"Because our choices are largely based on survival. But if life is eternal, life is not a question"

Human decisions often boil down to fundamental concerns about survival. Much of what drives people, whether it’s choosing a career, building relationships, or pursuing status, can be traced to a basic desire for safety, security, continuity. These choices are coded deeply into us, shaped over millennia by our need to endure and thrive. Fear of loss, failure, or irrelevance frequently underpins even the most sophisticated ambitions. Survival, in this sense, is not merely physical but psychological and social; belonging, achievement, and self-expression are all variations of this primal impulse.

The second part of the statement shifts the perspective dramatically: if life is eternal, survival ceases to be relevant. When eternity is the foundation, existence is guaranteed and the anxious edge blunts. No longer threatened by death or oblivion, decisions lose their urgency for preservation. Instead, motivation may shift from survival to exploration, creativity, and authenticity.

Life as a question emerges from uncertainty about its duration and meaning, how long do we have, what should we do, what truly matters? When lifespan is finite and vulnerable, these are acute, sometimes existential questions. If eternity is assured, these concerns dissolve and the framework of choice changes. Actions would not be shadowed by the prospect of ending, so one might pursue what is genuinely meaningful rather than simply what is expedient or protective. Survival would no longer be the axis upon which all choices spin.

Through this lens, life is not about making the “right” choices to avoid extinction, but instead becomes an open canvas for creation, connection, and expression. Fear diminishes, and the compulsions of existence relax, allowing choices made from curiosity or love rather than necessity or anxiety. This suggests that much of human experience is colored by our awareness of impermanence, and that eternity, real or perceived, could radically transform both our values and our reasons for choosing.