Self, Realities, and the Transcendents 329“9x6” b2726 Self and the Phenomenon of Life: A Biologist Examines Life from Molecules to Humanity14.8 Mortality as a Source of Creative Drive
Life stands out only when it is juxtaposed against death. Death is objec-
tively inevitable yet subjectively impossible, as absence of consciousness
is beyond the realm of our mental reality. Like the 100 billion people
who trudged through the Earth before us, we will all slip into the hinter-
land of nothingness. Among all animals the recognition of mortality and
the attempt to defy it is perhaps unique to mankind.
Humans formulate the immortality of a non-tangible self (soul
or its equivalent) as a way out of this ephemeral life, but the inde-
pendent existence of “soul” apart from the physical self lacks credible
evidence. Humans also seek physical immortality by taking potions or
doing special mental/physical exercises, although no one has ever suc-
ceeded in living forever. Nor has the resurrection of the physical self
ever been verified. Nonetheless, humans do succeed in building legacies
as reminders of themselves after their passing. As Ben Franklin wrote in
his mock epitaph, “The body of B. Franklin... lies here, food for worms.
But the work shall not be wholly lost:for it will, as he believed, appear
once more, in a new and more perfect edition, corrected and amended
by the author.” Others build empires, write poetry, compose music, paint
murals, and make discoveries — things that they hope can outlast them
after they are gone. The fear and defiance of death and the metaphorical
preservation of a token self is a driving force that helps build civilization.
How amazing that, through legacies in writings and the creative arts,
humans can communicate with their remote ancestors, and dialogue
with their distant descendants. The cross-generational flow of ideas and
feelings never occurs in other species.
14.9 When Mountains are Mountains Again
Einstein said that the most beautiful emotion we can ever experience
is the mysterious. Alfred North Whitehead expressed the same senti-
ment: “Philosophy begins in wonder. And, at the end, when philosophic
thought has done its best, the wonder remains.” However much progress
we will make in the future, something may remain unattainable, and this