"We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”
-Chuck Palahniuk
What a load of tosh! And that too from the guy who wrote Fight Club!
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying"
-Woody Allen
Now that's more like it!
Once in a while all of us (or at least those with a functioning brain) chance upon profound revelations. Some of the most common ones that almost everyone encounters are: (in increasing order of profoundness)
1. I am going to die.
2. Most people are driven by selfish interests.
3. Money is very powerful.
3. Everything I like reduces my lifespan.
4. The tooth-fairy and Santa are just fictional characters! (That has got to be the most brutal one.)
Now that most of you (again, those with functional metal faculties only) have more or less understood what I mean by revelation, I can proceed with sharing one of my rarer revelations. I had it today while I was wondering how to attain immortality. Why do I want to be immortal? For personal reasons! (You should really learn to keep your nose out of other people's businesses.)
Well, the revelation is this :
1. I am going to die.
2. Most people are driven by selfish interests.
3. Money is very powerful.
3. Everything I like reduces my lifespan.
4. The tooth-fairy and Santa are just fictional characters! (That has got to be the most brutal one.)
Now that most of you (again, those with functional metal faculties only) have more or less understood what I mean by revelation, I can proceed with sharing one of my rarer revelations. I had it today while I was wondering how to attain immortality. Why do I want to be immortal? For personal reasons! (You should really learn to keep your nose out of other people's businesses.)
Well, the revelation is this :
If everyone was immortal, the world would be a much better place.
Let me start with the most obvious chain of reasoning, viz. The good people(like Mother Teresa not Jenna Jameson.) living for ever. The nonstop supply of love, compassion, and all those cheesy values would surely benefit society somehow. No, you cannot disagree with this point.
Now to the more controversial part. If everyone was immortal, wouldn't violent people like Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, *cough*Bush*cough* be enabled to perpetuate their evil on the world for all eternity? Yes, but the catch is, if these guys were immortal, they would not seek quick and violent means to their noble ends.
Yes, Hitler's aim was noble. He wanted to evolve the human race by ensuring the unquestioned survival of the 'better' race. His means of attaining the ultimate goal of betterment of mankind was what made him a monster. I am sure all these evil men and women(oh yes, women can be evil too) had very noble goals.
I mean why would you want a lot of money quickly when you are immortal? Why would you steal? Why would you be violent when you have all eternity to achieve everything at your own pace? I mean we could allow power-hungry megalomaniacs to take turns being the 'King of the World'! (I would be the first candidate though, for coming up with the idea.)
We humans are widely regarded as parasites that consume the resources of our planet at an alarming rate. I am sure our nonchalant attitude towards protecting the environment would change if we knew that we would be around to pay the price for our callousness.
So now that immortality seems plausible to a certain extent,(and because I want to immortal at any cost) let's all harp its virtues so that the research in the direction is not hindered by useless ethical debates.
I am sure you have lots to say about this, feel free to utilize the comments to swear at me. :)
Hoping to be immortal in the near future,
Sandy
Now to the more controversial part. If everyone was immortal, wouldn't violent people like Adolf Hitler, Idi Amin, Saddam Hussein, *cough*Bush*cough* be enabled to perpetuate their evil on the world for all eternity? Yes, but the catch is, if these guys were immortal, they would not seek quick and violent means to their noble ends.
Yes, Hitler's aim was noble. He wanted to evolve the human race by ensuring the unquestioned survival of the 'better' race. His means of attaining the ultimate goal of betterment of mankind was what made him a monster. I am sure all these evil men and women(oh yes, women can be evil too) had very noble goals.
I mean why would you want a lot of money quickly when you are immortal? Why would you steal? Why would you be violent when you have all eternity to achieve everything at your own pace? I mean we could allow power-hungry megalomaniacs to take turns being the 'King of the World'! (I would be the first candidate though, for coming up with the idea.)
We humans are widely regarded as parasites that consume the resources of our planet at an alarming rate. I am sure our nonchalant attitude towards protecting the environment would change if we knew that we would be around to pay the price for our callousness.
