Our greatest fear has never been death. It has always been, and always will be boredom, even if everyone hasn't realized it yet. (this is why life imprisonment is actually more cruel than the Death penalty.. watch the Shawshank Redemption. GREAT MOVIE)
This is what I simply cannot understand about those who lust after immortality. Even ancient religious texts picked up on eternal torture... but then again, they did suggest "eternal life" as a reward.
Are people just so afraid of death that they'd rather never die and just keep living? Perhaps the first 100 years could be entertaining... somehow. What about the next 100, and the next million, and the next billion after that? What if the world ends? Will the person exist in outer space as a bodiless entity? If the body exists beyond a brain, would this imply the creation of a new entity that exists when all else perishes? Isn't it horrifying to perceive the loneliness and solitude of an immortal soul floating in space, complete with all functions of a brain, but no body to perform them with, and no companion to converse with?
When I'm depressed, every second feels unbearably long, and the only temporary cure is the "Death of the day's wakefulness": sleep. What is the only cure for boredom in a prison cell? Sleep. What is the cure for boredom at home? Entertainment perhaps. What is the cure for boredom when all the sources of entertainment become boring? Sleep again.
But what happens if one gets bored with the "the tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" and actually wants out? Wouldn't life be the most morbid and unbearable prison cell imaginable? Even if the person's loved ones would be immortal with the immortal in the scenario, would life not evolve into something tedious? Making conversation would become a drag, eventually turning loved ones into people to be avoided.
I am yet to meet a person who craves immortality and has thought through its consequences.
This is what I simply cannot understand about those who lust after immortality. Even ancient religious texts picked up on eternal torture... but then again, they did suggest "eternal life" as a reward.
Are people just so afraid of death that they'd rather never die and just keep living? Perhaps the first 100 years could be entertaining... somehow. What about the next 100, and the next million, and the next billion after that? What if the world ends? Will the person exist in outer space as a bodiless entity? If the body exists beyond a brain, would this imply the creation of a new entity that exists when all else perishes? Isn't it horrifying to perceive the loneliness and solitude of an immortal soul floating in space, complete with all functions of a brain, but no body to perform them with, and no companion to converse with?
When I'm depressed, every second feels unbearably long, and the only temporary cure is the "Death of the day's wakefulness": sleep. What is the only cure for boredom in a prison cell? Sleep. What is the cure for boredom at home? Entertainment perhaps. What is the cure for boredom when all the sources of entertainment become boring? Sleep again.
But what happens if one gets bored with the "the tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" and actually wants out? Wouldn't life be the most morbid and unbearable prison cell imaginable? Even if the person's loved ones would be immortal with the immortal in the scenario, would life not evolve into something tedious? Making conversation would become a drag, eventually turning loved ones into people to be avoided.
I am yet to meet a person who craves immortality and has thought through its consequences.
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