The Fall of the Immortal

Sometimes people can be so blinded by a seemingly good idea, that they'll fail to see the apparent downside in it.  This is magnified when emotions are involved.  For every action, a reaction.  For every cause, an effect.  Changing something even for the positive, will have some form of negative effect.  These can range from obvious to nearly impossible to see.  It certainly doesn't mean that the idea is not sound, or that it shouldn't be done immediately, but failing to see any inherent downside, is a gross mistake.

Maybe you live in an area where using a cell phone, while driving, is banned.  I do.  There's a number of reasons I dislike the law, but I'll save for another blog someday.  The idea is what's important.

I fully support the notion that people should be concentrating while driving a 3000 pound hunk of metal, at speeds nearing 100 miles/hr.  That's just good safety.  However, you have to consider the negative effects just as greatly.

The downsides are usually more difficult to anticipate.  Driving and talking, allows you to fit in those dialogues for both business, and personal, turning a meaningless task, into something productive. In a grander scale it could impact economic activity, and economies.   It also gives law enforcement an impossible to argue, justification, for a pulling a civilian over, "I thought I saw him talking on their cellphone", infringing on your rights.  Is it possible that people pulling over to answer their phones, could cause the same amount, if not more accidents?

I like to poke holes in arguments, it's what I do.  I dig down deep, to see what's inside.

Do we protect a relatively slight few from doing this certain activity, or allow everyone to fend for themselves, and take our chances?  Notice how now a seemingly good idea, is now almost equally weighted?

We have to make sure that the scales are tipped in one direction.  We have to be certain of it.

Take Immortality for example.  I love the idea of Immortality.  I'd love to be running around in a toga, invulnerable, shooting lightning bolts, until the end of time, wouldn't you?  You could see and do, everything you ever wanted.  You could live to the end of time, if there was one.

Well, not so fast.  If everyone was Immortal, this planet would be over-run with Immortals in no time.  We'd have people who would have opinions formulated thousands of years ago.  Think of how stubborn they'd be.  Try to get them to use a computer.  Think about the perspective of the oldest, angriest, old cook you've ever met, but 40,000 years more grumpy.

If you were the only Immortal, you be the star of the show...  All the time.  Everyone, would idolize you endlessly.  No doubt you would be a god on earth, with unlimited power, and riches.   Humans, animals, and weather would be your only things to play with.  As you got older, and smarter, humanity would seem infinitely more ignorant.   You'd probably start to feel empty inside, and bored with life.  However, the end would never come.  Still sound like fun?

I mentioned in "We are All-Stars" that change is essential to the excitement in life.  "The Power of Positive Thinking" told us that we might just be able to impact our future, with our minds.

Ideas are difficult things.  Sometimes, a burst of excitement, or passion, can spark us in one direction or another.  I always want you to consider the cause, and effect, of everything.  Especially things, that seem completely one sided, and obvious.  This alone can widen your perspective.  It can be very difficult to put yourself in the shoes of someone you greatly dislike, but sometimes that perspective changes your actions, and therefore the direction of your life.

There's an old saying, "There's two sides to every argument."  In my experience, a strong, and a weak one.  Each time this situation arises in your life, I want to look at it objectively from the negative side, as well as the positive.   I like to argue the other party's perspective to myself, to see if I can poke holes in my own opinion, and stay unbiased.  You need to consider opinions from all angles, and don't make a move until your sure the scales have tipped in one direction.