Have you ever been struck by a question so profound, so disarming in its innocence, and yet unbelievably profound in its depth that it leaves you speechless for a few seconds? That is precisely what happened to me the other day. My niece, with her big, inquisitive eyes, turned to me and asked, “Can you live forever?”
Moments like that work wonders to remind you of how children see the world. They always have countless wondrous questions to ask, questions that grown-ups are too distracted to ask themselves. Allow me to explore this interesting question with you.
I should mention first that I was excited about her questioning because that is a question man has been trying to answer for thousands of years. When I was preparing to answer that, I explained to her that while living forever sounded beautiful, that wasn’t something we knew how to achieve yet. Another topic we discussed what mortality when everything eventually dies. I underscored, however, that nothing had to be eternal to be valuable; in fact, it was what made things precious and indescribable.
But I also wanted her to feel some hope. So, in that regard, we talked about the amazing and rapid progress that’s been made in science and medicine through the ages. There’s been a time when people didn’t live more than 30 years. And now the average age is at least 100. Who knows what scientific laurels the future carries?! Maybe one day we could come as close as possible to the concept of “eternal life,” or completely overcome death with the help of novel technologies.
Yet, even assuming that we all could live forever raises interesting questions. For example, would people cherish or value every moment while facing an infinite number of them? Would people become fed up with life without the natural method of change and progression? Thus, these are philosophical questions with no simple answers. Finally, as our talk drew to the finish, I couldn’t assist but wonder at the complexity of the reflection an innocent question of my niece induced. It entirely explained the value of fostering curiosity and the exploration of the natural phenomena of young, developing brains.
And what about you, can you live forever? The answer to this question has not been found yet. In the meantime, let’s continue to enjoy every moment as it arises, not resisting the transiency of it all, and keep dreaming about the infinite possibilities. That’s the beauty of life, isn’t it? So unpredictable. How did you find my answer?