Historical site Bagheera - secrets of history, mysteries of the universe. Mysteries of great empires and ancient civilizations, the fate of disappeared treasures and biographies of people who changed the world, secrets of special services. The history of wars, mysteries of battles and battles, reconnaissance operations of the past and present. World traditions, modern life in Russia, the mysteries of the USSR, the main directions of culture and other related topics - everything that official history is silent about.

Study the secrets of history - it's interesting...

Currently reading

In the winter of 1786, a tramp detained while crossing the Polish-Russian border was brought to the ruler of the Kyiv governorship. He called himself Vasily Baranshchikov and told an incredible story.

If the astronauts had not returned to Earth, the American government would have done everything to prevent the world from seeing the disaster that broke out in space...

By the early 1990s, the products produced by the automobile plant, which then proudly bore the name of the Lenin Komsomol (AZLK), ceased to meet the requirements of the time, both in aesthetic terms and in technical equipment. The enterprise, which for many years was one of the flagships of the Soviet Union, was steadily losing ground. It was necessary to put on the assembly line a new car that would meet modern fashion and technology. It was supposed to be the Moskvich-2143 Yauza, which designers and engineers called among themselves “a project for tomorrow.”

Millions of years ago, our distant ancestors came down from the trees. Then they were inferior to animals in almost everything. They did not have long claws, sharp teeth, or strong hooves, but they knew how to change the objects around them, creating devices for work, devices for defense and attack. What were the weapons of the Stone Age? And were ancient technologies really that primitive?

Since the founding of the state in Rus', a huge number of rulers have changed. We remember some of the brightest and most distinguished from school - Prince Vladimir, Ivan the Terrible, Peter I, Catherine II, others we heard something about somewhere - such as, for example, Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, Alexander I or Peter III. Most of the names of Russian monarchs don’t tell us anything at all. But each of them is famous for something and left their mark on history! To fill this gap, we decided to prepare a series of articles and talk about each ruler of Rus', starting from ancient times. So now, having heard the phrase from the famous film “Ivan Vasilyevich changes his profession,” you can competently exclaim: “We know these Rurikovichs!”

Zaire, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is not only the largest, but also the richest country in Africa: oil and gas fields, uranium, gold and silver mines, deposits of rare metals, a unique climate that allows four harvests a year. But she is still torn apart by internal conflicts. Some blame the dictator Mobuto Sese Seko, others curse the former white masters - the Belgians, while others believe that the country was plunged into chaos by revolutionaries who tried to push the Congolese towards the communist path of development in the mid-1960s.

There was a time when the name of Sergei Utochkin did not leave the pages of newspapers and magazines. The popularity of this bright red-haired, freckled stutterer could be the envy of any, even the most famous artist. “His whole life was colorful, active and brilliant in its own way,” wrote Alexander Kuprin. Utochkin showed himself in many sports, but most of all he became famous as an aviator.

Although the Lord said: “Thou shalt not kill,” people have killed at all times, and they were also proud of the effective murder weapons created in their country. In Russia, these were a three-line rifle and a Kalashnikov assault rifle, but among the Americans, perhaps the most famous weapon was the Oliver Winchester carbine, the famous “yellow guy,” or “yellow guy.” Many (and quite rightly!) consider it “the weapon that conquered the Wild West.”

The human body is 70% water. It is not for nothing that one famous biologist figuratively called living beings “animate water.” Obviously, for a person’s health and longevity, it is not indifferent what kind of water nourishes the tissues of his body.

Indeed, in recent years it has become known that water varies significantly not only in chemical impurities, but also in isotopic composition and other features. Many properties of water change, for example, if it is passed between the poles of a magnet. Water can be more biologically active, and this affects the aging process of the body. But we still don’t know much about the properties of water - an important component of our body.

In any case, today it is no longer vague legends or ancient legends, but scientific research that speaks about the influence of water on the health and life expectancy of the inhabitants of different regions of the Earth.

Where do people live longer?

It is known that residents of some Caribbean islands, such as Guadeloupe, look much younger than their European peers. When they are asked how they manage to remain young for a long time, the answer usually follows: “On our island, such water flows from springs that rejuvenates a person...” The inhabitants of the central regions of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) are also distinguished by excellent health. Residents of Sri Lanka consider the climate and water of mountain springs to be the reason for their health. Apparently, it was no coincidence that the ancients tried to look for life-giving water on this island.

Some scientists associate the longevity of the mountain people and a number of peoples of the North with the water they drink. This is the so-called “melt water effect”, which has a beneficial effect on metabolism and thereby, as it were, “rejuvenates” the body.

Today, searches are not conducted on distant islands or unknown lands. They are carried out in dozens of laboratories of the world's largest scientific centers that study the properties of water and its effect on the human body.

People who were extremely concerned about maximizing their lives were, for the most part, endowed with wealth and power. They were looking for the shortest route. And such a path seemed to exist. The most ancient traditions and legends mentioned it as the “elixir of immortality”, which the gods tasted. It was called differently in different countries. The gods of the ancient Greeks used ambrosia, which gives eternal life, the Indian gods used amrita, the gods of the Iranians used haoma. And only the gods of Ancient Egypt, showing majestic modesty, preferred water to the other food of the gods. True, the same water of immortality.

Alchemists and the Elixir of Immortality

No one came as close to the elixir of immortality as the alchemists, who, however, were looking for something completely different - ways to make gold. There was a certain logic in this. Immortality is a state that is not subject to change. Isn’t gold the only substance that is not subject to external influences? It is not afraid of alkalis or acids, it is not afraid of corrosion. It seemed that time itself was powerless before him. Does this metal contain some principle that makes it like this? And is it possible to isolate this substance from it or introduce it into the human body along with gold? “Whoever takes gold inside,” says one ancient Eastern text, “will live as long as gold.” This is the traditional basis of ancient beliefs: eat the eyes of an eagle - you will be like an eagle, eat the hearts of a lion - you will be strong like a lion... Gold was an indispensable component of various versions of the elixir of immortality. A recipe has come down to us, compiled by the personal physician of Pope Boniface VIII: one must mix crushed gold, pearls, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, topazes, white and red corals, ivory, sandalwood, deer heart, aloe root, musk and ambergris. (We hope that prudence will prevent readers from applying the composition given here too hastily.)

Ancient recipes

Not much simpler was another composition, which can be found in one ancient eastern book: “You need to take a toad that has lived for 10,000 years and a bat that has lived for 1,000 years, dry them in the shade, grind them into powder and take them.”

And here is the recipe from an ancient Persian text: “You need to take a man, red-haired and freckled, and feed him with fruits until he is 30 years old, then lower him into a stone vessel with honey and other ingredients, enclose this vessel in hoops and seal it hermetically. After 120 years, his body will turn into a mummy.” The contents of the vessel, including what became the mummy, could then be taken as a healing and life-prolonging agent.

Misconceptions that sprout in any sphere of human activity will bear a particularly bountiful harvest in this area. In this regard, we can mention a French scientist of the 15th century. In search of the elixir of life, he boiled 2000 eggs, separated the whites from the yolks and, mixing them with water, distilled them many times, hoping in this way to extract the sought-after substance of life.

The obvious meaninglessness of such recipes does not yet indicate the meaninglessness of the search itself. Only that which was discarded as unnecessary became known. But if we judge the history of a particular science only by unsuccessful experiments and failed discoveries, the picture will probably be approximately the same.

At all times, people dreamed of becoming immortal. How many hunters for life without death have searched for the formula of the treasured elixir on the worn pages of ancient tomes. The endless race for eternal life became the curse and obsession of many seekers, pushing them to commit monstrous crimes.

It is believed that the elixir of immortality is a fabulously magical substance that can rejuvenate the human body and make a person’s life endless.

The elixir of immortality is often mentioned in the myths, traditions and legends of many peoples as the “food” of the gods. For example, the gods of Ancient India ate amrita, Ancient Greece - ambrosia, Ancient Egypt - the water of immortality, Iranian deities - haoma.

The desire to acquire immortal life was the most desirable and tempting goal. But no one can say with certainty that anyone managed to gain immortal life - this possibility still remains a mystery.

