# I "know" so many more people here that have died than I do in real life. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 20, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-so-many-more-people-here-that-have-died-than-i-do-in-real-life/681820 "2014-02-20T20:58:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-so-many-more-people-here-that-have-died-than-i-do-in-real-life/681820/1 "2014-02-20T20:58:34Z")
It’s really kind of a shocker. I have communicated often with so many people here that I ultimately learn has died. [Lynn](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=716250) being the latest. It’s just not something I ever would have imagined would be an almost “regular” event as part of the community. I don’t know quite why I find this shocking – I suppose it shouldn’t be – but I certainly experience it far more often than I do IRL. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-so-many-more-people-here-that-have-died-than-i-do-in-real-life/681820/2 "2014-02-20T21:17:28Z")
No doubt! Y’all need to quit that. You don’t see _me_ up and dying, do ya? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-so-many-more-people-here-that-have-died-than-i-do-in-real-life/681820/3 "2014-02-20T21:26:55Z")
Oh god, I missed that one. You’re not kidding - I know there are a lot more people on here that I “know” than I actually know in real life, and that they’re probably a wider range in age and health, but damn if it doesn’t seem like people keep dying. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-so-many-more-people-here-that-have-died-than-i-do-in-real-life/681820/4 "2014-02-20T22:16:59Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I don’t know quite why I find this shocking – I suppose it shouldn’t be – but I certainly experience it far more often than I do IRL. I hope you understand, then, how lucky you are. I’m only 47, so most of my friends are between 21 & 60 or so… and I’ve had 4 friends die since 1 January 2014. An aneurysm (at work), a diving accident, a traffic accident and I still haven’t found out how the last one died (it’s only been about 40 hours since I heard he had passed away). Still, the number of Dopers that I’ve known who’ve passed away is disheartening. And yeah, it always seems to feel like a slap in the face with a wet fish to read the news. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2014, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-know-so-many-more-people-here-that-have-died-than-i-do-in-real-life/681820/5 "2014-02-20T23:51:26Z")
I’m with you, Jim. My “circle” of people I recognize by “name” is much broader here on the Dope than in real life, and because board culture is to provide an announcement, we know for sure when a death happens. In contrast, I only have a small group of people I know well, and a larger, but still fairly limited group of people I know by sight in my real community. In addition, if someone in my library just stops coming in, or a long-time clerk at the grocery is gone, I may never know they passed, just dimly realize I haven’t seen them in a while. It is startling. Makes me realize that my IRL society is really limited and small, and that my community doesn’t do much to make a broader swathe of acquaintances aware of people’s passings. Perhaps I should start doing like my elderly coworkers and my grandmother do, and read the obituaries daily. ☹