Thread: Are you afraid of death?

I think of death as I would an old friend. I was nothing before my birth; obviously I had no memories, no experiences... Death is the kind old fellow who takes my hand and whispers to me, softly, "welcome back".

Afraid? Yes. Petrified? No. I have been shown what lies beyond the veil of life and death through the opening of my 3rd eye.

Originally Posted by Universal Mind

Okay, let's get real here... Suppose somebody you know is determined to kill you is holding you by the ankles off the edge of a very high cliff. You and the enemy are way out in the wilderness with nobody else around. The fall is far enough for you to not feel any pain when you hit the ground. Would you be scared?

I'd be afraid of the experience of falling and possible battering I'd take on the way down, and I would hope I could avoid dying just now and extend my life as much as possible. But I wouldn't be afraid of death itself - which is simply nonexistence. So I suppose it would be fair to say I'm afraid of the experience of dying but not of death. But because death is always presaged by dying, which most likely means a lot of pain and terror, then I suppose by association death takes on a bit of fear.

Now if I were in terrible agony and there was no way to cure it, or if I was in insufferable misery, then I would probably welcome death. Also, kinda goes without saying, but dying young or with things you still want to accomplish would be terrible - I'd be more capable of welcoming or at least accepting impending death if I had lived a fulfilling life and had no regrets of leaving unfinished things behind or of my loss bereaving loved ones. But of course all these concerns are only regrets for the living in the final moments - once dead they don't matter.

I am very afraid of not being able to finish the things that I have started, and the things that I would like to do in the future.
I have two houses. Check.
I finally have a dog. Check.
Now I need a woman, and maybe a kid to pass on the genetics. Genes like mine shouldn't go to waste. I'm awesome.

I am very afraid of facing the end too soon. I'm not done here yet.

Im not afraid of death. Im angry.

This question puts me at an odd spot. To cut directly to the chase though, no I am not afraid of death. Death is something I have taken the time out of my day various occasions to really ponder on as I figure since it is something that impacts me and my peers so tremendously it must not be forgotten entirely. Generally people let the thought of death evade them until their time in passing of course, and at that point they either have little time to accept the fact, or they just come eye to eye with it as it is when it does come. I think it is a good thing to think about this sort of thing, and come to grips with it really years before you are confronted with it so that when it does come, there is little pondering to be done as you've already came up with the proper conclusions to it in accordance to yourself through your previous "thinking sessions" if you will.

Death is everywhere and all of the great and not so great animals, men, women, and children alike have all and will all eventually partake in the controversial subject of death and what happens, if anything after our life on Earth has ended or maybe simply been paused ready to sprout our consciousness into another being somewhere among the cosmos, as some may view. As many great leaders, and philosophers alike have been brought to their knees and trampled by the very sands of time, I must say that I would have to be silly to think that myself should be cast aside from the grim expanse in which death spreads. All I can do is try to educate myself and philosophize on the many whats and might be's that lie ahead of me in life. Until I am knocking on deaths door, I've got to say that for now I am not afraid.

Originally Posted by Darkmatters

I'd be afraid of the experience of falling and possible battering I'd take on the way down

In the situation I described, there would be no battering on the way down. You would be held by your ankles way above the ground. There would be no physical injury, even a bruise or a scratch, until you hit the ground. You would feel no pain. The fall would probably give you an endorphin rush and make you high.

The hardest thugs in the world are terrified right before lethal injection, which is not a painful way to die.

While I'm not afraid of death, I know when I'm actually dying it'll be a different story. When I'm dying, I expect I'll scream and panic.

Ok, hypothetical situation where there's clearly not going to be any pain - I'd still feel panicky. Remove the fall, let's make it more like a lethal injection (damn! This just made me remember - I dremed of getting an an jection last night.. ok sorry, back to the subject) - hell yeah, I still wouldn't want to die and might become desperate. I think even in a near perfect situation for death, at the end of a fulfilling life with no loose ends left, let's say no loved ones to leave behind (though that sort of contradicts the 'fulfilling life' part lol), and I feel ready to die. I'm sure I'd still fear the end of life and undoubtedly want to live a bit longer. Probably even desperately. But none of that is fear of the state of nonexistance, more a desperate struggling against the ending of that existence. Not fear of death but struggling like a trapped animal against the extinguishing of life. I think that's a deeply ingrained instinctive behavior not many could quell.

Let's add a morphine injection at the end so there's absolutely no suffering - even a euphoria to replace the constant aches and pains that plague the elderly. In that case I think I wouldn't feel the same - I might be able to gladly accept it. Especially if I was suffering at the end. But then both the morpine injection and suffering change the equation a bit. I'm just looking at the other side of the problem - what if your life has become pain and suffering and you have no regrets at it's end approaching, and what if there's even an end to any pain just before the end, perhaps some euphoria. It's a way of examining the aspects of the situation. And it leads me to conclude that I think what most people call fear of death is really just a desperate struggling against the end of life that is instinctive. I don't fear returning to the state of nonexistence I came from.

