Do you guys know about Methuselah? It's the oldest tree in the world, or was til a recent discovery of a
different ancient bristlecone pine. These guys run back to the 2000s BC
There are always some debate about which is the oldest. I think there is one place with like a grove of trees which, I don't really remember or understand properly, but it's something arguably it can be considered one tree and if you do count it that way it's like 9000 years old.
I love to think about what those guys have seen - or would have done if they'd been smart enough to evolve eyes. I also love the thought that there could be others out there, even older. Normally these days when they do find one that is special in some way they tend to keep the location safe, I guess to keep them from being overrun by tourists and stuff, but probably cos some cunt might chop it down. Like in Greece - maybe I said this earlier in the thread - there was a tree where, I don't remember who it was actually, but some fucking famous philosopher had actually given lessons to his students in the shade of its branches (and that blows my mind when you think about it) but somebody got drunk one night and just hacked it down. I just can't understand who could do that, who could carry out an insane act of vandalism and,, in a few minutes, just destroy forever something that had lasted for thousands of years. Stealing it from everyone and from itself. How the fuck can someone do that?
How does it work anyway, is there a limit to their life span or are they (or some of them) essentially immortal if nothing happens to curtail them? I believe there is a jellyfish (or something of that nature) that is, in that sense, immortal, and also I think (weirdly) the queen of a naked mole rat colony has an extraordinary life span if they are not killed by, you know, events. Of course they study them for like anti-aging creams and the lik. Almost unbeatable example of "from the sublime to the ridiculous" there.
"Behold! Nature's unfathomable mystery, the ageless and eternal queen! Let's chuck it in a blender, add a nice smell and sell it to vain people, we will make a killing!"