Live Long and Prosper

Overnight the world has changed and become something entirely different, unrecognizable to those who look away even for a moment. I awoke this morning with a text message containing a picture of a dress. Attached was a simple question: is this dress white and gold or blue and black? Not a particularly earth-shattering question. Little did I know that the aforementioned question threatened to vitiate the moral, cultural, and intellectual fabrics of our society. 

It should come as no surprise that social media jumped on this seemingly innocuous question and spread it throughout the Internet. I’m sure the reader’s newsfeeds and walls are currently polluted with what now seems like an disproportionate response to such a banal issue (I submit that this post could also fall into such a category). From Taylor Swift to Kanye West, ABC News and Fox News, it would seem that everywhere one’s gaze rests, the dress appears. Neuroscientists were interviewed about vision and science writers engaged this topic seriously, gobbling up expert knowledge.

I’m here to say: fuck the dress!

And as the divisive argument of hues raged on, news of Leonard Nimoy’s death cast a blanket of silence on the Internet. I need not insult the reader and anthologize the achievements and works of the beloved man. But it is important to point out how insignificant the dress now seems. The time for reflection seems more apropos now more than ever as we recall the blessing for which he is perhaps known best. Longevity is the goal of most humans and the length to which humans go to attain it know no bounds. From diet pills, detoxifications, cleanses, and fad diets to excruciating gym sessions, marathons, and medical interventions, humans strive to look and feel youthful. Such measures often result in undesirable medical conditions, depleted bank accounts, and missed opportunities in some form or another (familial obligations, social responsibilities, and just plain old quality time with oneself). Therefore, I must remind the reader that the blessing was never “live long or prosper”, but rather to live long and prosper.