Do you fear death? (1 Viewer)

[undalay]

People shouldn't fear death. Its not natural to fear death. The body is created in such a way, that when the brain shuts down, feelings of inexplicable joy arise. Its the body's natural to tell you that there is nothing to fear. Research it if you will, but students who have participated in some trials where they simulate the brian to simulate brain shut down, as occurs during death say its an experience of extacy.

I think its the unknown bit that scares people. But hey it mustnt be that bad, since its where we were before we were born. Why worry about something thats inevitable and natural.

lets just go commit suicide then.

 

[i-love-maynard]

I fear death. Not so much the process of dying, but what comes later. That's why I wish sometimes I was religious, it would be good to have that faith and to believe that there's a heaven. But I just picture there being nothing and it scares me.

 

[Tsylana]

I personally couldn't care less if I died[shot in the head or something arather painless.] but its the pain of my non existance to others that care that im worried about. why would you really want to do things before you die, when your dead how are you gonna feel anything? >_>"

 

[KFunk]

I think its the unknown bit that scares people. But hey it mustnt be that bad, since its where we were before we were born. Why worry about something thats inevitable and natural.

I don't think that we were anywhere before 'birth' - unless you're working with some kind of reincarnation assumption.

 

[*TRUE*]

I don't think that we were anywhere before 'birth' - unless you're working with some kind of reincarnation assumption.

Nono i think that is his point

 

[Zrap]

Deth iz scawwy

 

[michael1990]

I personally couldn't care less if I died[shot in the head or something arather painless.] but its the pain of my non existance to others that care that im worried about. why would you really want to do things before you die, when your dead how are you gonna feel anything? >_>"

I think thats a little lie.

If you knew that you would soon be dead, by a chinese torture (paper cuts all over the body) i am pretty damn sure you would fear death.

 

[*TRUE*]

I think thats a little lie.

If you knew that you would soon be dead, by a chinese torture (paper cuts all over the body) i am pretty damn sure you would fear death.

Im pretty sure she would not fear death but look forward to it tremendously with the prospect of torture!
I believe it is suffering and the uncertainty involved in that suffering that causes fear.

 

[i-love-maynard]

Fear of the unknown. That is the scariest. Never seeing the people you love again if there's no afterlife.

 

[KFunk]

Also, a problem in this debate is the vagueness of the concept 'death'. E.g. are we best to define it in terms of the absence of experience, or in terms of loss (of loved ones/things) or in terms of non-being etc...?

Chadd, if you want a good overview of death anxiety issues I would recommend part one of Irvin Yalom's Existential Psychotherapy entitled Death.

While fear of death is common, I don't think that it is inevitable. It is simple enough to note that what some fear others don't, referring here to an arbirtrary object of fear, and that there are pathological cases, resulting from brain damage, where fear/anxiety seem almost to be erased from a person's experience. The first point implies that most fears within our social catalogue are not shared by all people and are thus not necesary. Similarly, the pathological cases seem to show that even without any fears rationality, agency, and so forth, may remain. It is not a big leap to suppose that this contingency may extend also to the fear/anxiety of death.

It is interesting seeing the way death anxiety is approached in different traditions. Epicurus, Lucretius, and the Stoics all seem to argue for the irrationality of the fear of death, presumably hoping that reasoned thought can overcome death anxiety and produce a more pleasurable life. Buddhism, to generalise, seems to accept the impermanence of things as a central truth and so attempts are made by some teachers to encourage a general acceptance that all that one cherishes in the world will eventually fade into oblivion (things fall apart). A point of interest - the aforementioned Greeks and Romans seemed to think that rejection of the fear of death leads to a better life. However, there is a body of literature (described by Yalom in the text mentioned above) showing that life is often invigorated following a near death experience. Too much death anxiety is disabling, but the right amount can help one, it would seem, to treasure the now and live a richer life.

 

[michael1990]

Fear of the unknown. That is the scariest. Never seeing the people you love again if there's no afterlife.

Is that what your afraid of?

Remember, death is inevitable. Everyone will die. It is a fact.
The way you die is the real fear.

 

[Kwayera]

I don't fear death. This doesn't mean I particularly look forward to dying, but I am not afraid of it. Death is an inevitability, and personally, for me, I think it's pointless to fear something you have no control over or any real expectation of.

