What is immortality?
If you ask a child, they would tell you that it is the ability to live forever.
If you ask a teenager, they would be more concrete and tell you that it is the ability to live for an indefinite period of time, far surpassing the normal human's lifespan.
If you ask an adult, they might already be aware that the idea to outlive your own generation, as well as those following it, only sounds great in theory. The human mind would at some point be unable to deal with the loss of all your loved ones, so their answer would be that it is the ability to live for as long as you want.
However, the truly informed - and those with realistic notions - would tell you that immortality is the ability to exist even after you have passed on.
Existence means to have objective reality or being, whereas being alive simply means possessing consciousness.
When your consciousness comes to an end, in other words when you cease to live, does that mean you no longer exist? No, because the two are fundamentally different!
As long as your name - the identity given to you that marks you as unique from the moment you begin to exist - or your actions - the choices and paths you take from birth till death - are remembered in any capacity, you will continue to exist.
As long as you leave any mark on this planet, be it in the form of a property here, a graffiti with your name there, or even something more banal like setting up a record for wearing the most sweaters, you will continue to exist.
This train of thought is why many great men and women in history have taken the paths and actions they did that have landed them in our history books.
We can only speculate whether they believed in traditional immortality, but we can say for sure that they were forces of nature that had extremely strong wills and sharp minds.
They were not willing to cease to exist after their consciousness dissipated. They wanted to live forever, and the only way to do so was to leave a mark in the world that was tied to their identity or actions that would be remembered long after their consciousness dissipated.
Through this proxy means, they would achieve immortality as their names, actions, and thoughts would be shared by later generations.
An example of a true immortal is Alexander the Great. A conqueror known by many globally, his legends are still perpetuated in stories; fiction, and non-fiction.
Compared to him, the peasant named Paulus who died in 544 B.C. might have been remembered by his progeny at best, most likely forgotten by the generation that has come after theirs.
With nobody remembering him, he has ceased to exist.
This is what any man or woman with the least bit of self-esteem and willpower fears the most. And so, instead of living life like an undead revenant being controlled by the coils of fate, they have grabbed the reins and have steered their lives in the direction they chose, determined to make a difference.
Alas, the mistake that is oftentimes made is that one assumes that to be remembered, one has to accrue fame. Even in the digital era, such a thing is immensely difficult, for it requires skill or talent, hard work, and a healthy amount of luck.
What's more, fame is easy to lose, as after you become famous, others will try to recreate your steps, and unless you have made something that is truly in a class of its own, someone is bound to come along to overshadow your achievements.
That is why those who are truly determined to leave a mark - by all and any means - choose the easier path: Infamy.
It's hard to acquire fame and requires luck and effort, but infamy is disgustingly easy to obtain. All one has to do is go against the norm, and do it loudly. You won't even have to put in effort, others will do the work for you.
Rob a bank, kill a person, maim people, assault innocent animals, burn forests… any of these actions can gain you infamy quickly.
Whether this infamy is enough to immortalize you, though, depends on the degree of your actions.
A one-time killer may be forgotten after a week, yet a serial killer like Jack the Ripper will always be remembered.
A one-time bank robber may also be swept into the annals of time, but serial bank robbers like Bonny and Clyde will not only be idolized by later generations, their story may even inspire movies and books.
And that is why there are people in the world doing things that a person with common sense would find incomprehensible. They are not inherently evil, no one is born that way.
Apart from those driven by emotion, there are those driven by logic, and they are far more terrifying. The latter group is the one who has rationalized their actions and performs them to a degree that satisfies their goals.
A person who stabs a group of people because of madness, racism, or hatred is far different from a person who stabs a group of people because they know that doing so might grant them an interview on a late-night talk show, a chance to get their name out there.
Seekers of immortality come in all shapes and sizes. Most, if given the option to actually live forever, would not take it, and why should they?
The fun of life, once one reaches adulthood in human society, stems from the knowledge of one's limited time, adding a faint hint of pressure on the subconscious that grows with every passing year.
It's like a last-minute rush, full of adrenaline, excitement, and a pounding heart. It's far more memorable and fulfilling than getting to the location two hours ahead of time and waiting.
That rush is life itself.
Should you have all the time in the world, at some point, you would have seen all kinds of characters, tasted all kinds of food, smelled all types of scents, and seen all types of sights.
At that moment, the world would become dull, slow, and boring.
How long this would take would vary per person. Some might not even last a thousand years before boredom, while some might last ten thousand.
However, the endpoint is the same, apathy bordering on nihilism.
So no, that kind of immortality was detestable and unwanted for those of significant mind and character. For them, their goal in life boiled down to accruing fame or infamy suitable to leave their names in the annals of history.
Like Pythagoras and his triangles and Newton with his apple, one's existence would be carried on through the minds of future generations, their consciousness empowering your existence even though your body has long since been decomposed.
This is the goal.
This is the truth of immortality.
And to achieve it, anything is permissible!