So now that immortality seems plausible to a certain extent,(and because I want to immortal at any cost) let's all harp its virtues so that the research in the direction is not hindered by useless ethical debates.
I am sure you have lots to say about this, feel free to utilize the comments to swear at me. :)
Hoping to be immortal in the near future,
Sandy
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38 comments:
Wonderful blog, I agree with every word.
well maybe noble, but totally misguided.
What about over population?
@Demented Demon
Thank you.:)
Glad you enjoy reading.
@Valerie
Yes, misguided actions indeed.
As for over-population, once immortality is attained, we simply stop breeding. Everyone gets permanent birth-control surgery done and that's it.
Don't you agree?
Immortality for everyone? That's like saying the world would be a better place if everyone had the same amount of money.
Allow me to describe the impact (or at least the most important consequences) immortality might have on the world.
The death sentence would have to be abolished because you can't kill anyone anyway. The only other deterrent against major crimes would be state-sponsored torture.
If you hate someone, you can't wish they'll just die and rot in hell before you do, because you know they won't.
People wouldn't care about morality because priests couldn't scare them with what happens to your soul after you die.
There'd be old timers wherever you go. Think wet t-shirts over sagging assets everywhere :O
Now a better idea would be to grant immortality (and eternal youth) to a few elite folk :P
Well i can see you defending your profound revelation very well!! But just think, If humans were immortal then how this world would have been?? This world would have been an expressionless place. Consider the following as i advocate my point:
>There would be nothing like virtue or vice.They are the gifts of circumstances in which a man lives. But according to you circumstances would never be bad as you have ample of time to think and act. So eliminate the vices and hence there is no need of virtues also (you don't need them anymore, do you??)
> You will never hate anyone as no one is gonna trouble you (again u have plenty of time to have what some1 else is already having). So that means that you will never love anyone also as everyone is just same (innocuous). And even if something in some1 really impresses you then why will you bother?? You can achieve those things as you have plenty of life!!
>No one is gonna die so no one is gonna cry in grief i.e no one would ever feel sad!! Well but when are you feeling happy?? Look at this: Nothing will stop you from achieving something; why will you ever fail?? Actually there will be no competition at all!! All ppl with wateva functional brains can work and this time or the other they will achieve the goals (again plenty of time to sharpen the skills and their brain). So, wats making you happy here??, nothing!!! No happiness as there was no success (coz you never failed).
So to summarize, by the 'principal of duality' if no one is sad then no one can be happy also!! Then how can u say that this world will be a better place?? You will be just a boring, expressionless corpse cursed to live till eternity in an evergreen planet where everything is just lame and mundane and you can feel nothing about anything.
First of all, you should read Arthur C Clarke’s novel The City and the Stars, in which the benefits and problems of (near) immortality are explored. Quite apart from anything, it points out some points that have to be considered if humans are to be immortal:
If no one could die, then no one would need to eat. Most of their bodies’ self-defence functions (the immune system, for example) would be unnecessary. The list goes on, but I think you get the idea. In Clarke’s book, the humans are physically somewhat different to present humans largely for that reason: they also, through the same means by which they achieved this, eliminated disease, infirmity and deformity, along with (obviously) any old-age-related conditions: they are all physically perfect. No longer having the need to reproduce, they have ceased to do so: they could still have pleasure from sex, but Not As We Know It.
In Clarke’s world things were almost Utopian (not quite of course, or there wouldn’t be a book to be made of it). As part of the modification process to achieve immortality, man’s destructive natures were eliminated. They still had emotions that made them want to live forever, but not the same drives that are, when you get down to it, survival ones. And when you think about it, that applies to most of them.
So really, if you’re going to make man immortal, the physical changes alone would remove a lot of the negative aspects of man. No hunger or disease, no imperative to form groups that fight each other (as tribalism is a survival trait), no need to rob people to ensure your needs (food, warmth etc).
Unfortunately this is where it starts to peter out. What about things like jealousy? Not in Clarke’s world, where all were equal, but you haven’t stated that in your manifesto. What about mental illness – particularly the type that leads to violence? People who enjoy cruelty and viciousness? Unless you create a species with equal intelligence and other properties you will get cliques and factions. Again, I won’t go on: you will see what I’m driving at.
