From: John Calvin (mercurial@disinfo.net)
Date: Tue Feb 01 2000 - 23:13:35 MST
There are two things that are certain, "Death" and "Taxes". A cliche precisely because it is said so often and believed by so many people. Now you and I might not buy that meme, but much of the population on this planet does.
As for people responding as if you had "just torn your face off...", seems like a pretty natural, if distinctly "2nd Millenium", response. Reflecting on most of the people that I see on a day to day basis, two things become readily apparent; Most people appreciate a fair amount of "Certainty" in their lives, and a great many people live lives that are long strings of boredom punctuated by short spurts of interesting events. For the person on the street, living for a very extended length of time would only be attractive if it meant escape from the general mundaneness of everyday life. As well, the idea that Death is a certainty (part of the great circle of life)is so strong a meme in our societies that to give it up would cause most people some cognitive dissonance(which a lot of people will expend a lot of energy avoiding). Each of us will in our own way deal with the "truth" of mortality. And there is comfort in certainty, even if that certainty is the macabre belief that we must one day die.
On a personal note. On two occasions I found myself facing my own mortality in "Stage Wall" fashion; Once while on call to go to the Gulf War, I was in the Navy (an acronym for Never Again Volunteer Yourself), the Other in a near drowning accident while Scuba diving(actually it was a near stupidity accident). On both these occasions I realized how much joy even the mundane aspect of life brought me. And after the dust settled? Now to quote someone but I don't know who "I want to live forever or die trying!". I do however think that I will one day cease to "be" in the flesh, and I secretly hope that it is via being shot by the jealous lifemate of some alien babe while orbiting a massive Black Hole.
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