# Human Intelligence Is Trying to Eradicate Death by Kate Jeffery > “Now, all this may be coming to an end, for one of the things we humans, with our evolved intelligence, are working hard at is trying to eradicate death. This is an understandable enterprise, for nobody wants to die—genes for wanting to die rarely last long in a species. For millennia, human thinkers have dreamed of conquering old age and death: the fight against it permeates our art and culture, and much of our science. We personify death as a spectre and loathe it, fear it and associate it with all that is bad in the world. If we could conquer it, how much better life would become.” > **— Kate Jeffery**, *2013, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT *SHOULD* WE BE WORRIED ABOUT?”* ## Sources and Context - **Direct Edge response and surrounding essay:** [The Loss Of Death](https://www.edge.org/response-detail/23875) — Edge published this exact, continuous passage in its 2013 Annual Question collection, *WHAT *SHOULD* WE BE WORRIED ABOUT?*. The response page preserves the surrounding argument and qualifications. - **Complete local collection index:** [[research/Edge 2013 Full Quotation Curation|Edge 2013 Full Quotation Curation]] — retained source-first record for the response cohort and this passage's promotion status. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Edge|Edge]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/Uploading Is Imminent|Uploading Is Imminent]] - **Article:** [[articles/Mind Uploading and AI — The Host is Reusable and the Person is the Delta|Host Infrastructure Overview]] - **Article:** [[articles/Who Pays for Your Heaven|Who Pays for Your Heaven]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/Digital Afterlife|Digital Afterlife]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Digital Afterlife|Digital Afterlife]] - [[wiki/Life Extension|Life Extension]] - [[wiki/Long-Term Digital Preservation|Long-Term Digital Preservation]] - [[wiki/Evolutionary Biology|Evolutionary Biology]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “Now, all this may be coming to an end, for one of the things we humans, with our evolved intelligence, are working hard at is trying to eradicate death. This is an understandable enterprise, for nobody wants to die—genes for wanting to die rarely last long in a species. For millennia, human thinkers have dreamed of conquering old age and death: the fight against it permeates our art and culture, and much of our science. We personify death as a spectre and loathe it, fear it and associate it with all that is bad in the world. If we could conquer it, how much better life would become.” — Kate Jeffery, 2013, Edge Annual Question, “WHAT *SHOULD* WE BE WORRIED ABOUT?” https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-kate-jeffery-human-intelligence-trying-eradicate-death ```