Will We Be Significant?
Significance:
the quality of being worthy of attention; importance.
I took this picture on my phone this morning while hunting around the Nashville City Cemetery for Pokestops and Pokemon with my three kids (ages 7, 5 and 3). There were a lot of beautiful headstones and elaborate grave sites. Many had intricate stone, chain, or metal fencing systems surrounding and protecting a family plot. I began to to notice how many of them were really faded, being hundreds of years old. As I walked around these monuments to people long since dead who I now know nothing about, I was struck by this headstone in particular and how it was so worn off as to be completely unreadable:
Our attempts to remain significant after our death are kind of like that gravestone.
As time passes, we will be forgotten and most attempts to remain significant will be worn away. Walking through the cemetery, I couldn't help but think of my parents who have been gone nine years now. It was an interesting experience while explaining to my three-year-old how these stones mark the graves of people who died and attempting to answer her questions on how they died.
When I think about significance and death, if I'm honest with myself, I truly want to cheat death. I want to get onboard with the Ray Kurzweils and Aubrey de Greys of the world. I want to believe our technology will enable us to live for a millennium or more. Maybe that's just another version of religions which teach we'll live forever in heaven.
I'd like to believe I'm going to leave a dent on the universe, I'm going to do something so significant history will remember me in a positive light. Statistically, given the billions of people alive today, that's probably not going to happen. The most I can hope for, I think, is to leave a positive, lasting impression on my kids.
Or maybe that's why I like blockchain technology so much. Maybe that's why I like journaling on Steemit. Maybe I'd like to believe my consciousness, as recorded in the blockchain, will exist forever and won't be worn away by the weather.
Previous #journal entries: 1, 2, 3, 4
I'm really glad I'm following you Luke. Great post as always!
I have had a very hard time dealing with the reality of aging since I was 20 years old. But ultimately when it boils down to it I have always wanted to leave an impact and it is easy to feel like time is slipping away and that I would never be capitalized enough or more importantly that I would waste my entire life doing mundane tasks that will never make an impact on the world and therefore I will never be remembered. I guess that is why I follow people like Elon Musk. He dares to dream very big and will leave a lasting impact on the world.
My biggest fear has always been that I would have a normal life. I have fought really hard to have an extra ordinary life but it is tough to get there and we always want more.
I'm a big fan of people like Elon Musk for similar reasons, I think. As to living a "normal life," that's why I strive to live life on purpose as well. I work for myself at home with my family schooling at home, get to travel, and am positioning myself for even more travel in the future. I'm very hopeful for the unordinary life. :)
Traveling more is one of the things I'm wanting to focus on as well.
Great post @lukestokes - I "fixed" it too and followed you back ;)
I have no problem with death simply because it's inevitable...and there really is no longevity in my family tree. My father died at age 59. Our legacy is not just through our children - it is built by our good deeds and through the memories of people we've come to know. I also believe in a completely scientific notion that there is a finite amount of energy. It never dissipates - it only changes form. :)
Thanks for the follow! ;)
I'm hopeful longevity from a genetic perspective won't be much of an issue in the future (hurray CRISPR-Cas9!)
Yeah, that reminds me of a conversation I had with some friends last night about memes and genes. The memes are often more transferrable, powerful, and long lasting than the genes.
I do like that perspective on energy, but I also really like organized energy that gives me hugs, kisses, and friendship. :)
Organized energy! Yes. Those hugs, kisses and friendships are essential :)