Every person is sure that his life span is very short. How many means were there to gain endless life! And every time they gave hope to prolong life! It is possible that some people still succeeded...

The ancient Indian epic "Mahabharata" talks about the juice of a certain plant that prolongs human life to 10 thousand years. But where to find this wonderful plant is not said. But ancient Greek sources talk about the fruit of the “tree of life”, which can restore youth to a person. In Russian epics you can often find mention of “living water”, the source of which is located on the island of Buyan.

At the time of the discoveries of Christopher Columbus, many believed that lands had been found on which the sources of eternal life were located. Thus, an associate of Columbus wrote this to Pope Leo X: “North of Hispaniola, among other islands, there is one island at a distance of three hundred and twenty miles from it, as those who found it say, on the island there flows an inexhaustible spring of flowing water of such wonderful quality that an old man who drinks it while following a certain diet will, after a while, turn into a young man. I beg Your Holiness, do not think that I said this out of frivolity or at random: this rumor has really established itself at court as an undoubted truth, and not only the common people, but also many of those who stand above the crowd in their intelligence or wealth, too they believe him."

Many seekers have spent the time of their lives searching for an island with a mysterious source. As a result, many unknown lands were discovered, but no one found the source of immortality.

But there are many known recipes for the elixir of immortality. For example, a Tibetan recipe: put stones in a glass jar - rock crystal, smoky and rose quartz, amethyst, carnelian, cacholong and fill with water, then put it in the sun for 10 hours. As a result of exposure to sunlight on this solution, a rejuvenating drink is obtained that significantly increases vitality. This drink is taken orally, washed with it, and applied as a compress for cuts, bruises and burns.

Or here is another fairly simple recipe for preparing a rejuvenating infusion - it is known to many as a remedy discovered by Tibetan monks. An infusion is prepared from the herbs chamomile, immortelle and birch buds in equal quantities and taken half a glass with honey. The course lasts 45 days, but can be repeated only after five years.

The recipe for the elixir of youth, which is described in ancient Indian legends, is also quite simple. Chopped two heads of garlic need to be boiled in 1 liter of milk, and then left for at least 1 hour. You need to drink this infusion 1 tablespoon three times a day. This life-giving liquid helps cleanse blood vessels and improve immunity.

Many researchers claim that at one time Cleopatra allegedly drank a drink that gave immortality. However, since she committed suicide some time later, it is impossible to judge the success of the experiment.

Also interesting is the incident that happened to the Chinese Emperor Xuanzong (8th century). The court healer-alchemist prepared a drink of immortality for his ruler. The drug was prepared over the course of a year. But a month later, after taking the “drink of immortality,” the emperor died.

They say that in the small provincial Japanese town of Fukuoka there lived a 75-year-old woman named Sei Senagon. Perhaps her fate would have been the same as that of millions of women her age, if not for the mistake of the medical staff. She received an excessive dose of hormonal medication. The result stunned everyone - like a child, her teeth grew again, gray hair and wrinkles disappeared. The rejuvenated Japanese woman not only got married, but also gave birth to a child. After this, many older people rushed to take hormonal drugs, but none of them achieved the desired result.

Today, there are many theories that explain aging, but none of them is a universal remedy or basis for combating this phenomenon.

According to the Bible, initially, human life was eternal. However, the fall of Eve and Adam led to punishment, which consisted of deprivation of the gift of immortality. However, there are no rules without exceptions - it is known that the Lord gave one of Noah’s ancestors, Methuselah, the opportunity to live up to 969 years. Since then, the expression “Methuselah’s age” has become popular.

The legendary Hippocrates believed that a decrepit man could turn on the process of rejuvenation through sexual contacts with young girls. This is exactly the method that the famous King David used, thereby delaying the time of his decrepitude.

It should be noted that today the life and immortality of Count Cagliostro is being discussed quite a lot - some consider him a charlatan and a rogue, others consider him a man who knew the secret of the philosopher's stone.

It should be noted that interest in the philosopher's stone arose in the middle of the 10th century and continues to this day. The Philosopher's Stone is a mythical substance considered to be the beginning of all beginnings. It can give its owner immortality, knowledge and eternal youth. But not only these properties attracted alchemists all over the world. The main reason for the search for this mythical substance was that the philosopher's stone was capable of turning any metal into gold.

Modern science does not deny the possibility of transforming one chemical element into another. In addition, it must be said that today there are many legends about the transformation of metals into gold. For example, they say that Raymond Lully, by order of the English king Edward II, smelted about 60 thousand pounds of gold from tin, mercury and lead. And this gold was of the highest standard. Coins minted from this gold are still kept in English museums.

Or after the death of Emperor Rudolf II (1552-1612), a large amount of gold and silver bullion remained in the treasury (approximately 8 and 6 tons, respectively). No one could understand where he could get such an amount of precious metal, and most importantly, it was of such a high standard that it did not contain any impurities. And this fact amazed the researchers most of all, since at that time it was technically impossible to obtain a precious metal of such quality.

But let us return to the legends of immortality. They say the legendary Genghis Khan, feeling that his strength was waning and old age was just around the corner, gathered sorcerers, healers, sages and healers from all his lands, who claimed to know the secret of the elixir of youth and immortality. He ordered everyone to prepare the elixir. The test was simple - after the healer drank his potion, his head was cut off. If the severed head did not grow back when placed on the body, the next healer passed the test. This “fun” of Genghis Khan would have lasted long enough if one decrepit sage had not told him: “Great Khan, I have lived in this world for many years and have long lost count of my days. I have read many wise ancient books, and I know many hidden secrets. But there is no elixir of immortality, you are doing a useless task and wasting your allotted days. The immortality of the mortal body does not exist. Only the deeds of a deceased person and his spirit are immortal.” Having released the wise old man, the great conqueror ordered to prepare for a new campaign to conquer the whole world. According to legend, Genghis Khan died during a campaign against the Tangut state in 1227.

In India they will tell you about Raja Tapasviji, who lived 186 years (1770-1956) and this is documented. At 50, he retired to the Himalayas and became a hermit. By practicing spiritual practices and yoga, he achieved perfection in controlling his body (the state of samadhi). Tapasviji spoke about his meeting with an old hermit who spoke only the language of Ancient India - Sanskrit and claimed that he lived about 5 thousand years. This old man told Tapasviji about the elixir of immortality that he had. The drink should be taken no more than once every 10 years. After the death of Tapasviji, his home was carefully examined to find the elixir of immortality, but the search was fruitless.

Scientists believe that some multicellular organisms existing on earth are potentially immortal or capable of long-lasting existence if this existence is not interrupted by some accident. Such organisms include freshwater hydras, sea anemones, and some species of fish and reptiles. It is possible that this quality is facilitated by the low energy level of metabolism of these organisms, so their rate of aging is significantly slowed down.

At the same time, the opinion of modern scientists gives hope that science can solve the problem of increasing human lifespan. In this regard, genetic engineering, stem cell technology, transplantology, hormonal therapy and many other branches of medicine are actively developing. Developments in the field of cryobiology and artificial intelligence are very promising.

American physicist R. Feynman said: “If a person decided to build a perpetual motion machine, he would be faced with a ban in the form of a physical law. In contrast to this situation, in biology there is no law that would assert the obligatory finitude of the life of each individual.”

For a long time, people have dreamed of immortality. These dreams are reflected in numerous myths and tales of peoples around the world.

The search for ways to achieve immortality is described in the oldest of

the Sumerian-Babylonian epic that has come down to us. Clay tablets with the legend of

Gilgamesh is dated by scientists to approximately the 3rd millennium BC, and on

They contain notes indicating that these are copies of an older original.

The Sumerian epic tells that in the domain of the god of wisdom Enki, the island of Dilmun rose from the waves of the Lower Sea, which was inhabited by a tribe of immortals. They resembled humans in appearance, but had eternal life. They did not know what illness and old age were. There was not a single widow or widower among them. They did not know what headaches and eye diseases were. The woman reached old age, but remained young and fresh. The man grew older and older, but did not feel like an old man.

