The Choice

When you die, the makers of this world present you with a compelling opportunity. You have the option to live a second live on this planet with all the knowledge, memories, and lessons learned from your previous life. Every hurt you ever experienced, every partner you ever dated, every investment you ever had comes with you again. When you're born into this second life you are just as aware of yourself when your last one ended. You get another life to accomplish all the things you didn't finish before, but there's one caveat. When you die in this second life, you are gone for good. No eternity, no heaven or hell for your soul, no great slumber. That's the end.

You're given as much time to consider the proposal as you need. During this time, you're placed in a sort of waiting room. Its the closest thing to Purgatory you can think of; the walls are large and white and there are chairs everywhere to contemplate your decision. There are others who have died and are in the process of thinking. Some people chat in groups about the pros and cons of such an offer, while others sulk in the corners too fearful to come to any kind of decision. As it turns out, you don't need much time to decide. You enjoyed your life on earth, and the idea of an eternity away from everything that planet has to offer isn't very compelling. You decide to go back and live this second life.

In the midst of preparations for your departure, you make small-talk with one of the afterlife engineers. You discover that you are only one of a very select few who have decided to go back. He begins naming some of those who have gone before you, and it is indeed and illustrious group: Buddha, Jesus, Einstein, Mother Theresa... but then some names give you pause. Hitler, Genghis Khan, and Hussein. Undoubtedly, every man and woman he mentions belong to a group of people that had significant influence and changed the course of human history, either good or ill. The engineer quips that our memories can be powerful tools of good or evil, but in the end each of these famous persons just ceased to be. They chose to give up eternity in order to shape the course of humanity. Just as you began to lose consciousness and re-enter life on earth, you consider what kind of choices you'll make to live this second life or yours.

You are born again, and the world considers you a natural genius. You blaze through grade school, but you now find history somewhat boring. You graduate top of your class in high school five years early. It seems that colleges and universities the world over can't help themselves but give you honorary doctorates and degrees. You discover new ways to grow food in the harshest climates, create technology that renders the weapons of war inert, and use great political savvy to promote peace and prosperity the world over. For the first time in the existence of the human race, there is no war, no famine, no cause for want. The people greatly admire and love you, you become a common face on all the popular news stations. You teach people how to live with their differences and overcome conflicts constructively. You begin to sow the seeds of a world without hate or malice, but there is always the nagging question in the back of your mind, "What did I sacrifice for this?"

You begin to suspect that, deep down, the world may not be perfect as you have crafted it. You know that one day when you die, this world will continue but your eternal afterlife is forfeit. What's to keep someone else from choosing a second life and changing everything you've created?

You begin to obsess with the idea of death. You surmise that if you cannot create a world that could be perfect forever, then you will find a way to cheat death and keep the world the way it is. You spends enormous amounts of wealth on institutions and research organizations designed to combat disease and decay. You fund large scale projects to extend human life spans and maintain brain activity. You even create new religions that spur the movement of "immorology" and inspire men and women to pursue eternal bodily lives on their own. Soon, you achieve the impossible and immortality becomes a reality.

Initially, the world erupts in celebration of your genius. Truly, history has never seen human achievement the likes of you and your work. You become the most famous person to ever live and your immortal life is good for a while. But soon, people become bored and lazy. Since there is no longer any death, there's no reason to rush things. This lack of energy soon breeds a decline in progress. People are more and more late for work. Students skip class. People marry and divorce more quickly. Since no one ever dies, why go through all the work of doing things?

Spaceships stop launching. Economies crumble. Houses are left unfinished. You begin to learn that selfishness comes hand in hand with immortality, but its too late the change back. People start to become more and more pessimistic. Meaning to life vanishes and with it, the will to continue living. Once humanity gained mastery over every aspect of life, motivation evaporated. There was no longer any else worth discovering. Suicides skyrockets. Fights began to break out again. As it turned out once humanity began to live forever, the only thing left to do was die.

You watched in horror as the perfect world you made crumbled into chaos. Wars erupted amongst nations and families that never had any qualms with each other; they just wanted to die. People begin to blame you for the way the world turned, and your second life ends as a mob crashed through your home.

You awaken to the makers of the world, and they shake their heads. You realize you're already strapped to the machine that will destroy your eternal soul. You see the engineer out of the corner of your eye, and you can't help but ask him where you went wrong. He laughs sarcastically, and simply says that all humans are the same. No one wants to die, but no one wants to live forever, either. Heaven and hell are filled with people who will always wonder what it would have been like to go back and live a second time, while earth is filled with people who will always wonder what happens after we die. The choice of the makers is an act of mercy. To be smashed from all existence is the only way to end the cycle. With that, the engineer flips a switch, and you are gone.