Thoraiya DyerWhy we need to die
November 8th 2006 20:03
A Little Gift of Immortality
I thought you guys might want to check out this little conversation caught on tape back in a Greyhound bus in January 16, 1979.
A: I wish I didn't have to die. Life seems so meaningless if we all have to die.
B: Very well, then. I hereby grant you IMMORTALITY.
A: Really? You mean, I can stop worrying about aging and dying?
B: That's just what I mean.
A: I'll go on living forever and ever, without changing?
B: Not exactly. You'll change, but you just won't die. You wouldn't want never to change at all, would you?
A: I guess not, since everything I do changes me in some way, and so does everything that happens to me.
B: Then you will change and wear out, but as you do, your parts will be replaced.
A: Even my brain?
B: Yes.
A: How will I know that I'm still me?
B: The same way you know yourself, even though you're very different from the baby you once were.
A: But will I remember everything?
B: You don't remember everything now. You'll remember some things, and forget others.
A: And this will go on and on forever?
B: Yes, forever.
A: What about my family and friends?
B: It will be just the same with them. You will all be immortal forever.
A: What about all the people who were already dead?
B: For them, unfortunately, it's too late.
A: What will we do with all our time?
B: The same things you do now, if you wish.
A: But so many of them will seem rather meaningless now, if we're all going to live forever. There will be no need to take care of ourselves or each other, no need to reproduce, no need, really, to do anything, because there will always be more time to do it later.
B: Pardon me, but weren't you just complaining that it was death that made life meaningless? Isn't that why I gave you immortality?
A: I want immortality ON MY OWN TERMS.
B: Which are --?
A: Meaningful immortality. Enough going on in the world forever to provide continuity and permanence. Enough changing and ending to give dimension and substance.
B: But that is what you have always had.
If it didn't tear your heart out, it probably got you sidesplitting with laughter. Okay, it wasn't caught on tape. But somebody did overhear it back in 1979.
I thought you guys might want to check out this little conversation caught on tape back in a Greyhound bus in January 16, 1979.
A: I wish I didn't have to die. Life seems so meaningless if we all have to die.
B: Very well, then. I hereby grant you IMMORTALITY.
A: Really? You mean, I can stop worrying about aging and dying?
B: That's just what I mean.
A: I'll go on living forever and ever, without changing?
B: Not exactly. You'll change, but you just won't die. You wouldn't want never to change at all, would you?
A: I guess not, since everything I do changes me in some way, and so does everything that happens to me.
A: Even my brain?
B: Yes.
A: How will I know that I'm still me?
B: The same way you know yourself, even though you're very different from the baby you once were.
A: But will I remember everything?
B: You don't remember everything now. You'll remember some things, and forget others.
A: And this will go on and on forever?
B: Yes, forever.
A: What about my family and friends?
B: It will be just the same with them. You will all be immortal forever.
A: What about all the people who were already dead?
B: For them, unfortunately, it's too late.
A: What will we do with all our time?
B: The same things you do now, if you wish.
A: But so many of them will seem rather meaningless now, if we're all going to live forever. There will be no need to take care of ourselves or each other, no need to reproduce, no need, really, to do anything, because there will always be more time to do it later.
B: Pardon me, but weren't you just complaining that it was death that made life meaningless? Isn't that why I gave you immortality?
B: Which are --?
A: Meaningful immortality. Enough going on in the world forever to provide continuity and permanence. Enough changing and ending to give dimension and substance.
B: But that is what you have always had.
If it didn't tear your heart out, it probably got you sidesplitting with laughter. Okay, it wasn't caught on tape. But somebody did overhear it back in 1979.
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