In this blog post, we’ll explore various philosophical perspectives on how eternal life might affect human happiness and discuss whether it could truly make humanity happier.
Everyone has probably wondered at least once, “What if I didn’t die and lived forever?” Some might think such a life of eternal life would be wonderful, while others might not find much interest in living for a long time. I fall into the former category. In fact, throughout history, there have been quite a few people who sought eternal life. Qin Shi Huang, who first unified China and oversaw the construction of the Great Wall, possessed immense power and authority, yet he feared his impending death. He ordered his ministers to find the elixir of life, and believing what they brought back to be that elixir, he continued to consume it. However, it was actually mercury, and ultimately, after severely damaging his health, Qin Shi Huang died at the age of 49. As such, although humanity has made various attempts since ancient times to realize the dream of eternal life, for a long time that dream remained close to an unattainable ideal.
However, the situation has changed somewhat today. Science and technology have advanced remarkably; diseases that were once fatal can now be treated, and average life expectancy has increased significantly. Of course, we cannot say that humans have achieved immortality with current science and technology, but research aimed at dramatically extending human lifespan continues through advancements in aging research, regenerative medicine, genetic technology, and artificial intelligence. Perhaps we cannot rule out the possibility that an era will come that goes beyond simply living longer to fundamentally transform human lifespan. If immortality—a long-held aspiration of humanity—were to become a reality, it would be easy to assume intuitively that people’s happiness would increase. However, there are also those who disagree. In this article, I will examine various philosophical interpretations of how immortality might transform human life and share my views on why I believe immortality could bring happiness to humanity.
Let’s assume that humanity achieves immortality. Simply put, life would have no end, and we would at least be freed from the fear of natural death. How, then, would the world change? The concept of lifespan itself would likely lose its meaning, as measuring the length of life would become meaningless. Life would continue endlessly, and we would break free from the temporal constraints that have bound us until now. In a life without limits, humans can unfold infinite possibilities.
Take overseas travel, for example. Before achieving immortality, even if one spent their entire life traveling, it would be difficult to see the whole world due to time constraints and financial limitations. However, with immortality, time constraints disappear. Financial issues can also be resolved gradually over a long period. Traveling to one country every few years would pose no problem at all. In this way, eternal life enables humans to achieve countless goals that were difficult to accomplish within the constraints of time. These could be material goals, enlightenment attained through long-term spiritual practice, or various forms of self-actualization.
Humans are, by nature, beings who pursue self-actualization. The argument that humanity will become happier if, through eternal life, people can discover and realize their diverse potentials is highly persuasive. In other words, immortality would help humans achieve a much wider variety of goals in life and has the potential to imbue life with deeper meaning.
However, there is a philosopher who opposes this argument: the existentialist philosopher Heidegger.
An explanation along the lines of, “Heidegger argues that only living with an awareness of death is truly living. He called such a life ‘Dasein,’” serves as an important starting point for understanding his philosophy.
According to Heidegger’s existentialism, death plays a crucial role in life. This is because it is only through the existence of death that humans can truly “exist.” Here, “existence” does not simply mean the state of being alive, but rather a life dedicated to discovering one’s authentic self and pursuing the true meaning of life. In other words, Heidegger believes that only through death can humans realize the preciousness of life and find its true meaning.
If we view death not merely as something to fear and avoid, but as an event we must inevitably face someday, we will naturally come to recognize the finitude of life. The moment we realize the finitude of time, many inauthentic values that we previously considered important lose their meaning.
For example, let’s assume we are going to die in a month. The countless obligations imposed on us by family, friends, society, or the law would no longer feel as important as they once did. How much significance could it possibly have for others to impose anything on someone who is going to die in a month? Heidegger argues that it is precisely because of the temporal limit posed by death that we are finally able to discover our authentic self and live a life we believe to be truly valuable.
From this existentialist perspective, eternal life eliminates the finitude of time and thus prevents humans from experiencing the profound meaning of life. In other words, eternal life prevents humans from finding their true selves and, as a result, distances them from happiness.
