“In my dreams, I see the men I have killed. They are all waiting for me on the other side of the river.” (Brad Pitt, as Achilles in Troy)
For Achilles, there was only one certainty in life - Death. Not God, not faith, not love. Just death. It was death that gave meaning to his life. He could become immortal by putting others to death. Never mind what Pitt said as a character he played, the story says Achilles actually was envious of the Gods, on account of their immortality.
I guess at some level, mankind has always tried to strive for immortality. It is what separates humans from Gods. It is what has driven rulers and tyrants over history to build or destroy some sort of landmarks to create an indelible mark to forever keep their name alive. The pyramids, the Taj Mahal and perhaps everything great and magnificent that surfaced due to man’s creative desire stemmed from a desire to be immortal. I guess, the desire to live forever has been the seed of all art forms and man’s quest for being the best in his trade.
The quest for immortality is nothing new. There have been numerous attempts over the centuries and yarns spun around how this could be achieved. There are accounts of fantasy, mythology, tales of magic and then in the recent centuries in the realms of science and technology talking about if this was possible and how.
There was an article in ‘Times of India’ Delhi edition on January 3, 2009 on how the human civilization would turn to being a Cyborg civilization (half men – half machine) with the advent of nano-technology and how this might possibly make humans immortal. It said that technology to produce machines capable of performing vital organic functions was under development and once these machines were implanted in human body, the wear and tear of human body would be reduced to a minimal and possibly everyone could grow old to infinite years. Death - the ultimate truth could become a lore of past.
I don’t know if this would come true and how good would it be but on a deeper analysis it sure is a frightening thought. The basis of life actually is that it ends one day. Death is not only a reality it is also a necessity for human race. Earth is already overburdened and overtaxed by human greed. Top that with an unending and undying population and almost everything is put out of gear at once.
All human race is governed by its faith in God and in turn the fact that humans are mortal. All earlier civilizations have respected this fact. The basis of reincarnation, afterlife and even the judgment day is based on the theory that one day we all shall die. What happens to the soul (if there exists anything like that) governs the principle and rules of virtues and vices. People fear what shall become of them once they die. Take that fear out and unleash the savage inside each one of us and the world becomes a living hell.
And even if one were to assume that there will only remain a limited set of people to enjoy the life forever the question is how will that survival be? If the vital functions were to become frail enough to render one bedridden what good is being 300 or 400 year old. And again if there were a possibility of retaining forever youth, the question arises won’t one simply tire out of all what this world has to offer and will the world have to offer much after all? If people knew they wouldn’t die no matter what, would they still continue to function the same way? Will they still work to eat? Wouldn’t their needs satiate at some point?
At this point, I finished the essay, set the papers aside and stood up straight. About time to take a little walk to the cliff and then…(sigh)…keep walking…till I soar.
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