We all live in societies in which near every formative story and teaching glorifies the process of aging to death. The foundations of our myths paint death through aging as an essential, good thing. This is the natural outcome of thousands of years of creative human culture in which nothing could be done about aging. People came to terms with it by building tools - stories, myths, coping mechanisms - to enable psychological comfort in the face of the horrible and the inevitable. The best of these tools prospered because they allowed the societies that used them to prosper, and so we have today what has been termed the "pro-aging trance". We are now entering a new era, however, and in an age of biotechnology and medicine capable of addressing the causes of aging, these lies that we tell to ourselves about aging and death have outlived their usefulness. They have become a dead weight dragging us down, slowing the growth of support for rejuvenation research that can bring an end to the pain and suffering of aging and age-related disease.
Two clichés really ruined a recent moviegoing experience for me: the implied, groundless cliché that 'living forever is not as nice as you think, it's something only bad guys would want and it comes at a high price' creeping up throughout the entire movie, and the inevitable 'death gives life its meaning' cliché. I am really tired of hearing this false mantra being mindlessly repeated over and over. Books, movies, newspaper articles, people - everyone seems to be persuaded that without death, life would have no meaning. No one, though, bothers explaining why this depressing claim would hold true, and if they do, their arguments boil down to unconvincing, carelessly generalised hand-waving about how you couldn't properly appreciate a good thing without its opposite. That's like saying that in order to appreciate not having cancer, you need to have had cancer first. I appreciate how being mortal may make you see things differently from how an immortal being might see them, but that is not the same as death being mandatory to appreciate life.
So, please, stop. Stop repeating this dangerous and foolish mantra. Don't let movies, books, or anyone tell you that death gives life its meaning. Don't let anyone decide for you what is the meaning of life, or what gives meaning to it, because in general, there is no such thing. Meaning is relative, not absolute, and you get to decide for yourself what gives meaning to your life, not an age-old piece of nonsense people perpetuate merely to sugarcoat death. Death is nothing special. It is not a monster. It is not a foe, no more than the status of 'broken' is for an inanimate object. Death is the name we give to the status of a biological creature whose body is too damaged to keep functioning. That's all it is. I don't know what gives meaning to your life, but I can tell you what gives meaning to mine. People I love. Things I like doing. Music I like listening to. Playing piano. Drawing. Writing. Learning new things. Having fun with friends. Discussing science. Enjoying a beautiful landscape. Wondering about the countless mysteries of nature we haven't solved yet - and many, many other things.
We have hospitals to cure sick people. We have international organisations trying to save people in poor countries from starvation, to put an end to war and help its victims. Why all these initiatives aimed at preserving our lives, if death is what gives it meaning? If you are struck by a fatal illness, why turn to doctors to save your life? Perhaps the time has come for death to give it meaning. Do you see the nonsense yet? The very idea that death gives meaning to life, when we've tried so very hard from time immemorial to stave off death for as long as possible, is absurd-or perhaps, a hint that we don't care that much for our lives to have a meaning after all. Does all that you do, feel, and care for, magically become worthless if you don't die? Are the people you love dear to you only because one day you won't have them any more? What about the things they have done for you, or the fact they understand you like no one else does?
No, I don't think death gives meaning to life. Things I fill my life with give it meaning, and all my death is going to accomplish is taking those things away from me. (Or rather, it's going to take me away from those things.) Ageing is the worst example of this: It gradually makes you more and more unable to dedicate yourself to the things that give your life meaning, thus making your life more and more meaningless. Eventually, it deprives you of life entirely. So please, stop repeating the death mantra. Stop believing in this crazy nonsense. I understand where it comes from, and I understand our need to rationalise death, but it is time to move on. It is time to look at death for what it is and keep on refining our tools to stave it off indefinitely, so that people can live in perfect health for as long as they wish.
Link: https://rejuvenactio...07/please-stop/
View the full article at FightAging
