“But in fact it’s true that for many of us, there does come a time when going to Barcelona, eating oysters, seeing the fireworks at New Year just isn’t as exciting as once it was” (Belshaw, 82). Belshaw is clearly an opponent of an elixir promising immortality because with this statement I believe that he feels as though the world only has so much to offer and if we are able to live forever, we will no doubt be able to do anything that we want in any time span.
I agree with this statement because I feel as though the reason why we find things like trips to Disneyworld, whitewater rafting, and even lunch dates with old friends so enjoyable is because of the fact that burned into our mentality and our approach to everyday life is the idea that it will one day end and we can only do a certain amount of activities and take part in a certain amount of events while it lasts. Even if you were to take this rather immense concept of being unappreciative of things in a whole lifetime, and put it into the smaller parameters of a few months, the logic remains.
College life forces young adults to live in close quarters with a set number of people, for sake of argument lets make that number, 7. A single individual has 7 people with whom they co-exist. Day in and day out, they know that those 7 people will always be within shouting range, essentially. It is so easy for that person then to take advantage and almost unappreciate the fact that those 7 people will almost always be available for any meal date, watching movies, or just even talking to. Now, if you were to take that same individual and place them with 7 different people in the same size living space in a foreign country, lets say for a studying abroad program, that individual is more likely to want to spend more quality time having meal dates, watching movies or even just talking to his or her roommates because they know that their time together has already been determined. This scenario is very much like that which people who live in or near New York City, Boston, London or any other major city in the world. Those who live there tend to not take advantage or sightseeing opportunities the way that a tourist would. This is not only because of money spent on getting to the destination, but the fact that the tourist knows that his time in that major city is limited and would love to soak as much as he or she can before departing.
Back to the concept of immortality. If people knew that they would be able to live forever, I feel as though there would be a severe decline in tourism, event planning/attending, and even the importance of holidays and birthdays. So beyond just trips to Barcelona, and fireworks becoming less appealing, the world would suffer greatly. There is so much more than individual lives that hang in the balance of this concept. Many countries in this world depend heavily on tourism: foreigners come to spend their money on hotels, excursions, souvenirs, shows, events, etc. Without the excitement to travel, tourism would decline greatly. This could mean severe drops in income for countries, which would cause a decrease in employment and an increase in poverty, all because people lost the urgency to do much of anything. With a limited life, comes urgency and excitement to participate in life itself. With immortality comes a laziness.
Furthermore, with the confidence in a perpetual life, there would be less of an emphasis on diet, exercise and personal maintenance. This could cause an increase in obesity and other health related issues. More along the same lines, while those who take the elixir live perpetually, those who do not take the elixir will be plagued by newly adapted bacteria and diseases. Those who do have the elixir are still exposed to bacteria and disease, which then would adapt and become more dangerous (this is what happens, bacteria and diseases evolve as their hosts evolve). Such an evolution would affect all of those whom were not affected by the elixir. Those, meaning other humans, but also plants and animals. Which equates a huge problem for that which sustains the immortal life.
Even the excitement of holidays and birthdays will be lost because after a while, it becomes old. Without the chance at immortality, you can see a lack of enthusiasm in a 60 at Christmas time versus the ecstatic nature of a 6 year old on the same holiday. As an individual ages, the excitement that holidays and gift receiving once had, generally tends to fade. Maybe more so in some, but overall there are very few elderly people that react the same way as a toddler to holidays such as Christmas or Chanukah. Birthdays would be the first holidays to be forgotten. If one could live forever, the concept of having a 4,362nd birthday would just not be appealing to most! Birthday cakes, candles in the shapes of numbers, birthday cards, and birthday décor would in all likelihood become extinct.
To some, the chance at an immortal life is appealing. But very often with that feeling, comes very little contemplation of the effects or parameters of such a life. Excitement and urgency to act can be easily lost, which turns and affects more than just ourselves in the end.
with a plain old fashioned mortal existence
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