What If You Lived For 1,000 Years?

There was a planet it was one of the few planets in it's entire galaxy cluster that contained life and one of the even fewer that made it all the way to the first form of conscious life A Species that descended from a long lineage of inconceivably good fortune comprised of the right traits in the right planetary conditions at the right time like a newborn baby opening its eyes for the first time the emergence of this species was opening the eyes of the universe out from the crust of the planet They were the first organism on the planet to recognize that they were an organism on a planet not only able to be and feel and sense the material of everything but able to think and wonder and create out of it all able to harness the elements of the planet into tools and technologies Able to transmute the chemicals of their own biology and demeaning and love and fellowship They were a product of infinity an anomaly of existence although rich with intelligence and self-awareness Although capable of great acts of creation and understanding their bodies and organs remain soft vulnerable and short lived During the better part of the species initial development individuals lived on average for only 40 years Not much longer than anything else on the planet In fact shorter than many things at which point their bodies decayed enough to shut down Turning off the spotlight of their individual consciousness forever Not only that but many died early their bodies being a complex fragile and predominantly liquid based system Meant that any number of incidents of damage could shut the whole thing down Furthermore in many cases even if the body went on harm from the outside it still remains susceptible to various diseases that developed internally viruses microorganisms and other materials could take form destroying their bodies from the inside the same consciousness that granted the species their incredible abilities of Understanding and art and science and technology And love and meaning was the same consciousness that made them aware of the fact that they were a consciousness stuck inside an absurd fragile short-lived body Destined to lose it all When my perhaps think that the awareness of their mortality would have compelled them to live as if they were going to die But for the most part it had the opposite effect The knowledge that they were going to die and the expectation of how much time they likely had before they did Created a horrible friction between how much to focus on the present versus how much on the future which in many cases Defaulted into an inertia and many lived as if they would live forever rarely appreciating or making the most out of their magnificent position There was however a phenomenon that seemed to change things and a portion of individuals sometimes a disease or condition would develop One that could be diagnosed but not sufficiently treated or cured and as a result the individuals life expectancy would reduce Some of these diseases were slow burning and left the individual with several mostly untainted years left before it did them in. The diseased individual would then be forced to live not only with the awareness that they were going to die But the awareness that they were going to die sooner than they expected Most commonly this would occur in their mid life and typically reduce the individuals life expectancy from 40 down to around 20 or 15 years whenever this happened for some reason they would often make major changes in their life as if they weren't already living in a way that Was suitable for their mortality Suddenly they seemed to say more of what they wanted to say do more of what they wanted to do Be more of who they wanted to be every moment became immensely more valuable to them They often slowed down and more frequently appreciated the nature of everything around and in them squeezing all the life out of the life they had left even though they were already going to die when their Expectations of when was cut down the true shortness of their life suddenly revealed itself Five hundred years would go by as a result of technology and medical Advancements the species managed to increase the average life expectancy of their bodies to 75 years The result of a long laborious effort to add more time to their existence. However, their frame of reference and expectation of life's length simultaneously increased alongside 35 more years were added but life felt no longer nor shorter to them Although there were fewer during this time there still remained plenty of diseases that exceeded the species medical understanding diseases that could be diagnosed but not sufficiently treated or cured and was shortened the deceased individuals lifespan now, however, When individuals were diagnosed with these certain diseases and most commonly reduced their lifespans down to their 30s or 40s after the diseased individual received the news Still had time and were not yet incapacitated They often began living and thinking and acting differently making major changes in their life Even though the length of their now shortened life was just as long if not longer Than their ancestors full lives the exact same phenomenon occurred 400 more years later Significant further advancements continued in technology and medical understanding and again the average life expectancy of the species increased This time to 273 years old on average again However, their frame of reference their expectations of how long life lasted rose right alongside although far less often individuals of this time period still experienced uncurable conditions and diseases which shortened their lifespans now, however, It would more typically only be as low as 70 or 80 years old But of course the phenomenon still occurred when individuals received the news that they would likely only live until their 70s or 80s Suddenly life became incredibly short they began living and thinking and acting differently often making major changes in their life this continued on and on into the future every time the species added more time to their life their expectations of how long life should be Neutralized their perception of it being any longer no matter what number the life expectancy was. It was always to be expected And what was to be expected? It didn't feel long nor short no matter how it felt though Of course It was always short whether it was one year or a thousand both were fractions of fractions Of a microscopic blip of eternity and it was only those who realized that the true measurement of life was not the length But the depth that ever really changed how it felt

Channel: Pursuit of Wonder

Views: 390,725

Keywords: pursuit of wonder, school of life, short story, philosophy, animation, exurb1a, future, technology, lifespan, life span, how long will life be, life, consciousness, happy, happiness, academy of ideas, aperture, what is, how to, existence, existential, existentialism

Id: ladPHD5p0_8

Length: 6min 14sec (374 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 11 2019