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Is death something to be scared of?

As an atheist at times I get a chill on my spine thinking that life is only one and that's it forever my memories will be wiped out and at times I wonder why life in general exist.

David2770 4 Oct 30
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14 comments

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0

Death should not be something to be afraid of. Death is certain (at least, as of yet). What one may be afraid of, is not having lived life to the fullest. Realize that you are given this one opportunity to experience. It ought not be wasted. You should be afraid of wasting this opportunity.

1

When my brother died I was inconsolable at the thought that he just wasn't anymore. Then a very wise person, who had apparently been paying much more attention to his uncle than I realized said "we're just energy, uncle Parker's energy is still here, it just isn't in his body anymore." I like that thought. Even if I'm not me, or my brother isn't himself, our energy will be recycled back into the world. So, no, I don't fear death. Dying on the other hand...

1

I'm not afraid of death, though I sure wish I have enough time to actually accomplish something grand before I go. If I run out of time, I do have children and grandchildren, and various other people I may have inspired in big or little ways, so that when I'm gone, little bits of my passions and wisdom will be perpetuated, without my interaction. I feel good about that. Life continues on.

2

Death itself isn't anything to fear, really. What I fear is dying in pain, which is really more about the pain part than anything else.

Hordo Level 6 Oct 31, 2018
2

I have zero problem with death. It's the process of dying I don't like.

I find my mortality to be comforting and don't really understand all the fear and loathing around it. Death is just part of life.

I also understand my complete unimportance in what passes for the great scheme of things, so there's really nothing to cling to.

2

Oh, and BTW, I am scared shitless of death, and I find that fear to be healthy. It will be unhealthy if this fear prevents me in any significant way from actually living.

1

Ummmm.... Yes. Sure. But the illusion of permanence (or eternity) is a superstitious fiction to begin with. Since there is a finite life of one person, that life should be cherished, and celebrated, without having to be encumbered by the false restrictions imposed upon it by the eternity-superstition.

Why life exists? Because it simply does. If someone were to tell me that in the balance my life didn't make a jack squat of a difference in the scheme of the universe, I would scoff and say, "yeah, but it was still quite a ride."

My identity is zillion times less important than the fact of self-awareness. I will go with it.

1

I'm a bit miffed about permanent death too. That was a nice feature of religion.

2

[m.nautil.us]

There’s some evidence for the concept of universal consciousness. Perhaps our bodies are just robots with no self awareness and no free will. Under that concept conscious awareness is primary, immortal by default.

Good point, but will I know I'm me? Will I even be separate or all mixed up with everyone else?

@brentan according to some, our sense of self as a separate individual is just an illusion. You can’t lose what you never had. My personal hunch is that there’s nothing worth immortality about an individual set of memories. It’s interesting to think about but I doubt if anyone really knows or understands.

One thing for sure is that conscious awareness will live on through other organisms. It is really Consciousness that we want to survive, and that is immortal by default. Leaves fall from a tree. The tree lives on. A tree falls in the forest. The forest lives on. Our true identity is of a higher order than our body IMO.

3

I think we have a built-in biological impulse to avoid death, so it can be very difficult to avoid feelings of revulsion or fear regarding our own demise. The more we know about where that impulse comes from the easier it is to cope with it. Evolution “wants” us to survive, so it put the fear of death in us.

skado Level 9 Oct 30, 2018
1

Only if you decide it is scary. While I hope it isn't painful and drawn out - I don't fear it.

2

I used to be afraid until I lost my Mum and my grandparents. A very clever person (my biochem lecturer) told me, energy is eternal. The basic building blocks of life go on forever, I carry their genetics and so do my children. I talk about our ancestors to them often. I tell them about their great grandpa x 5 who played in the Carniege Hall, which for a Brit was HUGE. I know that from a scientific point of view, this particular combination of molecules will end but they will be used again in the future. Having one go round means you have to grab hold of this life and cling onto this little blue rock. Do not waste any of it.

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Change the text in the heading to read scared not sacred....it will make more sense. But no, I don’t find it scary, I will be dead and unable to comprehend anything....but I hope those I leave behind will have fond memories of me. That is all most of us expect unless we believe in god.
,

Lol, I was thinking "sacred? "Most people have funerals which I guess could be considered sacred.

@mikebeed No, think it was a typo.

3

You didn't exist the 13.8 Billion years before your birth. It won't feel different after your death. Just make the best of the time between those two events.

Dietl Level 7 Oct 30, 2018
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