You're trying to argue the purpose of death from the perspective of someone who has no belief in an afterlife. |
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Q: Is the fear of death a rational fear? |
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You're trying to argue the purpose of death from the perspective of someone who has no belief in an afterlife. |
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I would argue that, based on the OP's apparent belief, death is not a rational fear, but a source of motivation to make the most our life in the limited amount of time we're given. |
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This is a really hard one and at first I thought it would be Rational, but then Again.... |
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" I couldn't stand her at first, But then I loved her so bad It Hurt "
Whether or not it's a rational fear, not the purpose. But you're right in that I am assuming an atheistic perspective, as I assume most people here hold. |
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Last edited by Dianeva; 05-17-2012 at 03:43 AM.
Like I said Its really hard I kept jumping back and forth trying to decide, and I feel that right now we have these things and we feel and so we know the feeling of lost, and even if we didn't move on, we don't really know, but if your set on the end is the end nothing more then yes the fear would be irrational for that person, to an extent, but we would still fear it because right now we are attached to it, IDK this is a really hard question. |
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" I couldn't stand her at first, But then I loved her so bad It Hurt "
Well, in the sense that self-preservation is important, a healthy fear of death is definitely rational, but when you look at the "big picture" I tend to believe that worrying about germs on my front door knob giving me cancer is a little irrational, if you catch my drift. |
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Last edited by Phion; 05-17-2012 at 04:13 AM.
I do look forward to death in a way, Its the last great adventure, thats why I don't watch 1000 ways to die or things like that, i want to only experience it once. It's something we all share in common yet i want to feel unique when it happens, I certainly don't want one of my last thoughts to be, hey I saw this on some T.V. show or some movie... I think we all really in some part of ourselves crave it because its something we only experience once in life at least true death. |
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" I couldn't stand her at first, But then I loved her so bad It Hurt "
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Knowledge that I'll lose whatever I consider my identity is actually very liberating. |
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Everything works out in the end, sometimes even badly.
You say that it is rational to fear walking in a dark alley at night because it might lead to negative consequences, one of which you specifically mention to be death. So haven't you then already committed yourself to saying that it is rational to fear death? |
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I think that once you isolate the state of death itself from the circumstances that surround it, which might be quite painful for yourself and the people you love, than there is no reasonable reason to fear it, and maybe some reason to embrace it as some have suggested. Just try to imagine what it felt like before you were born... nothing to worry about. |
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Why is the self-preservation of yourself, as an individual, important? |
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I never thought of it that way, but I really think that the craving of death is not so much an extension of life as it is an extension of experience, We really only crave it because it is an experience we all share, and is inevitable. Sure we fear it on a level because we don't want to let go of this life, but we crave it because it is something that must happen. as for the second question, I want it to be as life-filled as possible, because I do fear what will happen, I don't know wether it will be lifeless or even more life filled then this one. Coming into this life I have no prior memories, maybe I will gain them back, maybe it just ends to nothingness. I really won't know for sure till I die, and that makes death a mystery, the last mystery as far as I can tell. |
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" I couldn't stand her at first, But then I loved her so bad It Hurt "
Do you fear having your arm cut off? Well if your arm is cut off there is no pain because your arm doesn't exist. That is what your argument sounds like to me. The fear of death is the most rational fear there is. Everything we do is to avoid death. |
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Overcome implies something happened that did not. I surrendered to the knowledge that I never had an identity to begin with, I merely constructed a bunch of stuff together and started calling it me. Once I realized this "me" is a fictitious concept anyways, I could either run from the realization or face it. |
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Last edited by Omnis Dei; 05-17-2012 at 10:29 PM.
Everything works out in the end, sometimes even badly.
Last edited by ZeraCook; 05-17-2012 at 10:28 PM. Reason: Misspelled words
" I couldn't stand her at first, But then I loved her so bad It Hurt "
Pragmatically speaking, self-preservation is important because I value life and have a modicum of self-worth, but if your asking me to compare that worth to someone else than the question might become a bit overwrought and subject to opinion and "subjective perception," which can be pretty vague and contradictory slope. |
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I am looking at it from an atheist view, which I think is also a very practical way of looking at it. If you die your consciousness and everything you are is lost forever. The fact that you cease to exist should be terrifying. It takes a fairly pessimistic view to say that your life is totally worthless to you and that its okay if you die at any time. |
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Losing your life means you lose everything valuable and everything you stake value in. It means it no longer matters whether or not you thought life was valuable. Because it's over and there's nothing you can do about it. |
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Everything works out in the end, sometimes even badly.
I value life and of course I fear death a bit, but I also look forward to it regardless, and I don't think anyone said there life was worthless,and I do not think that it is worthless but I already accept that we all have to die, so it is ok for me to die at anytime, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna give up and quit, maybe Dianeva's whole point was that It is foolish to fear it because once its done you won't care either way, and If this is so then it is very Irrational to fear it since it won't matter once it happens. Why should ceasing to exist be terrifying, when everyday is a battle in its own way, I think ceasing to exist would be the most peaceful thing ever. and I still don't understand your point about losing an arm. |
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" I couldn't stand her at first, But then I loved her so bad It Hurt "
We die and are reborn every day, every minute. |
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Everything works out in the end, sometimes even badly.
Terror Management Theory: very interesting social psychology theory (See book "The Denial of Death" or the documentary "Flight From Death", both great sources for basics of the theory, and how it applies. Or you could just look on Wikipedia, but you'll retain more if you read the book or watch the documentary.) |
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