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Book review: Drew Magary’s PostMortal

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Book review: Drew Magary’s PostMortal
Book review: Drew Magary’s PostMortal
The Postmortal starts with whispers that an anti-aging cure has been discovered. This is similar to the human capacity enhancement proposal speculated in chapter 3 of Dickenson’s bioethics. Also, we see similar proposal play out in the chapters of More and Vita-More’s Transhumanist Reader, where technology is speculated to be used to stop aging process, enhance human intelligent, capability and agility. More even goes a step further to propose ‘the Posthumanist’ – overcoming the limitations that describe the less desirable aspects of human condition – a life devoid of disease, aging and death. However, the Postmortal cure does not prevent someone from getting sick, diseases or even dying from accident, rather it merely stops the body from ageing. That means a 27 year old that gets the treatment will have the same body and physical appearance and fitness until the day they die. The United States government instantly prohibits it for three decades, providing them an ample opportunity to research it and comprehend the effects better.

At this time, pro-cure and pro-death protesters were fighting more and more aggressively for and against the cure respectively. Just like the religious right fought against the stem cell research in chapter 6 of Dickenson’s bioethics in 2001, the religious devotees’ fight against the anti-aging cure and the Vatican issues a condemnation against it. Underground treatments known as black market cure were being perpetuated. Eventually John Farrell, the narrator got the cure at one of these underground markets. Within two weeks or there about, he convinced his friend to get the treatment and thereafter encountered a couple of tragic events associated with a mysterious woman that influenced his emotions throughout the story. Finally, the cure was legalized.

The novel includes how things regarding love, marriage, and the law and government changes overtime. Marriage became endangered because

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