Introduction
One of the "eternal" ideas of mankind throughout history is the victory over death. And if ideally - eternal life, full of youth and enthusiasm. Like many "archetypal" dreams, it is both contradictory and meaningless, but it is precisely because of this that it survives. There was, perhaps, not a single person who at least once did not think, if not about eternal life, then about eternal youth, for sure. I decided to touch on this topic for one simple reason - I'm too lazy smile. More specifically, I realized that I was tired of repeating the same arguments over and over again, objecting to separate statements. It's easier to write an article so that you can refer to it later. Let it be in the public domain, and anyone can get acquainted with it. At the same time, a good discussion can start.
Why do we need immortality?
First of all, I would like to determine the reasons for the emergence of the idea of immortality and its transformation into a dream. In this chapter, I want to state my vision of the reasons: why does a person want immortality at all, what are the motives?
At the root of everything, I believe, are our childhood experiences. When we are just forming, we are very impressionable and vulnerable. This is due to the fact that, firstly, we only get to know the world and try to form a big picture (little experience). And since we are not yet able to think connectedly, then, for the most part, this picture is emotional.
How are emotions different from thoughts? Thoughts can be chained together, evaluated and analyzed. Everything is different with emotions - if they are strong (and in a child they are undoubtedly strong), they completely absorb us, tearing us out of our natural state, interrupting the sequential thought process. Everything else simply disappears, you have nothing to compare your feelings with: emotions completely cut you off from the outside world. Hence the peculiarity of the emotional picture - we cannot notice its contradictions, we simply do not see them (and in the case of mental pathologies, this is how mosaic psychopathy works).
One of the most traumatic realizations for a child is his own mortality, and later - the death of relatives (primarily parents) and loved ones. If a pet can be replaced with something and tell the story of how he fled to a new home, where he is now so good, then everything is much more complicated with his parents, not to mention his own death. For the first time, the child realizes the vulnerability of his world. For the first time, he realizes that time has a downside. It turns out that time not only gives (new series of cartoons, birthday, for which they give gifts, new friends, etc.), but also takes away. And the worst thing is not to persuade him, not to subdue him. This is rock, inevitability.
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I think this is one of the first realizations that can be called “divine touch”. Awareness of the presence in this world of a powerful force that rules your life at its discretion, but you cannot influence it, you are completely dependent on it. And the first reaction (quite natural) will be denial … well, in general, you get the idea smile. The psychological model of acceptance inevitably Kubler-Ross is very universal, and for our case it is quite suitable, albeit with some peculiarities.
So, first of all, of course, the child will deny everything - he will not die, mom-dad will not die. Its OK now? Well, it will continue to be good. After all, he wants so (remember that the child's world model is centric - his world is very small, everything revolves around him, everyone loves him and does not want to harm him, which means they will not die if he asks them). However, such complacency does not last long. The fear, which the child tries to conquer by denial, further encourages fantasy, fixing attention on the act of possible death. Gradually, thoughts that death will one day come seep through more and more, and finally begin to take shape in the form of awareness of death, of its existence. However, instead of going into the stage of anger (the child does not yet have his own active position to formulate claims), he almost immediately gets into the stage of bargaining. And the majority live in this stage all their lives. In general, I have now described the natural basis of the religious consciousness of the overwhelming majority of people. It is reinforced by the fear of imminent death, and hence the subconscious desire to come to terms with what can end your life at any moment. Of course, if a person begins to grow further, he goes through the stage of bargaining and depression (the notorious search for "the meaning of life") and ends up in the stage of humility, where he understands religious life as service. But, unfortunately, for the majority, this is too difficult a path. They bargain with death almost to the very end, or they deny (never getting into the bargaining stage).and hence - a subconscious desire to come to terms with what can end your life at any moment. Of course, if a person begins to grow further, he goes through the stage of bargaining and depression (the notorious search for "the meaning of life") and ends up in the stage of humility, where he understands religious life as service. But, unfortunately, for the majority, this is too difficult a path. They bargain with death almost to the very end, or they deny (never getting into the bargaining stage).and hence - a subconscious desire to come to terms with what can end your life at any moment. Of course, if a person begins to grow further, he goes through the stage of bargaining and depression (the notorious search for "the meaning of life") and ends up in the stage of humility, where he understands religious life as service. But, unfortunately, for the majority, this is too difficult a path. They bargain with death almost to the very end, or they deny (never getting into the bargaining stage).or they deny it (without getting into the bargaining stage).or they deny it (without getting into the bargaining stage).