In a biological & practical sense, with pain being a reminder that if you do something for too long that's a detriment to you (mostly physical), you'll probably die. So if there's an event where something happens to me physically where the deterrence system that was intentionally conditioned to make me avoid it starts getting recognized repeatedly, then yes, I would be afraid of death, because the experience of it would just be horrible.

As for people who state that death isn't really a part of our lives, but rather is sustained through our emotional attachment towards it, which means it's only what we make it out to be.....then if natural selection, survival, wasn't taken for granted like it has been ever since everything we would have to hunt for food comes to us so readily, then the concept of death not being a part of our lives wouldn't be considered (because there's a constant need for the deterrence system and foresight learned from it).

As long as our deterrence system (whatever you want to call it), or the physical reminder of pain, isn't spammed to death, then it's obvious that people will start taking Death as the ultimate companion that will somehow lead them towards the Truth, or having "realistic" understanding of the Universe just not giving a shit of who dies or not, and that being a water drop that gets saturated in the huge ocean of collective consciousness or energy is some ultimate form of content of being fused with the Universe (metaphorically of course).
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But in a more personal and subjective sense (when the deterrence system is taking a vacation), I would be afraid of death for other reasons, and one that comes off the top of my head is simply finally getting somewhere in life where I actually want to accomplish many things (for my own sake and not for someone else's), and I have an event that occurs that challenges my opportunity to live that endeavor out. It wouldn't be so much as a fear of death, but rather because of my personal attachments of collectively finding other ways to define and conceptualize "enlightenment," "inner self, "self," and anything pertaining to self-discovery and all that fun stuff, then death itself would just be an annoyance rather than a fear.

The other reason is me placing value to things I love to do(Drawing, Meditation, etc.), then I would be afraid (but not literally) of death simply because of an egocentric endeavor of potentially desining something that could be dyed into this reality. I think the mechanism of design (music, poetry, drawing, and other skills that sustain it) is one of the most addicting concepts to we seek once basic biological needs are satisfied, and more intuitive and deeper and critical thinking can be expressed easily (again, because the deterrence system is on vacation).

As for the other reason, which is the value and attachments I place on people I care about, if there's a person or a set of people that I continually acknowledge into my life as being a benefit to me in the long run, and I'm suddenly challenged with possibly dying, I would be afraid of deathin. That's because that person or group of people I condense my beliefs, actions, behaviors, and such to are considered as learning tools for me teaching myself, and thus learning from trying to understand others so I may add their experiences and ideologies into my schemata of life and other things.


And note, when I say the deterrence system is put on stasis for a personal and subjective sense, the actual fear of having skills going in vain (for spreading out design) is more of a desire/want/hedonistic attribute (something mental) rather than something physically painful.

I'm not afraid at all, I'm actually very curious to find out what will happen afterwards. Maybe it will be what it was like before we were "born".

I've been in situations myself that were literally so mind consuming that my own life could or was close to going near the corner of death. From these experiences I'd say its not death that I'm afraid of but rather the situation that puts me near-death itself. I'm not afraid to die and whatever happens afterwords doesn't frighten me either but It's the emotions and pain that comes from suffering that I most fear.

No more than I am afraid of sleep.

I'd feel bad as I die for the people I will leave behind that will be upset, but personally, I am not concerned with it.

Originally Posted by LifeDreamer

I've been in situations myself that were literally so mind consuming that my own life could or was close to going near the corner of death. From these experiences I'd say its not death that I'm afraid of but rather the situation that puts me near-death itself. I'm not afraid to die and whatever happens afterwords doesn't frighten me either but It's the emotions and pain that comes from suffering that I most fear.

At first I was like, "exactly," but I thought back to my own close encounters and I think I disagree. In those moments, I really was terrified of not existing. There wasn't a bone in my body that did not freak the fuck out, and not just because I was in a dangerous situation but because I truly believed I was not ready, and I don't think I'll ever be ready.

This video holds relevance, though it doesn't necessarily support my argument

^^ of course my statement hinges on the idea of actually being ready - I agree that if I don't feel ready then I'm kicking and screaming. Or if all I have to look forward to in life is endless pain and misery, then I'll probably feel ready.

My dad used to say that if he was ever on life support there was no way he wanted to live attached to some damn machine and he wanted to be unplugged - but when the time acually came I hear he begged and pleaded to be kept alive by that machine for as long as possible.

Absolutely. Terrified. Enough to keep me up nights pacifying myself so I don't think the same thoughts I always do.

Why though? What are you most afraid of when you break it all down?

Because I quite like existing and having sentient thought and I don't wish to lose it.

But when you die, you won't know you no longer have sentient thoughts nor do you know that you will cease to have sentient thoughts.

I fear life more than death

Originally Posted by Tiresias

But when you die, you won't know you no longer have sentient thoughts nor do you know that you will cease to have sentient thoughts.

That's all well and good when it happens, but before it happens, attempting to imagine it can be a little unnerving. However, I think it's vital to work through that unnerving feeling. Understanding that you will die enables you to prioritize life, worry less over shit that's essentially a hallucination.

It's the living to be afraid,not the dead ones.

I'm not afraid of death... more nervous about what is actually beyond this life, if anything. I personally believe there is something more, but that is something I will find out for sure when my time is up.

I'm very afraid of death