ABSTRACT
In many ways, it might be said that the curious and boring possibility of immortality which is to some extent implied by an analysis of the postmodern condition is something like a very mundane metaphysical wager. After all, and as Borges said, ‘To be immortal is commonplace; except for man, all creatures are immortal, for they are ignorant of death’. But Borges continues with a warning: ‘what is divine, terrible, incomprehensible, is to know that one is immortal’ (Borges 1970:144). In these terms, post-modernity suggests the chance that we (the ‘we’ that is, constituted by those who live the life of post-modernity) and all others have become ignorant of our deaths and of death itself as a universal social and cultural condition. Death is surrounded with ignorance to a much greater extent than ever before simply because now, the continuation of something universal after the moment of individual death cannot be taken for granted. Technology has helped make sure of that.