But it was not people who enjoyed such a life, but the gods. Doom to illness and hardship, old age and death - this is what distinguished people from the gods, but it was difficult to come to terms with this. That is why the goal of the wanderings of the hero of the Babylonian epic Gilgamesh was to gain immortality. Gilgamesh, ruler of the city of Uruk (XXVIII V. BC BC), was the son of the immortal goddess Ninsun and the mortal husband Lugalbanda. He was two-thirds god and only one-third man, but even this third became fatal for him, and he had to leave the earth sooner or later. Gilgamesh was inspired to search for immortality by the death of his beloved friend, Enkidu.

And Gilgamesh went in search of his ancestor Utnapishtim, to whom, together with his wife, the only one among people, the gods granted eternal life. He hoped to learn from the immortal ancestor the secrets of achieving immortality. After long wanderings and adventures, Gilgamesh finally managed to find Utnapishtim.

“Oh, Utnapishtim!” he exclaimed. “If you have become immortal, then perhaps the gods will grant me eternal life? How can I deserve their mercy?” “Do not flatter yourself,” answered Utnapishtim. “The gods will not gather for a council for your sake. Many people pleased the gods, but, except for me and my wife, no one was awarded eternal life.”

And yet he gave Gilgamesh one chance to achieve immortality: “However, you can test your strength. If you can overcome sleep, perhaps you will be able to

defeat death. Try not to sleep for six days and seven nights!" But what does immortality mean without eternal youth! And then Utnapishtim advised Gilgamesh to go down to the bottom of the sea and pick the prickly thorns growing there, which contains juice that refreshes strength and rejuvenates the body. Gilgamesh managed to get this talisman "He carefully took care of the magic bush, which contains the secret of youth. He decided to bring it to Uruk and let the oldest old man taste its juice. If he becomes younger, then he himself will taste the wonderful plant and regain his youthful strength.

Having crossed the great sea and coming ashore, Gilgamesh saw a pool folded

made of white stone and filled with fresh water. He wanted to plunge into the water and wash away the sweat and dust from his tired body. But while he was plunging into the pool, a cunning snake crawled out of the hole and in an instant stole the magic bush, hiding with it in the bowels of the earth. Gilgamesh wept bitterly. He realized the futility of his efforts. Understood,

that he cannot avert his approaching old age and delay the hour of death predetermined for him by the gods. With bitterness in his heart, he returned to his city of Uruk and humbly began to await the terrible and inevitable end."

The serpent, who stole Gilgamesh's hard-won immortality, appears more than once in the myths of different peoples. This is a prototype of that biblical serpent-tempter, who, having seduced Adam and Eve to taste the fruits of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, also deprived them of immortality.

It is interesting to note that already in the Sumerian era, the achievement of immortality was associated with the acquisition of eternal youth. They continued to dream about this in the era of antiquity. As proof of this, we can refer to a very characteristic myth about the goddess of the dawn Eos and her beloved Typhon.

Rose-fingered Eos, goddess of the dawn, fell in love with the beautiful son of the Trojan king Typhon. In order to never part with her beloved, she begged the Olympian gods to grant him immortality. The insidious gods gave Typhon immortality, but... did not grant him eternal youth. Typhon lived a long time. His head became white, his body melted and shriveled, his laughter sounded less and less. Youth disappeared in the crowns of slender cypress trees and the love of Eos cooled down. One day, rosy Eos locked the bedroom and Typhon in it with her pink fingers. I found myself another bed. And Typhon, dried up and wrinkled, turned into a cricket and chirps there and now. The wise myth of Typhon will in many ways become the leitmotif of our thoughts about the search for immortality. “We always talk about prolonging life,” writes the famous Russian scientist L.N. Gumilyov, “but in essence, they are engaged in prolonging old age. And this is not such a great pleasure. Perhaps it’s better the way it is: let generations change and life is renewed..."

Therefore, in the myths of most peoples, immortality has always been associated with eternal youth.

According to the myths of Ancient China, the tree of immortality grew on Mount Kunlun. The fruit ripened on it, and the one who ate it lived forever. It, like other trees that bestow longevity, bloomed and bore fruit only once in several thousand years. From these fruits a potion of immortality was prepared, which was kept by the goddess Sivanmu - the Lady of the West. The lucky one who swallowed it could live forever. But getting to the top of Mount Kunlun, where the goddess Xiwanmu lived, was not easy. The foot of the mountain was surrounded by the abyss of the Ruoshui-Weak Water River. It was enough for a feather to fall on the water, and it immediately sank, and the boat with people even more so. Kunlun was surrounded by fire-breathing mountains. The fire burned in them without ceasing, day and night, and everything that got there was burned. Not a single person achieved his cherished goal, and only the arrow Yi managed to overcome all obstacles and receive the potion of immortality from the goddess Si-wanmu. Holding out an arrow and a gourd with a magic potion, the Lady of the West

said: “This is enough for you and your wife to receive immortality. If one person takes all the contents, then he can ascend to heaven and become a deity. If two people drink it, they will become immortal on earth.”

The wife of the shooter Yi, the beautiful and treacherous Wu Chang'e, decided to deceive her husband and, having stolen his pumpkin, took all the magic potion alone to become a goddess.

Having become a goddess, Wu Chang'e settled on the moon in the cold and deserted lunar

palace There was only a white hare, who pounded the potion in a mortar all year round.

immortality. And the longer Wu Chang’e lived in the lunar palace, the sadder her loneliness became. Her thoughts often returned to the world of people. Wu Chang'e repented, she really wanted to return home, admit her guilt, and ask her husband for forgiveness. But everything was in vain, and she had no choice but to live forever in the lunar palace, never descending to earth.

Only many years later, another person appeared on the moon, just like Wu Chang’e, who once strived for immortality. It was Wu Gang, who, for his misdeeds, was sent by the gods to the lunar palace to cut down a cinnamon tree: he cut down the tree, and it grew back together, and he did not manage to cut it down for ages...

In ancient Chinese myths and tales, a lot of attention is paid to the search for various potions and elixirs of immortality. Thus, it was said that far in the West, near the sacred Kunlun Mountain, on which the tree of immortality grows (the fruits of which only one shooter Yi could obtain), there lived six shamans who collected magical herbs near the tree and prepared an elixir of immortality from them.

There was also a story about the magic zhouzhi mushroom, which brought people long life and delayed old age. Wu Cheng'en, in his novel Journey to the West, calls these mushrooms ginseng fruits and describes how the pig-like Zhu Bajie ate them.

In Ge Hong's book "Bao Pu-tzu" in the chapter "Portions of Immortality" it is stated that the wonderful rouzhi mushrooms are none other than dwarfs seven to eight inches tall. A meeting with them should not be missed. It is necessary, with the help of witchcraft, to silently walk around them from behind with a hobbling gait and grab them. Then you need to tear off the entire skin of the dwarf and swallow him. Soon after this one can hope to ascend to heaven in broad daylight.

In many extraordinary countries beyond the seas, according to Chinese myths, there lived people who possessed immortality or longevity. For example, in the east, in the country of Jiu-niziguo - the Land of the Nobles, there lived long-lived people who ate steamed mujin flowers - red, purple and white. In the Southern Wasteland lived a black people of immortals - the Busimin. There was a mountain in this country

Yuanqiu - Round Hill. On the mountain grew the Ganmu tree of immortality - “sweet tree”. It was enough to eat its fruit to become immortal. Chiquan, the Red Spring, flowed under the mountain. A sip of water from this source gave longevity. Therefore, people lived there without knowing death. In the Western Wasteland was the country of Sanmanyibi - the Country of the Three-Faced and One-Armed. According to legend, they were immortal. There was also the country of Huzhen, whose inhabitants had human faces and fish bodies and could ascend to heaven and descend to earth. They either lived indefinitely or were immortal.

The most curious country where immortals lived can be considered the country of Wuqi - the Country of people without offspring in the Northwestern Desert. People in this country were not divided into men and women. After death, their bodies were buried in the ground, but their hearts continued to beat. After one hundred and twenty years they came back to life and went outside to enjoy the joys of life again. For them, life was followed by death, death by life, and death itself was a long sleep, so they can be considered immortal. The country of Wuqi flourished, although its inhabitants had no descendants.

But the most famous land of the immortals were the five sacred mountains: Duyu, Yuanzeyao, Fanhu, Inch-zhou and, especially, Penglai.

