Genetically, or physically, or however you want to put it, we, as a species are only built to live into our 30's or 40's. Mother nature, or whatever, or whomsoever you happen to believe devised this system really hasn't much use for us after that age. The system doesn't care a fig about us as individuals, it's interest is just in keep the bunch of us, reproducing, and making more of us, so that the world continues to be blessed by, or plagued by, us as a thing. You wouldn't want to run out. But physiologically, after we've had our chance to spread some seed, we start to go bad. We're only engineered for a short lifespan really. Prehistoric man didn't live that long, and it's no accident that his lifespan is about the time when you start to have things go wrong. Anybody that's over a certain age will know what I'm talking about. You can refrigerate all you want, but some jars you don't have to open. You don't want to smell it, you just toss it out.
It's only by our overly large brains that we've devised ways to thwart the system, to tweak God's nose, fool Mother Nature etc. and live to what we now consider a ripe(Is it a coincidence that the word ripe also refers to a bad smell?) old age. We consider this our due, but it's not, it's cheating. It's because we invented writing and doctors and such and we can pass on the really good ideas like, 'don't eat that, you'll get the Hershey squirts and die' or 'wash your hands once in a while'.
So as long as we, who have lived past our true usefulness, beyond our creators plan, lawless rebels slipping between the bars of nature's cellblock door, we should consider this our time. It is ours, we invented it and we can do with it as we like. It should be a time for spiritual searching, or intellectual pursuits, or carousing and drinking yourself to death, your choice. It is the gift of our ancestors, and I think you should feel free to to do whatever you want with this time in your life, because we as a people created it, now we as a people, have to figure out what to do with it.
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2 comments:
I think that this must mean that we deserve to have our childhood after age forty.
Childhood was fairly brief in the long ago past, so with our added time, we should now start working earlier so that we can retire earlier and have a childhood.
We're the boomer generation aren't we? Let's make this the new rule.
So what you're saying, is that in this pinball game of life we, modern man, get to hear that metallic thunk signaling an extra ball. A free shot. One more pull at that springy plunger, the one that puts the game in motion, lights the board and makes the bells, buzzers and counters cry and sing.
But what do we do with it?
Do we play it conservatively? Safely keeping the ball in play as long as possible?
Do we pass the ball off to the next generation allowing them to profit from the fruits of our labors?
Or do we pull that plunger back so far and hard that the ball smacks the glass on it's way out the corral, flipper servos smoke from over use while lights, counters and sound effects imitate Vegas on steroids as we push and shove the whole goddamn table, racking up scores only dreamed of by deaf, dumb and blind kids until finally the machine shuts down, showing nothing on back screen except for a big blinking TILT?
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