Are there real immortals living among us?

[great lover]

There are stories in every mythology that someone gained immortality.

The French Philosopher Voltaire spoke of Count. St-Germain

There is the myth of Emperor Qin Shihuang who claimed to have found the elixir of immortality.

There are a few legends in each culture, including Jesus Christ, who lived forever.

So, do you believe in immortals?

 

[Tryharder62]

Well I believe that I will live forever. The essence of me, my soul if you will, will live on.

 

[Hard_Rom]

"Xanadu"


'To seek the sacred river Alph
To walk the caves of ice
To break my fast on honeydew
And drink the milk of Paradise...'

I had heard the whispered tales of immortality
The deepest mystery
From an ancient book I took a clue
I scaled the frozen mountain tops of eastern lands unknown
Time and Man alone
Searching for the lost Xanadu

Xanadu...

To stand within the Pleasure Dome
Decreed by Kubla Khan
To taste anew the fruits of life
The last immortal man
To find the sacred river Alph
To walk the caves of ice
Oh, I will dine on honeydew
And drink the milk of Paradise

A thousand years have come and gone but time has passed me by
Stars stopped in the sky
Frozen in an everlasting view
Waiting for the world to end, weary of the night
Praying for the light
Prison of the lost
Xanadu

Xanadu...

Held within the Pleasure Dome
Decreed by Kubla Khan
To taste my bitter triumph
As a mad immortal man
Nevermore shall I return
Escape these caves of ice
For I have dined on honeydew
And drunk the milk of Paradise

Writer(s): Geddy Lee Weinrib, Geddy Lee, Neil Peart, Alex Lifeson

Nope. Dead. Game over lights out. Your time is done. Nothingness the end of every thing for the individual. Only in passed on gene sequences, memories (which die to) and if lucky your 15 minutes of fame immortalized somehow someway.

From the dust of stars you were made and to stardust you will return.

 

[Que]

Yes, good writers are immortal.

 

[Lazurius]

The ultimate freedom of choice in play:

There are two paths: the path of life and the path of death, and the difference between the two is great.

The Didache

 

[smoothg103rd]

I believe that having kids made me immortal. Because I will always live through them and theirs.

 

[removed9556]

 

[Aella_]

They say that cultural values (religion, national identity, hoping to leave some sort of legacy through art, kids, etc.) offer some protection against the fear of death or some symbolic substitute for imortality.

Not sure how much of a consollation all these would still be, though, when someone close to you dies. I guess people start turning to the more "superstitious" beliefs, then; the ones that are ridiculed by others. These seem to be far more consoling : the myths described by the OP, the religious ones, the out of body/near death experience accounts, etc.

 

[Rachel_X]

I apparently suffer from delusions of grandeur because I don't think that I can die.
Trust doctors to see immortality as a medical problem.

 

[removed9556]

 

[Aella_]

Does consolation trump the truth for you? Genuine question.

I wasn't referring to myself; I was talking in general. (my english as 2nd)

I might be mistaken, but I think that these beliefs are very helpful for a few of those who grieve. Otherwise: easy for some people to sink into despair. What they decide to believe in afterwards, once they get past that phase - it depends on the individual.

We need to lie to ourselves, I think, in order to make life easier. Otherwise, we'll end up being a collective psychoanalyst who keeps saying : "You're nothing, you suck, and life sucks.The sooner you accept these and "take full responsibility", the better".

 

[Hypoxia]

Immortals will have a hard time when the next planet-busting asteroid hits.

Wham.

 

[removed9556]

 

[removed9556]

 

[GforGraham]

There can be only one.

 

[removed9556]

 

[Mike_Yates]

Keanu Reeves is one, here is a 19th century painting of him.

http://www.flickfilosopher.com/wptest/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/reevesmounet.gif

 

[warrior queen]

Is there an immortal ant? Tuna? Bison?
If you accept that other living things have finite lives, why would you not apply that to humans?
This is all there is - when you die, it's over.
I find it astonishing that so many people waste their lives because they assume there's something after death.
Live NOW to the fullest extent.....because if you're wrong, and there really is nothing after you die....then you have squandered a trully magnificent existance.
And even if there is something after death, does that mean you shouldn't make the absolute most of your life?

 

[Hypoxia]

A fetus is unborn.

A living person is undead.

Thus, we are all zombies. Yum. Brains.

 

[Mayberrygirl]

Mmmm...keep it up..ask..question..use your brains.. Maybe someday you will join us...

 

[StrangeView]

Damn, they've found me!!

 

[Mayberrygirl]

My ancestor... Zenas Kilgore..a Native American.. Nasty badass mofo.. Knew he was here for a short time...but.... Spent the time to show me.. Passed the genes and truth on...

 

[Mad_Jack_Rabbit]

There are stories in every mythology that someone gained immortality.

The French Philosopher Voltaire spoke of Count. St-Germain

There is the myth of Emperor Qin Shihuang who claimed to have found the elixir of immortality.

There are a few legends in each culture, including Jesus Christ, who lived forever.

So, do you believe in immortals?

Don't be silly. Of course I don't.

There are people who believe in magic water that can cure all ills even though the metastudies show it no better than a placebo.

The teachings of Galen held sway over the medical community for centuries until they were shown to be laughable.

Erich Von Daniken has made a lot of money, sorry, claims about how we have been visited by aliens. A rational interpretation of his evidence, even generous interpretations, show this evidence to be highly tenuous at best.

And let's not forget the claims made by the Great Messiah Himself, L. Ron Hubbard.

Immortality? What we know from science about the human body, cell division, repair and ageing make immortality highly improbable, and quiet possibly impossible.

 

[Hard_Rom]

There can be only one.

Then they should have stuck with just one.

All the rest were total crap! TV was better.

Who wants to live forever?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEZYm7s-54Q

 

[about_average]

Sure. The original being Woodrow Wilson Smith.
You can read about him in, Methuselah's Children, Time Enough for Love, and The Notebooks of Lazarus Long.