The first immortal
On his death, a doctor has himself frozen in the hope science will one day reanimate him. That day arrives a century later and the novel describes the doctor's adjustment to a new world. One of his first acts is to clone his dead wife, which is now possible.
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3mentions
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2014–2019years
33% recommend67% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky - introduced me to the rationalist movement
The First Immortal by James Halperin - introduced me as a sixth grader to things like cryonics, nanotech, etc. Got me thinking about a realistic ambitious nearer term future for humanity, rather than a more fantasy-like one in the other sci-fi I'd read at that point, like Asimov and Heinlein
As a Man Thinketh by James Allen - gave me much greater agency in life. Made me realize “You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”
- > ...for up to a week
I was a little disappointed.
I read The First Immortal in the 90s, about a guy who is cryogenically frozen and revived in a future where human biological immortality is possible. I still remember it from time to time.
Since then, I've been hopeful, but I keep seeing the space filled with scams and wishful thinking.
- Halperin's The First Immortal is damned near a written infomercial for Alcor, but is still a pretty interesting book in its own right in terms of exploring various cryonics scenarios.
Edit: looks like it's available freely online: http://coins.ha.com/information/tfi.s