But the most important thing to me is why would you want to live forever? I certainly wouldn’t. Oh, given perfect health I wouldn’t mind living for a century or two, but after a few million years I suspect things would begin to pall. Again, think about it.
A very good read.
I believe that whoever/whatever that designed the nature of this universe, was very clever. The system of life and death makes us wanna (atleast most of us) live as much as we can, cos we know that some day we all die. Death makes us better ppl to some extent cos it's inevitable and we know it.
The idea of everyone being Immortal scares me. That will make this world worse than it is right now. It will be one big mess, messier than what it is today, where all ppl will run amok as they please!
However, I hv read that the human species is a dying species on the whole...we r forever evolving...in 100s of years time, we'd not even look like what we look today! Isnt that freaky? :)
Keshi.
@Dave
1.The world would indeed be a better place if everyone had a never-ending supply of money.
2.The death sentence will be abolished soon regardless of immortality.
3.If you can believe in the concept of hell(or heaven), then why would you care about reality when hating someone?
4.Priests can't scare people. Is it just me, or does that sound good to everyone?
5.Aging is a process that results in death. Immortality means no aging and hence eternal youth.
6.By 'elite folk', if you mean you and I, then certainly, that is a much better idea. I don't think the rest of mankind will agree though.
Thank you for bringing out such dire but baseless consequences.
Your concern is heart-warming. :P
Keep reading. :)
@Ashish
What you have so beautifully described is nothing but Utopia. And by its very definition, Utopia is an ideal society.
Yes, we do run a very high risk of life becoming boring and mundane. But think virtual worlds where the immortals can spend their time experiencing things that only a limited lifetime can generate.
As for the principle of duality, I must point out that it cannot be applied to everything. Light is not the absence of darkness. Heat is not the absence of cold and similarly, Happiness is not the absence of grief. Hence, it is possible for happiness to exist even when grief does not.
As for competition, why do people play games like poker and Russian roulette? These are solely based on luck and not skill. Being immortal might give everyone an equal amount of skill, but luck based competition would always be popular.
Hence, the things that you pointed out might initially seem like insurmountable problems, but on closer inspection dissolve into the all-powerful concept of eternal life. ;)
Welcome to The Village Idiot.
Hope you like it here. :)
@Simon
I will give that book a read. Science-Fiction has always been one of my favorite genres.
The things you have pointed out are very valid. But they are not problems, rather they are possibilities and you have been kind enough to suggest solutions to each one. :)
As for your concluding query, "why would you want to live forever?"
I will quote from my own post:
"Why do I want to be immortal? For personal reasons! (You should really learn to keep your nose out of other people's businesses.)" :P
Keep reading The Village Idiot. :)
Cheers!
@Keshi
Glad you enjoyed reading this post.
We cannot be sure that whoever/whatever designed the universe did not intend for a species to eventually attain immortality. In fact, among the microscopic organisms, immortality does exist(not exactly like we imagine it, but it does.)
Perhaps it will be slightly messy at first when everyone becomes immortal, but hey, we have all eternity to clean up the mess. ;)
About the human species being a dying one, I totally agree. We are hurtling towards a self-destructive doom at an alarming rate.
Thanks for stopping by. :)
**but hey, we have all eternity to clean up the mess. ;)
I agree :) but wont that hope of hvn all eternity to clean uo the mess stop us from really cleaning it up?
Keshi.
@Keshi
Interesting argument.
But unless every single one of us possesses the virtue of laziness in ample amounts, this is an unlikely possibility.
And even if it does happen, maybe we can have some machines do it for us? :)
Interesting post, Sandy. You've obviously put a lot of thought into this one.
I have to take objection to you describing Hitler's agenda as "noble". I apologise if this offends you, but there is absolutely NOTHING noble about wanting to "evolve the human race by ensuring the unquestioned survival of the 'better' race." As far as I'm concerned, there's no such thing as a 'better' race, and anyone who buys into such ridiculous rubbish is anything but noble. I know you've said that he was 'misguided' in how he attempted to achieve his goals, but frankly, the goals were totally pathological from the very beginning. I realise that you're not trying to support Nazism or anything, though, and I'm glad you acknowledged that he was a true monster. I just don't think the words "Hitler" and "noble" belong in the same sentence.