These mountains floated in the Eastern Sea and supported them by fifteen huge

black turtles - three for each floating mountain. On the tops of these sacred

golden palaces with staircases made of white jade rose above the floating mountains. Immortals lived in these palaces. Jade and pearl trees grew everywhere there, from which fruits ripened that tasted good, and those who ate them became immortal. On one of these islands, legend claimed, there was a source of jade-colored wine. Whoever drinks this wine gains immortality.

When people on earth learned that such beautiful and mysterious mountains rose nearby in the sea, whose inhabitants kept a medicine that gives immortality, many wanted to visit there. This legend eventually became known to the rulers and rulers, who began to equip large ships one after another, supplying them

with provisions and sent Taoists into the sea to the sacred mountains, trying by any means to obtain the greatest treasure in the world - the potion of immortality. This magical elixir was tried to be obtained during the period of the Warring States (IV-III centuries BC) by Wei-wang and Xuan-wang, the rulers of the kingdom of Qi, Zhas-wang, the ruler of the kingdom of Yan, Qin Shihuang-di - the First Qin emperor ( 259-210 BC), Han Emperor Wu Di (141-88 BC) and many, many others. But everything was unsuccessful. They all died, like ordinary people, without having obtained the potion of immortality and without even seeing the outlines of the sacred mountains.

The famous Chinese historian Sima Qian (135-86 BC) wrote in his “Historical Notes”:

"Since the time of the sovereigns Wei-wang, Xuan-wang and Yan Zhao-wang, they sent

people to the sea to find the sacred mountains of Penglai, Fangzhang and Yingzhou. According to legend, they are located in Bohai, and whoever gets there will find saints and the medicine of immortality there. From a distance they look like clouds, but when you get closer, the mountains disappear into the water; you want to swim up, but the wind drives you away; so no one made it to the mountains. There was not one among the rulers who did not dream about them."

The most prepared expeditions to search for the islands of the immortals were organized during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang (259-210 BC). It was the emperor who united the country and began the construction of the Great Wall of China, which protected the Celestial Empire from nomads. A flotilla of twenty huge ships under the command of Su Shu, carrying three thousand boys and girls, as well as a large number of various workers, servants and artisans, was sent by Emperor Qin Shi Huang to the Eastern Sea to the islands of immortality.

Days, weeks, months passed. There was no news from Su She. The emperor spent many hours on the shore, peering at the unclear horizon. But the ships never returned. It was rumored that Su She's expedition had finally found the islands of the immortals and, having drunk the magic elixir of immortality, all 3,000 of its participants remained forever on the wonderful islands, not wanting to return to the Celestial Empire. Chinese historians had a slightly different opinion. In one of the ancient chronicles we read: “Su Shs set off on a voyage, but discovered lands remarkable for their peacefulness and fertility. There he settled down, became king and never came back.”

The most ancient legends of many nations mentioned the “elixir of immortality”, which the gods tasted. It was called differently in different countries. The gods of the ancient Greeks used ambrosia, which gives eternal life, the Indian gods used amrita, the gods of the Iranians used haoma, the gods of Ancient Egypt used the water of immortality.

Imitating the gods, people also tried to prepare an elixir of immortality. Recipes for preparing this magical food appeared in many ancient books.

elixir. So, in Ge Hong’s book “Bao Pu-tzu” in the chapter “Xian-yaonyan” - “Drugs

immortality" there are many recipes for making this elixir. It was recommended to take a toad that lived ten thousand years and a bat that lived a thousand years, dry them in the shade, crush them into powder and take them orally - then you can live up to forty thousand years.

And here is a recipe from an ancient Persian text: “You need to take a red-haired and freckled man and feed him fruits until he is 30 years old, then lower him into a stone vessel with honey and other ingredients, enclose this vessel in hoops and hermetically seal it. After 120 years, his body will turn into mummy." The contents of the vessel, including what became the mummy, could then be taken as a life-prolonging agent.

A recipe for the elixir of immortality has come down to us, compiled by the personal physician of Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303): “you need to mix crushed gold, pearls, sapphires, emeralds, rubies, topazes, white and red corals, ivory, sandalwood, deer heart , aloe root, musk and amber."

One French scientist of the 15th century, in search of a vital elixir, boiled 200 eggs, separated the whites from the yolks and, mixing them with water, distilled them many times, hoping in this way to extract the sought-after substance of life.

Many Chinese emperors were keen on searching for a drug of immortality. Wu Di, the emperor of the Han dynasty (reigned from 141 to 88 BC) surrounded himself with magicians and sorcerers, who were supposed to produce compounds and secret potions known to them alone. Wu-di dreamed of finding the miraculous dew, which the immortals supposedly ate, or getting wonderful peaches, by tasting which one could join in eternal life.

Another Chinese emperor, Xuanzong (713-756) went to his royal ancestors much earlier than expected only because he had the imprudence to take the elixir of immortality, prepared by his court physician.

They say that during the Han Dynasty there was Prince Liu An in Huainan,

fascinated by the doctrine of immortals. He comprehended the doctrine of Tao (the Way) so much that

He made the immortality pills himself, took one, and rose to heaven in broad daylight. He left his pills at home in a clay bowl; chickens pecked them and dogs ate them and disappeared instantly.

Only from the sky came the cackling and yelping of dogs in the clouds. This legend

curious, but that's all. Indeed, from Sima Qian’s “Historical Notes” it is known that

The Huainan prince Liu An committed suicide because someone denounced him, accusing him of treason. He was afraid of punishment and cut his throat.

Has anyone really managed to discover the secrets of the elixir of immortality? In all likelihood, of course not. However, from time to time in history mysterious personalities appeared who allegedly managed to enter the doors of immortality.

One of these mysterious personalities was the philosopher of the Pythagorean school Apollonius of Tyana, the same age as Jesus Christ, born three years before the New Era. Apollonius of Tyana visited many countries of the ancient world, studied the secrets of the priests of India and Babylon, his contemporaries attributed many miracles to him. Having survived ten emperors, at the age of 70, Apollonius of Tyana returned to Rome, where, by order of Emperor Domitian, he was put on trial on charges of witchcraft. But a miracle happened: in front of everyone, Apollonius disappeared from the crowded courtroom.

For a number of centuries, it was believed that Apollonius, having managed to prepare the elixir of immortality, continued to hide among people. In the 12th century there lived a philosopher and alchemist who called himself Artephius, from whom two mysterious works full of mysteries and omissions have come down to our time - a treatise on the philosopher's stone and an essay on ways to prolong life. Many contemporaries believed that under the name Artefius

Apollonius of Tyana is hiding and presented compelling arguments in defense of their suspicions.

Legends attribute the achievement of complete immortality to the Jerusalem Jew Agasfer, the famous Eternal Jew. According to religious legends, Christ, during his way of the cross to Golgotha, in extreme exhaustion, leaned against

wall of the house belonging to Agasfer. But the cruel Jew did not give Christ, who was carrying a heavy wooden cross, a moment’s rest, and drove him away. Then Christ condemned Agasfer to eternal wanderings, without hope of ever finding peace or death.

And so, here and there, from century to century, a man appears, whom many identify with the personality of the immortal Agasfer. The Italian astrologer Guido Bonatti met him at the Spanish court in 1223.

Five years later, he is mentioned in an entry made in the chronicle of the Abbey of St. Albana (England). According to the words of the Armenian archbishop who visited the abbey, they talk about meetings with Agasfer, who was in Armenia at that time. Allegedly, the person posing as Agasferus remembers well the events of more than a thousand years ago, remembers the appearance of the apostles and many details of the life of those years that no one living today knows about.

In 1242, this man appears in France, then the silence of historical chronicles reigns for two and a half centuries. In 1505, Agasfer appears in Bohemia, a few years later he is seen in the Arab East, and in 1547 he is again in Europe, in Hamburg.

