Adventure Quote by Yuval Noah Harari
““How long will the Gilgamesh Project – the quest for immortality – take to complete? A hundred years? Five hundred years? A thousand years? When we recall how little we knew about the human body in 1900, and how much knowledge we have gained in a single century, there is cause for optimism. Genetic engineers have recently managed to double the average life expectancy of Caenorhabditis elegans worms.12 Could they do the same for Homo sapiens? Nanotechnology experts are developing a bionic immune system composed of millions of nano-robots, who would inhabit our bodies, open blocked blood vessels, fight viruses and bacteria, eliminate cancerous cells and even reverse ageing processes.13 A few serious scholars suggest that by 2050, some humans will become a-mortal (not immortal, because they could still die of some accident, but a-mortal, meaning that in the absence of fatal trauma their lives could be extended indefinitely). Whether or not Project Gilgamesh succeeds, from a historical perspective it is fascinating to see that most late-modern religions and ideologies have already taken death and the afterlife out of the equation. Until the eighteenth century, religions considered death and its aftermath central to the meaning of life. Beginning in the eighteenth century, religions and ideologies such as liberalism, socialism and feminism lost all interest in the afterlife. What, exactly, happens to a Communist after he or she dies? What happens to a capitalist? What happens to a feminist? It is pointless to look for the answer in the writings of Marx, Adam Smith or Simone de Beauvoir. The only modern ideology that still awards death a central role is nationalism. In its more poetic and desperate moments, nationalism promises that whoever dies for the nation will for ever live in its collective memory. Yet this promise is so fuzzy that even most nationalists do not really know what to make of it. The””
About This Quote
Source Book: Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow, Yuval Noah Harari, 2015
The quote explores humanity’s quest for immortality through biotech and nanotech, noting rapid scientific progress and its cultural impact on how societies view death and afterlife.
In simple terms: Science may extend life, reshaping beliefs about death.
Consider ethical limits of life‑extension.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- medical research
- policy making
- philosophical debate
- personal health planning
- public discourse
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- What responsibilities accompany the power to greatly extend life?
- How might prolonged lifespans alter societal structures?
Optimism may overlook unforeseen social, ecological, and moral consequences.