I don't necessarily feel it's illogical to fear death, but I don't personally share that fear, no matter how some people dogmatically insist I do.


EDIT: I agree with the above. I don't fear death itself; it's dying, and the possible suffering involved, that unnerves me.

 

[hollyy.]

i don't fear death itself; just the minutes leading up to it. - as has been said before.

 

[michael1990]

i don't fear death itself; just the minutes leading up to it. - as has been said before.

That painting is awesome
<<<

 

[hollyy.]

That painting is awesome
<<<

its not a painting, it a digitally manipulated pic - found it on deviantart.

 

[Kwayera]

So although you probably don't fear death in your day to day life because you are not confronted with it, if you were, your instincts would almost certainly kick in and you would be terrified.

And that is the fear of dying, as in the possibly painful act thereof, not a fear of death as in the state of death.

However, even in day to day life, we are always conscious of the slight possibility that we could die at any given moment. So there is a low level of underlying fear which we quite sensibly choose to repress. It is still there, and I find it difficult, although not impossible, to believe that almost all people don't feel this from time to time.

Actually, i'd say that's a subconscious awareness, and I don't think it's constant at all. It's odd to think that there would be so much subconscious "thought" dedicated to something that
- is generally unavoidable and
- even if it is avoidable in the immediate respect, that's usually taken up by instinctual responses, not thought. Fight or flight response generally doesn't involve conscious thought at all.

 

[Kwayera]

Dying isn't necessarily painful. I'm sure you don't take heroin because you fear death. Even though a heroin overdose would gently lul you into a pleasent coma and you would not feel death or pain at all.

I agree with that, but in terms of instinct, in that form fear is hard to replicate either. I wouldn't take heroin because I have no desire to, and even if I did I wouldn't be afraid of dying - more the danger of irreparably damaging yourself (which I do find scary).

This would indicate that you fear not being alive. It doesn't matter that you can't be conscious of your not being alive. We are instincively programmed to fear not being alive, your attempts to rationalise it in terms of conscious thought are futile.

The distinction you insit on making between dying and death is an artificial, unimportant distinction that serves only to obfuscate the issue at hand, which can be better stated as whether we are insecure about our mortality.

No. We are NOT instinctively programmed to fear "not being alive" because in the abstract, there is no recourse for coding that into our genes. We fear damage (that may result in death) because it may immediately harm our ability to pass on our genes - but our genes don't necessarily have the ability to give us an innate fear of death. It doesn't work that way, and to collate the two is a syllogism.

I think you're right in that the better question is "our security in our mortality" rather than "fear of death", largely because the question from many parties is that it's hard to signify exactly what the question is asking.

I am secure in my mortality.

 

[ronnknee]

You really all probably don't fear death now but only because it isn't near. Like you're not afraid of the Taliban because it wouldn't be hear in Australia. But if you knew you were going to die painlessly in one hour. Hell, all of us would be scared, though some more than others, though maybe the sucidal wouldn't feel any fear at all.

I reckon a belief in the afterlife does help lessen the fear, but most people have doubts so it wouldn't help for them.

Also, just because you can't avoid something, I don't find it odd many people have subconscious thought about it. It will end our lives, why wouldn't we think about it sometimes? It changes our lives and those around us.

 

[Kwayera]

You really all probably don't fear death now but only because it isn't near. Like you're not afraid of the Taliban because it wouldn't be hear in Australia. But if you knew you were going to die painlessly in one hour. Hell, all of us would be scared, though some more than others, though maybe the sucidal wouldn't feel any fear at all.

Obviously I may be proved incorrect about this in the future, but no - I do not think I'd be scared. I'm not scared of ultimatums, and the knowledge that it'd be painless would probably help in that. Death is an inevitability, and I think the overriding emotion would be dread (which NOTE is DISTINCT from FEAR. Look it up. Just because I wouldn't be afraid of it, doesn't mean I'd look forward to it. Unless I was, you know, dying of some horrible disease), and disappointment.

 

[ronnknee]

Sorry this is extreme but it shows the point. If someone was pointing a gun at your head, would you not feel fear? Wouldn't your heart be beating furiously?