Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rage at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
—Dylan Thomas
Everybody wants to go to heaven.
Everybody wants to go to heaven.
Everybody wants to go to heaven,
But nobody wants to die.
—The Limeliters
There are two general theories on aging - of why humans get old and die. First is the theory of cumulative damage, and second is the theory of genetic programming; that is, we have an expiration date.
Both of these theories probably presuppose Creationism, or at least presupposes a god (or at least a cosmic puppeteer) who constantly circumvents the "laws" of Evolution: If Darwin were right then surely over millions of years our bodies would have evolved AT LEAST to the point where we had become immune to cellular damage and had evolved, through the simple genetic improvement of "survival of the fittest," RNA capable of replicating itself legibly more than 30-odd times. That is being said tongue-in-cheek. Mostly.
Anyway, all living things would have corrected the genetic defect of dying long ago if Evolution were doing it's job. Certainly over millions of years, right? All it would take is a better system of cell division fer crissake. Not dying would have been job one in "Natural Selection." Yet here we are dead-ending again and again and again with no improvement. Argh.
How did I get so far down this side road. ::backs up::
It's amazing (to me) how much information is out there on the internet about people's theories about (and desire for, I guess) immortality. I read a book a long time ago called "The Outer Space Connection" in which the author expounded on theories to extend life greatly in humans, if not exactly matching the true definition of immortality. That's religion's big attraction too, of course. Wow - that's a whole 'nother book, though.
I have my own opinion about how to make oneself immortal, if one is so inclined, and I don't mean living on through your children. Most of my theories are (as my loyal readers know) pretty hare-brained though, so I won't burden you with it.
How many stories or legends can you think of that you have read about, where the theme is immortality? Not counting science fiction. Ok, counting science fiction. Like the fountain of youth. Or maybe Greek mythology. Wasn't there a Greek goddess of immortality? I guess not, since they were all immoral anyway. Immortal, I mean. Did anyone reading this post name their kid Ponce? Just in case?
---------
Dear Max:
What the heck was the point of this post?
Dear Mr. Thomas:
I'm not sure anymore. I started out with a mission but I forgot. Brain cells are dying.
Well, Max, don't feel bad. We all muse about our mortality as we drown our disappointments in strong drink.
Speak for yourself, Dyl. What is it with Irish poets that seem to only be able to write in pubs?
I was speaking of GOOD writers, Max.
Oh yeah? Well, take this one with you Mr. Death Rager. ::Max begins to sing to the tune of London Bridge is falling down:: "Dylan Thomas has come and gone, come and gone, come and gone. Dylan Thomas has come and gone - his blood turned to words."
Thank you Mason Williams, wherever you are.
