Friday 2 April 2010

Birth, Death and the Dull Bit in Between (part 2)

Been awhile since I posted my last (and first) post so I've decided to sit down and crack this next one out. Even though I have no idea what I'm going to put yet. Improv blogging! Woo.

OK, the subject of this post is the inevitability that we must all face: Taxes. I mean: Death!

Yes, that ending that comes to us all. The big full stop in the sky. The stop sign at the end of the road. And other metaphors. This could be a touchy subject and I'll try to stay away from the religious aspect of it. Though that may be impossible.

As Penumbra states: “Death is the final unknown.” It's because of this void of knowledge that people seem to worry about death. No one has really come back from it and those that have weren't there for very long. Thy wouldn't have seen the whole place, just the entrance. Even then people tend to disregard everything they say, so it's moot.

Another worrisome part of the whole thing is the process of dying itself. Something I'm not looking forward to myself. I'd like to go quickly and unexpectedly, or in anyway that I don't notice it happening. As opposed to knowing it's coming, having no control over it. I'll mention no more on this in case someone isn't too happy, even if I don't really care.

Then there are people whose loved ones have died, somewhat before their “time”, and are determined to find a scapegoat for it. If you are someone whose relation/friend/local barber fell from a ladder and broke their neck, do you have to go blaming the manufacturers of the ladder? Or the local council, demanding changes to the way speed is regulated in your area?

I see no other way to continue this without getting slightly religious/spiritual as we go onto the subject of the afterlife. Is there some kind of afterlife? Do people get reincarnated? Me, I think this is it so you should just deal with it. Live life to the full or don't live it all at, it doesn't matter.

I have a couple of problems with the idea of an afterlife. Firstly what the hell is this life? You've lived your life, got through all the struggles that would have toppled lesser men and died at a good age of 87. Now you have to live again for the rest of eternity. As an old person. That's probably not how it works but I don't care. If you can give us eternal life, just do it, and weed out the arseholes as we go along.

Reincarnation is a better prospect but still slightly distasteful to me. You live your life, you accomplish much but it's all forgotten as your soul is recycled into a new born baby. If it were that simple, surely we'd be running out of souls at some point. Unless your soul is split into 2 or 3 pieces and each piece goes into a new life. That would explain the growth of the human race. It still disregards everything you do making everything ultimately pointless.

I'm not sure if I like this post. There's a little bit of ranting, which I don't like. Still, I've got it done now so I can move on! If you have opinions on what I write and wish to start a discussion with me, feel free. As long as you know I won't be paying attention.