Bishop of Schleswig Paul von Eitzen (1522-1598) talks about the meeting and conversation with him in his notes. According to his testimony, this man spoke all languages ​​without the slightest accent. He led a secluded and ascetic life and had no property except the dress he was wearing. In 1575, he was seen in Spain, where the papal legates at the Spanish court, Christopher Krause and Jacob Holstein, talked with him. In 1599 he was seen in Vienna, from where he was heading to Poland, intending to reach Moscow. Soon he actually appears in Moscow, where many allegedly also saw him and talked with him. In 1603 he

appears in Lübeck, which was attested by the burgomaster Colerus, the historian and theologian Kmover and other officials. In 1604

The Eternal Jew appears in Paris, in 1633 - in Hamburg, in 1640 - in Brussels, in 1642 - in Leipzig, in 1658 - in Stamford (Great Britain).

When at the end of the 17th century the eternal wanderer reappeared in England,

skeptical Englishmen decided to give him an exam with the participation of

professors at Oxford and Cambridge. However, his knowledge of ancient history, in

the geography of the most remote corners of the Earth that he visited or allegedly visited,

were amazing. When he was suddenly asked a question in Arabic, he without the slightest

accent answered in this language. He spoke almost every language, including European ones,

and eastern ones.

Soon this man showed up in Denmark, and then in Sweden, where traces of him again

are lost. In 1818, 1824 and 1830, he, or someone posing as him, appeared in England, and since then again disappeared from view for a long time.

In the second half of the 18th century, the attention of contemporaries was attracted by two mysterious personalities who allegedly owned the elixir of immortality - Count Cagliostro (1743-1795) and Count Saint-Germain (1710(?)-1784(?)).

Regarding Count Cagliostro, most researchers currently have

there is no doubt. It is documented that this clever adventurer was a native of Palermo, Joseph Balsamo, who from an early age became famous for various cunning tricks and machinations. He owed his knowledge of magic and alchemy to the Armenian Altotas, with whom he visited various sanctuaries of Egypt, and then practiced alchemy at the court of Pinto, Grand Master of the Order of Malta, who had a great penchant for the mysterious sciences. Leaving Malta and parting ways

with Altotas, Count Cagliostro (as he began to call himself, having arbitrarily assigned the title of count) began to demonstrate his magical knowledge at the royal courts of Europe and even in Russia. It is likely that rumors about the miraculous elixir of immortality and eternal youth that he allegedly had in his possession date back to this time. However, the remarkable adventurer was never able to achieve immortality, and he died in 1795, chained to the wall of the gloomy basement of the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, where he was thrown by the verdict of the Inquisition as a heretic, a deceiving magician and a Freemason.

A much greater mystery surrounds the Count of Saint-Germain, a contemporary of Cagliostro. In the records of the Inquisition court, a story recorded from the words of Cagliostro was preserved about his visit to Saint-Germain, where he claimed to have seen a vessel in which the Count

kept the elixir of immortality. Count Saint-Germain amazed his contemporaries with his extraordinary knowledge of the past. His appearance brought amazement and confusion to the elderly aristocrats, who suddenly remembered that they had already seen

This man was seen a long time ago, in childhood, in the salons of his grandmothers. And since then, they were amazed, he had not changed at all in appearance.

Saint-Germain showed up suddenly, without any past. We know as little about him and the origin of his fantastic wealth as his contemporaries. Equally mysterious is his death, which allegedly occurred in 1784 in a secluded castle in Holstein. One of his contemporaries, who knew the count, called it “an imaginary death”; he wrote that none of the gravestones in the area bear the name of Saint-Germain.

Many years after this “death,” Saint Germain’s acquaintances met

count in many European cities. Thus, Saint-Germain attended a meeting of Freemasons in Paris a year after his “imaginary death.” Three years later, in 1788, the French envoy to Venice, Count Chalone, meets Saint-Germain in St. Mark's Square and talks with him. During the years of the French Revolution, the count was allegedly identified in one of the prisons where aristocrats were kept. 30 years after the death of Saint-Germain, the elderly aristocrat Madame Genlis, who knew the count well in her youth, meets this man, who has not changed at all, on the sidelines of the Congress of Vienna. In the last years of Louis-Philippe's reign, when almost none of the people who knew Saint-Germain personally were alive, the mysterious count, who still had not aged at all, was met in Paris by a retired dignitary.

There are two more later reports associated with the name of Saint Germain. He allegedly appeared again in Paris, already in 1934. And the last time - in December 1939. Since, however, by that time there were no people left who were personally acquainted with the count, these messages are difficult to consider reliable.

The strangest and most fantastic of modern messages about immortality is associated with the name of the Indian Tapasviji, who allegedly lived for 186 years (1770-1956). At the age of 50, being the Raja of Patiala, he decided to retire to the Himalayas. After

many years of exercise, Tapasviji learned to immerse himself in the so-called

state of "samadhi", when life seemed to completely leave his body, and he could

Do not take any drink or food for a long time. Once, Tapasviji said, near the spurs of the Himalayas he met an old hermit. He ate only fruits and milk, and looked unusually energetic and cheerful. But, most surprisingly, the hermit did not speak any of the modern Indian languages, speaking only in Sanskrit - the language of Ancient India. It turned out that 5,000 years had passed since he came here! He managed to extend his life to such limits allegedly thanks to a certain composition, the secret of which he owned.

But still, it is worth recognizing that all the cases described above of someone achieving immortality are more likely to be legends. Let's stand on the more solid ground of existing reality and analyze what means modern science currently has in the field of achieving practical immortality. Let’s immediately put aside all methods of increasing life expectancy. Firstly, we have already talked about them in the previous chapter, and secondly, they only talk about

increasing the lifespan of an organism, and not about the fundamental search for immortality.

Currently, the search for immortality is proceeding along several diametric lines.

opposite directions. One of them is a brain transplant. It is now absolutely proven that it is the brain that is the bearer of a person’s individuality, his thinking, perception of the world, memory, and awareness of himself as an individual.

Already in 1963, physiologists demonstrated amazing experiments on transplanting the brain of a toad into the head of a frog. The result was a very strange and amazing frog with the habits of a toad. Instead of jumping into the water, like other representatives of its species, it, like a real toad, began to look for a hole in the ground to burrow into.

Almost 30 years have passed since these experiments. Over the years, dozens of human heart, liver, and kidney transplants have been successfully performed, and problems of tissue incompatibility of transplanted organs are beginning to be resolved. Thus, science has come close to brain transplantation. Although work in this direction is being carried out quite intensively, it is difficult to say when exactly it will be possible to translate scientific experiments into practice. In any case, this time is not far off and it is quite possible that our generation will already witness a successful human brain transplant.

Therefore, theoretically, it is already possible to imagine people whose brain, and therefore personality, will move from one body to another many times. Throwing away unnecessary, aged bodies one after another, a person will be carried away from century to century, from millennium to millennium. The life of one person and her memory will encompass entire eras of human history. However, a logical question arises: whose bodies is this “personality” going to discard as unnecessary and waste? And who will determine the right to immortality of one person at the expense of the organisms of other people? To a lesser extent, these questions have already faced doctors and scientists when transplanting donor kidneys and hearts. They will become much more acute when trying to find “donor” bodies for brain transplantation. We must firmly understand that despite the fact that a person’s appearance, his facial features, and body structure will completely correspond to the body

"donor", his personality and self-awareness will be determined solely by the transplanted brain.

This problem was anticipated by the genius of M. A. Bulgakov in the story “Dog

heart." Good dog Sharik under the influence of a transplanted pineal gland

the brain of a deceased bandit and alcoholic turns into an exact likeness

the last one. Now this issue is being developed by American cinema.

A woman whose brain was irreversibly damaged in the disaster receives a brain transplant

another woman whose body was lost. Who is the new creature, with the appearance of the first woman and the brain of the second? How should it treat its loved ones, husband, children? This is inexhaustible material for dramatic collisions.

Perhaps in the future, scientists will be able to construct an artificial body for the brain, the guardian of personality. It will be a cyborg robot with a human brain. Thus, it is possible to achieve immortality through the loss of one's body. Is humanity psychologically ready for such experiences? Are you personally ready? This philosophical problem has been raised more than once in numerous science fiction novels, starting with the famous “The Head of Professor Dowell” (1925) by the Soviet science fiction writer A. R. Belyaev (1894-1941).