It is bargaining with death that is the soil on which all dreams of immortality take root. The person did not enter the phase of humility. He has a hope that this will not affect him (he will be able to get out, agree) - no matter how irrational it is. It is this irrational hope that we dress in the idea of seeking immortality. Those who are stuck at the stage of denial simply exclude it from their lives. They do not like to talk about death, they carefully avoid funerals, cemeteries and churches - all those places where we are involuntarily distracted from the daily hustle and bustle and think about the main thing. Such people do not seek immortality for obvious reasons: they already live like immortals.
Realization of immortal life. As it will be
Let's assume all problems are solved. We have solved the problem of overpopulation, resources (food, water, energy, land, etc.). Let's imagine that immortality has been achieved. What will he be, this immortal man?
First things first, time will disappear. Human time (I mean, not objective, of course, or biological) is an extensible concept. Our subjective perception of time changes over the course of life. In childhood, it lasts a very long time. When a five-year-old is told to "wait a year," he considers it a verdict. For him, this is eternity. But for a person of 50-60 years old - not just a minute, he will not even notice how this year flies by. Why is that? We "measure" our time in relation to what has already been lived. For a five-year-old child, this is the fifth part of life, and for a fifty-year-old child, it is fifty. Therefore, the more years we live, the faster our subjective time will flow. And at some stage, the sense of time will simply disappear, turning into a faceless blurred background that flows in the background.
From here we draw the first conclusion. Subjectively, our life will not increase. We thought linearly that if we live not seventy years, but seventy thousand, we will see and experience a thousand times more. In fact, seventy years, lived with the mind, is enough for us. We will feel and live a little more, even if we stretch our life for tens and hundreds of thousands of years.
The second thingour sensations will suffer: the perception of the world will become more and more blurred over the years. When we see something for the first time, we carefully examine it, smell it, listen. We study what we encountered for the first time. Therefore, the child's world is so unusually bright, full of strong experiences, impressions and discoveries - he is in an active phase of cognition, in order to adapt to this world, he needs to learn all the time. Conversely, when we already know something well, it does not leave an "imprint" in our perception. The song that you heard “to the holes”: at first you heard every note, enjoying the nuances of the arrangement, and now you don’t even notice how it ends, as if you cannot concentrate on it. Familiar streets, trees, bushes, etc. You just note that they are (labels), but you can't see the objects themselves. So - the immortal will have the same thing. We will simply exist, floundering in our daily vain thoughts, not noticing how centuries fly by. Very soon (by the standards of eternity) we will literally stop seeing the world around us, feeling it.
Third, we will forget how to appreciate the lives of others. The immortal does not have our morality - nothing threatens his life (there is no death that interrupts the path of life), which means that he does not understand its value, especially the value of mortal life. Even the last glimpses of compassion will disappear. Death (someone else's, of course) will quickly turn into entertainment, a game. Actually, our hypothetical immortal will lose the most important quality that makes us human.
Fourth, we will never do anything, or we will never finish. We mortals are always urged on by time. The woman feels that the clock is ticking and is trying to start a family and children as soon as possible. A man is trying to realize a career, because life is not eternal, and health is even more impermanent. We all understand that we need to hurry up, because tomorrow it will be too late. But the immortal does not have such problems - he can postpone decisions and affairs forever. This means that since even the most important thing can be postponed, he will never do anything - everyday vanity and laziness will “blur” absolutely everything. For there is no motivation (I don’t refuse! I’ll just do it tomorrow). Therefore, centuries will fly by, and nothing but fleeting vanity will fill the life of an immortal person.
Fifth- the burden of mistakes. The freshness of children's perception is rooted in one more point - they are not afraid to make mistakes, because they have not accumulated that collection of "bumps" that adults have. The more negative experience we accumulate (and with age it will be inevitable), the more fearful and conservative our perception and behavior becomes. Suffering may not kill us, but it can undermine us greatly (especially - the hope, which young people have more than enough). And an immortal person very quickly (within two or three hundred of the first years) develops stereotyped behavior, diligently avoiding even the slightest stress and anxiety. That is, our immortal will cease to receive new impressions, and therefore will throw himself into drugs and other debauchery in order to occupy himself with something and at least feel something. And as a result - escape from life, from oneself. And unbridled frenzy, exhausting the soul.
