What really is immortality? This is a wonderful question pondered by many great minds over the millennium and although some prefer to shrug the suggestion, others find solace, hope and comfort.
Historically, immortality was an expression of a religious belief. Scientific writings as late as the early 1800’s often began with an expression of how their work was not religious blasphemy, but was, in truth, another expression of the miracles around us.
The American Psychologist William James was someone who wrestled with concepts that often had a foothold in two worlds: scientific (psychological/philosophical) and religious. Conflicting perspectives weren’t unusual at the turn of the century (1900’s) as the theory of evolution was finding both acceptance and resistance. Scientific exploration was continuing to explode and a dichotomy between what we thought we knew and what science was beginning to theorize came in sharp contrast. In a final funny quip, William James concludes one of his seminal works with the following about salvation (immortality):
“For practical life at any rate, the chance of salvation is enough. No fact in human nature is more characteristic than its willingness to live on a chance. The existence of a chance makes the difference, as Edmund Gurney says, between a life of which the keynote is resignation and a life of which the keynote is hope. But all these statement are unsatisfactory from their brevity, and I can only say that I hope to return to the same question in another book.”
William James ( page 526-527, “The Varieties of Religious Experiences”, 1903)
The ancient Egyptians believed that a person lived on simply by mentioning their name and they certainly carved the name of their pharaohs into every pillar and wall lest we forget. However, I think real ‘immortality’ is simply being remembered by those important to you.
So, this goes a long way to say that I created a little bit of ‘immortality’ for Laura… a mouse pad with a picture of her and her new book. Laura, do you feel ‘immortalized?’ 😉
Roger