# Are you afraid of death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 9, 2003, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472 "2003-10-09T13:28:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/41 "2003-10-11T06:42:05Z")
\*\* ---
**Author:** ![ChaosGod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac91a4/32.png) [@ChaosGod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChaosGod)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/42 "2003-10-11T06:45:37Z")
And voila !! I materialize again ! šŸ™‚ ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/43 "2003-10-11T14:54:10Z")
Iā€™ll be more alive after I die than I ever was here on earth. I wonā€™t **want** to come back once Iā€™m gone. Trade in heaven for another go down here in this sick, crazy, dangerous world? Ummm, no. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_With_The_Golden_Gun)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/44 "2003-10-11T20:52:07Z")
Personally, Iā€™d prefer my death last just long enough so I can know itā€™s happening. I want to have that realization that this it. Iā€™m gone. Iā€™ll never eat again, never be harrassed at school again, never sit in front on the TV watching 60 Minutes and drinking Coke again, never take a dump again, never do anything again. Itā€™s all over, and Iā€™d finally be on my way to my last great adventure. I always imagined death as either 1)Being asleep forever, no consciousness, no thoughts, nothing, or 2)Eternal contentment. An old proverb is what Iā€™m reminded of: ā€œDo you spend much time worrying where you were before you were born? Then why do you worry about where you will be when you die?ā€ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/45 "2003-10-11T22:55:28Z")
Nah, Deathā€™s a Doper, heā€™s cool. Death, Destroyer of Worlds, you want to get in here and point Rookie to your thread? Iā€™m too lazy. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/46 "2003-10-11T23:05:59Z")
Now for a serious answer - yes, I fear death greatly. I have ever since the fifth grade, when it actually struck me while I was at CTY that yes, Iā€™m going to die, and there will be no more Mr. Excellent. Iā€™m an aetheist, you see - I donā€™t believe that thereā€™s any scientific, rational basis for belief in a God or afterlife. Nor do I believe that I will live to see any sort of ā€œimmortalityā€ technology - and some of the options that get floated around are pretty unattractive in their own right. Being stored as a computer program, for example, would merely store an identical _copy_ of me - the copy of Mr. Excellent thatā€™s typing this would still die. That said, there is still one way to cheat death as I see it: change things. Change them in such a way, on such a scale, that for a thousand years or more your name will echo through the corridors of history, and whatever comes even after your bones have turned to dust, historians will say ā€œ[Your name here] lived, and the world is forever a better place for it.ā€ Who said ā€œThe evil men do lives after them/ the good is oft interred with the bonesā€? That neednā€™t be so - and if you manage to shape the world, thatā€™s your immortality. Personally, I doubt my name will be so well-known - itā€™s not likely the name of Mr. Excellent will ever be on the same page as Julius Caesar or Hammurabi. But I can try, and I can hope, and thatā€™s what gives my life meaning. In short, the closest thing to immortality is for future generations to know that I was here. I lived, and what I did mattered. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/47 "2003-10-11T23:22:59Z")
I feel it safe to say that, as long as there is a human race, somewhere there will be a Mr. Excellent. But seriously, sure - changing humanity in a way that leaves your name in the history books is one way to achieve a form of immortality - although even that is fleeting. There are but a few hundred people who left such a huge impression that their names will last through recorded history. I doubt Norman Mailer will be remembered in the year 3,000, yā€™know? And even then, on the scale of the universe this just extends your impact by an tiny extra amount of time. There will come a time when all we have done, all we have created, will fade into undifferentiated atoms. Entropy, and all that. Iā€™m surprised no one has mentioned the traditional way in which we seek immortality - by passing our genes on to our offspring. When I look at my daughter, I can see a lot of myself in her. She is part of me, and her children will be also, to a lesser extent. As long as my genetic line exists, some tiny part of what made me ā€˜meā€™ will continue through the human race. But I maintain - the sum total of the universe you can ever perceive has you in it. You are immortal. There is no state of ā€˜deathā€™ that we can possibly know. So donā€™t sweat it. