Immortality

From time to time, I am bothered by the concept of non-existence. By being a creature, an observer, that has always existed (from my viewpoint) to know there will be a time that I will not exist slightly disturbs me. Which, undoubtedly it should, or else I would by bungee jumping daily. (Conversely, acknowledging that there was a time that I did not exist sometimes is equally bothersome when you really think about it.)

However, I think the alternative would be far worse: immortality. At first blush, it seems like a grand idea to not face a biological death. We would have unlimited time to travel the earth, learn new ideas, and meet hundreds of thousands of people. We could live out any and every dream that we had, especially if we are able to stop aging when we are the prime of our youth.

Yet...

I am horrified by the possible outcomes that this would do to humanity. We are free from the natural course of death and let's assume that we also are able to conquer all bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases. We would only have to face each other and more dangerously, ourselves. We would face the atrocities of humans more fully and each face an 'unnatural' death in the end if we keep at the current pace of violence.

But suppose immortality eliminates violence as well (which, after a time, it would seem logical that it would fade). Imagine a life without urgency, it would be similar to playing a favorite video game without the possibility of death. For a time, it will be exciting to be able to do as you want. However, the removal of the challenge of survival allows for monotony to creep in to the game play. Eventually, it will grow tiresome.

What would be our motivation to do anything? Procrastination would dominate our daily life and most likely pleasure would reign supreme. The necessity to reproduce would fade, eventually we would be consumed by ourselves.

The exciting thing about life is that it is indeed finite. Every choice we make defines who we are and who we will become. We are observers of a very limited space and are champions of a very small portion of time. But for those precious years, we are truly alive. Death is a fact that we all must face in our own way, but as with any successful project, there must be an end.

So, all though I am uncomfortable with the concept of non-existence, in the words of a co-worker:

"It is a relief to know that one day (in the far future) this all will end."