How long will you be remembered after you die?
“Realistically, as long as the last person that remembers you will live. In the present day, assuming they’re 10 years old and remember you for the entirety of their lives while having the rough maximum possible lifespan (125 years), the last real memory of you will die in 115 years. If you live for another, say, 70 years, and make an impression on a 10-year-old on your very last day, it could be 185 years.
Think about the big names in history. Conquerors, dictators, artists, inventors, activists. In the case of those that died over a hundred years ago, it’s (almost) safe to say that nobody alive has ever met them in person.
Nobody has shared a beer, a late-night story, a good joke or a hardship with them. Nobody was there to see them fuss over their worries or cower in fear during lower points of their lives. Nobody came to give them the pep talk they needed, mentored them when they needed to grow, or learned great wisdom from the example of their actions.
The impact of their work is well-known, but this builds an idea of a person rather than presenting an authentic person per se.
In some cases, these great historical figures left behind diaries, such as in the case of Marcus Aurelius. They are the closest thing to a retelling of an internal monologue one can have, but even that is a rendition of the man, not the man himself.
With the rate tech is evolving now, future generations should be able to watch present-day content as if no time had passed, allowing for whatever ways you present yourself to survive the passage of time unscathed. But by the same coin as with ancient diaries, I think they fall short of presenting the true person.
Carpe diem, then. Your memory may become an abstract notion – if it survives at all – but the effects of your actions may ripple throughout the years.”
Recent Comments