1142: Will I be immortal?...

 What doesn't work in the literal sense can still succeed in the figurative sense. This golden rule has proven its validity many times in history.

    

Although earthly immortality is still unattainable, we can leave something behind, which may continue to exist after our death. 

   

Here I'll make a personal turn in this lecture because while preparing this lecture I realized that this is exactly what I have been doing lately: making myself immortal in the figurative sense.

   

On November 8, 2023 my wife died suddenly. You can imagine my grief and without thinking I began to write little poems about it and in April 2024 I published my poetry collection.

   

Apart from the fact that a lot of family and friends received a copy, the book was also accepted by the local public library.

   

After this publication, I kept on writing, while my physical condition seriously deteriorated, which made me end up in the hospital for 8 days.

  

After that episode, I continued writing. I wanted a second volume and this time with a "happy" ending. Volume 2 is at the printer's now and I will publish it on November 8, 2024, at a family gathering.

   

In volume 2 there is a little poem, which more or less points at my intuitive wish and conviction, that this was the way to live on beyond our death, my wife and me. This was before I was working on our present project.

jij en ik                                   you and me

uit tranen geboren                 born from tears 

woorden die niet                    words that

verloren mogen gaan            should not be lost

Ik schrijf ze op                       I write them down 

laat ze drukken                      have them printed

op papier                               on paper

de herinnering bijft                 the memory remains 

zo blijven wij hier                   in that way we stay

    

This is how i made us immortal. My body will eventually too turn to ashes, but the product of my heart and mind will remain.

    

There are many other ways to become "immortal".Think of setting up a foundation, setting up a business, or building a house. We can also 'pass something on' to others, such as through education or mentorship, but also through parenthood and upbringing. 

  

Parenthood and raising children is perhaps the best candidate for both 'passing something on' and 'leaving something behind'. You pass on norms, values, ideas and knowledge to your children, and they usually continue to live for a while after you are gone.  

  

They can also provide further offspring so that something of you really does live on. This brings the meaningful goal of immortality a little closer, although it is a small consolation for your physical mortality. 

   

All over the world, both biological and non-biological offspring are a source of meaning. However, it is good to keep in mind that figurative immortality extends beyond offspring alone. It also concerns the impact that people can have on others outside of family ties. 

   

Think of teachers who have a formative and lasting influence on their students, mentors who guide young people through crucial moments in their lives, artists who create masterpieces that inspire generations, or people who can bring about small or large social changes. 

   

It really crossed my mind. I have been a college teacher for thirty years and occasionally I thought: I teach all these hundreds of students insights and skills, which they will take with them into their future.

   

In all these cases, we pass on something that does not stop at our own existence. Figurative immortality is therefore an achievable meaningful goal and it is a nice feeling when you see you really can achieve something in that respect.

   

Thank you for your attention again........

  

Main Sources:

MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1995

http://www.iep.utm.edu/

 http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.htm

Rens Bod:  Waarom ben ik hier? (2024)

TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------  

  1 - 100 Philosophers                                              9 May 2009  Start of

  2 - 25+ Women Philosophers                              10 May 2009  this blog

  3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking                               10 May 2009

  4 - Modern Theories of Ethics                              29 Oct  2009

  5 - The Ideal State                                               24 Febr 2010   /   234

  6 - The Mystery of the Brain                                  3 Sept 2010   /   266

  7 - The Utopia of the Free Market                       16 Febr 2012    /   383

  8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism                      5 Sept 2012   /   413

  9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist                             6 Nov  2012   /   426                        

10  - Non-Western Philosophy                               29 May 2013    /   477

11  -  Why Science is Right                                      2 Sept 2014   /   534      

12  - A Philosopher looks at Atheism                        1 Jan  2015   /   557

13  - EVIL, a philosophical investigation                 17 Apr  2015   /   580                

14  - Existentialism and Free Will                             2 Sept 2015   /   586         

15 - Spinoza                                                             2 Sept 2016   /   615

16 - The Meaning of Life                                        13 Febr 2017   /   637

