Since humans became capable of abstract thought, we've been grappling with the questions of life, death, and finding some sort of meaning to our existence. We need look no further than the existence of religion for evidence. I've often ponder the fragility of life. A human's sustained living is contingent on many factors. The environment in which we live can be suddenly altered by both individual and collective choices to such an extent as to end human life. We are dependent on food, shelter, and other necessities, without which we couldn't sustain our lives. We are also dependent on the continued stability of our physical environment. All things considered, it's amazing human life has survived as long as it has largely uninhibited.
Despite such tenuous conditions, humans are now routinely passing 80, 90, and sometimes 100 years of age before succumbing to the frailties of mortality. It's a miracle that such longevity is possible given our circumstances. Truly this is a testimony of human resilience. And yet it would take so little to end it all....
Which has always brought me back to my own mortality. I'll try to avoid morbidity, but the fact remains that none of us knows how many years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes or seconds we have to live. We just have to live each moment we have like it could be our last. Could we say that we're ready to die at any time?
Existentially, I've often wondered why life has to come to an end. While I won't claim to have all the answers, I've concluded that, without a terminus, our lives might lack the meaning they have. Or perhaps we'd just assign meaning differently. But if you never had to worry about leaving this existence, you might not value your time much.
Anyway, now I'm just waxing philosophical.
Despite such tenuous conditions, humans are now routinely passing 80, 90, and sometimes 100 years of age before succumbing to the frailties of mortality. It's a miracle that such longevity is possible given our circumstances. Truly this is a testimony of human resilience. And yet it would take so little to end it all....
Which has always brought me back to my own mortality. I'll try to avoid morbidity, but the fact remains that none of us knows how many years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes or seconds we have to live. We just have to live each moment we have like it could be our last. Could we say that we're ready to die at any time?
Existentially, I've often wondered why life has to come to an end. While I won't claim to have all the answers, I've concluded that, without a terminus, our lives might lack the meaning they have. Or perhaps we'd just assign meaning differently. But if you never had to worry about leaving this existence, you might not value your time much.
Anyway, now I'm just waxing philosophical.
No comments:
Post a Comment