Imagine:
A couple times a day, our bodies required us to take 10-60 minutes of our time to sit down and breathe scented air. Few scented airs would be ingestible and consuming the wrong scented airs would have adverse health effects. We would have to set aside blocks of our day to inhale and the process of obtaining and consuming the air would always sit in the back of our minds. People all over the world would develop cultures around this ritual inhalation.
To select few, this might sound interesting and desirable. To most, this sounds like a ridiculous waste of time. If you had the choice of whether this daily ritual was required to live, what would you pick?
Obviously. Good-smelling things can be pleasant, but that doesn’t mean you want to be forced to ingest them multiple times a day. You don’t want to add more obstacles to daily life. The alternative is that nice-smelling things still smell nice and we can choose more desirable things to spend time on - which could include smelling nice-smelling things.
Right? Now imagine:
A couple times a day, our bodies required us to take 10-60 minutes to sit down and ingest flavoured solids. Only select flavoured solids would be ingestible, and ingesting the wrong flavoured solids would have adverse health effects. We would have to set aside blocks of our day to ingest and the process of obtaining and consuming the solids would always sit in the back of our minds. People all over the world would develop cultures around this ritual ingestion.
Well, that’s food. To most, this eating ritual is a desirable part of human life. To select few, it is a ridiculous waste of time. What if we didn’t have to eat? What will happen when (and not if) technology removes the need to eat? Tasty things will still taste good and we can find more desirable things to spend time on - which could include ritually ingesting flavoured solids.
So what are some other aspects of the mammal condition?
What if we didn’t have to urinate or defecate?
Yes. Those things suck.
What if we didn’t have to sleep?
Yes! That would free up a third of my life!
What if we didn’t have to travel to get from one place to another? Instead, we could teleport to wherever we want.
Awesome.
What if we didn’t have to breathe?
Sure, I don’t really care.
What if we didn’t have to have sex to reproduce?
Wait, we’d still get to have sex, right?
What if we didn’t have to suffer pain, pleasure, aging, emotion, irrationality, the limits of memory or brain processing? What if would could add new kinds of pain, pleasure, or emotion?
Hmmm, humanity got lost somewhere in there.
We clearly enjoy aspects of the mammal condition, even things we’re forced to do. I like my dreams and you like your cars. Still, will we choose to be slaves to our bodily needs when alternatives are realized?
I wish eating was optional. I think food is redundant.