Men’s Obsession with Eternity
Mankind, from the dawn he acquired self-respect, yearns to live forever. However promising the charm and lure of after-life is, men don’t want to die. No one wants to age. No one wants the young moments to pass by. It is hardwired in our brains. Though we don’t remember anything before our birth, the most likely fate is that we are doomed and just about to fall into the dark reality of eternal oblivion. There is no turning back whatsoever. Every promise of an after-life is feeding on our gullibility and mortal fears. It is the strong desire to avoid death, which we eventually acquired through Darwinian evolution, the only fundamental driving force a man has. A direct result is the realization that hunger is the only pertinent truth. Every other feeling and urge is just gaudy embellishment.
Sometime into his prime years, man learns that he is fallible. In Ayn Rand’s words, a man is born unarmed. His only tool is his ability to think. Everything he achieves is the result of his ability to think. His unending and never yielding ego won’t concede to his apparent fallibility. He figures out ways to keep him in tact forever. If he can’t, he molds Gods in his own image and vouch for their existence even before the beginning of the universe. The profound realization of eventual fallibility nudges him to desire objects that are eternal or seems to be eternal. This is the fundamental reason which makes a man interested in complex mechanical watches that last for centuries and the ancient castles that stood the trials of time. Harley and Indian motorcycles which last a century, feeds into this fascination of eternity. This is a genuine marketing strategy for branding durable artifacts.
Likewise, man’s obsession in keeping the forces of nature under his hands is also fundamental. Steve Jobs talked about a once conducted scientific experiment, reported in Scientific American, on various animal’s ability to travel distance vs the amount of energy spent. In that study, man doesn’t stand anywhere among various other animals. But a man with a bicycle topped the list. A bicycle, though a simple invention, dramatically improves the capability of man. Man simply trumps against his nature-given less travelling ability. It is this fascination of man to bring nature under his control, the fundamental driving force of civilization. The endeavor to trump nature is a prime element in creating objects that transcends time.
Similarly there are some jobs which feed into this feeling of eternity. A writer writing a book has done a piece of work which is complete in itself. He has done his duty. A work which stretches one’s mind, will remain forever. Elements by Euclid was written in 300BC. Till the time when mankind is there, the name Euclid and his work Elements will remain in public memory. Similarly, a piece of music written is eternal. Though sensibilities of mind changes across generations, most music appeals to the script and languageless emotions of our minds, which generally doesn’t change much over generations. An explorer who charted and mapped various islands and lands he encountered in his unpredictable but calculated sea voyages during middle ages, is a hero that appeals to generations. On the other hand, imagine a person working for 30 years, but only to find his work completely irrelevant finally, is a disappointing prospect. Once the work doesn’t see into a discernible and visible achievement, even if momentarily, is plain useless.
In this fast changing technological world, where change is the only norm, certain objects, professions, etc have value that transcends time. We must ultimately strive to aim those objects and professions, to imbibe that sense of eternity, in this momentary life here.