The sixth is loneliness. Which naturally follows from the fifth point: we simply forget how to trust. The absence of an important goal (for the immortal, the important does not exist) makes him extremely conservative. There is no need to take risks, because there is no worthy goal, and conservatism (point five) will reduce behavior to patterns. An immortal person, in essence, will turn into a robot. Why does a robot need communication? That is, wasting time in the company, filling the void (you need to do something) is quite possible. But he simply will not be able to build deep, trusting, close relationships. Yes, she doesn't even want it.
Seventh - as a result, "poisoning" by immortality will occur. The meaninglessness of being, the absence of impressions and other accompanying "features" of immortality will emasculate the very idea of life. This desire (immortality) to stop will flare up more and more, until, finally, this thought will not hammer the poor man's brain with a hot hammer every second. It's funny if you can “ask for” immortality, but you can't refuse, even if you crave it. Instead of good, we get a real curse.
Why "does not work"
The question immediately arises - why can't a person be immortal? It seems that this is some strange defect of human nature, since he cannot appreciate such a seemingly good. It turns out that life extension alone is not enough? Yes, that's not an easy question. To express my point of view, I will present below a number of theses explaining such a strange property of human nature - the need for death.
The first point is the presence of our "I". It is the idea of a single consciousness (all thoughts, feelings and actions are subordinated to a certain "center") that is the reason for the "striving for the end." Why? Because this very “I” cannot exist without a goal. And the goal must be achievable and final, otherwise it is not a goal.
If there is no ultimate goal, then there will be no assessment of the activity - you did a lot or a little, good or bad, realized yourself or completely wasted time … Within the framework of eternity, all this is insignificant. Even if you haven't started doing it yet, you can fix everything, because there is time. For clarity, imagine that your career is not moving, there will never be a pension, the same persons, the same routes, routine operations, etc. Nothing changes: will you really like it? Well, or imagine a computer game in which nothing can be achieved: countless tasks lead nowhere, the pastime turns into meaningless fermentation and empty actions. For there is no ultimate goal, which means there is no motivation either.
It is precisely because we have “I” that we are purpose beings. We are doomed to always seek a purpose to sustain our existence. If there are no goals in our life field (or they for some reason become unacceptable), we choose the last and natural goal: all living beings strive for death.
Death is the outcome, the gong that announces the end of the round. Now you can make calculations and analyze. The immortal will never have this analysis, and the calculations themselves will be empty, without any benefit. So, from the point of view of our "I", immortality has no meaning. It will not provide an opportunity for self-realization.
The second thesis: we are developing, and not just accumulating information. Take a look at the life of any person - we do not just live, we go through certain stages of development. And each of this stage is unique in its capabilities, goals and nature of perception. That is, a person's life seems to be consistently "unfolding" and all its stages are extremely important - the previous ones directly affect the subsequent ones. We consistently live several lives, several roles that shape our perception and way of thinking. That is, our consciousness is so arranged that you cannot just "dump" everything in a heap. No, we need a foundation and sequential erection from bottom to top, in rows, in floors.
Immortality simply deprives us of the stages of development, because development is impossible without change. And the immortal does not change. That cheerful beginning, even if it is, will quickly be lost in centuries of empty vanity: it is she who will oust the most important thing from our life. But it seems to me that there will not even be a beginning: knowing that you will never die, you will put off the important all the time until it finally ceases to be important.
The third thesis: our very human nature, with compassion, morality, moral principles and concepts of good and evil, is impossible without looming death. Mortality allows us to put ourselves in the place of others, because we, realizing our end, understand the whole tragedy of a prematurely cut short life. Everything is lost along with life - plans, hopes, achievements and so on. Hence the tough taboos on murder, rules and covenants that allow many people to unite to achieve a common goal (the foundation of society). An immortal does not need to unite with anyone, and he will never lose his achievements - he does not need this.
The fourth thesis: it follows from point three - immortals will never create a society, and even families will not be able to start. Because they don't need to join forces with others. They are self-sufficient, personal comfort and addictions are more important than common interests.
