Whether or not you want this life to end may have to do with how happy you are in it.
Photo: Azam Sa’ad
I tend to believe that many of us want to live forever.
Or at least think we will. At age 20.
But, according to a poll conducted by Reader’s Digest, it turns out most of us do not want to partake in a never-ending existence.
Except Brazilians – 72% of them wanted eternal life (duh…it’s because they’re out partying all night).
Indians ranked next in hoping to break the death barrier, with 67% voicing an affirmative yes! to life.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, only 36% of Russians, 39% of Singaporeans, and 40% of Germans are hoping against meeting their maker (or not heading on to their next life). Americans also came in at 40%, Brits 41%, and Canadians at 42%.
It’s interesting to contemplate why the numbers range so much between certain countries. What exactly do these statistics imply?
Views On The Afterlife
Does wanting to live forever or just get it over with have to do with religion, socioeconomic status, or a general outlook on life? Or is it just a random process?
I suppose Indians on the whole are less stressed than Americans (although the Westernization that is currently underway may be changing this belief), so inevitably, they’d want to live longer.
For some, creating a masterpiece is certainly something worth living a long time for.
But then a good chunk of the Indian population believes there is more than this one life, and hopefully the next life will be better, so that makes me think they’d want to get on with it.
I might also hypothesize that Russians have had to deal with quite a bit since the fall of Communism, and it’s not been exactly smooth going, so maybe they want the misery to end.
Plus, the largest religion is Russian Orthodox Christianity, which is pretty clear on the trials and tribulations of life and death, and the kickass-ness of the afterlife.
And yet, Russian artists seem intent on capturing the timelessness of life. As Maxim, a Russian couchsurfer, explains in a recent interview conducted by by Matador Trips co-editor Carlo Alcos, in his culture “poets, writers and musicians have always been the ‘conscience of the people.’”
For some, creating a masterpiece is certainly something worth living a long time for.
Contemplating the reasons for or against life eternal based on one’s current life seems to split 50/50. But maybe there are other reasons why the populations of different countries had such a varied response to this question.
Why do some countries want a never-ending party, while others think a finite amount of time is just fine with them? Share your thoughts below!
Community Connection
Don’t miss BNT’s recent interview with Jason Silva about how science can eliminate death, along with the interesting debate in the comments section.
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9 Comments... join the discussion!
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A well-lived life? Yes. An eternal life? Not so much. All things must end, but I am curious as well as to the reasons why some people want to live forever.
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Check out the movie “The Man From Earth” for a practical account. I never would have thought it was an issue of culture, though I suppose depending on your religious beliefs…
The bigger question is: eternal youth? It might be fun for a few hundred years, but I just couldn’t do forever.
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From what I saw traveling in Russia I can understand that statistic (no offense Russia).
My first thought when I read about India was that most of them believe in reincarnation (don’t they?), so what would it matter?
That Jason Silva interview is a must-read with a great conversation thread!
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I guess people will want to live forever if they are happy and contented in their present lives. Health and poverty levels would be the most significant factors in deciding whether one wants eternal life.
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Personally, I don’t want to live forever, even with eternal youth. All my beloved ones will die before me and after some time I’m sure I’ll grow tired and bored with life.
In the other hand, what scares the me about death is the after life. The after life as religiously depicted won’t be a piece of cake for me.
This lives me confused in the deepest level. I don’t want to live forever and I don’t want to die too
I think that atheism has a lot to do with people wanting to have a bounded life span. There is no after life -> no punishment -> dieing is like having a long dreamless sleep. I also think that this is related to suicide rates.
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Hi there Christine
That poll is really interesting – who would have thought there would be such a difference by country! I suppose the Readers Digest is not necessarily the most scientific of organisations – but it’s interesting, anyway. Thanks for the info! I have a blog about living forever – I don’t believe dying takes anyone to a “better place”, we just have a rest and reincarnate and keep going where we left off.
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As Carlo said, you’d think reincarnation would make people not care about death, as they’d be coming back.
Similarly, you’d think those who believe in some kind of heaven and think they are going there would also be ready for death.
I’d think atheists would be the least ready for death, as they think it’s definitely the end.
But of course other factors come in as well, as previously cited, such as losing all your peers if they didn’t have immortality too.
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Ancient testimony suggests the way to live forever:
http://www.mortalresurrection.com/about/
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