We as a society are so obsessed with the prospect of immortality, the idea of living forever. But have you ever taken a moment to truly imagine what it would be like?

Close your eyes for a moment and think about it. Do you see your loved ones withering away, their once vivacious faces now scribbled with wrinkles, their skin becoming so thin that you almost cannot feel it until all they turn to is skin and bones? And you have to witness that. Do you see how the unpredictability of life starts to feel more and more tedious- monotonous, as every day passes by? Do you see how times blurs into each other, and now you no longer feel in tune with your surroundings?

Does the prospect of immortality still seem appealing to you? I’m sure that most of you will say no.

Recently, I was watching a medical drama with my family and a patient had a DNR meaning that if the time came when their body failed them, they would not want to be resuscitated. We watch as the doctor tries to grapple with the idea of why this woman might not want to keep living, after all she has a family so surely, she would want to keep living for them. When watching this show, I was asking myself the same question. Why wouldn’t you want to stay alive and fight through this. But as I kept watching, I started to put myself in the patient’s perspective. She was going through an illness that she kept hoping would be cured for years and years but every time she started to get better, she only got worse. And even if she got resuscitated, her lungs and her body would be weaker and the pain she was going through would be intensifies tenfold.

If she did happen to survive, she would live through a pain unfamiliar to all but her. And as people who cannot see into her mind and truly understand her, isn’t it our responsibility, as humans, to respect and understand her decision.

Now, it’s time to talk about arguably one of the most controversial topics: euthanasia. Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending one’s life to relieve pain and suffering. Here, in the UK, euthanasia is illegal since it can be perceived as manslaughter or suicide. Some also believe that euthanasia is practically suicide and so many religious people disapprove of it since it is forbidden to take one’s own life. However, humans should have the right to be able to decide the way that they die which is the idea of self-determination. Linking back into what I said before when I gave the scenario, if you know that the rest of your life is only going to be painful and you will not be able to handle it, wouldn’t death be the kinder option? Additionally, when an animal is going through too much they get put down by vets, plants are uprooted when they are dying, so wouldn’t it be only fair for humans to be granted the same treatment, although many would say that this isn’t a treatment at all.

So, as you can see, we find ourselves in this loop of what to believe. Euthanasia is frowned upon by the wider community though we say that we prefer quality over quantity, whether it is in English essays or whether it is in matters such as this. We, as humans brag about how we are so just, about how we have a higher intellect to animals but in matters such as this, do we really prioritise quality over quantity?