I don't think immortality is necessarily the key to understanding the world. You have to be careful with what you think you're achieving. I'm all for science discovering amazing and fantastic things about our world but I think the motivations behind it are slightly askew.
We can choose a future where we export more products and outsource fewer jobs. After a decade that was defined by what we bought and borrowed we're getting back to basics and doing what America has always done best: We're making things again.