Life's Finite Canvas: Reflecting on Time, Mortality, and Technology

Introduction to Time and Mortality

An average life is a little over 4,000 weeks. My countdowns app suggests I have 1,745 weeks, 5 days, and 19 hours. It is rare that I open the app to look at the number of weeks remaining. Just mentioning the number of weeks that may remain causes some to recoil at the idea, as if ignorance might shield us from the inevitability of our end. This introduces us to a profound exploration of balancing technology and real-world experiences.

"It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested." - Seneca

Appreciating the Wonders of Earth

I very much like it here. All the people I love are here, and the people that love me are here. There is a lot to recommend Earth: books, coffee, pizza, sunrises, sunsets, most dogs, a (very) small number of cats, all 8 seasons of The Sopranos, movies, cars, planes, oceans, trees, flowers, boxing, college football, the theater, concerts, walking on the beach, and hundreds or thousands of things Earth provides. These experiences underscore the importance of appreciating life on Earth's natural beauty.

The Rise of the Metaverse and Space Exploration

Right now, there are a number of tech giants preparing you to leave planet Earth and spend your time in the metaverse (or life on Mars). The definition of metaverse is “a persistent virtual environment that allows access to and interoperability of multiple individual virtual realities.” This shift highlights the impact of the metaverse on daily life, questioning what we may lose in the trade-off for digital expansion.

The Quest for Immortality

Ray Kurzweil takes 200 vitamins each day in his attempt to cheat death. I imagine Kurzweil asking the Grim Reaper to wait for him to take his vitamins, taking so long that the Grim Reaper expires before Kurzweil is able to finish his vitamin regimen.

Peter Thiel is also trying to live forever, investing in anti-aging technologies and taking pharmaceuticals known to cause cancers in an attempt to live forever. He might as well hope to be bitten by a vampire. These endeavors bring to light philosophical perspectives on immortality.

Dystopian Visions and Cultural Critiques

Yuval Noah Harari, the author of Sapiens, along with a number of intellectuals, believe our future will find humans wearing goofy-looking goggles and being drugged or medicated, a dystopian future to match Huxley’s Brave New World. This narrative fits into discussions on the cultural implications of digital escapism, as technology both shapes and reflects our societal values and fears.

The Impact of Modern Technology on Daily Life

Perhaps without meaning to, Steve Jobs sold us a set of portable screens that for seventeen years has had all of us staring at a small screen that has more power over our time and attention than we realize. My smartphone has no social media apps, nor does it have any games, making it a dumb phone, as I work backward to making the phone nothing more than a phone. When you look around, our technology seems to own us, instead of us owning it.

Your time is limited, don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking." - Steve Jobs

The Consequences of Escaping Reality

Some people try to avoid reality by using drugs to release them from pain, without any improvement in their lives. Others turn to video games to leave reality and distract themselves from their reality. And, perhaps the majority of us walk around with a screen in our left hand, an object that is picked up and carried around more often than a newborn baby. The chime of a text, a notification, or a response to some social media post, and you are pulled into a screen.

Conclusion: Valuing Our Limited Time

I want to remind you again about the 4,000 weeks that make up a life. You and I have this reality for a relatively short time. At some point, you and I will lose this reality forever. The more time one spends in the metaverse’s virtual realities, the less time you have for actual reality. I, for one, have zero interest in putting goofy glasses on to swap the richness of reality for a cartoon reality. I don’t even like 3D movies.

When you were in middle school, you would stare at the clock, and every second felt like an hour. Later in life, every hour feels like fifteen minutes. When you complain about not having time, know that all you have is time. The most important thing for you to do is to decide what to do with the time you have been gifted.

"Time present and time past are both perhaps present in time future, and time future contained in time past." - T.S. Elliot

If I want to leave reality, my preference is a book. Preferably a hardcover written by an author who can allow you to better understand what it means to be human.

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