Irreversibility is that which cannot be reversed : that is, it is not possible to recover the condition, state or property that it previously had . When something is irreversible, there is no turning back.
For example: “The hospital doctors informed the relatives that the patient's condition is irreversible,” “The position of the pro-government senators is irreversible: they are not willing to support the bill that will be voted on tomorrow,” “The end of the terrorist group seems irreversible since all its leaders have been arrested or died in the fighting in recent months .
Let's imagine that, to choose the winner of a literary contest, a jury made up of five people must vote between two finalists. If the first three individuals who vote choose the same candidate, the result of the vote is already irreversible : even if the two remaining voters opt for the other candidate, it will be impossible to achieve equality or reverse the trend.
Death is also irreversible: once a living being dies, there is no chance for it to revive. That is why resuscitations belong to the realm of fiction or faith, since from science there is no way to ensure that a deceased person recovers their vital state.
Confronting the irreversible nature of death is one of the most difficult challenges for our species, particularly for most Western cultures, which take this point in our passage through the world as a misfortune rather than accepting it as something we all accept. we go through sooner or later. It all begins with physical deterioration, when we leave behind "the prime of age", that stage that generally lasts from twenty-five to thirty-five years in which we can reach our maximum potential and our physical condition is the best of our entire life. life.
For those people who care about working on their body, the effort necessary to achieve the same goal grows progressively as the years go by, and becomes especially difficult after the fourth decade. This does not mean that it is not possible to be fit, but rather that muscles respond less effectively as they age. The brain is also losing speed, even in the healthiest and most active people; It is inevitable and irreversible, it is a loss of strength and lucidity that nature needs so that the elderly give way to the younger ones.
When we look in the mirror and begin to notice the first wrinkles, the first gray hair, or when back discomfort begins to appear and it is a little difficult for us to get out of bed, we know that that unwanted day has arrived: we are getting older . Faced with this news that few want to receive, there are many possible reactions, but the most common is to deny reality and embark on the absurd war against the irreversible : creams, surgery, gymnastics that we had never practiced, a change of wardrobe for a more youthful one and hair dye. for hair, among many other tactics.
But none of this can restore our youth. When we lose someone close, the lack of acceptance can lead us down an even more rocky path, and make us fall into a depression that destroys our will to live. It is up to each of us to learn to accept aging and death before denial becomes our worst enemy.
Take the case of a wooden sculpture that catches fire. The flames cause the piece to turn into ashes, disintegrating. The destruction of the work , therefore, is irreversible , because it is not viable to reconstruct it from tiny particles that underwent a definitive structural change.