It was drafting class, and I think I was in the 9th grade. Mr. Austin, who looked suspiciously like Tom Hanks (and who thought I was a Goth kid even though my only crime was wearing Kurt Cobain t-shirts and black Levis) left out large volumes of science and drafting magazines in class for the perusers. I found one that featured the article “How Humans Will Live Forever,” and in it a scientist travelled to the far reaches of the world to find the serum that would make humans live forever…or something.
I don’t remember it exactly.
However, the article got my noodle cooking, and since then I’ve thought about immortality as a vampire, Highlander, or just one of those pesky immortals that stick around forever. Wouldn’t it be neat to live forever? But then there are so many considerations.
The thing I think of the most is the urgency of Death. Death gives us the necessary drive to complete everything we need to accomplish in life. Raising kids, attaining a perfect job, making lots of money, etc. So, it is our own demise that drives us to succeed while we have the time. In one of my favorite films, Zardoz by John Boorman, a race of Apathetics live a stifled existence of ennui because they’ve already done everything there is to do in life as they are immortal beings who have lived impossibly long.
What a drag.
Immortality aside, a very long life doesn’t sound horrible, but I think at some point it gets tiresome to be alive for a long time. It gets to be a little much when you have to do the same things over and over again in the same category of health–good or bad but mostly bad. A long life may be okay, but I also remember looking at my sister when I turned 30 and said, “I am going to have to do another 30 of these if I live to be 60?!”
She only nodded.
Perpetua
I saw this KDrama movie where the protagonist lived for 1000 years. He was so bored to death!
misterjershua
I can only imagine! I would run out of hobbies.