# Do You Fear Your Death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 28, 2021, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525 "2021-09-28T16:50:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/81 "2021-10-01T21:33:48Z")
Whenever it happens, I will not be finished doing what I want to do, but that’s because there is so much to do. I sort of came to terms with the idea of that - there is no such thing as a finite ‘bucket list’ for me; everything I complete - everything that comes to fruit, contains the seeds of more than one new idea to do something else - so my plans will inevitably be interrupted at some point, against my wishes, in a state of woeful incompleteness - oddly, this makes it easier to accept that one day, I will have to stop doing things. All things. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/82 "2021-10-01T22:09:17Z")
I fear dying. I also fear NOT dying. Like what if we keep living the same life over and over again with out realizing it? Or your conscience get’s thrown into a perpetual dream like state until the heat death of the universe? I don’t think I’m wrong about there NOT being a creator but their is a small tinge that worries my conscience may not go into oblivion as the rest of my rational brain insists it will. ---
**Author:** ![Amulet1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Amulet1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amulet1)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/83 "2021-10-02T00:41:50Z")
I had a massive heart attack and my heart stopped . I felt peace, no pain at all. Then felt a jolt and heard the cardiologist say we got him back, I then felt at peace again and saw my grandparents and they told me not yet then jolted back again. Then woke up again and saw my wife standing by the bed. I could tell she had been crying. A few minute later my sister came in and said they thought they had lost me. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/84 "2021-10-02T01:46:11Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Whenever it happens, I will not be finished doing what I want to do Unless you are “lucky” enough to have adequate warning and get your affairs in order, make your last YouTube video and so on 😉 I’m not sure what’s better, knowing, or not knowing. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/85 "2021-10-02T03:48:58Z")
They say such nice things about people at their funerals, it makes me sad to realize I’m going to miss my own by just a few days. (Garrison Keillor) ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/86 "2021-10-02T04:29:29Z")
I didn’t answer when you posted to the Wrestling Classics board, so I’ll give it a go here. Right now, at 56, it does’t bug me. I’m Christian, but agnostic about afterlife. I’d be happy to go in bed and nekkid with Ms. P. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/87 "2021-10-02T07:13:17Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > If I only could, I want to go out like Aldous Huxley, who injected a very large dose of pharmaceutically pure LSD shortly before he kicked it. I’d prefer to go like Nelson Rockefeller. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Hey, if there’s no TV in the afterlife, I’m not interested. That would be a plus for me. No books, on the other hand … ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/88 "2021-10-02T13:46:30Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I’d prefer to go like Nelson Rockefeller. I plan to go like [King Adolf Frederick.](https://www.history101.com/love-food-king-adolf-frederick/) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/89 "2021-10-02T16:33:34Z")
No Blood, Sweat, Tears lyrics yet?! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/90 "2021-10-02T16:36:59Z")
That is inspirational! [Here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Grande_Bouffe) is the matching film. Bon appétit! ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/91 "2021-10-02T16:48:42Z")
I have faced death in my youth, and it was an extremely scary moment - the unending, inescapable black that was all there would be from now on. These days, and decades removed from the experience, I feel like dying simply means the electricity in my brain shuts down and voilá, there is nothing to feel or think, so nothing to fear, either. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/92 "2021-10-02T16:59:27Z")
I don’t think I’m _afraid_ of my own death _per se_. But weird things happen to my brain when I think about it. When I think about how the world be after my death, I try to put myself in that picture and imagine how it will be. If I die, I’m not in the picture. Easy enough, but since I’m the one doing the picturing, I can’t authentically do that either. It feels weird, like an existential division by zero, and it makes me really uncomfortable. The other thing… I’m not a solipsist, I’m reasonably sure the universe exists independent of me, and will continue without me. But there’s no objective way for me to be 100% certain of that, and my own internal representation of the universe is the only one I am 100% certain of its existence. It might be the only such representation anywhere. So if I were to kill myself, there’s a small chance it would be morally indistinct from killing the entire universe. Certainly from my own limited perspective it would definitely be. That’s one big reason I haven’t done so in the past when I’ve felt like doing that. I have a lot of problems imagining nonexistence, and they can never be resolved, so basically that’s what keeps me going. Destroying the entire universe seems like an indisputably bad thing to do, so I don’t want to chance it. It does freak me out a little that everything could abruptly blink out of existence (because my perception of it blinks out of existence), without me even being able to leave a note explaining what happened, or see how that event played out even 10 seconds after. Everything - gone to me, and I’m probably gone too. It seems very problematic and unfair. I should raise this with management. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/93 "2021-10-02T17:24:29Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > It might be the only such representation anywhere. So if I were to kill myself, there’s a small chance it would be morally indistinct from killing the entire universe. - [PROTOTAPH](http://baencd.freedoors.org/Books/The%20Lighter%20Side/0743435370__21.htm) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/94 "2021-10-02T20:08:58Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > But weird things happen to my brain when I think about it. When I think about how the world be after my death, I try to put myself in that picture and imagine how it will be. If I die, I’m not in the picture. Easy enough, but since I’m the one doing the picturing, I can’t authentically do that either. It feels weird, like an existential division by zero, and it makes me really uncomfortable. Have you ever tried imagining the world before you were born? ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/95 "2021-10-02T20:19:55Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Have you ever tried imagining the world before you were born? Sure, why would that be a problem? There’s abundant documentary evidence of it. Er… I should say, my brain-in-a-vat contains an elaborate representation of a body of information describing what came before me. It might all be bullshit, but I do have access to it, and it seems entirely consistent with the world as I now know it. Unlike the unknowable post-vat-brain future. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/96 "2021-10-02T23:45:43Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > No Blood, Sweat, Tears lyrics yet?! You mean Laura Nyro lyrics, right? > **[And When I Die](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_When_I_Die)** > > "And When I Die" is a song written by American singer and songwriter Laura Nyro. It was first recorded by the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary in 1966. Nyro released her own version on her debut album More Than a New Discovery in February 1967. > The song is best known for the next version, recorded by the jazz-rock group Blood, Sweat & Tears in late 1968. This recording reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became a Gold record. In the US, it was kept from #1 by the double A-side "Come Tog... I saw her do this song at the first concert I went to in college. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/97 "2021-10-31T21:01:51Z")
No, except for one odd moment. For some reason one time while lying in bed trying to sleep the thought of non-existence terrified me. Hasn’t happened before or since. Of course, if I had reason to think my death was soon I might feel differently. Or I might not. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/98 "2021-10-31T21:32:35Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > For the past 30 or so years, I’ve always had “a way out” in my medicine cabinet You should check the date. It’s probably expired. > [@kayaker](#): > > I’m not in a huge hurry, but I also do not want to deteriorate much further. Yep. _When my body goes then to hell with my soul._ ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2021, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/99 "2021-10-31T21:49:08Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > > [@kayaker](#): > > > > For the past 30 or so years, I’ve always had “a way out” in my medicine cabinet > > You should check the date. It’s probably expired. Doesn’t mean it’s been unused. Doses can be “fun-sized” and “done-sized”. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2021, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525/100 "2021-11-01T11:42:28Z")
I replace about every so often, allowing it to go 3-5 years beyond “expiration “. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-fear-your-death/951525.md?page=6)