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/48 "2003-10-12T00:39:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zoe \* > \*\*At sixty, Iā€™m probably one of the oldest Dopers around. I was really afraid of dying when I was a younger woman. I didnā€™t want to miss it all! That was certainly reasonable. I thought that as I got older, I would be _more_ afraid, but I was mistaken. > > People that I have treasured all of my life, including some my age, are dead. That infuences my thinking a lot. As each passes, death becomes less threatening to me. That world that I loved so much as a young woman isnā€™t completely there anymore anyway. > > Twenty years ago I experienced something very similar to what many describe in their near-death experiences ā€“ except I was _fully_ alert and healthy. It blew me away and changed my perception of what _perception_ actually is. No way to explain it. But I found out years later that my father had also experienced this. One of the first things to change is any fear of the state of being dead. > > I still want to live. I love my family. Itā€™s fun being the dowager and having grandchildren and a date with their granddaddy on New Yearā€™s Eve. As a reward to myself for turning sixty, Iā€™m planning to travel on my own again in Europe for as long as I can ā€“ one or two trips a year. > > Zoeā€™s Farewell Tour begins in Paris in April. \*\* Hi Zoe Thought I would second your post. Growing old changes the perspectives and values we place on things. No longer chase the brass ring and such. I also had a near death experience and feel no fear of death. Like most I wouldnā€™t want to leave this earth until my task is finished, but am ready anytime. This world of illusion holds little value for me except to help others awaken to it. Love Leroy ---
**Author:** ![Edlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8797f3/32.png) [@Edlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edlyn)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/49 "2003-10-12T02:14:06Z")
I donā€™t fear the death of my body. When itā€™s time to cross over, Iā€™ll embrace it. I have a question for those who are atheists and/or do not believe they have a spirit. Have you ever witnessed anotherā€™s passing and stayed with them for a while? ---
**Author:** ![MrO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@MrO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrO)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/50 "2003-10-12T02:37:13Z")
Iā€™m an atheist, and when I was an ambulance attendant, I witnessed a few deaths. It wasnā€™t like a close friend dying in my arms; more like a stranger, whom I was trying to take care of, dying on the stretcher in front of me. Why do you ask? For the record, Iā€™m not afraid of death. Now that Iā€™ve learned how to be fairly happy, I no longer look forward to it as eagerly as I once did, but Iā€™m ready anytime. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/51 "2003-10-12T09:39:43Z")
Every child is born kicking and screamingā€¦sounds to me like we have all experienced the fear of birth - and lived through it quite well. I imagine death will be the same terrifying leap of faith as birth. If you want to know what death feels like, think of all the things you simply stopped doing, but didnā€™t realize at the time that it would be the last time. When was the last time you skipped rope, climbed a tree, played hide-and-go-seek, played catchā€¦little things, but parts of your life that are over without you even remembering that last time. And someday, there will be that last trip trip to the grocery store and that last quart of milk in the fridge. ---
**Author:** ![zoogirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b9bd4f/32.png) [@zoogirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoogirl)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/52 "2003-10-12T10:07:59Z")
Well, Iā€™m a Christian - Baptist, thanks, and Iā€™m not at all afraid of the dead part. Kind of looking forward to it, in fact. Iā€™m quite willing to wait another sixty years or so, however! What I am afraid of is something slow, painful or scary along the way. Iā€™d like a little warning. Time to burn the diaries, ya know? Just getting up to a hundred oughtta be warning enough. I donā€™t really need a terminal illness! ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/53 "2003-10-12T12:32:06Z")
Iā€™m not afraid of it, nor do I forsee anything beyond my death. I get what I get. I have an ex-roommate who committed suicide. Twice. And was revived. Twice. He described odd disconnected bits of memory, all pleasant. I disbelieve him, because he was ODā€™ing on drugs at the time- his body was crammed with euphorics. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![Edlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8797f3/32.png) [@Edlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edlyn)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/54 "2003-10-13T00:55:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MrO \* > \*\*Iā€™m an atheist, and when I was an ambulance attendant, I witnessed a few deaths. It wasnā€™t like a close friend dying in my arms; more like a stranger, whom I was trying to take care of, dying on the stretcher in front of me. Why do you ask? \*\* I observed a number of things when our 19 month old grandson died (cancer). They either affirmed what I thought would be true or provided an insight on what I was not formerly aware of. Itā€™s hard to say if someone in your former position would have the luxury of such observations, but of course itā€™s possible. Were you able to observe any particular expression of their faces for instance? ---
