore.Beingabletoliveforthousandsofyearswontseemvaluableanymore,andpeople
willmostlikelyendupkillingthemselvestoendtheirongoinglife.Theymaythinkitsagreat
ideanow,butinafewthousandyearsorso,thosewhodecidedtobeimmortalwillregrettheir
decisionimmensely.
Inconclusion,scientistshouldnotconsiderthepossibilityofhumansbecoming
immortalforthreereasonsimmortalitycouldoverpopulatetheEarth,onlythosewhohave
enoughmoneycanaffordtobeimmortal,andjellyfisharenotrelatedenoughtohumansfor
thegenestoworkonpeople.Foralltheyearshumanshavebeenonthisplanet,wevenever
hadaproblemwithnotbeingimmortal.However,aswehaveprogressedashumans,sohave
ourideasandinventions.Wevemadeanddiscoveredthousandsofnewinformationand
inventionsthathaveaffectedhumanitypositively,yetimmortalityisnotoneofthem.Itsjust
toounreasonableandadvancedforhumans,atleastcurrentlyitis.Insteadoftryingtouse
immortalityforlivestoliveforhundredsofyears,wecoulduseittofindcuresforthosewho
havediseasesthatarecurrentlyuntreatable.Peopledontneedtolivelonger,ourcurrent
problemistryingtohavehumanssurviveandnotdieatsuchanearlyagewithdiseasesthat
wehaventfoundcuresfor.Livesareveryprecious,andweshouldnttakethemforgranted.

Sources:

(against)

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Dean,K.(2013,March22).ProsandConsofImmortality.In
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(for)

Cosier,S.(2011,July27).GreenGuru:HowPoisonousareJellyfish?.In
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