As meaning evolves, death remains eminent- unless technology has anything to do with it
Let’s face it. Life is pointless unless you give it meaning. It really can be boiled down to nothing more than genes advancing themselves into the future using myths as an adaptive tool to navigate the 3D realm.
Wisdom that humans have been accumulating for thousands of years in rituals, diets, and traditions gave rise to our incredible modern achievements.
While I am forbidden from discussing our top secret Hunter Gatherer’s Guide to the 21st Century bookclub conversations, I’ll just hint that evolution into cyborgism has been mentioned on more than one occasion. In other words, humans need to be adaptable, that’s kind of our niche. Before we were able to control our environments, our day was built around ways of dealing with circumstances beyond our control. Technology has become a greater tool than a functional mind in a lot of those pesky routines. However, the medium, method, and materials we use as part of our daily habits may very well become extensions of us and we must be wary of becoming too heavily reliant- to the point where we really can’t live without them.
We used to observe life through the lens of seasons and we relied on good weather. Crops were subject to the consequences of natural influences, meaning the humans that depended on a successful harvest were careful to invest time into the plants’ shelter and soil. Also in terms of generations, it was expected that at least one kid would hang back and look after the elderly parents and often power or land was passed down through lineage. You generally had some kind of idea what you may end up doing for at least the beginning of your life, depending on what the family was involved with. It seems, based on stories from my elders, that the worst storms are manageable if you use the tool-kit of cumulative skills from experiences (even from childhood). They lived life knowing they could not control every circumstance. Responsibility, honor, commitment, and duty are all words that come to mind.
Compare that with the IDGAF-what-you-think attitude of the internet generation. The entire set of circumstances we consider “normal” these days is really bizarre human behavior relative to what humans are claimed to have always done. Instead of children learning from their elders in a small community setting where they have space for free play and observation, we have schools taught by teachers with knowledge of pedagogy but hardly any life skills. The real curtain reveal was that which shall not be named, as it made everyone realize all the shit we do in an office or classroom could be done at home. Why do we spend hours in traffic each day to do it somewhere else?
This only exacerbates the perspective of indulging the individual desires and impulsive behavior. Food, clothes, porn, games all the things that fill our free time can now be done or obtained without expending any energy. Of course, this does not come without any trade-offs. By fulfilling our every pleasure, we run the risk of over-indulging if we do not have the ability to restrain our own behavior. What’s worse is our co-dependency on external sources of pleasure is reflected in personal relationships that are no longer being fulfilled by family bonds (genetic or chosen). For example, if you don’t have the ability to contain yourself with discipline, it is likely you will seek out a controlling partner. Humans have a good routine of acting out of habits that become lifestyles that fulfill our quest for meaning, either by masking it or exploring it.
Since fulfilling the self through external entities is how we find meaning in life, it is completely normal to build that around what feels good. Its not to say everyone finds joy in helping others, but if we dug down really deep beneath the identity we have elevated to be of supreme importance in this life, we find the ego is not permanent and will degrade with the physical body. Relationships of whatever kind are important. Nobody wants to be alone against the forces of nature in conjunction with illusions of the mind. Yet we isolate ourselves in controlled environments and stroke computer keys like a lover. I give you: cyborgs.
If you’ve ever seen someone go through the dying stages of life, you have seen the only decision we have in death: acceptance or fear. Do you fear the unknown or do you accept it? The beautiful thing about life is that it is full of options. The question of meaning in life comes down to your choices and where those land you and in whose company. How will you view your life from the vantage point of having no tomorrow? On your death bed when you look back on your life, what will have made you fulfilled? Will you be a self-sustaining life form or will you require anti-depressants to stay a boss babe? Will you be a cyborg or will you have joined forces with nature? Both? Perhaps that’s possible.
