 Chapter
4 |
Victory News Magazine |
The Mahdi's Long Life
Is there a possibility that a human being may live for so many centuries as is supposed in the case of this awaited leader who would change the world, whose blessed life now exceeds eleven hundred and forty years, or nearly fourteen times that of the age of an ordinary human being who passes through all the usual stages of life from infancy to old age?
Possibility
`Possibility' here has one of three meanings: practical possibility, scientific possibility, and logical or philosophical possibility: By `practical possibility' I mean that a thing should be possible for anyone to carry out. Thus crossing an ocean, going into the depth of the sea, and travelling to the moon are things which have now become practically possible. Hence there are people who are presently engaged in doing these one way or another.
Scientific Possibility
By `scientific possibility' I mean things which may not be practically possible for anyone at present with the aid of the existing means, but from the viewpoint. of science there is nothing to preclude their possibility provided proper conditions and means become available. Hence the possibility of man travelling to Venus is not precluded by science. In fact, the present trends point to its possibility, though it may not be possible for anyone at present, because the difference between journey to the moon and journey to Venus is one of degree, and travelling to Venus does not involve anything more than overcoming the additional difficulties arising from greater distance. Therefore, travelling to Venus is possible scientifically although it has not yet become a practical possibility. As against this, the idea of a space journey to the sun is scientifically impossible, i.e. science does not consider it possible because scientifically and experimentally the possibility is inconceivable of making a shield against the heat of the sun which is like a gigantic blazing furnace with unimaginably high temperatures.
Logical or Philosophical Possibility
By logical or philosophical possibility I
mean the absence, on the basis of a priori rational laws (i.e.
prior to empirical experience) of any rational obstacle to the
existence of anything. Hence it is logically impossible to divide
three oranges into two equal parts without cutting one of them
into two halves. Because, prior to any experience, reason knows
that three is not an even but an odd number and it is not possible
to divide it into two equal whole numbers because that would imply
that it is both an odd as well as an even number at the same time,
and this is a contradiction, which is impossible. But it is not
logically impossible for man to enter fire without being burnt or
to make the journey to the sun without being burnt by its heat,
because no contradiction is involved in assuming that heat may not
travel from a body at a higher temperature to one which is less
hot, although it is contrary to our experience which shows that
heat travels from a body at higher to one at a lower temperature
until their temperatures are equal.
Thus we see that logical possibility has a
wider scope than scientific possibility, and the latter in its
turn has a wider scope than practical possibility.
There is no doubt that it is logically
possible for a person to have a life-span extending over thousands
of years because this is not something impossible from a purely
rational point of view, considering that it does not involve any
contradiction, for the concept of life undoubtedly does not in
itself imply the idea of speedy death.
Similarly,
there is no doubt that such a long life is not a practical
possibility, like the possibility of reaching the sea floor or
making journey to the moon. That is because science cannot, with
the present means and experience, prolong human life for hundreds
of years. Hence we see that those who have the greatest desire to
live and also access to all scientific resources, do not live
longer than what is usual.
As for scientific possibility, there is
nothing in today's science that might negate the theoretical
possibility of a very long life-span. This actually relates to the
physiological significance of the phenomenon of old age and
senility in man. Does this phenomenon represents a natural law
which makes tissues and cells in the human body, after the peak of
their growth, to age gradually and become less capable of
sustained activity until they finally stop working at some moment,
irrespective of the influence of any external factor? Or is aging
and creeping infirmity of bodily tissues and cells in performance
of their physiological functions a result of their battle against
such external factors as microbes and toxicity which enter the
body as a result of consuming improper food or some other factor?
This is a question raised by science today
and it seeks to answer it, whereas there continue to be several
answers for it on the scientific level. Therefore if we accept the
scientific view which inclines towards interpreting aging and the
mounting debility accompanying it as a consequence of the body's
battle and resistance against certain external factors, it means
that if the bodily tissues were insulated from these factors it is
theoretically possible to increase the life-span, to overcome the
phenomenon of aging and finally triumph over it.
But if we opt for the other viewpoint which
favours the hypothesis that aging is a natural law of cells and
living tissues, in the sense that they carry within themselves the
seeds of their inevitable destruction through aging, senility and
finally death, we may still say that this does not mean that there
is no flexibility in this natural law. Rather, if such a law
presumably exists it is a flexible law, because as we find in our
daily lives and the scientists in their experiments, old age is a
physiological and not a temporal phenomenon. At times it sets in
early and at times it is delayed until late in life. Some old
people possess young-looking organs and tissue despite being
advanced in age, as reported by physicians, and they show no signs
of old age. In fact, scientists have been practically able to
benefit from the flexibility of this supposed natural law and have
extended the age of some animals by hundreds of times of their
natural age. They have achieved this by creating such conditions
and factors which delay the operation of the law of aging.
This proves that slowing down of this law is scientifically possible by creating specific conditions and factors, although science has not yet acquired the ability to bring it about in relation to a complicated being such as man. However, this is only due to the relatively greater difficulty involved in achieving this in relation to man, in contrast to other living beings. This means that from a theoretical point of view science, to the extent indicated by its moving trends, does not have any basis for rejecting the possibility of extending the human life-span, irrespective of whether we interpret aging as a consequence of the combat and resistance against external factors, or as consequence of a natural law of the living cell itself which compels it towards destruction.
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