September 30, 2013

    We may be on a roll here.

    Last week, I challenged the thinking of Cal Berkeley philosopher Samuel Scheffler in his play-on-words, emphasizing the “Importance of the Afterlife” to find meaning in what would otherwise become mundane. In his “death ends it all” system, if there are no progeny, there is no purpose. Life is important – today – based on its effects on those who will live, tomorrow.
    The world may be glued to the tube watching the infighting in the US Congress, and the looming threat of a government shut-down… but the Beltway Bullies are getting a little tiring in their continuing inability to make government work. The cover of Time magazine this week is far more compelling: Can Google Solve Death?
    The American government is out-of-green, and their ability to open the doors next week is in question. Over at Google, they’re sitting on $54 billion in cash reserves, and Larry Page – co-founder and CEO – is giving large amounts of his time and creative capacity to what they call “moon shots:” the high risk/high rewards initiatives that most companies would never attempt because the financial returns are not certain, and soon.
    As Time put it, “Last week, Apple announced a new iPhone; what do you do this week, Google? ‘Oh, we founded a company that might one day defeat death itself.’ …It’s a lot easier to take Google’s venture seriously if you live under the invisible dome over Silicon Valley, home to a worldview whereby, broadly speaking, there is no problem that can’t be addressed by the application of liberal amounts of technology and everything is solvable if you reduce it to data and then throw enough processing power at it…”
    Beat cancer, and you add three years to American life expectancy. Page wants more than that, and it grows out of his personal commitment to “10x Innovations:” to press for breakthroughs that allow outcomes that are 10 times greater than in those already in the marketplace.
    Time is out to sell magazines, so their sensational cover offer – “Can Google Solve Death?” – isn’t really what Page is trying to do. He’s pursuing longevity, not eternity; he hopes to delay the inevitable (“unavoidable; impossible to avoid or prevent”), not to defeat it. He’s bold… but he’s not an idiot. No one can defeat death… can they?
    If Page met Paul, they could make death their point of engagement. If Paul spoke at a TED conference – with presentations limited to 18 minutes, on hot topics that keep bright minds awake – he could just read from his argument in his letter to the Romans (the 5th-8th chapters). In that concise conversation, he addresses death 25 times!
    He’s wrapping-up his presentation on the subject when he arrives at this incredible summation: “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” (Romans 8:9-11)
    Google loves to go places no company has gone, and do things no collection of out-of-the-boxers have ever attempted. The reality: someone has already solved death, and His solution is offered without charge to anyone who is willing to accept His terms and conditions. Click here…
    Solve death? Jesus has already done that! There’s no money in that niche; you cannot charge for heaven, and you cannot buy your way in. What an incredible bargain; what an amazing grace…

Bob Shank