Immortality, for most people, seems to have an essence of divinity. It is considered godlike and even fantasized in television shows, movies, and novels. But when it comes down to it, is immortality really that transcendent?
There’s a common saying that a person should do as much in their life as possible because anything can happen tomorrow. If that entire objectivity is taken away from us, what is left? Many kids, like myself, usually leave things to be done last minute.
But with immortality, there is no last minute. There is no last, period.
It is an ironic topic to think about, considering that death and illness are usually the sources of sadness and fear, but at the same time, death is also the reason that fuels many of the positive things in life.
All of our needs and desires one way or the other are connected to death. Medicine, food, water, etc, all to avoid death. The want to travel the world, eat all kinds of food, etc, to see as much as possible before you die. But with immortality, all that goes away.
At the end of the day, is it not our fear of death and curiosity about life after death that fuels our creativity and passion and gives meaning to life? Isn’t death what gives value to life itself?
Besides these sentiments, let’s think about the practicality of it all: population overgrowth, depletion of resources, environmental issues… If everyone was to live forever, either reproduction would have to be foregone or population control would have to be implemented (The Hunger Games style, perhaps). The growth rate of the population would double if no one died and people kept reproducing at the rate they do today. Either that or families would have to forget experiencing pregnancy and childbirth in order to control the population of the world.
As always, there are always two sides to the coin. To have it all, one must risk it all.
No comments:
Post a Comment