Contest
ImmInst Essay Contest
Essay Prize
Essay Topic
Suggested Links
Suggested Reading
Requirements
Discussion
Questions
Two Winners: Anthony S. Dawber and Daniel Stein
See Topic: http://www.imminst.org/forum/index.php?s=&act=ST&f=202&t=5725&#entry84476
Essay Prize:(Cutoff Sept 10, 2005)
Top essay writer receives $200. Top 3 essays will be considered for inclusion in ImmInst's 2nd Book and authors will receive a certificate of appreciation at ImmInst's Nov 2005 Life Extension Conference. Top essays will be published to the ImmInst Member Article Archives.
Essay Topic: The Oblivion Question
Corliss Lamont writes in the preface to the 1990 edition of his book, "The Illusion of Immortality"**:
"I never expected to live to eighty-eight and to see "The Illusion of Immortality" printed in a fifth edition fifty-five years after its first publication in 1935. The fact indicates that the theme is of lasting interest to the American people. Yet it is surprising that both prior to and following the publication of my book, no similar work appeared in the United States concentrating exclusively on the denial of immortality. There have been chapters, yes; pamphlets, essays, lectures, broadcasts, and letters, but no entire volume.
In all of Great Britain's history, only one book entirely devoted to denying the hereafter had been published. That was the "The Belief in Personal Immortality" by E.S.T. Haynes in 1913. Prior to that time, so far as I can discern, no volume in the West was printed concentrating wholly on death as the natural and final end of a human personality."
-- Corliss Lamont, New York City, 1990
Lamont died in 1995. As far as we know, he was not signed up for cryonics. So, how did Lamont reconcile death in light of his ideas?
On page 268 Lamont writes,
"It is, however, misleading to talk of death as a 'reward,' since a true reward like a true punishment entails conscious experience of the fact. To him, then, who sacrifices his life for some idea and goes forever into the blank silences of oblivion, death is hardly a reward. While some men surrender up their lives on behalf of their fellows feeling sure of attaining eternal bliss thereby, there are many others who do so in the full knowledge that death means their absolute end."
Now, the more direct question to the writers of the ImmInst Essay Contest is:
How does one come to terms with the seemingly inescapable problem of oblivion after ones own death?
Or perhaps a more interesting question would be:
In the 70 years since Lomont first published his work, why has so little been written about the problem of oblivion after death?
Or perhaps the most ambitious question is:
Can science prove or disprove oblivion after death?
Feel free to weave this essay topic into the idea framework of your choosing.Writers are encouraged to bring multiple areas ofscience and/or philosophy to the table when discussing this timeless yet often overlooked topic.
** To clear up any confusion of terms, in Lamont's The Illusion of Immortality the term immortality refers to existence of a soul in an afterlife. The illusion to which Lamont refers is that there likely does not existingan immortal soul.
On the other hand, the term immortality as used by scientists today mainly refers to agelessness of an entity or organism. The Immortality Institute prefers to use the term physical immortality as to mean the "concept of existing for a potentially infinite or indeterminate length of time."
Death is Oblivion, ImmInst Poll
Physical Immortality
Evolutionary Psychology
Transhumanism
Cryonics
Scientific Conquest of Death
The Illusion of Immortality
Yes To Life: Memoirs of Corliss Lamont
Prospect of Immortality
ImmInst Member Articles
More Suggested Reading
Submission Cutoff: Sept 10, 2005
Format:
- Microsoft Word Document
- Double Spaced
- 7,000 word maximum
- Cover Page with Author Information & Short Biography
Email your essay as an attachment to: bjk@imminst.org
Essay Contest Discussion Topic:
http://www.imminst.org/forum/index.php?s=&act=ST&f=161&t=5725