Pessimists, Optimists, and Opportunists

Utnapishtim replies to Gilgamesh's painful search for immortality with simplicity: "There is no permanence" (106). What this quote is saying for humanity is that we, or anything in fact, cannot live forever or will eventually change so much that . Our world today illustrates the notion of impermanence in more ways than one. Graveyards for example; they are there not only to show what some people think as respect for the dead, but to show us that we will die at some point and there is already location (unless you decide to burn yourself) set up for you. Another way is through language and culture. Over the last centuries cultures and languages have been lost due to time and the technology we have made. An example is cuneiform, it is lost, though it has been the basis for many languages today such as arabic, greek, and in the past latin...etc. Though, latin is now considered dead language because no one speaks it as a national language. 
People wake up every morning to new things that can either change their breakfast or lifestyle. I believe that in the past, people didn't think much about moving forward in technology because they just wanted to get through their day as the way it was. Egyptians for example were always using bronze and liked it until the Hyksos took over and showed them iron. And if it weren't for them, I can say that the Egyptians would not have found iron for another dynasty or two because they had such a good lifestyle (granted that their location was next to the nile giving them an advantage over other nations). But in todays modern world, the only thing we look forward to is technology. Medical technology, Cinema technology, Military technology; people want to make things easier so they can relax or in other words, be lazy. The people look forward to it because they know what is coming before it actually hits and they can be prepared for it with either a smile, or giant posters saying "Strike!". 
It is said by many people that we are going to die in 2012 because the mayan calendar ends and the planets will align perfectly (makes me think that someone ripped off Hercules...), but a new study shows that we will die in 3.7 billion years. Happily, I will [hopefully] not be alive then. But when people know when their death is or hear about it or see it, they can either think two things, life is meaningless, or it does have some meaning. For the people who think it is meaningless they have a right to think so because we will eventually all die in the end - this is known as the pessimistic view of everything. But for the people who think there is meaning even with death guaranteed on our plates, they would be considered opportunists and/or optimists. To them, it gives life more meaning because in our "small little world" we have so much we can do. Accomplishment is the key word, even to the pessimists. At the end of the day we all feel accomplished that we have either finished this assignment or walked to the car, even subconsciously or to the point that we don't acknowledge it till days or years. later. This is the meaning of life for all people. 

As mortal beings, we create a sense of order by our justice and law system. 

People who defy it are called rebels but to me, they are considered "rare" compared to the people who follow the justice system/law. As it started back with Hammurabi's law and people eventually changed it with time but kept in mind that we all have a code to follow. Do right, and don't do anything against the law, despite weather you think it is right or wrong. To create a sense of eternal life, we today have advanced much in technology but it also, like the law, it started all the way back to Egyptian times. They started it with mummifying, though it was only for the pharaohs, they believed that once they were buried with their things and encased in gold, they would move on though with the promise of eternal life. And today we have created wrinkle creams and surgeries to make is so that we can "reverse back time" on how we look; creating an illusion that we can live forever, when we can't. Fame also has a big effect because they promote it with their looks and making themselves look younger which make people want everlasting life more. 

Though, as Utnapishtim said, "There is no permanence" (106) nothing can stay forever, it eventually changes or gets forgotten completely.