Ideas are immortal. They are as close to the Platonic ideal as we will ever be able to manifest in life. Plato himself may be long dead, but his ideas are still read and discussed to this day and will continue to influence human thought in the future. Being physically mortal, many people care deeply about leaving a legacy that will continue to live on after they die. For most of us, part or all of that legacy is children. For me personally, I'm uncertain... If I have children, I feel like it'll be more than an opportunity to pass on my genes. I'll also have an opportunity to infect their minds with my ideas. And really, I can infect anyone's mind with my ideas, not just my children's. Individual bits of ideas can be recombined endlessly. As long as I add my awareness of Truth to the collective human consciousness, then pieces of me (my ideas) will live on forever. If I am effective at teaching my children/disciples to pursue Truth, then their ideas will be added a...