The Eternity Prize - Prologue
The Eternal Debate
The Eternity Prize: Pro and Con - Asbury Park Free Press
10 March 2068
Humanity has been obsessed with the quest for immortality throughout the ages. In recent years, that goal appears to be within our grasp. Rick Khoury's Eternity Project seeks to implant a human consciousness in a bio-enhanced robot that could, theoretically, live forever. The Earth Alliance is offering ten trillion Yuan to the first scientist who can make that dream come true.
Can we transcend our own mortality. Could we possibly bring back the dead?
More importantly, should we? Dr. Joseph Roth, inventor of the M-1 Cancer Cure, says we should not.
Rick Khoury’s Flawed Search for Eternity
I think the Eternity Project is a terrible idea, and I say this as a doctor who fights death by every means possible.
While researching my M-1 cancer treatment, I took my cues from nature. I studied cellular life and death. A living cell is as complex as a small city, composed of many interconnected yet independently moving parts. Like cities, cells are ordinary parts of our everyday lives, yet they are the very complex results of millions of years of evolution.
Although it seems counterintuitive, the death of cells, like the rise and fall of great cities, helps us survive and thrive. When it's done right.
The worst form of cell death is necrosis. Necrotic cells refuse to die. Their toxicity eventually builds to the point where they burst open, releasing their poison into the body, making it impossible for wounds to heal. When necrotic cells finally die, they bring the whole organism down with them.
The best form of cell death is apoptosis. This process usually occurs when a cell becomes old, diseased or damaged. Its own signaling molecules will tell it to voluntarily self-destruct to make room for new cells. Apoptosis is the reason we don't have embryonic webbed hands and feet. It maintains the epidermal structure of our skin. It controls the development of neurons. It's the most common form of cell death, and it's essential for life.
Rick Khoury thinks death is our enemy, but I disagree. The fear of death is our real enemy. It distracts us from the miracle that each life holds. You are unique, created from the eternal. Dying comes from the privilege of having lived.
There is immortality in the cellular world. The stubborn refusal of one cell among billions to accept death and the natural order is called cancer. It’s the ultimate worst-case scenario.
And cells never lie.
- Dr. Joseph Roth, MD, PhD, Neuro-Oncology fellow at St. Brendan's Medical Center
Rick Khoury’s response
Doc Joe—you're one smart kid, I'll give you that. Cancer cure at age 17, PhD and MD at age 18—you're a real-life Dougie Howser. And if you don't get that reference, watch the series on my 'Astronaut Rick's Oldies' channel (TM).' It's available on Earth and Mars. Subscribe now and get the first month free.
You raise interesting issues, but the point of Eternity sailed right over your head. It's not about living forever, it's about helping mankind evolve into a sturdy, spacefaring species. Space can kill you in a million ways, and none are pretty. Remember the Strauss Mission? They ran out of food, the hydroponics failed, all because somebody forgot to pack the pumps. Ten skeletons landed in Xanthe Terra, half with tooth marks. Once you burn your engines for Mars, you can't turn back.
Then there was the time I tried to fix a loose screw outside my ship. A scrap of space junk ripped past me at 36,000 klicks an hour, tore my suit near the elbow, created a vacuum that sucked the oxygen out of my skin. I've had all the surgeries and enhancements your medical science can offer, and my arm still isn't right.
Space doesn't give a shit about apoptosis and your cells. Make one mistake and it'll chew you up in a supernova and crap you through a black hole. Yeah, I survived, but I'm one of the few. When you're talking about the colonization of space, you're talking about millions of humans who aren't prepared for what's out there. Biowarfare and nukes turned Earth into a dumpster fire. Refugees are coming to Mars by the shipload. And, good God, why am I wasting my valuable time explaining this to a child?
Doc Joe, get back to me when your balls drop.
- General Richard Khoury, President of Mars