17 - In Search of  my Self                                        6 Sept 2017   /   670

18 - The 20th Century Revisited                              3 Apr  2018    /   706

19 - The Pessimist                                                  11 Jan 2020    /   819

20 - The Optimist                                                     9 Febr 2020   /   824

21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream                8 Oct  2020   /   872

22 - A World Full of Patterns                                    1 Apr 2021    /   912

23 - The Concept of Freedom                                  8 Jan 2022    /   965

24 - Materialism                                                      7 Sept 2022   /  1011

25 - Historical Materialism                                       5 Oct 2023    /  1088

26 - The Bonobo and the Atheist                             9 Jan 2024    /  1102

27 - Artificial Intelligence                                          9 Feb 2024    /  1108

28 - Why Am I Here                                                 6 Sept 2024   /  1139

 

The Discussion

[13:19] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): thank you Herman

[13:20] herman Bergson: I think figurative immortality is an interesting aspect of life.

[13:20] Max Chatnoir: I hope you will give us a link to your publications.

[13:21] herman Bergson: They are not online Max, only in print

[13:21] Scarlett Auster: thank you Herman, I think it is an interesting part of life, too, like what we leave behind and all of the forms that can take

[13:21] herman Bergson: I am the publisher myself

[13:22] Sookie Hart (sookicatalina): To build on what Scarlett said, what comes to mind is the idea of "legacy." Most people need to feel that they are leaving something of lasting value when they pass away. It is their legacy.

[13:22] herman Bergson: Yes Scarlet....and I slowly realize that I have that intuition...not a conscious drive....

[13:22] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): there are so many who have done that through poetry, music, art pieces

[13:22] herman Bergson: but due to this project I begin to realize what I am doing

[13:23] herman Bergson: That is what culture is, Gemma...

[13:23] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): Exactly

[13:23] herman Bergson: the spiritual immoortality of those on whose shoulders we stand

[13:24] Scarlett Auster: it's also interesting about what you said about teaching.. in that way, you are leaving behind your concepts, ideas, and insights, and the students are taking that forward forever within themselves, even they don't always directly tie those ideas to your name

[13:24] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): very good thought

[13:24] herman Bergson: I can give you an example....

[13:25] herman Bergson: In 1995 Ruben Oppenheimer was a student  of mine at the Academy of Art.... he studied graphic and illustrative design...

[13:25] herman Bergson: Does anyone of you know this name?

[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): not the Ruben

[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): the name is familiar

[13:26] Max Chatnoir: No

[13:26] Scarlett Auster: no I don't

[13:26] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ah i see

[13:26] herman Bergson: He is a famous cartoon maker in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe...

[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): https://www.instagram.com/rloppenheimer/?hl=en

[13:27] herman Bergson: I guess you may find him in Google...

[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): there

[13:27] herman Bergson: Ahhh

[13:27] herman Bergson: anyway....

[13:27] herman Bergson: He hated what I taught....computer skills

[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): and the Iran cartoon looks sort of like you

[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!

[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...

[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): I'm Sorry!

[13:27] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): I'm sorry..

[13:28] herman Bergson: Then about 10 years later...he already had a career I ran into him....

[13:28] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): hahhaha i know these guys on the pictures

[13:28] herman Bergson: and you know what he said...???

[13:28] herman Bergson: herman....Now I am glad you taught me to handle computers...Now I understand :-)

[13:29] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ahh

[13:29] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): your legacy

[13:29] herman Bergson: He does everything digitally now

[13:30] Scarlett Auster: that's so cool that he said that to you.. a good example of one of your students remembering what you passed on

[13:30] Max Chatnoir: Wonderful, Herman

[13:30] herman Bergson: So...I like the feeling that comes with the observation, that you exist and go on outside yourself in others and other objects

[13:31] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): I am glad it brings you peace

[13:31] herman Bergson: Yes....it relates to the meaning of life....

[13:31] Scarlett Auster: what is your take on the meaning of life?

[13:32] herman Bergson: Why am I here?

