Humans are not unusual in avoiding death. Animals run from forest fires, gazelles sprint from lions and carrots sigh every time a rabbit unearths them. But inevitably, death comes to every creature that has ever existed whether you're torn apart by lions or time ravages your body, you just cannot escape it. So what is our big worry about being dead? Well I think its a mix of two key things. One, that the actual process of death will be very painful and just a ghastly business in general. And, two, that once we are dead, by definition, we cannot continue to enjoy the experience of being alive. Even more horrifyingly is that being dead is a permanent state, so it's understandable that deprivation for an eternity makes some people a bit nervous.
So, in a Julie Andrews-esque rhetoric, 'How do we solve a problem like death?'. We could collectively stick our heads in the sand but because dead people are so blatant about their predicament, that can get a bit difficult. A far better solution would be to imagine that the 'deceased' has gone on to pursue another life elsewhere. Perhaps Hitler now has a pleasant secretarial job, just a stone's throw away from his heavenly 2 bedroom riverside apartment? I doubt it very much. But in effect, what we have done is not made death the end of our existence. So, really, you don't die at all, you just move to a different place. Gosh! How delightful, when we die everything will be new and exciting but best of all, I will still exist. Astutely, religious institutions move in on the act and play on the ideas of an afterlife, mentioning that, depending on if you are well behaved or not will affect whether your afterlife is happy or horrendous. Unsurprisingly, this proved to be quite the motivator for adhering to scriptures of religious saviours.
Fortunately, the afterlife is a comforting concept that gives one a warm, reassured glow inside. Unfortunately, believing in something that is pleasantly convenient does not make it a reality. This major flaw in the theory seems to be overlooked by many people. Some might say it is rather suspicious that such a glaring fault is not noticed. But, there is nothing suspicious about the fact that people prefer to ignore the frightening- constantly thinking about human futility can somewhat hinder day to day life. The idea of eternal life is very appealing and certainly helps to boost the sale of any book, most notably the Bible.
Some people ask how 'we' as an individual can simply cease to exist- how is it, that all our personality, memories and experiences can just disappear? That can't be right, surely? Well it is easily explained if we look at what that person and their characteristics was made of. We may marvel at our own complexity, but then the brain is a very complex, even sophisticated, organ. It has the ability to learn constantly, effortlessly maintain our vital functions and all at the same time as it intricately coordinating the limbs to play a violin, for example. It could be called remarkable, but in reality it works almost exactly as a computer but it is far more developed, at the time of writing, and made from a different substance. Apart from that, it uses electricity like we use food, to power a whole load of circuitry that can be programmed and changed to produce thoughts, emotions and control a physical body. That is where each of us lies, in the brain and body, we simply invent concepts like 'the soul' to name the remarkable workings of the mind. So, logically, once the mechanics are destroyed and energy no longer courses through the parts, we are well and truly lost to existence. Gone, like a binned computer. It is a mistake to be so impressed by the human body, that we make up supernatural explanations for something that is Super Nature.
It is often remarked by some that we do, in fact, live on. Because there must be some form of reincarnation if your materials perpetuate through time and space. This is simply not true. What made you, 'you' no longer exists. The necessary components are no longer arranged in the structures that gave 'you' existence. A simple analogy might be useful here. If we take a straight line, then bend it into a triangle, then it is a triangle. If we then bend it so that there are four corners and sides it is a square and the triangle no longer exists. Just because the two shapes are made from the same line does not make them, in themselves, the same. Just as the atoms that form me are not still 'me' when part of a rose bush or floating around in the atmosphere. Although, if you define 'us' as those atoms, only by definition do we actually 'live on'.
The idea of never ending, is more frightening than any other concept. Eternal life would be like riding a roller-coaster you can never get off. Imagine the sheer boredom you might face, or even the hellishness of never being able to escape all the worry or concern of existence. Surely even a heaven would get tiring, if it did not, it would beg the question 'How much of our personal humanity do we have to lose to remain eternally content?'. The great thing about the reality of dying, is that once you are dead, one simply would not care. One couldn't even care if they wished to. That's the beauty of ceasing to exist, it might come prematurely for some, but it is a far better option in comparison to never ending.
So next time you have a close shave with a car or a similar 'near death experience', try to get it into perspective. If anything had happened, it wouldn't have mattered one bit to you. Because, once you are dead there's no responsibility or worry. It's a 'get out of life free card'. Fuck the mortgage, there's not much anyone can do when your in a box 6 feet under. Why don't we all just commit suicide then? Well, that's a very bad idea for two reasons: one, if you mess it up it's potentially very embarrassing and two, a botched suicide would give you all the pain of dying but none of the benefits of being truly dead- like fattening salad.
That said- I don't think I'll be reaching for a gun too soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment