Consider-or at least, just humor my rambling. Those of us that enjoy toying with the idea of multiple dimensions, or ‘what-if’ scenarios would have considered ‘what if we did not evolve this way?’ Maybe it was not those exact words, but even if you have not thought on the matter, is it not a novel idea?

            What if we evolved from reptiles? Then we would be lizard-people! Of course, it could have been a different animal. If man never created fire, what would life be like then? I imagine it would be relatively simple, be it good or bad. A common one I find that people consider is a world without death. I have read interesting takes on this concept, one where you would never be free from the shadow of your parents, and their parents, what a novel concept!

            If you are still reading then consider a new variant. If, for some reason, death did not result in a physical decomposition, but your body would age until a point and simply continue to exist. But, there is still ‘death’ in a sense. The body will continue, however the mind does not. For whatever reason, be it your mind has gotten too full, or a strange biochemical reaction takes place. Regardless, when your ‘time’ has come, the totality of the contents of your mind is simply wiped clean, and you start from square one. From there, you simply relive life with no memory of the past.

On the surface this is not a very interesting idea, and if you believe so, you are entitled to. But when you begin to think, you suddenly realize, what validates your existence? Other than the physical presence, the essence that really makes a person a person will not stay. Essentially, this is what occurs in the real world, when a person dies, they are gone and their unique being is gone with them. However, now you can find yourself in old photos, possibly textbooks had you discovered something. When you look at what was a past life you may have no reaction at all, or maybe you’ll feel something.

            What is it you feel? Curiosity? Yes, I think at first you would. But delve too deeply and you’ll realize how feeble that former existence was, it is gone after all. Therefore, some people will become incredibly fearful of this fact. They may attempt to provide records and methods to allow the ‘recreation’ of them selves after this fading away. They may be able to ‘continue’ but the fact of the matter is they have based their entire existence on a fear of fading away, when in reality the original being had disappeared long ago.

            Perhaps, you do not feel so inclined to do this, and that is fair enough. Because the body does not die, a person can live thousands of lives, each one different from the rest. And so, some people will do just that. Each life is never the same, and whatever came before it is shed aside, it is irrelevant. Such people can not look at photos of themselves’, because in doing so they have acknowledged that there was a person before them. If that fact comes to mind then thought is created, and when thought is created, the mind never returns to its original form. As such, these people never stay in one spot, never allow photos of themselves, they leave no marks. Essentially, they are walking ghosts, trying desperately not to fall into a trap of obsession when they already have.

            The complete opposite of this idea would also be present. As humans we strive to be the best we possibly can, and by all means, we desire to be better than someone else. A person like this in a world of fading away would strive to make each life they live monumental. So they are fiercely determined, work very hard and always look forward. As a result such a person never stops to enjoy their life. They are not even aware of those around them, tending to them, caring for them, fore often these people are reclusive. They do not wish for anyone to disturb them, their work must be completed and they must get their name into another textbook; they must be remembered. Very soon as the accomplishments accumulate, the person is suddenly competing with ghosts of themselves, trying to top each previous life so as not to be left behind. They will never emerge from their room again, the body can continue indefinitely, so they continue, stuck behind a door for their unnaturally long life.

            Nature is very well designed, however not perfect. As this process of continuous writing and erasing of the mind occurs, there is and always will be room for error. Therefore, there are occasions when a person does not completely fade away. It is as if one took an eraser to a page, and did not erase all of the lines. Even if you erase very roughly, if you had written with a stronger stroke, then not all of the lines and letters will be erased. These imprints can build up in the person’s mind as well, leaving behind fragments of memories or personality. Over time the mind is just too full of these imprints. And yet, they can not be erased anymore. They are the living dead in this world. They are an accumulation of the fragments of the deceased, unable to assemble enough pieces to function again. Perhaps that is what death truly is in this world.

            Finally, there is only one other person I can ruminate to you about; the person that attempts to validate existence. Consider even in the current world, many of us try to do this. We want to be remembered. We want to know that our life meant something. We want to know that we just don’t simply exist, but we exist for a reason. And if we have a reason to exist then what we do therefore has reason. With reason comes meaning, and with meaning comes reason. Such people attempt to meet as many people as they can, to create as many memories as possible. Ultimately, they know that their end is the same. These people are arguably the saddest; they constantly fear that they will be forgotten, simply dust in the wind. At the same time, they are the happiest. They have already accepted their fate, it is an unavoidable truth. However, death in itself is not a troubling matter, immortality is much more troubling-but that is not the topic tonight.

            Simply, these people live. Albeit, they may live boring lives, but they can find meaning to what appear to be inconsequential actions. Every action performed results in some reaction; this is a fundamental truth! So in turn they know that whatever they do in their current incarnation will be enough to be remembered with. Some people provide insight after knowing this; they try to better those they meet. Sometimes they are listened too, other times they are shrugged off. Again, this is expected as we are all entitled to opinions.

As a whole, we all would like to know that our existence on this planet meant something. We are all very temporary, it is possible to fade away at any moment for some reason.

So, be remembered for something, just don’t try very hard at it, there’s really no need if you ask me.