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Immortality: The Quest to Live Forever and How It Drives Civilization
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About Immortality: The Quest To Live Forever And How It
Product Description “A fascinating history of man’s greatest obsession and poses a stunning theory of society.”—The Daily Beast “A must-read exploration of what spurs human ingenuity…. Has changed my view of the driving force of civilization as much as Jared Diamond did years ago with his brilliant book Guns, Germs and Steel.”—New Scientist magazine A fascinating work of popular philosophy and history that both enlightens and entertains, Stephen Cave’s Immortality investigates whether it just might be possible to live forever and whether we should want to. But it also makes a powerful argument, which is that it’s our very preoccupation with defying mortality that drives civilization. In drawing back the curtain on what compels humans to “keep on keeping on,” Cave engages the reader in a number of mind-bending thought experiments. He teases out the implications of each immortality gambit, asking, for example, how long a person would live if they did manage to acquire a perfectly disease-free body. Or what would happen if a super-being tried to round up the atomic constituents of all who’ve died in order to resurrect them. Or what our loved ones would really be doing in heaven if it does exist. Or what part of us actually lives in a work of art, and how long that work of art can survive. Toward the book’s end, we’re confronted with a series of brain-rattling questions: What would happen if tomorrow humanity discovered that there is no life but this one? Would people continue to care about their favorite sports team, please their boss, vie for the title of Year’s Best Salesman? Would three-hundred-year projects still get started? Immortality is a deeply satisfying book, as optimistic about the human condition as it is insightful about the true arc of history. Review “Cave has produced a strikingly original and compelling exploration of the age-old conundrum: Can we live forever, and do we really want to?” —John Horgan, science journalist and author of The End of War “Immortality is a fascinating history of man’s greatest obsession and poses a stunning theory of society.” —The Daily Beast “In Immortality Stephen Cave tells wonderful stories about one of humanity’s oldest desires and comes to a wise conclusion.” —Stefan Klein, author of The Science of Happiness and The Secret Pulse of Time “A beautifully clear and entertaining look at life after death. Cave does not shrink from the hard questions. Bold and thought-provoking.” —Eric Olson, author of The Human Animal and What Are We? “A must-read exploration of what spurs human ingenuity. Every once in a while a book comes along that catches me by surprise and provides me with an entirely new lens through which to view the world. . . . Such is the case with Stephen Cave’s book Immortality. . . . Cave presents an extremely compelling case—one that has changed my view of the driving force of civilization as much as Jared Diamond did years ago with his brilliant book Guns, Germs and Steel.” —S. Jay Olshanksy, New Scientist magazine “Informed and metaphysically nuanced. . . . Cave presents his arguments in a brisk, engaging style, and draws effectively upon a wide-ranging stock of religious, philosophical, and scientific sources, both ancient and contemporary.” —Weekly Standard “In his survey of the subject, Stephen Cave, a British philosopher, argues that man’s various tales of immortality can be boiled down into four basic “narratives”. . . . For the aspiring undying, Mr Cave unfortunately concludes that immortality is a mirage. But his demolition project is fascinating in its own right. . . . If anything, readers might want more of Mr. Cave’s crisp conversational prose.” —The Economist “Cave explains how the seeking of immortality is the foundation of human achievement, the wellspring of art, religion and civilization. . . . .The author is rangy and recondite, searching the byways of elixirs, the surprises of alchemy, the faith in engineering and all the wonder to be found in d