[13:32] herman Bergson: There is one thing to keep in mind first....

[13:33] herman Bergson: when we have a word, we are strongly inclined to look for the thing it refers to.... one word...one reference....

[13:33] herman Bergson: That is often true but not always

[13:34] herman Bergson: So asking for the meaning of life is not asking for one single description or definition

[13:34] herman Bergson: The word "meaning" can refer to a multitude of öbjects"

[13:35] herman Bergson: Wittgenstein already pointed at the problem

[13:35] herman Bergson: Take the word game...what is a game?

[13:36] herman Bergson: There is not one single unique definition or description that explains the meaning of such a word

[13:37] Max Chatnoir: No, that's a big one.

[13:38] Max Chatnoir: checkers, chess, Monopoly, stock market, political campaigns....

[13:38] herman Bergson: So, my take on the meaning of life...I guess, it may have something to do with all I have said today for the time being :-)

[13:38] herman Bergson: Yes Max

[13:38] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): that works

[13:39] Scarlett Auster: yes, that makes sense to me too, what you've said - about the meaning of life being tied to what we are here to do and leave and pass on, and also what we are here to learn

[13:39] Sookie Hart (sookicatalina): I guess most people feel that one of the reasons they are here or a way to give meaning to their lives is by passing on their knowledge or genes (by having children) or their art or whatever their legacy is

[13:40] bergfrau Apfelbaum: mhm ...the meaning of life lies in life itself, if you give it meaning....

[13:40] herman Bergson: As I said...we are standing on the shoulder of those who lived before us...

[13:40] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): very true

[13:40] Max Chatnoir: and holding hands with those who live in community with us.

[13:40] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): love that idea

[13:41] herman Bergson: hardly three lectures in this project and we already have found a meaning of life :-)))

[13:41] bergfrau Apfelbaum: yay

[13:41] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) GIGGLES!!

[13:41] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ...LOL...

[13:41] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): now what to do

[13:42] herman Bergson: yeah...indeed Gemma....lol...are we done?

[13:42] Scarlett Auster: haha and it's only my first time ever and we've already hit my favorite topic - the meaning of life lol

[13:42] Max Chatnoir: keep your eyes open and a hand free?

[13:42] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): there must be more

[13:42] herman Bergson: You can leave with an A+ Scarlet...

[13:42] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): I am sure Beertje

[13:42] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): always is

[13:43] Scarlett Auster: ha! thanks herman

[13:43] herman Bergson: No worries....there is more :-)

[13:43] herman Bergson: But I'll save that for next Thursday :-))

[13:44] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): 😀

[13:44] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): will try to make it

[13:44] bergfrau Apfelbaum: Thank you Hermand and class!

[13:44] herman Bergson: So, thank you all again....hope to see you next lecture again

[13:44] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): depends on the company

[13:44] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate): ♥ Thank Youuuuuuuuuu!! ♥

[13:44] herman Bergson: Class dismissed ....

   

1041: Immortality....

 If there is one thing that can destroy any meaning of life, then it is DEATH. You think you are important, can't be missed and "poof", you can be dead the next day and in the worst scenario, even forgotten after a while.

   You can imagine, that from the moment homo sapiens became aware of his finitude, he asked the question: "Why am I here?" and was confronted with the answer: "To die eventually".

   

Man never accepted that answer and was striving for imperishability, immortality, in no time. This striving has deep historical roots. The most famous evidence is perhaps Gilgamesh.

  

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic from ancient Mesopotamia, written c.a. 2100 -1200 B.C. Gilgamesh became the hero par excellence of the ancient world—an adventurous, brave, but tragic figure symbolizing man's vain but endless drive for fame, glory, and immortality.

  

The denial of death may have been one of the first priorities of man. "The Denial of Death" is also the title of a Pulitzer Prize-winning book, written by Ernest Becker (1924 – 1974), an American cultural anthropologist.

   

Becker claimed that: "In The Denial of Death I argued that man's innate and all-encompassing fear of death drives him to attempt to transcend death through culturally standardized hero systems and symbols. 