The second way to achieve practical immortality is genetic engineering. Each cell of a living creature stores in its nucleus all the genetic information necessary for the formation of a new organism. Several years ago, scientists at the University of Oxford in the UK conducted an interesting experiment - a new frog, an exact copy of the first one, was grown from a frog epithelial cell. That's why

theoretically, in the near future it will become possible to produce mass reproduction of absolutely identical twins, including humans. This means that when a person turns 80 or 90 years old, it will be possible to take cell nuclei from any organ and, by growing them in cells devoid of a nucleus, obtain an exact biological copy of this person. That is, it will be possible to completely repeat oneself, but appearing as a newborn and, in a certain sense, ensure one’s immortality, since this operation could be repeated an unlimited number of times.

Moreover, in the future it would be theoretically possible to use not only the “living” genetic material of cells, but also the “preserved”, say, in the tissues of a mummy. And it will be possible to reproduce a complete biological copy of a given mummy from the moment of birth. But since it was mainly tyrants who received mummification, the question arises: is it necessary to reproduce them again?

It is worth clarifying that all these biological copies, repeating in the smallest detail the appearance of specific people, will still be endowed with their own consciousness. This will be a psychologically completely different individual, and his memory, his joys and sorrows, love and hate, will be far from the prototype. His intellectual appearance will be formed under the influence of a different upbringing, education, and, finally, simply the human environment of the new generation of people. And even if we manage to recreate the new Tutankhamun, in terms of his psychological make-up it will not be ancient

Egyptian, but our contemporary. Consequently, even here we do not achieve complete immortality. If with a brain transplant we retain our personality, but lose our body and appearance, then with genetic engineering we retain the exact likeness of a given person, but we lose his personality, memory, experience, and perhaps talent.

True, the famous Soviet scientist P.K. Anokhin put forward a hypothesis according to which the hereditary transmission of information received by a person during life is fundamentally possible. In this case, the “copy person” will carry within himself the memory of everything that happened to the “original”, will store it in himself as memories

of your own life. This will make it possible to achieve complete

identity of individuals. The chain of individual consciousness, passing from the body to

the body will not be interrupted. Memory of the lives of past, already old and no longer

existing bodily shells will be as continuous as our memories of a day lived yesterday, a month ago or last year.

The next, and very, very promising direction in the search for immortality is the science of cryobiology, which studies the vital functions of an organism at very low temperatures.

The theorist and founder of cryogenesis (i.e. freezing) is considered to be the American professor of physics and mathematics Robert Ettinger, who published the book “The Discovery of Immortality” in the 60s, which immediately became a bestseller and won hundreds of fans of the cryogenesis method. "When someone is declared doomed,

because modern medicine is not able to help, “a person is still 99 percent alive,” writes R. Ettinger. “After all, it is a fact that many diseases that were once considered fatal are curable today. By keeping your body cold, you just have to wait for new knowledge and technology to help you return..."

To date, there are convincing experimental

confirmation of cryogenization. Yugoslav scientists managed to revive rats

cooled to 6 degrees. Surgeons from Harvard University (USA) revived

hamsters after they have been frozen for more than five hours. Experimenters have repeatedly revived monkeys in a hypothermic state.

a state when the animals no longer breathed and the heart did not beat.

Modern medicine has accumulated many amazing facts about bringing frozen people back to life. One such case involved the Japanese driver Masaru Sait, who was working on a refrigerator - a vehicle transporting chilled goods.

products. That day he came to Tokyo from Suzuoka to receive a cargo of ice cream. The hard trip and the heat tired the driver, and he decided to take refuge from the heat and rest before receiving the cargo in the back of his refrigeration machine. Time has passed. Someone noticed a car standing without a driver. When they opened it, they found the driver inside, but already “frozen.” The thermometer inside showed 10°C below zero.

The driver's body was rushed to a nearby hospital. Doctors worked on the frozen man for several hours and revived him. According to doctors, Saito was first poisoned by the gas that was released when dry ice melted, and then “frozen.” The driver’s life was saved by the fact that in the atmosphere of the closed van there was a high content of carbon dioxide released during the evaporation of dry ice and a low oxygen content (its reserves were consumed the entire time the driver was breathing).

Experiments in the field of cryobiology finally made it possible to decide to freeze a person. In 1973, a sensational message circulated throughout the world press: Professor D. Bedford from Los Angeles, knowing that he was dying of lung cancer, agreed to be frozen in liquid nitrogen at a temperature close to 200 degrees below zero and returned to life, when medicine finds an effective means of combating his illness.

And a few years later, a purely commercial enterprise appeared in the USA, the owners of which offered everyone the same procedure: freeze and store

a person, at his request, for tens or hundreds of years. Many, many Americans wished to undergo the freezing procedure and thus go to

journey to the future.

However, at the end of the 70s, a major scandal erupted: the police in one of the freezing centers discovered the bodies of one and a half dozen people in the stage of deep decomposition, which, presumably, was not agreed upon when they entered into contracts for immortality. Naturally, confidence in the idea itself was seriously undermined. It took years for everything to return to normal.

Currently, there are four cryogenesis centers operating in the United States (two in California, one each in Michigan and Florida), in which a total of 26 "frozen" Americans are stored. Similar centers also exist in France and Japan.

It should be noted that cryogenesis is a very expensive business, so the first 40 French people who decided to buy a chance at immortality are millionaires. In the United States, those interested must pay $125,000 to freeze the body or $50,000 to freeze only the head.

Some practical Americans prefer the second option - it is cheaper and easier to transport in case of unforeseen circumstances. And if descendants can “unfreeze” the head, then they will certainly be able to select an appropriate body for the preserved brain (and therefore the personality).

Practical Americans paid attention to another interesting fact. It turns out that in order to wake up as a millionaire in 300 years, all you need to do is put $1,000 in the bank today. Three percent per annum in a hundred years will turn

this amount is 19,000, in two hundred - 370,000, and by the time of the expected awakening, each such inhabitant of the refrigeration chamber, according to calculations, will already have 7,000,000 dollars.

The journey to immortality always begins, at least officially, with clinical death. The team from the Trans Time company immediately takes on the client. First of all, it is necessary to ensure artificial blood circulation: the oxidation process should not be interrupted. For this purpose, special pharmacological solutions are introduced. Afterwards the body is covered with ice. The blood is then replaced with a saline solution, to which a liquid with a substance is added that prevents the crystallization process in the body. The cooled body is then wrapped in a special cloth and lowered into ice, where its temperature drops to minus 43 degrees. It is at this moment that you can begin to separate the head, if such was the will of the client. Usually, the entire body is placed in a bag like a sleeping bag and lowered head down into a container filled with liquid nitrogen.

However, it should be noted that the American Cryonics Society (low

temperatures) guarantees the road only “there”, but “back” - no

certain guarantees. During defrosting, such serious problems may occur.

problems that modern medicine cannot yet solve. All

hope is for the achievements of the medicine of the future.

When 73-year-old James Bedford, a professor of psychology from Los Angeles, was frozen for the first time in history, some journalists joked: “Well, Bedford will be surprised when he remains dead!”

"The hope that someone can be brought back to life after being frozen,

is tantamount to the desire to get a cow from a hamburger, - ironically

about Arthur Rowe from New York University and adds: - When frozen

irreparable damage is caused to cells."

Dr. Avi ben Abraham, President, has a different opinion

American Cryonics Society, engaged in scientific research in the field

use of low temperatures in medicine. Death, he believes, is coming

gradually. Although the heart stops, cells, tissues and internal organs

continue to live. Another scientist, cryobiologist P. Segal, has already succeeded

revive hamsters after two hours of freezing. He also succeeded

experiment with a raccoon dog. Her temperature returned to normal after the procedures undergone during cryogenization of human bodies. By the way, both scientists and

also their family members are candidates for freezing for the sake of immortality.

The English anatomist Hunter wrote in the 18th century:

"If a man were willing to devote the last ten years of his life to alternating sleep and activity, then his life could be extended to 1000 years; by defrosting every 100 years for one year, he could find out each time what happened during the time he was in suspended animation."

So, it may well be that several dozen of our contemporaries, enclosed in transparent capsules flowing around liquid nitrogen, cooled to -200 ° C, are floating on the waves of time into the future, towards immortality.

