Question: It was a terrible day when Homo Sapiens discovered that they were mortal and would one day die.
Animals never know that they will die. They don't even realise that they are aging. An elderly eagle never realises that it has developed cataracts, and an ancient lion doesn't notice or care that its teeth are no longer in good condition. I believe that knowing we will die is the root of all problems. The knowledge that one day we won't be here terrifies us and makes incredibly fearful even if we don't realise this most of the time. Capitalists and other money grubbers think 'hey I'm only going to go around once. I better grab everything I want and more before I vanish into eternal night. So f**k the planet and future generations!'. Other people feel paralysed to varying degrees, and run about like headless chickens thinking to themselves 'I better put off all fun and enjoyment in the here and now and study like crazy so that I get a great job. A job that will let me lead a materially comfortable life where I can assuage my terrible fear of my inevitable death with a large house, fancy car, wine, and trips to expensive restaurants and holidays abroad.' Those who don't like their jobs etc think 'hey at least this awful, squalid, low-paid job keeps me from the grave just a bit longer even if it sucks most of the joy out of my life.'
Spiritual and philosophical people invent religions and philosophies - coping strategies - that serve to turn down the dial on people's fear of death. However, the great majority of 'believers' are privately tormented by thoughts that their religious beliefs might not be true or even the right one. Bearing all this in mind what did we get in exchange for giving up our ignorance of death? Some people will say that we got a sense of 'I' - a sense of being self-aware, a sense of our separation from others. But have you ever watched a cat? Cats are notoriously individualistic, cats do what they want when they want to, have you ever tried to herd a groups of cats? Dogs are full of fun and energy because they are not thinking 'Whoa I better watch all this jumping about and playfulness. I don't want to risk a heart attack or risk impairing my health in any way, just in case it causes me to die early.'
My mother has a very-well paid job, but it exhausts and stresses her greatly. She is away from home 12 hours a day and goes to bed 1 hour after returning home. She has money but not the time to enjoy it. However, she dare not even consider switching to a job that she likes, one that would give her energy rather than take it away because she secretly fears death and she cannot tolerate the thought that she might miss out on all the good things in life, especially as 'you're a long time dead' as the saying goes.
Would you put up with half the things you do now if you had no idea that one day you would die? Just think how liberating being free from all understanding of death would be?
I repeat my question: Do you think that what you got in return for being painfully aware of death was worth it?
