To Live Forever

Since the beginning of time humans have been afraid of death and it's dark void. In our attempts to escape the clutches of an inevitable end we have created medicine and other remedies to prolong our life. Yet many would say that a never ending life would only be filled with sorrow. All things must come to an end at one time or another, but must they?

If one could live forever it would cause many problems in the world, yet one can't help but think of the possibility. Our culture and many cultures around the world have shown an embrace of this immortal thought. Christianity in itself promises the gift of immortality after the inevitable death, but what if this place does not exist? If we are truly to only live on this earth then it would make sense that most would never want it to end.

Certainly the world would become overpopulated if no one ever died, but solutions could be found to ease this problem just as we've found solutions to several other problems in the world. What if the choice to live forever was an individuals to make? Those who wished to end there life could do so whenever they chose or even allow nature to make the choice. If we did not want to continue living then would we spend most of the end of our lives in hospitals trying to get better?

If one were to live forever as say a vampire as many cultures hold myths about then they would have to watch those around them die. For many this would make living an everlasting life meaningless and painful. Many parents would grieve greatly at watching there children die before them. Given the choice what would you choose?

With the ability to live as long as you wished a person could learn as much as they wanted. Never would you have to worry about time, and mistakes would seem less important with the realization that you have all the time in the world to make up for them. Even if life took a turn for the worse you would be given strength to make it better knowing that you will not die before things get better. Time would at last become endless and meaningless and the world would perhaps be a bit more relaxed.

Imagine what could be created if great minds were allowed to mature and grow as long as they wished. If Einstein had survived through the years just think of where we could be. Life is a precious thing, but often it's own frailness makes us weary to truly live because of the fear of the outcome of our actions. If life were not so precious perhaps it would be more fulfilling, but I cannot say as I'm bound by the same restrictions as the rest of mankind.

Even with no prospect of death the world would be far from perfect. No matter how long the same souls battled on this earth resolution would always escape our grips. Criminals would still live on just as they do now, and opinions of right and wrong would continue to differ from one another. Perhaps with time more of an understanding could be reached in turn creating a sense of one between the world, but most likely many would simply be pushed further apart by there beliefs and hatred. This world of immortality would not be perfect, and that's as it should be.

One solution to the problem of over population and crime may be to have the ability to die, but not by nature itself. Instead of being rendered invincible if humans were to become merely as vampires they could still be killed and choose to die at any moment in time. In this case a perfect society could in the eyes of one perhaps be created though it would take a powerful leaded and perhaps some unfriendly tactics. It would be terrifying to think of someone coming to power and erasing all that he saw unfit for the world because in this case that person would have the time to truly wipe out those he did not like forever. Laws could be created to ensure that no children were born once a cleansing had been achieved and then only those found worthy would live. A world full of the same people every day until the end of eternity or perhaps until the sun blows up the earth though by that time I'm sure a plan would be formed to escape the wrath of the elements.

Eternity is hard to fathom and so one cannot know for sure if it's what they want. You would never know if you wanted to live forever even if you had the ability because any day or change in events could make you no longer wish to live. If one could not die even by unnatural means this would cause quite a commitment by a human choosing never to die. Perhaps it would take a hundred years or even a couple thousand years but one day you might simply realize that eternity no longer holds it's meaning. You may wake up and find only suffering and unanswered questions among the many years of knowledge you retain.

Should we live forever? This I do not know, but it's quite an intriguing concept that brings many questions. Given a choice to find out I think curiosity would get the best of me. To live or die that is the question.