  

In the book, his premise was that human civilization is a defense mechanism against the knowledge of our mortality. Becker argues that a basic duality in human life exists between the physical world of objects and biology, and a symbolic world of human meaning. 

  

Thus, since humanity has a dualistic nature consisting of a physical self and a symbolic self, we can transcend the dilemma of mortality by focusing our attention mainly on our symbolic selves, 

    

that means, on our culturally based self-esteem, which Becker calls "heroism": a "defiant creation of meaning" expressing "the myth of the significance of human life" as compared to other animals. 

   

This counters the personal insignificance and finitude that death represents in the human mind.

   

Maybe you already have understood: civilization as a defense mechanism against the knowledge of our mortality. a symbolic self. That sounds like the idea of an afterlife or immortalizing yourself in a work of art.

   

People have sought immortality in all historical periods, right up to the present day. Even Isaac Newton was looking for the Philosopher's Stone, which among other things could heal all illnesses and thus lengthen life indefinitely.

   

Contemporary research is of course not about immortality, but about research into combating the signs of aging, for example.

   

What to think about our striving for immortality? Let's think about it. We only give meaning to any existence if we are aware of it or have a memory of it. 

   

This latter leads to a surprising and possibly meaningful insight: if we only give meaning to life if we are aware of it or have some memory of it, then this life is subjectively considered, that is, reasoned from our experience, something without a beginning or an end. 

  

Since we will never experience our own beginning or end and therefore never have any memory of it, subjectively considered we have eternal life, or at least a life without a beginning or an end. 

   

After all, the beginning of our life is shrouded in mist in terms of consciousness, as is its end. In this way, we seem to have always been there and always to be there. 

  

Are we then immortal without realizing it? Of course not. We see people being born and dying around us, although we will never have any memory of it for ourselves. 

   

Objectively life has a beginning and an end, no person has ever returned, but subjectively not. How about that?

   

Thank you for your attention again...

Main Sources:

MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 1995

http://www.iep.utm.edu/

 http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.htm

Rens Bod:  Waarom ben ik hier? (2024)

TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------  

  1 - 100 Philosophers                                              9 May 2009  Start of

  2 - 25+ Women Philosophers                              10 May 2009  this blog

  3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking                               10 May 2009

  4 - Modern Theories of Ethics                              29 Oct  2009

  5 - The Ideal State                                               24 Febr 2010   /   234

  6 - The Mystery of the Brain                                  3 Sept 2010   /   266

  7 - The Utopia of the Free Market                       16 Febr 2012    /   383

  8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism                      5 Sept 2012   /   413

  9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist                             6 Nov  2012   /   426                        

10  - Non-Western Philosophy                               29 May 2013    /   477

11  -  Why Science is Right                                      2 Sept 2014   /   534      

12  - A Philosopher looks at Atheism                        1 Jan  2015   /   557

13  - EVIL, a philosophical investigation                 17 Apr  2015   /   580                

14  - Existentialism and Free Will                             2 Sept 2015   /   586         

15 - Spinoza                                                             2 Sept 2016   /   615

16 - The Meaning of Life                                        13 Febr 2017   /   637

17 - In Search of  my Self                                        6 Sept 2017   /   670

18 - The 20th Century Revisited                              3 Apr  2018    /   706

19 - The Pessimist                                                  11 Jan 2020    /   819

20 - The Optimist                                                     9 Febr 2020   /   824

21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream                8 Oct  2020   /   872

22 - A World Full of Patterns                                    1 Apr 2021    /   912

23 - The Concept of Freedom                                  8 Jan 2022    /   965

24 - Materialism                                                      7 Sept 2022   /  1011

25 - Historical Materialism                                       5 Oct 2023    /  1088

26 - The Bonobo and the Atheist                             9 Jan 2024    /  1102

27 - Artificial Intelligence                                          9 Feb 2024    /  1108

28 - Why Am I Here                                                 6 Sept 2024   /  1139

 

The Discussion

[13:14] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you Herman

[13:14] Max Chatnoir: Very interesting distinction!  Our birth and death only matter to other people.

