Opinion

Have you ever been watching a movie or reading a book where a character is unable to die? Defined as the ability to live forever; eternal life, or immortality, is a theme most often seen in media surrounding superhero movies or fantasy in general.

Despite this concept being entirely fictional, some people fantasize about having the ability to live forever, maybe even using this power to change the world. If it weren’t entirely fictional, would being immortal be worth it? Outlining the pros and cons of immortality might aid in deciding where you stand.

To those who fear death, or to those who fear growing old, being immortal could completely solve that problem. Never being able to die, immortality would allow them to do whatever they’d like without fear troubling them. The end is never near when you have the ability to live forever.

Being immortal as a doctor/scientist unlocks many more opportunities for the career. If they’re unable to die, they now have eternity to find the cure/solution for whatever they’d like. This benefit isn’t limited to just these professions either. Immortality opens up a doorway for almost any other career as well. As long as the earth is still spinning, you’d have all the time in the world to decide what you’d like to do in life.

As previously mentioned, there are always some people who fantasize about becoming one of the superheroes they see on TV. Being granted this power of immortality would be a dream come true. To those who enjoy saving others, being unable to die would allow them to do just this.

While this may sound promising, there are downsides to everything, and immortality is in no way an exception.

Living forever wouldn’t be all sunshine and rainbows, especially if the people around you wouldn’t be. Growing old enough to see your parent’s death is a common experience, but if someone was immortal, they live long enough to see much more than their parent’s death. They’d eventually outlive all of their family, their friends. Knowing that everyone in your life will die eventually while you’re still alive might not even make life worth living.

If the world were to end, what would happen to someone who can’t die? Outliving the earth itself, someone cursed with immortality would be stuck wandering ghost towns forever, permanently alone. To make matters worse, if the earth was completely destroyed, they’d be forced to float around space forever.

Being the only immortal person may bring some unwanted attention your way. Unless you manage to stay entirely under the radar for years, someone is bound to find out, and who knows what kind of commotion that could cause. No matter where you are, there would most likely be someone looking to take advantage of this power.

Immortality, being a fictional concept, should be the least of anyone’s worries. Although, it doesn’t hurt to entertain the idea of having the same superhuman advantages as some characters we see on TV (or, maybe it does, depending on how you view it).