The Cheat

Film: Star Trek: Insurrection

           

            Eternal youth, something that humanity has been feverishly searching for since the beginning of time; it seems to be an integral part of the human condition to attempt to prolong life and ultimately try to escape death.  This film addresses this issue head on when it presents a planet that has the ability to prolong the lives of its inhabitants for seemingly an eternity, and a malevolent race that aims to displace the non-indigenous peoples from their utopian fountain of youth in an attempt to gain access to the rejuvenating force for their own benefit.

            This is a powerful notion to deliberate.  If presented with the prospect of perfect health and the possibility of immortality, how would you respond?  I think a hasty retort would immediately point to an affirmative, or “YES PLEASE!!!”  But personally I don’t think I would drink the proverbial Kool-Aid.  However, if one is presented with the option to prolong life that does not have the fortune of good health to accompany it, many would still wish to engage in whatever actions may yield these results.  But why?

            I believe that humans would accept immortality because they cannot fully comprehend the idea and implications of infinity (or eternity).  Everything that we are exposed to in our incredibly short existence is finite; there are distinct beginnings and explicit ends, period.  But in our fear of our own personal end, and the looming uncertainty that comes with it, we would inevitably drink the Kool-Aid.  But what about option number 2?  There are hundreds of thousands of people that have done just this, prolong the end…  Sometimes it’s by surgical means, sometimes it’s something much simpler in nature.  We do whatever we can to extend our lives and most often than not the immediate consequences are ignored as long as we have ascertained some form of security that we are going to live longer (or even appear younger…).  I can personally relate to these endeavors because I have been cheating death ever since birth.  I was born with a congenital heart condition that if left untreated would have resulted in a total lifespan of approximately 3-5 years.  Every time I have the “opportunity” to go under the knife for another “extension” (six total at this point…) I do so with the mindset of ultimately attempting to prolong the inevitable; however, each time I forget about the grueling process of the immediate recovery that no doubt has an effect on my psyche as well as other loved ones around me.   Yet I continue, and still to this day I cannot truly state why because I know there is another op looming in the distance.        

MTG