There are some other directions in the search for immortality. In 1976, professor from the GDR E. Libbert described an experiment with Mexican agave, in which it was possible to increase the species limit of duration life ten times. For gerontologists working on aging, this experience has gone unnoticed. In 1983

An article by the Moscow scientist V.I. Gudoshnikov appeared in the collection of works of the Moscow Society of Natural Scientists about experiments on rats, which managed to stop the development in the dynamics between the I and II stages of the menopause and keep the body between them for 40 days.

As a result of the analysis of these two experiments and his own experiments, corresponding member of the Moscow Society of Natural Scientists Nikolai Isaev managed to create his own theory of increasing species life expectancy.

The essence of the theory is this: to extend the life of any organism tenfold

and moreover, it is enough to make and maintain a “stutter” at any place in the ontogenesis program (i.e., a genetically determined development pattern of a given organism) in the process of its implementation. We age because the body maintains

a certain level of key metabolites (waste products

organism) with activity that does not allow “stuttering” in the process of implementation

ontogeny programs. As soon as the level of key metabolites decreases (for example, in the experiment with agave, the products produced by the genetic system were removed), the body immediately moves to the previous, younger stage of its life. From this previous stage, the construction of the products and structures of the generative stage of life begins again. Product removal again... and so on for 90 years. As a result, the agave species' lifespan was increased from 10 to 100 years, that is, tenfold. This experience could be continued indefinitely, since there is no aging as such, because the body is in conditions where there is no material basis for aging - key metabolites are not maintained here at the level specified by nature.

To date, N. N. Isaev has practically developed and implemented various options for “cycling” some plants - potatoes, maples, which make it possible to achieve species “immortality”. In the future - work on

achievement of species immortality of man. Its essence is to stop aging in a person at any age: for example, between 40 and 41 years. From this moment on, the given organism will spend an arbitrarily long period of its life within the specified interval.

Thus, the theoretical prerequisites for achieving human species immortality have been created. Another thing is that the path from successful experiments on plants to the practical implementation of this theory on humans can be very, very long.

The problem of human immortality has two main aspects: scientific and

biological and philosophical-moral. In a biological sense, just like we

what we have seen is that sooner or later, with the progress of science, it is quite possible to achieve any practical results in achieving personal immortality. Another thing is, do we need to spend energy and scientific potential to solve these problems?

At first glance, this question may seem paradoxical, although nothing

there is no paradox in it. Let's think about it: is humanity ready to achieve immortality?

Let's try to look at this issue from various angles, first of all - from the demographic one. According to the calculations of French demographers, in 1987 the 80 billionth inhabitant of our planet since the beginning of the human race was born (of course, this figure is very arbitrary). Will there be a limit to the growth of humanity and at what level will it be set in the coming decades and centuries?

The first people, who probably numbered only a few tens of thousands,

wandered the earth in search of food, being dependent on the changing seasons, on

climate change. The first technical victories and the mastery of fire led to

represents an increase in population that approached 500,000 200,000 years ago

By 40,000 BC. e. all continents, including America and Australia, were inhabited, and the number of people on the globe reached five million people.

By the beginning of the 4th millennium BC. e. the entire world population was approximately 50 million people. During the “age of Pericles” (5th century BC), humanity crossed one hundred million. By the era of Charlemagne, the world population had grown to 200 million, and during the Renaissance - to 500 million people.

In the 18th century, the world's population reached one billion. In 1900 it

was 1.5 billion, in 1950 - 2.5 billion people. Early 1976

The world's population reached 4 billion, and in 1987 humanity crossed the fifth billion mark. What will be the fate of humanity in the near future?

Demographers are trying to make predictions. The official forecast was adopted by the special Population Division of the UN. This is the most optimistic hypothesis, since

it assumes that all countries will soon reach a fertility level that ensures only generation renewal without population growth - 2.1 children per woman. While it can be assumed that developing countries, where fertility is gradually declining, will indeed reach this level in the next century, the situation is different in industrialized countries. Their birth rate has already fallen

below this threshold and tends to fall further. It is hoped that population decline will only begin to be truly felt in these countries after the year 2000, and UN experts believe that then, out of civic motives, many married couples will decide to have more children, or concerned governments will decide

appropriate measures to stimulate the birth rate. If things continue this way, the world population will stabilize at around 11 billion people by 2100.

The significant increase in life expectancy that we discussed in the previous chapter could greatly change this UN scenario. As a result, the population of industrialized countries would begin to decline only by 2050, and the reaction of married couples to falling fertility would appear later. The European population under these conditions will stabilize by 3125 at the 1939 level, and the world will experience a significant disproportion between the populations of Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.

If the birth rate in developed countries continues to decline, reaching the current level of Germany everywhere, if it is in developing countries where the population explosion will stop, and if life expectancy is limited to 75 years, humanity will disappear by 2400. Researched this development option

of humanity, French demographer Bourgeois-Piteau believes that world population will peak at 9.4 billion people in 2070 and then gradually disappear.

However, another course of events is also possible: a decrease in population

developed countries will cause an influx of population from baby boom countries.

Peoples in unfavorable conditions, but on the rise in population growth,

can appropriate for themselves, by goodness or force, the lands and resources of rich peoples, but

are in decline. These latter will gradually mix with the aliens,

until they lose their individuality. They will disappear, as many have already disappeared.

peoples finding themselves in a similar situation.

What impact can the achievement of immortality by science have on changing the demographic picture? The most unpredictable thing. Considering that the issue of the influence of immortality on the population has never been seriously put on the agenda, it was not possible to find any scientific calculations and forecasts.

But, as we have seen, achieving personal immortality is quite possible already in the first centuries of the next millennium. And this fact, which has not yet been taken into account, can make a significant correction to the demographers’ forecasts we discussed. And first of all, it will have an impact not on the total population (although, over time, on it too), but on the ratio of the population of developed and developing countries. It is no secret that the population of developed capitalist countries will primarily benefit from the achievements of science. It would be possible to speculate about possible ways to change the demographic situation in the context of achieving human species immortality, but this would be unnecessary, since we have not yet resolved the question of whether personal immortality is necessary and whether it is worth pursuing.

Most likely, the immortality of people will have an incredibly painful and detrimental effect on the life of society. Progress consists of a change of generations, each generation brings something new to society. A similar idea is expressed in the following verses by Robert Rozhdestvensky:

If only people lived forever,

It would be inhumane - How do you know what you are worth in life?

How to understand what risk is?

Throw yourself into the sea?

You won't drown that way.

Should I go to the fire?

You won't burn like that! Plow the field?

Then I'll have time...

Invent gunpowder?

And for what?

Would enjoy lazy arrogance

Captives of their immortality.

They wouldn't do anything

We would never get out of the darkness...

Maybe the most important incentive in life

In the bitter truth

That we are mortal.

The experience of history shows that the progress of science has always outpaced the moral development of mankind. The question of immortality is no exception. Quite

it is possible (and even very likely) that from a biological point of view, scientists will be able to solve the mystery of immortality in the coming centuries. But what will be the moral face of the generation that will have to be given immortality? Will rapists, murderers, and thieves really disappear? Most likely - no, to think otherwise would be a social utopia. So is the one who took the life of his own kind really worthy of immortality? And isn’t the very concept of “life imprisonment” then a pun? But the worst thing is to give someone the right to decide whether a given person is worthy

live forever or not. This will inevitably lead to abuses, group, class, party, national, racial approaches, and from here it is only one step to one or another type of fascism.

So, the question of immortality is a touchstone that may not be within the power of modern humanity.

But let's try to translate the question of immortality into a slightly different plane. Suppose everyone is finally convinced that the personal immortality of all humanity is a brake on its progress, both scientific, social, and elementary biological. But there are certain individuals who certainly deserve immortality - outstanding scientists, artists, inventors, poets, thinkers, philosophers. And since science is already able to grant immortality, let's

Let us provide it only to individuals, a strictly limited number of outstanding people.

I don't want to force my opinion on anyone. Let everyone try to determine the most likely circle of these people, based on the preferences of at least

the last five to seven decades. Have you thought about it? Would you like these individuals to be “more alive than all living” not only in slogans, but also in life? Our opinions about the merits of a particular figure may change depending on the political situation. But by granting him immortality, we can get not just life

dictator, and (which is much more terrible and even difficult to imagine) - an immortal dictator.

