I may be only human, but I’d love to live forever

In a recent “Today’s Moderator” column, we shared an item that suggested our awareness of our mortality is the main thing that makes us human. A reader responded with this guest column.

Regarding “That which makes us human,” I am 63 and I hope I have gained a measured perspective about mortality and the meaning of life as a human being.

What makes us human as compared to all the other forms of life on this planet is our sense of self and our determination to improve our condition. We as humans have a built-in drive to want more of all things that are good. We define good as longer lifespans with a quality of life that is free of pain and misery.

Time was when human life expectancy was 35, 40 and 50 years at most. Now more of us are breaking the centenarian barrier.

Our inventive energies have pushed us to cure diseases, prolong healthier lives and avoid the Grim Reaper.

I know I don’t want to die. I fear death because I cannot fathom what death will really be like.

I don’t accept heaven or hell, as those are manmade constructs. I am sure this is blasphemous and offensive to devout believers. I intend no harm, but I reserve my belief for the arrival of evidence ... facts ... proof! If God were to show up on Colbert or Kimmel, I would tune my natural skepticism to a lower degree.

I don’t accept reincarnation as that, too, is manmade and rather silly when you really think about it. Otherwise what is there to stop Elvis from coming back as a hound dog?

Even those who have had so-called “near-death experiences” do not know what death is truly like since they were not incontrovertibly dead; they came back. Now let me have a two-way conversation with someone who’s been dead a decade or more and I will be impressed. (Although it might be really creepy.)

I think death is like that interval between the onset of sleep and the first nocturnal dream, a moment both timeless and devoid of awareness. Try it yourself when you retire for the night. See if you don’t experience that lapse of awareness right before your technicolor dream rolls out. Funny, I used to dream in black and white — but lately my dreams have been full color. Maybe it’s a new app I downloaded.

I concede there is a downside to widespread immortality.

The world would fast become overcrowded if everyone lived very long timespans ... but that is what the rest of the universe is for. Let’s get more of us off the planet, living, working and recreating out in space, on the moon, the planets of our solar system and the interstellar spaces between the stars.

Yes, space flight is risky, rockets have blown up. But we have come far since the Apollo 1 fire, the loss of Challenger and Columbia. We are about to return to the moon and head out to Mars and beyond. Perhaps, a new space-oriented research college finding safer ways to get people into space is the ticket. Weightlessness ... seeing the far-side of the moon ... Earthrise. Sounds like great fun to me.

So, live forever? Why the heck not? David Lyttle lives in Centerville and works for the city of Dayton’s Human Relations Council, helping minority, women-owned and small business enterprises.