视点——永生，人类永恒的追求

英语自学网

概述：古今中外，无数人耗尽一生精力追求长生不老，但无论是炼丹还是炼金，都没能带给他们永生。何为不朽？这是一个悖论？
Hints：
Theodore Powys
Mary Shelley
Dr Frankenstein
主持&翻译&注解：fancyfrances
校对：sighsmile
答疑：cherryxyr"The longest life may fade and perish," wrote Theodore Powys, "but one moment can live and become immortal."
It's an arresting thought, and never more so than today when so many people are doing whatever they can to live longer. There's nothing new in the quest for longevity. Ancient Chinese and early modern European alchemists dreamt of an elixir that would give perpetual life. In Mary Shelley's novel, Dr Frankenstein pursues the dream by reanimating bodily parts of the dead.
But it's only in recent times that the dream has captured masses of people, with millions following diets and exercise regimes in the hope that they can put off dying for as long as possible. There are a few who go further, groups of immortalists, who have their cadavers frozen until technology develops to a point where they can be resuscitated or who stuff themselves with hundreds of vitamins every day while looking forward to a time when they can upload their minds into cyberspace and escape death altogether.
It would be rash to assume that such far-fetched ideas will never be feasible. We're living longer than any previous human generation, and there's no obvious limit to this process."人的一生活得再长久终将消逝、归于死亡。"西奥多•波伊斯写道，"但某一瞬间却可以获得永生、成为不朽。"
这是一种令人注目的思想，尤其时至今日，许多人依然竭尽所能以求长寿。在追求永生的道路上别无新意。中国古代炼丹师和欧洲近代早期的炼金师都梦寐以求长生不老之灵丹妙药。在玛丽•雪莱的小说中，弗兰肯斯坦教授所追求的正是通过复苏死亡躯体的某些部分从而使人死而复生。
但是直到近代，这一梦想才真正开始吸引更多的人，成千上万的人们关注饮食和运动，希望尽可能的延长生命的长度。有一部分人更高瞻远瞩－一群不朽者，他们将自己的尸体冷藏，直到有一天，科学技术先进到可以复苏他们的生命。另一些人则每天拼命地补充维生素，期望有朝一日他们能够将自己的思想上传到网络空间中，这也是人们逃避死亡的一种方式。
断定这些差强人意的想法永不可行难免有些轻率。如今我们比起之前任何一代人都要活得更长，并且在这一进程中并没有明显的限制。