When Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Technology

by Dr Leong Tien Fock

While the world was debating whether America should attack Iraq, Iraqi Kasim Al-Sumary and his troupe were rehearsing for a play to be presented in downtown Baghdad. "If the war happens, we will present the play, even if we only draw a small audience", said the director.

The New York Times further reported that the play was a revival of the ancient Mesopotamian Gilgamesh Epic. Mesopotamia was where Iraq is today and the epic is about the meaning of life in the light of death. Although more than 3000 years old, this epic still speaks to our hearts today.

This mythological tale recounts the deeds and adventures of the hero-king Gilgamesh. At the very peak of his power and popularity, his friend Enkidu died. Gilgamesh once said to Enkidu that one’s days are numbered and one’s achievements are but wind. This awful reality did not seem to bother him then. But now it finally hit home. It haunted him. It sent him on a frantic chase after immortality. He was trying to escape the inevitable. Through the dramatic twists and turns of the story, the epic warns us that such an effort is futile.

Gilgamesh was given two "opportunities" to gain immortality. The first was a test. He had to stay awake for six days and seven nights. He failed. Then he was told of the divine secret that at the bottom of the sea there was a plant that could rejuvenate anyone who ate of it. Gilgamesh attached heavy stones to his feet so that he could sink down to get the plant. He got it! He said he would take it home to test it first on an old man and then eat it himself.

On his way back he found a cool inviting pool. He went in to bathe and left the plant with his clothes. A snake sneaked up to the plant and ate it. Then the snake shed its old skin to reveal a new one. The plant had given it the power to rejuvenate itself! So Gilgamesh lost his second and last opportunity.

Why did the ancient sage who composed the epic end his story this way? Why did he not let Gilgamesh go home with the plant? Why not a happy ending? Certainly it is not because he needed to explain why snakes shed their skin!

This sad ending has been described as "so un-Hollywood". Some years ago the TV news documentary PrimeTime discussed how Hollywood made movies that made money. There was this movie about a rich man who picked up a prostitute and offered her $3000 to live in luxury with him. But just for one week. The script was originally entitled 3000 and had a sad ending. After the one week the tycoon throws the $3000 at the prostitute and drives her away. She drops to her knees, sobbing, and screams, "Go to hell! I hate you! I hate your money! I hate it". This is a very realistic ending to a story like this.

But today’s audience would not like it. So the director changed the ending to one of those "and they live happily ever after" kind of ending. The title was changed to Pretty Woman and the movie made a lot of money. On the other hand The Last Emperor did not make much money even though it won several Oscars, including the best picture award. It has a very sad ending. Being a historically-based movie the ending could not be changed.

Hollywood used to make outstanding and well-received movies with sad endings. Romantic classics like Gone With the Wind (1939), Casablanca (1942) and The Way We Were (1973) all have sad endings. If they were made today, they would very likely end like Pretty Woman (1990).

According to Judd Rose, the news correspondent of this documentary, "More and more, if something makes the audience uncomfortable, they simply take it out and that ultimately means movies that pacify instead of provoke, that soothe instead of stimulate, movies that never make you think. Hollywood is leaving us unprepared for reality and the reality is that every day, we are all just a heartbeat away from total global destruction".

With the material and medical "progress" that people in modern technological societies are experiencing, there is a greater tendency to live as if they are not going to die. But the reality is that our days are numbered and our achievements are but wind. This is the message of the Gilgamesh Epic. But Hollywood, as a rule, does not produce movies with this kind of message that prepares us for reality. Instead, to make money, Hollywood makes movies that will keep people trapped in their unreal feel-good world.

The Star recently reported that by paying up to RM456,000 to the Alcor Life Extension Foundation in America you can have your (future) corpse frozen and then stored in liquid nitrogen until the cure for whatever ended your life is found. Then you will be "resurrected". Alcor is not the only organization doing this. According to the report, "nearly 100 people worldwide are said to have been frozen by a handful of organizations, ... and another 1,000 are pending".

This is science fiction acted out in real life. The false hope is based on the "scientific" belief that we have no soul. The make-believe world of Hollywood has become quite believable to many people today. But sooner or later, in this life or in the next, reality will hit home. The ancient sages seem to have more wisdom than our modern scientists.

Knowingly or unknowingly Christians can also become trapped in this whole fantasy. Moses prayed, "So teach us to number our days that we may present to Thee a heart of wisdom" (Ps 90:12). Unless and until we have learned to number our days and come to terms with the reality that all our achievements are but wind, we lack wisdom.

Dr Leong Tien Fock is Research coordinator of Malaysia Campus Crusade for Christ.