And as for immortality... I think being mortal is what makes living exciting. Our impending mortality is what spurs us on to live every second as fully as possible, and I'm actually quite happy about that. I don't think I'd like to live forever, either. One lifetime's worth is quite enough for me.
Thought-provoking stuff.
@The girl
I will still maintain that Hitler's ultimate aim was noble. His aim was to better mankind. I agree that there no such thing as a better 'race'(where race stands for ethnicity) but the human 'race' can definitely be better. In fact, if we analyze the motives behind anybody's actions, we will find that the ultimate aim is always noble. I will describe this at length in a later post, but for now you will have to trust me on this one. ;)
Well mortality might be exciting in the same sense as having a ticking time-bomb with an unreadable timer attached to you is exciting. But immortality is the ultimate goal of survival. Besides, think of eternal youth, never-ending sex drive, and all sorts of naughty things that come with it. I am sure you will soon see it my way. :)
Keep reading, I love your comments!
Cheers!
In a way i feel that had the world dwellers been immortal, you would have never wrote a blog post. :)
So, your immortality according to me makes many a things mortal which are actually nice. Then i dont find it a better place. :)
lolll thats a really nice post...
but if i had all eternity to live, i wouldn't ever move my ass around to do things, never!!
this is my first visit to your blog and i really loved it.. will be back for more soon :)
@GARF
That just might be the worst consequence of immortality. Thank you for pointing it out.
I'll stop propagating this theory at once. ;)
@♪♪HARINI♪♪
Yes, being lazy is perhaps the best thing you can do, as illustrated by an earlier post: The Virtue of Laziness.
Welcome to The Village Idiot.
I eagerly await your return. :)
Cheers!
Hey,
Immortatality for everyone wont work becoz of a no of reasons but the one that immediately struck me was the lack of resources tat d then be available..coz think about it..if everyone lived..and our population kept increasing..we d all have to live on peas for the rest of our life...not something i d want...
And also life is something u relish coz it has an expiration date...but if u were immortal..u d forget to enjoy it..u d forget to live it..wat say?
cheers
amith
**But unless every single one of us possesses the virtue of laziness in ample amounts, this is an unlikely possibility.
MOST of us do :) Just that it doesnt show much cos we r all aware of our Deaths, so we r all working hard!
**And even if it does happen, maybe we can have some machines do it for us?
If we get lazy who's gonna CREATE the machines? Wud we even bother? :)
Keshi.
Wow this sure was an interesting topic and did ever a lot of people have a lot of deep things to say. Its almost mindboggling, really. But I'm going to say what I think. I don't know that anyone of us knows. We can come up with our theories and speculation about what immortality on earth would be like, but who can really say? Peace or chaos, impossible to tell.
But it surprises me no one mentioned life after death. You would think that would have something to do with 'forever'.(something our minds can't even comprehend.) I guess you either think you go on or you don't.
Time...
Does knowing our mortality really make us better? Are we really living our lives like tomorrow could be the last? Is it hard for people to think about what happens when you die? Just some random questions to put out there... Sure made me think of some things.
@Amith
That is a valid point. But once we attain immortality, reproduction would most probably stop. We still might have to eat peas all the time, yuck!
Personally, I find a lot of enjoyment in doing nothing. ;) But to each his/her own i guess. Hehe!
Welcome to The Village Idiot.
Hope to see you back here soon. :)
@Keshi
Indeed, many of us do possess the quality of laziness in large amounts. But there are exceptions. Even a few hundred not-so-lazy people would be enough to build the machines. These machines would now be capable of building more machines and voila, Enter the Matrix!
@Lee Beth
I too am amazed by the diverse and deep thoughts that people have expressed here.
You bring a fresh point here, life-after-death. I personally don't believe in it, but perhaps others who do can comment on it?
1. Knowing our mortality does not always make us better. In most cases it makes us seek quick and sometimes wrong means to our goals.