Fifth thesis: the proximity of death awakens a person, exacerbates sensations. We instinctively reach for the dangerous (near death) in order to feel life sharper. Conversely, when everything is too safe and calm, we hardly feel life. The closeness of death gives a shake-up. The monotonous life is practically not felt. The immortal, in principle, will not be able to feel the nearness of death, which means that his feelings will soon disappear completely. In other words, the very gift of life (sensation, the ability to learn and change) will be lost. Instead of eternal life, there will be eternal existence.
Thirst for immortality: what are the reasons
It would seem that I just described the reasons why we should rejoice at our death (no matter how strange it may sound), to thank her. However, I suspect that most will just twirl their fingers at their temples. Why? As I mentioned, the dream of immortality is irrational. Even more - it is based on an ancient fear that most will never be able to overcome. But besides the irrationality of the dream itself, there are several more points: it is convenient to dream of immortality. Again - I will list the points.
First: our omnipresent laziness, a person does not want to make efforts to change his life. Immortality means that at any time you can do all the important things, which means they can be postponed painlessly.
Second: retribution for the deed. Death means evaluation (judgment), and a person wants to delay this moment as far as possible. Ideally, avoid trial altogether. Then you can rampage forever. Naturally, if a person did only good, he would not be afraid of death. But sins and serious sins involve retribution. By virtue of
Here I will step aside from the story a little to reveal my idea of retribution. The point is that a person feels the arrival of death. He suddenly remembers the people who are dear to him and wants to see them. He tries to apologize for what he has done, to correct mistakes. It is the feeling of nearness of death that makes him so human. The thing is that our perception of time is subjective (I already mentioned this), and the closer death is to us, the slower and more intense it goes. Before death (literally seconds), it turns into eternity. A person can easily remember his entire life, and heightened perception knocks down all the defenses exposed during life and breaks the veil of oblivion. We literally live every second of the past, very acutely. And the most difficult sensation is unbearable shame for their bad deeds or callousness towards others. That's why,having accumulated a mass of sins, people are afraid of death. On the contrary, they run away from it so as not to feel what we call conscience.
Third: already mentioned in paragraph two - an escape from conscience. The closer death is, the more sensitive and emotionally vulnerable we become. And this is a threat, a source of our uncertainty. Of course, there are some who were able to come to terms with death and make it an advisor (an ancient shamanic technique). Such people, even in the most terrible situations, will not be alone - death will be their close friend, and the end of life will not be terrible, but warm, solemn. Previously, warriors were brought up in this way, which was their secret of courage and fearlessness, endurance and wisdom. But most people are obsessed with the fear of death. And it is their flight from conscience that is the basis and the cause of their "sinful" life.
A small afterword
You, dear Reader, probably noticed that when I described the characteristics of the immortal, it reminded you of something. Yes, you are not mistaken. As I stated at the beginning of this article, the denial of death gives a person the feeling that he is immortal. Inhumanity, cruelty, callousness, heartlessness, passion from someone else's death - all these vices from the fact that a person considers himself immortal. No, at the level of words, of course, he will not speak like that, but these will be general words. He will not say - "I will die", he will say that all people are mortal (or something like that). But emotionally, since death is repressed from his consciousness, he feels himself to be immortal. However, he cannot completely banish anxiety. Therefore, he is often drawn to real atrocities. The desire to take power over life into your own hands. Murder for fun, lust for blood are all echoes of those fears. When a person kills another living being, he has a feeling of power even for a short time - he becomes equal to death, deciding who to live and who to die. Thanks to this experience, he temporarily relieves that colossal pressure on his soul. But after the rollback, another wave, more powerful, will follow. Because the number of "sins" has increased. This is how a deviant is formed, "imprisoned" for murder, a kind of "Martian" who brings bloody sacrifices to his deity. And it doesn't have to be a butcher. It may be a very respectable-looking person holding a high state office. Due to their secrecy (immortals have no need for confidential communication, they are self-sufficient) and methodicalness (emotions do not touch them), these are truly dangerous people. Fortunately, there are very few of them in a healthy society. Most of the potential candidates are not so "frostbitten" and are afraid to get caught.
Author: Sackshyne