I remember sitting in a poetry class in college and the teacher finished up a poem by Wilfred Owen or Pablo Neruda or Yusef Komunyakaa, and having the professor finish the last line of the poem with a pause, then he repeated the line of the poem. It was an amazing last line. Then he said to us “Write a line like that, and that is how you become immortal.”
‘That is how you become immortal’. I think about that a lot. I don’t think about dying and going to live in the clouds as the immortal experience. That is all well and good, but I think about contribution to the world.
It seems like eternity has been set in our hearts as the ancient texts say. We are obsessed with fame because it seems to make a person universal and last forever, we become obsessed with creatures that are immortal, like vampires or wizards that can live into their hundreds, or we become intrigued by people who are changing the world because it will have an impact well past their years.
Maybe we become defined by the way that we want to be immortal. For me, I would love to have someone read one line of something I said 100 years from now and say “and that is how you become immortal” rather than I would someone say, “he is still alive in heaven now”. It could be partly vanity, but I think it is largely a part of how I want to see my life defined. Maybe that means I really want to be a writer. Maybe that means that I like the idea of a lasting footprint.
What do you think? Do you want to be immortal in another dimension? Would you like to have a village named after you? A plaque, a movie, a text, gold watch of 50 years of service to a company, vast numbers of descendants?
I don’t know, maybe I just want to be a vampire that writes books.
Tags: immortality
Hm. Immortality is setting the bar rather low, I think.
Whereas some (indeed, most) of my ancestors have left little more in this world than a tomb-stone, you and I will leave an immense digital footprint, probably forever. Technology has conspired to make our communications available ubiquitously, and cheap storage will make them available indefinitely. Indeed, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone is born in the coming decade whose every word, throughout their life, is recorded (and indexed).
So, to be interesting that idea of immortality has to be measured by some notion of impact. But I guess that many people with big impacts are nevertheless anonymous to posterity.
Good thoughts Nick.
My observation is that the obsession with immortality does not lay in a vain desire for extended life or fame, but in a desperate plea to not be forgotten. Human beings, as far as I know, are the only species that know they are going to die. Subconsciously, this has to take a toll. It’s downright frightening. For some, becoming famous (or infamous) is the only way to ensure they will not be forgotten. In the end, this helps proves that their short existance actually meant something.
Very nice follow up thoughts. Andres and Jesse consider yourself tagged in what could be an Immortality Meme?