Is Eternal Life a Blessing or a Curse for Humanity? (A Philosophical Look at Happiness, Greed, and Death)

From the past to the present, humans have sought eternal life, but in the face of death, the search for the value and happiness of life continues. Considering the philosophical and ethical issues that eternal life would bring, it is doubtful that humans can achieve true happiness through eternal life.

 

There have been several efforts in the past to realize eternal life. The most famous example is Emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty in China, who sent his subjects on a quest to find the herb of fireweed. In the end, however, he never found the herb and died without ever enjoying eternal life. There have been many attempts since then, and even today, there is still a lot of research going on to find this herb. For example, Russian billionaire Dmitry Itzhakov is working on a life-extension project called the 2045 Initiative. In the past, life extension, or eternal life, would have been a failure or superstition due to the lack of science and technology, but with the rapid advancement of science and technology, these life extension projects have the potential to succeed. In addition, Ray Kurzweil, the director of technology at Google, a renowned futurist, has said that eternal life will be possible within 25 years.
Qin Shi Huang, who wanted eternal life so badly, was betrayed by his people and lived an unhappy life, always fearing death. Louis XIV also believed that having his teeth pulled would grant him eternal life, so he had all of his teeth removed and lived an unhappy, toothless life afterward. From these examples, we can see that the path to eternal life is a very unhappy one. These historical examples suggest that obsessing about eternal life makes life unhappy. However, even if we were to succeed in achieving eternal life, it would still not make us happy.
So, let’s get down to the basics and think about “why do we want to have eternal life?” Basically, we are afraid of death, which means we think that death is preventing us from being happy. So, if we get rid of death, will we be happy? After all, happiness is what we get from having eternal life. However, for humans who have never experienced eternal life, will it make them happy? I don’t think the answer is yes. Because there is death, people do their best and search for happiness. So if there was no death, people would not do their best and would not seek happiness.
Because there is death, people do their best and seek happiness. Many people say. “The greed of man knows no bounds.” Then why does man’s greed know no bounds? The simple answer is that it’s the pursuit of happiness. But why does it never end? Because there is death. Because there is death, people pursue happiness endlessly in order to experience as much happiness as possible before they die. However, if death is eliminated by eternal life, the time limit for experiencing happiness is eliminated, which means that the search for happiness will not be endless. As a result, humans would stop searching for happiness and live unhappy lives.
There are many philosophers who have talked about death and happiness, or in other words, greed and happiness. In this context, greed is the human behavior of wanting something. The most famous philosophers who talked about greed and happiness are Heidegger and Buddha. However, even though they studied the same topic, they came to opposite conclusions. Heidegger argues that because time is finite, humans are greedy and that satisfying their greed leads to happiness: greed means attachment to one’s life, and continuing to have attachment to one’s life leads to happiness. But the Buddha draws the opposite conclusion. The Buddha talks about liberation. He talks about liberation, which means happiness. In this case, liberation means letting go of attachment to your life. So which of these two claims is more correct?
I think Heidegger’s argument is the more correct one. People live harder because they are greedy, and that’s what gives them the drive to live. The reason why greed arises is because life is finite, as mentioned above. Since life is finite, there is a need to make it more valuable, and that is what creates greed. The process of making life more valuable is what gives humanity happiness. However, if life becomes infinite by enjoying eternal life, life loses its value and there is no longer a need to make it valuable. Then life, which is the pursuit of something worthwhile, will lose its value, and life will become unhappy.
In response to this, a follower of the Buddha’s thought would argue that in eternal life, attachment to life, or greed, will disappear, and we will live a happy life of liberation, unattached to anything. This argument seems plausible. But if you think about it realistically, is a life of doing nothing, of not trying to do anything, of just living, really happy? Many people would not prefer such a life. A life with a lot of greed would certainly be a tiring and unhappy life. But a life with a moderate amount of greed is definitely a happy and desirable life.
The endless search for happiness may be due to the presence of death. But another way to look at it is that humanity is not a species that can settle for the same happiness. This can be observed in our daily lives. We repeat the behavior that made us feel happy, and the happiness we get from it keeps decreasing. For example, the first time we eat a candy bar, the act of eating it brings us happiness. But repeatedly eating the candy reduces the happiness we get from the act of eating the candy itself. In the end, the happiness that comes from eternal life is like a midsummer night’s dream. At some point, the happiness that comes with eternal life will cease to be satisfying, and we will seek greater happiness. But because of the absence of death, we will not feel the need to do so and will remain unhappy.
“YOLO” is a popular phrase these days. It translates to “You Only Live Once,” or “You only live once, so enjoy it. I think this is probably the simplest answer to the question of whether having eternal life will make you happy. After all, happiness comes from satisfying our desires, and in order to do that, we only live once, so if we have eternal life, we won’t have to satisfy our desires, which will make us unhappy.
On another level, eternal life raises philosophical and ethical issues, not just biological ones. For example, if the number of people who can enjoy eternal life is limited, who will make the choice, and on what basis, and will they retain their humanity? These questions require complex discussions that go beyond mere scientific advances. It is inevitable that various philosophical and ethical concerns arise from the perspective of eternal life. This leads us to reflect on whether humanity is ready to make eternal life desirable.