**Author:** ![MrO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@MrO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrO)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/55 "2003-10-13T08:49:37Z")
**Edlyn** - First, of course Iā€™m very sorry to hear about your loss. No, Iā€™ve certainly never experienced anything like that. The only change in facial expression that I ever noticed was the apparent cessation of pain and fear. In cases of serious accidents, I suspect both believers and non-believers would observe that, though they would no doubt interpret it differently. I was a Christian at that time, if it matters. ---
**Author:** ![rookie523](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@rookie523](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rookie523)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/56 "2003-10-14T18:15:35Z")
I really like all the responses. It helps ease the mind that others sometimes fear death alsoā€¦ but not only death but the idea that we might cease to exist, cease to feel, think and not just losing our 5 physical sensesā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/57 "2003-10-14T22:00:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mr. Excellent \* > \*\*In short, the closest thing to immortality is for future generations to know that I was here. I lived, and what I did mattered. \*\* Iā€™m lucky to get a tiny taste of this through my job. I work in a museum, and part of my job entails compiling records about artifacts. I get a little thrill knowing that 100 years from now, when Iā€™m no more than a name on a stone, my work will still matter. My pages (each of which is signed and dated) will be referenced on a daily basis by future museum employees, and theyā€™ll be grateful I did my work so carefully, just as I am grateful to Miss Jane Simons who was one of our few employees who kept careful records in the 1890s. ---
**Author:** ![by-tor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/by-tor/32/266_2.png) [@by-tor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/by-tor)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/58 "2003-10-15T07:14:43Z")
Every now and again I get a flash of a deeper understanding that I am going to cease to existā€“Forever-for Real. It is more understanding than I usually have in day to day life. I would describe it as profound sadness. As far as fear, dying slowly and painfully is what I am afraid of. I guess a related question is are you living a life that is worthy to you of being your one shot in an infinity of not-being? It is hard if not impossible to live a life that doesnā€™t have trivial/mundane/stupid elements to it and is always being lived to the fullest (according to yourself). I donā€™t do it but I did quit watching TV for that reason among others. It just seems like such a waste of time/consciousness/life to me. Of course it is subjective as to what is a worthwhile way to spend your life. Sometimes I wonder if any way is really worthwhile (to me) or is it all just pointlessness in the sea of infinity. To wax poetic, all of life is like a dream that no one will remember. Here is hoping that is more of a good dream than a nightmare. I donā€™t think humans in general have a very good grasp on the reality that they are going to die. Unless you dangle them over a cliff they seem as oblivious as most other mammals. I think that is sad because it causes (many of) us to devalue life and not really live it in a way that is worthy of itā€™s briefness, uniqueness (in terms of individuals) and apparent rarity in the universe. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/59 "2003-10-15T08:55:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*We are all immortal. > > You will be alive for the entire duration of your conscious existence. As far as you are concerned, there is nothing else. There is no state of ā€˜deathā€™ possible for you, because once it happens you will be unable to perceive it. Your conscious existence is your personal universe, and you will always be in it. \*\* Wow. That is my philosophy entirely, but Iā€™ve never met anyone else who feels the same way. Must be a Sam thing! ---
**Author:** ![INSANE1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f0a364/32.png) [@INSANE1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/INSANE1)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2003, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472/60 "2003-10-15T10:48:14Z")
I donā€™t fear death, but I fear dying and leaving my family and the people that I love. I suppose I also fear the unknown, and death is one of the greatest unknownā€™s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-afraid-of-death/206472.md?page=4)