Death, for many people, is a rather taboo word, we are afraid of death, hate death, think that death is too cruel, and always try all kinds of ways to avoid death and pursue eternal life.
But in this matter, God is the fairest, and perhaps the only fair thing. Whether you are in a position of power or a humble status, you will eventually die. Death treats everyone equallyOn the road to death, you can "cut the line" at any time, but you must not be absent.
Why is this happening? Why can't life, including human beings, be immortal?
A cruel fact that many people can't believe is this: although death may seem cruel, eternal life is more cruel than death!
You may be taken aback when you see this: what are you talking about? How can such a beautiful thing as eternal life be cruel?
One fact that many people don't know is:Ninety-nine percent of the species that ever appeared on Earth are extinct。If life can be immortalized, it means that the number of life on Earth will increase by at least 100 times, what does it mean?
With so many species of life, the resources and energy on the earth will definitely not be satisfied, and it will be impossible even if you want to live forever at that time, and how can you maintain an immortal body without enough energy? If there is no continuous supply of energy, life will naturally come to an end!
From this point of view, this is also the law of nature, nature cannot make life immortal, always eliminate certain groups before the number of life forms reaches a critical point, so that the number of life forms and energy distribution to achieve a certain balance.
At the same time, from an evolutionary point of view, it is also possible to better understand why life inevitably leads to death.
There is a fundamental instinct in any life:Continuing your genes, and there are two ways to continue the gene:Reproduction and eternal lifeWhy did all living beings ultimately choose to reproduce rather than live forever?
This is certainly not a coincidence, but an inevitability!
Put simply, this is because the way to perpetuate genes through reproduction is more efficient, more tolerant of errors, and less risky. And the risk of continuing genes in the form of immortality is enormous.
Once an immortal individual encounters an unexpected event and dies unexpectedly, it means that the genes cannot be continued. This will not be the case if the genes are continued through reproduction.
A living organism can reproduce many offspring, so that even after the life itself dies, the genes can still be passed on through its own offspring.
More importantly, the environment is always changing, which requires any living organism to adapt to the changing environment.
Immortal individuals are powerless in the face of complex and changing environments, and it is impossible for them to adapt to the changing environment around them through genetic mutations. Even if an immortal individual is strong enough, there will always be a situation where the environment changes to the point that they are no longer fit for survival.
In this case, the immortal individual is unable to adapt to the new environment, and as a result, it is naturally eliminated.
And the life that continues the genes through reproduction will not have this embarrassing situation, because the process of reproduction will be accompanied by genetic mutations, and the direction of mutations is random, and it is possible to mutate genes that are not adapted to the environment, and of course, there will definitely be mutations of genes that adapt to the environment.
WhileWhat nature has to do is to sift, eliminate the mutant genes that do not adapt to the environment, and eventually leave behind the mutant genes that adapt to the environment. This means that it is extremely feasible to obtain "eternal life" through reproduction.
This is why nature ultimately chooses to perpetuate genes through reproduction, rather than immortalizing living organisms.
Perhaps, at some point, there were indeed individuals on the earth who could theoretically live forever, but in the end, these lives were eliminated by nature for various reasons!
In fact, the two instincts of survival and reproduction are very important for any living organism, survival is fundamental, and reproduction is the magic weapon to continue life.
So, what do living beings do when they have to choose between survival and reproduction? In other words, when there is a conflict between survival and reproduction, how will life choose?
The answer is:Choose to reproduce！For living beingsThere is nothing more important than reproduction or succession, because the succession itself is actually equal to the continuation of life, which is equivalent to "eternal life" or "survival" for living beings.
This is why sexual selection tends to be more important when natural selection conflicts with sexual selection.
Just give an example to make it clear. Male peacocks have evolved beautiful tails and are able to stage a beautiful peacock opening, thus attracting female peacocks. Actually,The huge tail of male peacocks is not conducive to their survival at allBut in order to have more opportunities to mate with female peacocks, male peacocks would rather sacrifice a certain survival advantage and have a strong ability to choose sex!
In addition, the male wide quoll, knowing that they will die after mating, still chooses to mate desperately, for them, reproduction is more important than survival, and they would rather sacrifice themselves to continue their genes through reproduction.
At the same time, because the energy in nature is limited, in order to ensure the survival rate of the new life forms as much as possible, those aging life forms will also save energy to the maximum extent by dying, so as to ensure that the new life forms can survive better.
See, nature's choice is right"Immortalization" of living organisms through reproduction is too efficient than simple and crude eternal lifeOf course, the living form will choose the former, not the choice to immortalize itself.
Speaking of which, there is an even harsher reality. In fact, from the law of nature, when a living organism is old and no longer has the ability to reproduce, it should go to death, because the task of the living organism has been completed. In fact, nature does exactly that, and aging individuals often become predators of predators. Even for the same species, the aging individuals are not welcomed, and the status is replaced by younger individuals, or even exploded from the population.
It is in this way that nature is constantly weeding out the aging living beings and ensuring the new strength of the species.
Humans seem to be an exception because, on the one hand, humans live in groups, and on the other hand, humans have a high level of intelligence and can create more energy to support the elderly. But in the deepest part of our genes, in fact, there has always been an instinct in the animal kingdom.
Summary
Death sounds terrible, but perhaps we should revisit death itself, and even be grateful for it, becauseDeath is the beginning of a new life, laying a better foundation for new students.
We often think that death is the end of life, or even the end of everything, and it's time to change that perception. Death is not the end of life, but the beginning and continuation of life!
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