However, there are philosophers who have presented a different position from Heidegger’s. One such philosopher is Epicurus. The core of Epicurus’s philosophy is peace of mind, or equanimity. Although Epicurus is commonly known as a hedonist, the pleasure he spoke of was not merely sensory enjoyment. He distinguished between “dynamic pleasure,” which is gained through active action, and “static pleasure,” which is the satisfaction felt in a state of tranquility, free from desire and anxiety. And equanimity is deeply connected to this static pleasure.
Does static pleasure, then, mean a state of doing nothing? Not exactly. It refers to a life in which one acts but does not become overly attached to the results. For example, we often feel happy when we eat delicious food and unhappy when we cannot. However, a person pursuing static pleasure does not suffer greatly just because they cannot eat delicious food. This is because they think, “It would be nice to eat it, but it’s okay if I can’t.” This resembles the Buddhist concept of liberation.
The meaning of liberation can be summarized as follows:
“Rather than clinging to happiness itself in order to feel happy, one must recognize that both happiness and unhappiness are fleeting emotions. Furthermore, one must realize that one’s self and one’s emotions are not the same thing, and reduce unnecessary energy expenditure.”
Both Buddhism and Epicurus teach that to experience happiness, one must not cling to happiness itself. This perspective stands in contrast to Heidegger’s existentialism. Heidegger argues that death causes humans to realize the profound meaning of life and compels them to pursue the values they truly desire. This pursuit of value differs in direction from enlightenment or static pleasure. So, which perspective—Heidegger’s, Buddhism’s, or Epicurus’s—is more persuasive?
I would side with the latter. Heidegger argues that only through the finitude of life can humans find their true selves and realize the beauty of life, and that this is true happiness. However, I believe that even if life were infinite, we could still fully discover its meaning.
If we were to attain eternal life, we might become slightly more indolent than before. This is because temporal constraints would disappear, and the pressure to achieve goals would diminish. However, this does not mean that humans would cease to pursue goals altogether. The indolence referred to here is merely a process of adapting to a new environment where temporal constraints have vanished. It is difficult to view this as fundamentally hindering human self-actualization, the exploration of diverse values, or the achievement of goals itself.
Rather, I believe this kind of laziness is deeply connected to the concepts of enlightenment and serene pleasure. When time constraints disappear, humans naturally gain a sense of ease. The pressure to achieve goals within a strict timeframe diminishes, and our minds become correspondingly more at ease. If the time granted to us is infinite, we can always attempt again in the future what we couldn’t accomplish right now. Therefore, it is highly likely that humans will become far less fixated on their goals even while pursuing them.
Of course, achieving a goal brings joy. However, failing to achieve it is no reason to fall into deep unhappiness, because there will always be plenty of other opportunities. While some regret may remain, it will not lead to a sense of unhappiness that shakes one’s entire life. In this sense, eternal life can help humans cultivate an attitude of detachment in a very natural way.
I believe this state of detachment is closer to true happiness. We constantly strive to attain happiness and pleasure. We feel happy when we achieve our goals, but we easily experience unhappiness when we fail. Ultimately, to maintain happiness, we must continually pursue new goals, and in the process, we expend a great deal of time and energy.
However, the story is different at the level of liberation. While we still enjoy the joy of achieving a goal, we do not become consumed by unhappiness simply because we fail to achieve it. It becomes possible to live a life without clinging excessively to the emotions of happiness and unhappiness, thereby reducing unnecessary energy expenditure. I believe this is true happiness.
And eternal life will enable us to acquire this attitude toward life so slowly and naturally that we may not even realize it ourselves. Ultimately, eternal life is highly likely to bring happiness to humanity, just as many people intuitively expect. Of course, it is difficult to predict when eternal life will be realized based on current science and technology alone, but research aimed at helping humans live healthier and longer lives continues to advance. If human life someday transforms into something completely different from what it is now, we may come to understand happiness in a new way. I believe that simply imagining such a future is meaningful enough in itself.
