So, why are you unafraid of dying?

[LleuLlawGyfes]

Have any of y'all read White Noise by Don Delillo? It's an extremely good book about the fear of death. I recomend it. The movie was not based on it.

And by the way, I'm afraid of death. REALLY AFRAID of it. like, cold sweat, being awake at night crying into my pillow afraid. But, then again, I'm pretty much afraid of everything.

Who says animals aren't afraid of death? Is it proven?  

[LleuLlawGyfes]

DivideByZero14

Muaethia

But what can that actually mean?

It means that there was no evolutionary advantage of being set up to die. It also means that it wasn't enough of an evolutionary advantage to have the systems within us to maintain our bodies for a long time.

It's just like a car. While the makers didn't put a bomb under the hood that will go off after 10,000 miles, it wasn't worth the time to come up with a way to keep it working forever.

And THAT means, if we could some how keep replacing things such as organs, brain cells etc... WE COULD LIVE FOREVER!  

[SmurfsonAcid]

Syllogisms are pretty, 'n such:

In nothing, there is nothing flaw, therefore it is flawless
Flawlessness implies perfection,
therefore, nothing is perfect.

That and I won't give a s**t after I die, so I don't worry.  

[Lethkhar]

I think death will be peaceful. No conscience, no thoughts, no worries. Whatever happens happens, and you don't need to be involved. You'll just be another part of the universe...

It's like the ultimate paradise.

Not that I'm going to commit suicide. No, I'm going to make a few changes to the earth before I'm gone.  

[Game Phreak Zero]

Being dead doesn't worry me. It's dying (painfully) that scares me. Once I'm dead, that's it show's over.  

[Zwiebelsaft!]

I believe in reincarnation- I mean, call me stupid, but I have heard of little kids knowing more about things than their parents and they have never picked up a book before in their lives and they even recall names of people and dreams of their past lives deaths and stuff like that. Therefore, I believe that when this gig's over- you have another one.  

[Lethkhar]

Evil_Twin_V1.337

I believe in reincarnation- I mean, call me stupid, but I have heard of little kids knowing more about things than their parents and they have never picked up a book before in their lives and they even recall names of people and dreams of their past lives deaths and stuff like that. Therefore, I believe that when this gig's over- you have another one.

I've always thought that, since your body decomposes, after you die you will eventually become integrated with other living things. You will fertilise plants, which will be eaten by herbivores, and on and on up the ladder. Eventually, you will be spread throughout the world. Sure, your conscience won't exist, but you technically still will.  

[Defiled]

I honestly wouldn't say that I'm not afraid to die. I really am frightened by the concept. Just because I don't believe in a diety doesn't mean I don't fear death. The act of dying scares the shirt out of me, basicly the moment when I'll realise I'm dying. That moment is something I'm very afraid of. However, I'm not afraid of what happens after. I believe it will just be like being asleep, or unconscious, except you don't wake up. I don't believe in an afterlife.

Since several people brought it up, I do think there is something to the occurance of "ghost" and the supernatural, but I don't believe they're dead humans. There are several things I think they could be, but disconnected human souls is at the bottom of my list.  

[Minozake]

Although, I have to say that I haven't been in a life-death situation outside a medical facility (Dehydration. Yes, I am sad.), I think I wouldn't be afraid of dying if I could protect the lives of others beforehand. However, dying in vain by someone's hand would be painful for me to even face inches away, and I would probably go beserk and kill the guy.

Mainly, I am afraid of death, though, because I haven't seen all this world has to offer. I want to see that before I pass off.

Although I do believe in rebirth. You die, it's like waking up from a forgotten dream. You never remember, it's just that vague memory like something happened. You could be any organism.  

[Spanky the Moose]

Minozake

Mainly, I am afraid of death, though, because I haven't seen all this world has to offer. I want to see that before I pass off.

Yeah, that why I'm afraid of death too. Auctually afraid is a strong word, I guess I'm hessitant about death , then. I mean, I dont want to die obviously. But if i go unexpectedly then it's not really much of a deal.

I'm not afraid of death however , simply because I'm satisfied. I dont need to be perfect with a life that lasts forever. My life isnt a perfect one, but its exciting and interesting to live it everyday, however long it may last.  

[Xanthir]

[Lucas]

People (religious, that is) want to believe they are going somewhere after death - that they are not just going to rot in the ground. So they worship in an effort to grant them entrance to heaven, to come back as a higher life form, anything - just something after death, because they are afraid of what will actually happen when they do finally die. So, it seems to me that fear of death is a basis for a person's choice to practice religion (in many cases- I'm not going so far as to say that the only reason practice religion is because of this).

So, basically, I figure that a major part of being agnostic/atheist is not working towards a life after death, because of the lack of fear of death. So, why are you unafraid of dying?

[Hard to put into words precisely these thoughts. Hope I communicated them clearly.]

I haven't read the rest of this thread, I just thought I'd comment on it.

I am afraid of dying. Dying is terrifying. This is the only life I have, my only time on earth. As soon as my body stops its eternal quest to defeat entropy for another day, I'm gone. However, I'm afraid of plenty of things. I don't have to invent a sky daddy who lives in a magical space house where I am immediately whisked to upon failure of this sack of meat. I can accept death, accept that it's scary as hell, that it will come for me someday. But until then, I'm alive! Wee! In all the billions of years this universe has existed and will continue to exist, I'm carving out one small period of time for myself. It's so insignificant, so tiny, and yet so very important to me and those around me.

Oh, and I'm reasonable secure in the knowledge that I'll live a hell of a lot longer than the last generation. With luck, we'll have the ability to slam your brain into a computer. Digital immortality! Take that, dead people! ^_^  

[Razornova]

I'm completely unafraid of death and dying. (Save dying painfully... But who would want to do that?)

The only thing really keeping me alive anyway is my dad, and when he's gone I doubt I'll want to be around anyway.  

[Sein-mit-Hasse]

After you die, you die, it's like a spinning tire, life is like a spinning tire, of course until the tire turns the wrong way & the when car crashes, rolleyes that's when you die, that was just my opinion. What happens after death? nobody knows.. only 1 way to find out is to die, then see what happens after that.  

[Lethkhar]

LleuLlawGyfes

DivideByZero14

Muaethia

But what can that actually mean?

It means that there was no evolutionary advantage of being set up to die. It also means that it wasn't enough of an evolutionary advantage to have the systems within us to maintain our bodies for a long time.

It's just like a car. While the makers didn't put a bomb under the hood that will go off after 10,000 miles, it wasn't worth the time to come up with a way to keep it working forever.

And THAT means, if we could some how keep replacing things such as organs, brain cells etc... WE COULD LIVE FOREVER!

Yeah, but eventually we would end up replacing every one of our body parts, including our brain. We wouldn't be the same person. We'd be like Frankenstein or something...Just a bunch of other people's body parts.  

[a lemon of sorts]

I am afraid of dying, however I accept that death is the end.