[13:14] Max Chatnoir: Or is only marked by them.

[13:15] herman Bergson: Looks like it Max :-)

[13:15] herman Bergson: It  is a bit in line with such ideas as "Life in the NOW, the present"

[13:16] herman Bergson: We just are....not beginning or ending only aging

[13:17] herman Bergson: Relates to the ideas, too, like live your life to the full now....as a meaning of life

[13:17] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): that's true I guess

[13:18] herman Bergson: What I find interesting is that dichotomy of physical body / symbolic body

[13:19] herman Bergson: At least Christianity is very negative about the physical body....it is the soul that counts

[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the body is just a physical shell

[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the consciousness is in the soul

[13:19] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): as I understand the concept

[13:19] herman Bergson: Muslims blow themselves up, their symbolic body gets 72 virgins

[13:19] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): a virgin can be an old man too

[13:20] herman Bergson: :-)

[13:20] Max Chatnoir: Our nonphysical part includes our interactions with other people.  So that lives on.

[13:20] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm these suicide bombers :(

[13:20] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): (shudders)

[13:20] herman Bergson: We become memories, Max

[13:21] herman Bergson: or leave some artwork behind

[13:21] herman Bergson: and kids :-)

[13:21] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): i hope i will be a good memory

[13:21] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡

[13:22] herman Bergson: You have to wait for that Beertje :-)

[13:22] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): a long time I hope

[13:22] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): yes!

[13:22] Max Chatnoir: I have one of your pictures in my husband's little cabin on Genome.  So that is some you and some him.

[13:22] herman Bergson: working on it myself :-)

[13:23] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): ツ

[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but indeed what is it that makes me me?

[13:23] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well

[13:23] herman Bergson: Who's picture, Max, mine?

[13:24] Max Chatnoir: Beertje's

[13:24] herman Bergson: Ahh..

[13:25] herman Bergson: I have one to in RL even :-)

[13:25] Max Chatnoir: I thought he would have liked it.

[13:25] bergfrau Apfelbaum: i think that the people we love today will always remember us until they too are gone :-)

[13:25] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): famous Beer

[13:26] Max Chatnoir: Nice, Herman!

[13:26] herman Bergson: So, symbolically and subjectively we could experience a kind of immortality.

[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): unless gene technology can soon prolong our lives

[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well see

[13:27] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well

[13:27] Max Chatnoir: Did you read the last Harry Potter book where he sort of does and goes to a train station and talks to Dumbledore?  And he asks " is this real or only in my head".  And Dumbledore said "of course it is in your head, but does that make it not real?

[13:27] herman Bergson: Littke chance Bejiita

[13:28] Max Chatnoir: Sorry, sort of dies....

[13:28] herman Bergson: Berkley's idealism, Max :-)

[13:28] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well logically it should be possible if we can repair what is breaking but i have not checked too much into it, i read about some guy doing some stem cell therapy that supposedly made him younger,

[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): at least he felt like that

[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): did not check into it too much but we live in the scientific era

[13:29] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): as said, well see

[13:29] herman Bergson: I'd advise BOTOX, Bejiita :-)

[13:29] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): grins

[13:29] herman Bergson: That works :-)

[13:30] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): being old is not a crime

[13:30] Max Chatnoir: Who knew that botulism would be cosmetic?

[13:30] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): it's poison

[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): true

[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm

[13:31] herman Bergson: But all these cosmetic treatments to hide aging...man will  at least look immortal, even today

[13:31] bergfrau Apfelbaum: every wrinkle on your face tells a little story. You should be proud of that. Eternal youth. no thanks!

[13:32] Max Chatnoir: I think my sister took it for her headaches.

[13:32] Max Chatnoir: Maybe still does.

[13:32] herman Bergson: Well, there is one problem that crossed my mind....

[13:32] Second Life: Jιммy Sɳσω (JimmyChambers) is now known as Jιммy.