Whatever philosophers say about the role of the individual in history, the era of Stalinism

ended precisely with the death of Stalin. And God only knows how much longer we would have to wait for “objective prerequisites” for changing the course of history under the ever-living Comrade Stalin.

Therefore, it seems to me that there is no need to rush to immediately solve the problem of personal immortality. We, such as we are, are not yet ready to live forever. This is what we are for

We have not yet fully matured and, it seems, we will not yet be able to fully consciously manage eternity.

LITERATURE

A step towards immortality? "NTTM - Craftsman", 1990, No. 1. Yuan Ke. Myths of Ancient China. M., "Science", 1987. RederD. G. Myths and legends of ancient Mesopotamia. M., 1965.

Gumilyov L.N. No mysticism. "Youth", 1990, No. 2. There were 80 billion of us. A

how much will? "Science and Life", 1989, No. 4.

Gorbovsky A. A., Semenov Yu. S. Closed pages of history. M., Mysl, 1988. Prokofiev V. 26 frozen Americans. "Trud", 1991, November 14. Mezentsev V. A. Miracles. Popular encyclopedia. Alma-Ata, Ch. ed. Kaz.sov. encyclopedia, 1991, vol. 2, book 3.

Immortality has long been an “obsession” of humanity - whoever was looking for it... humanity wanted to believe that it was possible - that someone had already achieved it. Among these were the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who did not die, but sleeps in an underground hall to return one day - and his long beard is still growing, the Count of Saint-Germain - a famous alchemist of the 18th century, whose servant claimed to work for him " "only" three hundred years... alas, the circumstances of Frederick's death are known: in the Third Crusade, the emperor fell from his horse while crossing the Selif River and choked in the water, and Count Saint-Germain himself let slip that his father was Prince Rakoczi II of Transylvania, who lived on at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries, the count died in 1784. Life, of course, is long - more than 90 years - but it clearly does not look like the “elixir of immortality”...

Does it exist elixir of immortality And youth elixir?

However, one Chinese emperor tried to do without the elixir - he went ahead and ordered him to consider himself immortal! But it was not customary to argue with the emperor, so when he did die due to natural causes, his subjects were faced with a dilemma: what takes priority - the sacred will of the emperor or the real state of affairs? They decided that it was the first thing: the emperor’s body was placed on the throne, dignitaries approached him with reports, listened to orders (there was always someone to determine the content of the orders) - and this continued until the decomposition of the corpse had gone far enough...

But this, of course, is part of a series of historical oddities. But seriously... according to the Bible, man was originally created immortal (and lost this state as a result of the Fall) - and will again become so (those who deserve it) after the Resurrection of the dead at Second Coming Jesus Christ... neither one nor the other state, of course, is accessible to scientific research (and “by definition” cannot be achieved here and now) - so let’s see what we have today.

First we need to figure out why we die in the first place. As a rule, from diseases (heart attack, stroke, hypertension, etc.). But there are people with "iron" health”, which remain vigorous until old age. In the last years of their lives they do not suffer from pain, the inability to cope without outside help, etc., they die without much suffering - but they die anyway! And their long life is just a long old age - not a single 100-year-old centenarian looked like a 20-year-old youth on his half-century anniversary... why does this happen?

The secret is “built” into the DNA molecule. Each section of it encodes the synthesis of one or another protein - and only the terminal section does not do this... what is it for? In 1971, our compatriot A. Olovnikov suggested, and 15 years later the English researcher G. Cook proved that this area, called telomere, encodes the age of the cell: with each division it shortens - when the “limit” is exhausted, the cell dies. True, there are cells in which this does not happen - germ cells, stem cells and cancer cells. In all three, a special enzyme works - telomerase, which “prevents” telomeres from shortening.

In 1997, in the USA (University of Colorado), the gene responsible for the synthesis of telomerase was isolated, and in 1998, researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas (USA) inserted it into cells where it usually does not work (skin, vascular epithelium) - immortal these cells, however, did not become, but their life lengthened by one and a half times. Enthusiasts - even among scientists - started talking about an immortality pill that could be created in the next 50 years (or maybe even 10)... hurray!

But don't rush to rejoice. Remember, we said in which cells telomerase works under normal conditions - and cancer cells were named among them (this is why cancer is so difficult, and often impossible, to defeat). That. no one can guarantee that such an “immortality pill” will not cause cancer. And with the aging mechanism itself, not everything is so simple: in an adult, nerve cells do not divide - nevertheless, they age and die, therefore, in addition to the shortening of telomeres, there is some other mechanism of aging and death... what? There is no answer yet, which means it’s too early to talk about overcoming it.

But suppose a “pill” of immortality is invented... will we be happy about it? Well, at least those politicians and moneybags to whom it will be available?

... On the way to Golgotha, Jesus Christ, exhausted under the weight of the cross, stopped for a minute to rest, leaning against the wall of the house. The owner of this house - a Jew named Agasfer - pushed Him away with a cry: “Go, why are you delaying!” “And you will walk forever,” answered the Savior. “And you will have neither peace nor death.” And the unfortunate cursed Ahasfer still walks the earth, waiting for the Second Coming of the Savior - after all, only it will save him from the unbearable burden of eternal life...

This legend is far from the only example in both folklore and literature when immortality acts as a curse and even punishment. Usually the heroes of such works - from Ahasfer to Jack Harkness, the hero of the English fantasy series Torchwood - suffer from the fact that everyone they manage to love (including their own children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, etc.), die - and they continue to live, over and over again experiencing the pain of new losses. So, for immortality to bring happiness, it must be universal immortality? What awaits us if such a “recipe” is found (provided, of course, that immortal life there will be more eternal youth)?

First of all, you have to give up once and for all. Of course it will be " paradise” for adherents of the childfree movement - but, fortunately, they do not yet constitute the majority. In addition, such humanity will once and for all stop in its development: a new generation will not come to put forward new ideas... do we need such a “stopped” life?

Until now we have talked about physical immortality... but there is also the idea of immortality of the soul. It has always existed - as long as humanity can remember. Of course, there have always been philosophers who denied it (for example, Epicurus) - but in one form or another it is present in all religions - the exceptions are Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-day Adventists... the latter justify their denial of the posthumous existence of the soul in a very original way: in their In the brochure, I came across a selection of quotes from the Bible, where death is compared to sleep, accompanied by a note - “In sleep, all activity ceases, time passes unnoticed for the sleeper.” Of course, to draw such conclusions one must have absolutely no knowledge of psychology or history. Sciences and art, where there are many examples when people made discoveries and created masterpieces in their dreams - and, probably, you yourself will never see dreams... but one way or another - these are just exceptions, and so - even in Christian Creed it does not say “I believe in the immortality of the soul” - this is so self-evident that it does not require “inclusion as a separate paragraph.”

But faith is faith - what about scientific evidence?

They started talking about evidence when medicine received technology at its disposal. Many people who experienced clinical death told approximately the same thing: they flew through a dark tunnel, saw the light at its end - further stories vary, but this detail is almost always present - it was impossible for all patients in different countries of the world to agree on really! And in religious teachings there is no mention of “at the end of the tunnel”, so that one could attribute it to self-hypnosis... does this mean there is something real behind this?

Obviously it's worth it - but it's hardly the afterlife. The fact is that no one really returned “from the other world” - medicine does not know how to revive the dead! Clinical death is not death as such: the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the cells is stopped - but they are still living, therefore, a person in a state of clinical death is a person dying rather than dead, in some way - still alive, so what to talk about It's too early for the afterlife. Of course, in this state, the functioning of the brain is disrupted - so any images can arise. The perception of signals from the outside world also changes (thus, according to scientists, the notorious “light at the end of the tunnel” is nothing more than one’s own pupil, which a person can see only in this state).

So, how do we deal with immortality?

Immortal physical is currently unavailable, in the foreseeable future future is not expected - and it is unlikely to be needed at all.

You can believe or not believe in the immortality of the soul - as in all centuries - its existence has not been scientifically proven - and is hardly provable at all (at least by the means of modern science).