“Death is very likely the single best invention of life”: the famous Steve Jobs quote lights up my satirical speculative thriller “Eternal Life”. How might our world develop if our obsessions with beauty, wealth and staying alive continue to grow?
Peter Pan and Steve Jobs
What do Peter Pan and Steve Jobs have in common?
Answer: they both help explain why wealth and creativity cannot mix.
There is a reason for that stereotype of a starving artist in a garret. Need, and monomania, sharpen the senses. No wonder millionaire rock stars have trouble re-creating the catchy tunes which made them famous. Why should they get out of bed in the morning?
What if you had 6 weeks to live?
My post A breakthrough in longevity: my thriller Eternal Life explores immortality (links in bold italics are to other posts on this site) contrasts how you might behave if you suddenly found you had only six weeks left to live with how you would act if you learned you were immortal.
In the first case, we’d all try to enjoy an intense six weeks.
Me aged 1 (in pram) with elder brother – both rich in Biotime
Death is very likely the single best invention of life
This brings us back to the quote by Steve Jobs which opens Eternal Life:
‘Death is very likely the single best invention of Life.’
Peter Pan is eternally youthful. Although characterised in Wikipedia as “an exaggerated stereotype of a boastful and careless boy”, he is sometimes wise. Faced by death on Marooners’ Rock, he says: ‘To die will be an awfully big adventure’.
Maybe that’s where Steve Jobs got it from.
Immortality, happiness and creativity
Immortality would also be likely to have an unpredictable impact on happiness. My post Beethoven and the meaning of life explores how the work of Beethoven and Klimt comes together in Klimt’s Beethoven frieze to show how people can find true happiness.
You can see Klimt’s Beethoven frieze at the Sezession in Vienna
In Eternal Life the pale, red-haired Martha O’Leary says: “I don’t care how many studies have shown Coronatime doesn’t affect your intellect or emotions. All the great artists have been One Lifers. It’s like Peter Pan. You can’t have real feelings if you live forever.‘
That’s why death is very likely the single best invention in life.
Tithonus and death
The legendary ancient Greek figure Tithonus, of course, found this out the hard way – see my post How to live better: some lessons on this site.
If you want some suggestions on how you can best enjoy Eternal Life; its profusion of profound ideas; and a rollicking good read, check out this excerpt from Eternal Life on this site.
For Eternal Life on Amazon, click on the picture below.
