Irrationally Immortal
“The Eternal City” is a phrase that those of a poetically-inclined nature use to refer to Rome. It’s not hard decipher why — even a short walk in the city will reveal architecture and public memorabilia that serves as a history lesson transcending centuries.
Just a couple hundred miles north of Rome is Florence, a commercial and artistic hub that seems to have withstood the test of time. “What age would you guys want to live to?” asked a friend of mine, as we trekked alongside the Arno river towards Ponte Vecchio (“old bridge”), a Florentine landmark almost 7 centuries of age. We continued our scintillating conversation, we began talking about immortality and how we could achieve so much more if our bodies didn’t have an expiration label. As we turned left on to the bridge crossing, I chimed into the conversation in disagreement of the idea. I do not think that immortality, or even extending the human lifespan to twice or thrice its current mean length, would necessarily translate to more achievement and higher productivity.
When we assign value to most things, there is an underlying assumption that the “thing” is temporary or can be taken away from us. We value physical possessions because they cannot be easily attained. We value relationships because they will one day break, voluntary or through death. We value experiences because we only have one lifetime to explore them. If we were immortal (or close to it), I think that we would simply follow our instincts determined by The Id to achieve short-term gratification. What incentive is there to do otherwise? We may do this for an indefinite amount of time until perhaps our conscious awareness recognizes the futility of our life and we voluntarily to put an end to it.
Allow me to now voluntarily put an end to this piece by leaving you with a quote from Steve Jobs, in case it hadn’t already crossed your mind:
“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”
Read more at http://rewiringthemind.com/