[13:32] herman Bergson: Suppose man becomes immortal...what will happen to this planet?

[13:33] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): full of old man

[13:33] herman Bergson: full is full at a certain moment in time, I'd say

[13:33] Max Chatnoir: Yes, you can live forever but you have to be celibate.  :-)

[13:34] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): full of virgins:)))

[13:34] Max Chatnoir: What a thought!

[13:34] herman Bergson: Well, at least the population may not grow

[13:34] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): more than the 79 in heaven

[13:34] herman Bergson: And being immortal....what is the meaning of staying alive forever....how do you see your future?

[13:36] herman Bergson: And why would you want to stay alive forever?

[13:36] herman Bergson: Is it motivated by fear of death?

[13:36] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): forever is very long.....

[13:36] Max Chatnoir: Yes and spend most of my time cleaning up the house?

[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well a bright nice one I hope although we now have multiple maniacs threatening to blow up all life on the planet with a global nuclear war

[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): that won't happen i hope for sure

[13:36] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): (shudders)

[13:37] Max Chatnoir: I hope so too, but relying on rationality isn't always, well, reliable.

[13:37] herman Bergson: Another one....what would be the meaning of war when everyone is immortal?

[13:37] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): those guys aren't rational at all for sure so...

[13:37] herman Bergson: You can not kill your opponent....oh my....

[13:38] CONNIE Eichel: it could be a nightmare

[13:38] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): what is the maening of war anyway?

[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well you would still die if hit by a bomb, you just would not age

[13:38] Max Chatnoir: But you can knock off pieces?  That would be truly gruesome!

[13:38] herman Bergson: I am getting to that belief myself too, CONNIE :-)

[13:39] herman Bergson: immortal is immortal, Bejiita, bombs or not

[13:39] CONNIE Eichel: full mode hehe

[13:39] Max Chatnoir: I think we're smart enough to find a solution, but we have to get serious.

[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i think of genetically immortal, not explosion-proof

[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): that's a different thing

[13:40] herman Bergson: The more you think about it, the more bizar it becomes to see immortality as something that gives our life meaning

[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): then ud need to replace the skin and skeleton with pansar armor

[13:40] Max Chatnoir: no death, no evolution

[13:41] CONNIE Eichel: immortal, but not invulnerable... another nightmare

[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): genetic modification?

[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hmm

[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well it's complicated and deep

[13:42] herman Bergson: OK, gonna look for an alternative next Tuesday :-)

[13:43] Max Chatnoir: On Science Friday last week, there was something about introducing a heat shock protein gene into corals to unbleach them.

[13:43] herman Bergson: I have a feeling that physical immortality won't work  in the long run

[13:44] herman Bergson: I hope it works, Max

[13:44] Max Chatnoir: I agree, Herman.  Immortality is not the answer.

[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): speaking of nuclear war and genetic modification , i just got an AI-generated image sent to me about the new fusion of Trump and Putin named Trumpin

[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): the leader of the new United States of Russia

[13:44] Max Chatnoir: TrumPut

[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): leader

[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): (shudders again)

[13:45] herman Bergson: We are digressing

[13:45] Max Chatnoir: Yes, a truly dreadful apparition.

[13:45] herman Bergson: So, let me thank you all again

[13:45] Max Chatnoir: We are, Herman.  Sorry!

[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): https://www.facebook.com/messenger_media/?attachment_id=459955583862727&message_id=mid.$gAAnA4XFYuzKYYVWuQWSMBBh5Ik3E&thread_id=2745349292210994

[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): here it is

[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): timing and coincidence?

[13:45] herman Bergson: Class dismissed...:-)

[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): from my Facebook friends

[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well

[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡

[13:45] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): sti hope for the best

[13:45] Max Chatnoir: Not available....

[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): some cards anyone?

[13:46] herman Bergson: Content is not available, Bejiita

[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): aaa might be that only the ones in my group can see it

[13:46] bergfrau Apfelbaum: thank you Herman and class:-))

[13:46] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): thank you Herman, very interesting again