Whether you’re a young child or a well-educated philosopher, you’ve most likely pondered the meaning of life before. But that’s not what this post is about. I want to talk less about some arbitrary meaning of life and focus on the typical lifestyle of the modern day. It’s frightening how repetitive and pointless we are in this perspective.
A few days ago, I was trying to compile a mental list of some controversial topics I could write about. For some reason, I ended up dwelling on abortion and the search for extraterrestrials. Only then did I realize a striking similarity between the two – both involve the seemingly impossible task of devising a list of parameters which concretely outline “life.” If you think about it, we as intelligent human beings have an inherent idea of what constitutes “life”, but how exactly do we go about defining it in a manner which is both broad yet without exception? In the case of abortion, is life present the instant in which fertilization occurs? How about E.T. and his friends… do they have to be carbon-based, cellular organisms to be considered life forms?
If it was possible, would you want to know the exact date of your death? When attempting to answer this question, I realized how blissful a state of ignorance can be. The question exemplifies how mankind’s obsessive pursuit of wanting to know “everything” may have drawbacks.
Going back through history and literature, we find numerous examples of mankind attempting to extend longevity to essentially achieve immortality. From Ponce de Leon’s search for the Fountain of Youth to the Elixir of Life, and yes, even the highly prized Sorcerer’s Stone, it seems living longer is a highly prized goal for everyone. Or is it?
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