Ten Categories of Undying Beings

A Proposal for an Immortality Matrix

Just for fun — since some futurists claim AI will make us immortal soon, I came up with a matrix to quantify the category of immortality we might achieve:

• Biological Stasis

  • Description: Immunity to biological aging, but vulnerability to injury or illness remains.

  • Example: Adaline Bowman from "The Age of Adaline" - she stopped aging at 29 but could still be harmed or killed by external factors.

• Regenerative Longevity

  • Description: Lack of aging coupled with the ability to heal from non-immediately fatal injuries or diseases.

  • Example: Elves in J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth - they don't age and can recover from most injuries, but can still die from severe wounds or grief.

• Accelerated Reconstruction

  • Description: Rapid healing from typically fatal injuries, often accompanied by cessation of aging.

  • Example: Deadpool from Marvel Comics - he can regrow limbs and recover from seemingly fatal wounds due to his mutant healing factor.

• Enhanced Durability

  • Description: Resistance to aging and most forms of physical harm, with vulnerabilities to specific extreme forces.

  • Example: Superman - highly resistant to damage and doesn't age under a yellow sun, but vulnerable to Kryptonite and magic.

• Physical Indestructibility

  • Description: Complete immunity to aging and conventional forms of physical destruction.

  • Example: The T-1000 from "Terminator 2" - a liquid metal being that can reform after any physical damage.

• Entropy Defiance

  • Description: Immunity to all forms of decay and degradation caused by the passage of time or the increase of entropy in the universe. This includes resistance to cognitive decline, physical deterioration, and even the breakdown of non-biological possessions or creations.

  • Example: The Gallifreyans from "Doctor Who" - They not only live for millennia without mental decline but also possess technology that defies entropy, lasting for millions of years without degradation.

• Temporal Transcendence

  • Description: Existence outside the normal flow of time, negating the concept of chronological age.

  • Example: Doctor Manhattan from "Watchmen" - he experiences past, present, and future simultaneously.

• Multiversal Omnipresence

  • Description: Existence that transcends not only time but also the boundaries of individual universes. These beings exist simultaneously across all possible timelines and alternate realities.

  • Example: The Beyonders from Marvel Comics - extradimensional beings that exist outside the multiverse and can observe and interact with all realities simultaneously.

• Conceptual Persistence

  • Description: Existence as a fundamental concept or force of reality, persisting as long as the universe (or multiverse) exists. These entities are often personifications of cosmic principles.

  • Example: Dream of the Endless from Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" series - the anthropomorphic personification of dreams and stories, who will exist as long as sentient beings dream.

• Ontological Necessity

  • Description: Beings whose existence is logically necessary for reality itself to exist. These entities don't just persist through time and space but are the very foundation upon which existence is built.

  • Example: The concept of 'God' in classical theism, as argued in the ontological and cosmological arguments - a being whose non-existence is logically impossible and whose nature is the ground of all being.