I don’t fear being dead, because I believe there will be something after. I spend a lot of time wondering what that will be like, but it’s idle, interested curiosity, almost never tinged with dread or fear. I worry I’ll miss my loved ones, but then I figure somebody’s already thought about that and has planned some nice activities for me (yep, the Old Man with the Beard or a reasonable facsimile).
Like a lot of posters, I do fear the prospect of long, drawn-out suffering, and of becoming a burden on my loved ones. But as others have pointed out, that’s fear of dying, not fear of death.
The only thing about it that really bothers me is the indignity of death. Dead bodies don’t get to arrange themselves as they’d like to be seen; even those that have been lovingly prepared and laid out don’t “look like themselves.” I want my loved ones to remember me alive and vital, or at least alive and aware. I don’t want their last memory of me to be of me to be still, cold and pale.
If I had my druthers, when my time comes I’ll crawl off into the bush and let the dingoes get me (assuming I can find any dingoes in Southeastern Michigan).
Heck yeah, I’m afraid of death. Hopefully when my time comes, I will have a perfect chess program implanted in my brain, so I can challenge ye olde Grim Reaper to a match.
I’ve even thought about the prospect of cryogenically freezing my body just before the time of death. It would be cool.
You know how great it is being asleep? You’re not even aware that you’re asleep for the most part. Well, being frozen or being dead would essentially be the same in that respect. Except if you’re frozen, there’s a chance you’ll get to see the future if you are thawed out.
Not afraid of death. Not afraid of dying. This doesn’t mean that I take unnecessary chances on a regular basis in order to hasten my death (although my wife would disagree with that - I am kind of an adrenaline junkie).
In fact I can’t think of anything I am afraid of! Maybe I just haven’t faced it yet.
The deepfreeze option is sounding better and better! Except I can’t figure out a trust that will survive me for the 3+ centuries that I plan to spend in coldsleep.
To those of you contemplating the deep freeze…how much money do you need for this? Is coldsleep financially feasible formiddle-class people?
Nope, not the least bit afraid of death… intellectually, that is.
You see, I’m never going to die. Ever. What’s my proof? I haven’t died yet- I’m immortal until proven otherwise. And since I don’t believe in an afterlife, I’ll never be aware of being proven wrong.
In other words, I’m a big fan of Quantum Immortality. The universe conspires to keep me alive. I pity the rest of you poor saps, though.
Now, pain and inconvenience, on the other hand… yes, I fear those.
Add me to the list of people unafraid of death. (For the record I’m an atheist. There is no afterlife. When we’re done, we’re done.)
I wouldn’t enjoy a painful, drawn-out demise, like bone cancer or something, but the thought of being dead doesn’t worry me at all. It happens to absolutely everybody (and indeed every living thing). It’s completely normal, completely unavoidable — as necessary an occurrence in life as one’s birth. Being terrified of it is a waste of energy that could better be spent filling up one’s available life with good experiences before the end inevitably arrives.
But if you spend time preparing for the fact that you’re going to die and everyone you know is going to die, and your dog, perhaps the pain and grief will be less. I ponder death unwillingly all the time. I imagine my younger sister in a coffin, lifeless and it reduces me to tears.
Everytime I enjoy something I tell myself some day, I won’t see this sun or enjoy this ice cream or Christmas, because I’ll be dead, and the joy is considerably lessened.
I’m afraid of death because I have lingering beliefs that an afterlife exists.
See, if I could just accept there is no after-life, that it’s all over once we die, I think I could come to terms with that and move on. Live everyday with no regrets, make them worth something, and not worry about some vague reward or punishment.
But 18 years of religion is still a little hard to shake. What if all the “People of the Book” are right? No matter who is correct–Jews, Christians, Muslims–I’m deep frying in hell. Of course, I’m not scared enough to convert. Why live in hell now, miming words I don’t believe, praying to an invisible friend, and in the process, disrespecting all the people who do believe?
Besides, the popular concept of heaven is pretty offputting to me as well. And I doubt my personal opinion of what heaven should be is possible.
And what if the Hindus or the Buddhists are right and I have to come back?! Oy vey. I don’t want to come back. I think once is enough for me, thanks.
What if a religion I never heard of before is right?
Well, that would actually be pretty funny.
Most the time, when these things start bothering me, I just shrug and say “The Mormons are right.” That’s my best bet. Then when I go to that Great Waiting Room in the Sky, I can say “Huh, I was wrong all that time! I repent!”
I wonder if anybody else fears death precisely because of the stories created to alleviate those fears? It’s a bit ironic.
Another atheist not afraid of death checking in. Once you’re dead, you’re nothing.
I’m not afraid, per say, of dying. But I don’t think it would be so great to be in a position where you could think “I’m dying”, especially if it’s painful.
And I literally can’t wrap my head around the concept of people who are afraid that there’s nothing after you die. Nothing is…nothing. Not a thing. Not physical things, not awareness or senses or thought. You don’t know you’re dead because there is no YOU. Just sweet sweet nothingness. And what’s scary about that?
What’s scary about death is that nothingness is not sweet - nothingness is nothingness. All my work will have been for naught, because I shall be unable to experience anything. I happen to enjoy experiencing things. I shouldn’t like to have to stop anytime at all.
It’s not so much that I am afraid of death; if death is nothing then it certainly won’t be unpleasant. I fear cessation. I fear not finding all of the answers - not being able to finish all that I want to accomplish - not being able to enjoy what I have accomplished. Death is a one-way ticket out of hope.
I’m not sure which is worse - the mistake or what this mixup in names might convey about Angel of the Lord’s opinion of me.
Death I don’t fear. It’s gotta happen to all of us out of biological necessity. It’s dying I’m afraid of - slow, physically or psychically painful dying. Both my grandfathers had serious strokes that left them seriously incapacitated and that scares the living bejeezus out of me. I don’t wanna go that way - well, maybe any way that robs me of my cognitive capacity. Dying of cancer would suck, sure, but I’d rather be awake and aware and cognizant of everyone than have what makes me me taken away. When you get down to it, it’s pretty much all you’ve got in the end.
Not really so much afraid of death, as dying in a frightening, and/or painful way (plane crash, rape/torture by a serial killer). Also, as others have said, afraid of not finishing everything I’d like to and so on.
I just think of it as a round trip ticket…you start out on the trip, you take your ride, and someday, it ends. And we’re all goin’. No refunds, transfers, or cancellations.
Someone who is very close to me nearly drowned, once. He said at first he panicked when he realized what was happening (“Holy crap…I’m actually DYING! It’s REALLY happening!”). But after a few seconds, he said he felt very peaceful, and that it was actually ok. He said he jut wanted it to hurry up and be over. He also tells me that from that day forward, his fear of death and dying has completely vanished.
I was told similar things by another friend who actually was clinically dead for almost 20 minutes. She too says she is now totally ok with the whole thing.
If there is any kind of afterlife, I think the question is not going to be “Why did you do those things?”, because all of us are fallible beings. We have flaws so that we can learn and try to improve. Screwin’ up is just what we do, eh?
I think the question will be more along the lines of “What didn’t you do?”
Based on that theory, I try to concentrate more on the life that I have than on the death that is inevitable.