2. Most people don't live like tomorrow might be their last day, not until a doctor tells them that is.
3. Yes, most people live in denial of death. They assume that because it is far off they can ignore it for the time being. And once it catches up with them, they wish they had lived more.
Welcome to The Village Idiot.
Please keep contributing. :)
Cheers!
Overpopulation alert. Anyway, we are meant to lose people we love, or else how would we know how important they are? People living forever would mean that no one treasures the people they know.
@Nashe^
Wow! That is an angle I never thought about. But wouldn't it be better if we realized the importance of people without losing them? (Although we seldom do...)
Who oneeds money, Obama's giving out free beer !! LOL
Blessings ....
Why would i use this forum to swear at you? ONe is entitled to their point of view, besides I like views that differ from my own at times there are gems to be found within.
Eternity....hmmmmmm....it depends how you look at it. One way is through DNA think about it we walk around with our ancestors running through our veins as our DNA didn't begin with us rather is a continuation of family connections....kind of like the begat, begat, begat in the bible....haha....
interesting entry......keep it coming.
@King of New York Hacks
Who needs money indeed! Hurray for Obama! :)
Welcome to The Village Idiot.
Keep reading. :)
@Rhapsody B
Thank you for your kind blessings. :)
Well, I am not saying anyone would want to swear at me, but I want to leave the window open. I love being called names. ;)
Hmmm, DNA-memory is a new factor to be considered in the immortality equation. If we stop reproducing, we stop adding to this memory, or do we? I am confused...
Thanks for contributing. :)
Do keep visiting The Village Idiot.
Cheers!
I agree with your philosophy!
If we were immortal, all rush would end... and thus, the reckless "means to an end" that people take wouldn't be necessary, would they?
Thanks so much for your comment, it really did help me out!
@Juan Pablo
Indeed! You have got is spot on!
Thank for agreeing with me.
Keep reading. :)
Your line of thinking would have me believe you think immortality would eliminate greed and impatience from mankind. In this one instance, I'm going to out-pessimist you. Those traits are far too ingrained in us. Granted... if immortality was around from the beginning of mankind, maybe we wouldn't be so hell bent on survival and would have evolved away from greed and impatience... then again, maybe not.
Ugh, I'm actually quite the optimist and here you've got me being a naysayer! Good post, thanks for getting my neurons firing.
**But there are exceptions. Even a few hundred not-so-lazy people would be enough to build the machines. These machines would now be capable of building more machines and voila, Enter the Matrix!
but then there wont be any difference from the kind of LIFE we live right now! :)
Keshi.
btw,you are a misogynist?!! huh!
well..immortality is a solution?!your logic sounds good that,when people dont have a deadline to meet,they'll be less violent..but what abt the growing population and the increasing amount of resources that we consume?
@One Sassy Girl
Wow! I never thought someone would be able to out-pessimist me! Hehe :)
I am glad I got you thinking.
Keep reading. :)
@Keshi
There is a difference, in the proposed situation, we choose to be in a virtual world where we can experience limited lifetimes and exit it at will.(hopefully)
Right now, we do not have the choice.
@Gayathri
The population problem is easily addressed by permenent birth control.
And I am only slightly mysogynistic. :)
Hey Sandy!
Immortality would be nice, but I wonder if we would treasure the same things we do now. Would religion be a necessity? I wonder if morality would be as important, since you live forever--would life in prison be a fitting punishment? I don't know.
Great post!
@lacherie_17
I am not sure we would treasure the same things we do now, but I am sure there will be plenty of things to treasure. Also, religion becoming unnecessary might be a good thing.
Life in prison might be too harsh when you are immortal. Maybe we could think of bail after a couple of centuries? ;)
Thanks for commenting Lashawn, do check out my next post.
Cheers!
If everyone in the world was immortal it would not be a better place to live because when many people born it would become a crowded place to live...:)
cheers
Vignesh(WELCOME TO MY WORLD)
@Vignesh
Once everyone in the world becomes immortal, reproduction can be stopped by artificial means, thus preventing the world from getting crowded. :)
Welcome to The Village Idiot!
Cheers!
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