Sorry to be dense and petty, JDe, but exactly where?
Right about there.
Unless, and reading and re-reading your post has finally clued me into this, you’re referring to the ‘you woke up this morning.’
Now to be fair, I did. But the point I was trying to make was that I don’t lie awake nights worrying that I might be falling asleep for the last time. It doesn’t really worry me, precisely because while I’m out of it, I’m not floating in some Summerian eternal night. I’m completely oblivious. I’m not even aware of the passage of time until my alarm rouses me the next morning.
(And it’s worth pointing out, I’m not always all that happy to wake up in the morning. Lousy job.)
Now to be fair, I’m not looking forward to death. I don’t think anyone is. But I’m also not all that worried about it. Could I die on my way to work tommorrow? Sure. I could die right now. So what?
Yeah, the fact that you wake up after one and not the other is what I was referring to. Sorry to be so petty. Carry on.
I find your attitude enormously offensive. In no way in that OP did I imply that you had to believe in anything. I asked a simple question. I am not one of those Christians who believes that atheists are doomed to hell; I’m not even a Christian anymore. Where do you get off thinking that I believe in “poor atheists” or the “universal groupmind”?
What the hell is your problem?
Now that I’ve calmed down a little, I can give my opinion. I’m not afraid to die. I fully intend to leave a legacy to be remembered by.
What bothers me is that, one by one, everybody who remembers my dead loved ones will die, and then all that will be left of them is a name carved on a gravestone. It makes me happy to think that they still exist elsewhere, or will be reincarnated later. Note that this has nothing to do with any god; for all we know the rules of the natural universe dictate reincarnation, and we just don’t have the science to explain it yet.
IMHO, it’s fear of the unknown, fear of change, fear of loss, and fear of being forgotten/non-existence. (And fear of the pain of dying?) Some of it is cultural and some of it may be hard-wired.
Whatever it is, it has been a huge driving force in human civilization (the afterlife being a focus of religions).
Don’t count on it.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Suo Na *
**
I don’t have a problem. It’s just that the next quote:
Served as a convenient jumping off point for my question, which was ‘Why can’t you believe that we cease to exist?’ I do tend to write in a somewhat sarcastic tone, maybe that caused a problem for you?
That’s what I’m afraid of. I want it to be quick and painless, preferably in my sleep. I watch action movies and if the villain says to the hero, “You will die, Mr. Bond, and it will be a long and painful death, I assure you,” I always shudder.
I have accepted the inevitability of my death. What bothers me is the possibility that no one will know what happened to me or care. My family does not know how to post here. If I croak any time soon, it’s likely that none of you will ever learn what happened to me and that bothers me.
The very thing that sets us apart from other species on this planet. Our ability to use logical reasoning, which causes us to come up with a reason for everything. It doesn’t make any sense to us that we just live and die and it really doesn’t matter what happens. Therefore we invent the “afterlife” to help make sense of it all. Other animals just have an instinct to live, we need a reason.
That’s my opinion (and, BTW, I originally posted my thread in IMHO). My opinion relates to me only, that’s why it’s an opinion and not a fact. I explained some of my reasons later in this thread; others would not hold up to GD standards.
What bothered me was that you accused me of calling you a “poor atheist” and implying that everyone had to believe in something when I did nothing of the kind. I thought I asked a well balanced question. Since no one who responded to my thread took offense (and several agreed that there might be other options), I was caught off guard by your attitude. I seem to have misjudged you, and I apologise. But perhaps you misjudged me as well, no?
I’m not afraid to die.
I’m afraid to die, it’s just that I know, when the bell tolls for me, I’ll still have one more code change to check in to the source tree.
Wasn’t there a thread about what we wanted on our tombstone? Mine ought to say, “Wait, let me just fix this one last bug…”
I’m not afraid. Gaah.
Some animals have reasoning capability…just not as much as humans. But that’s a whole other GD thread.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by jab1 *
What bothers me is the possibility that no one will know what happened to me or care. My family does not know how to post here. If I croak any time soon, it’s likely that none of you will ever learn what happened to me and that bothers me.
[QUOTE]
All Dopers should have a notification clause in their will. 
I guess I really only fear my own death in terms of what impact that would have on my family and the future of my parents and in-laws. I have my future pretty full for the next few years being there for them.
I fear death … not as a thing in and of itself… more like a sign of the end.
It is a sign that you have lost to the ultimate enemy … time. Like the big flashing GAME OVER sign that pops up after you have heard “run, coward, run” for the last time (10 points to whomever names the game), death is the sign telling you that you lost … the end … do not pass go … do not collect $200.
The end … no more. All the thoughts of afterlife, and other exisitences beyond this one = bunk (IMO). So when you die , that is it. Conservation of energy, baby. Back into the universal pot go you … That which you were is no more … you loose.
Personally I will fight will my powers to resist this. Advances in medical and social science will aid me, and willpower will see me as much further as I can go … I have no desire to ever die and will battle it as best I can.
I think it’s only natural to fear death because we are born knowing only life. Despite the illusions of those who have had “near death experiences,” we cannot really grasp the concept of non-being. So we invent an afterlife and all the goodies that go along with it.
I think we are genetically “hardwired” for the belief in an afterlife, and this hardwiring is selected down through the generations. This wiring seems to promote group cohesiveness which helps in the long run.
I’m not a big fan of not being, in fact burning in Hell is better than not being. You can get used to a lot after all. If I don’t exist, well, that’s just not my style.
I think that fear of death has to do with survival instincts and thats about it. Now some folks do want to die. I don’t think this is the Freudian death wish but the tendancy that living things have to want things to be easy. If you can live and not struggle that’s better than living and struggling. I think that this natural desire to avoid trauma and struggle can overcome the survival instinct, suicide isn’t unheard of. I find eternal bliss almost as horrifing as oblivion for this reason. Eternal bliss is just a form of oblivion, you just float around happy as can be. Yeah once I’m in it I’ll love it, but from the outside looking in its pretty frightening to me. Cause I’m not me anymore, I’m some really happy vegtable.
There are a few posters that I talk to every single day without fail. I’ve told them that if I don’t come online for a week, without telling anyone, assume I’m in the hospital; two weeks, assume I’m dead and alert the others.
And back to the thread…
I’ve sat here (or over there on my couch…) and thought about the end of my life. Not death, but what it would be like without me here. I’ve thought to myself that, after I die, I’ll never be able to read another book. I’ll never watch TV again. I’ll never cook another meal. And so on. It seems strange to me that someday I won’t be alive anymore. This whole living thing kind of grows on you after a while.
On the other hand, death itself is mysterious. We don’t know what happens to us when we die and the possibilities are endless. Human beings could come up with a lot more than just heaven or hell. Because I’m human, I can’t help being curious about the whole thing. What happens the moment you cease to live? What really happens after you die? Death, to me, is exciting like that. Because I don’t know, and I won’t until I get there. It’s the element of total surprise, and I like surprises.
Assuming I am not in such terrible pain that I can’t be curious, that is why, in a way, I almost look forward to the end of things for me. Not that I want that to be anytime soon. But I don’t think I want to die in my sleep. I want to know what is happening, and feel the great peacefulness that those who have had near death experiences feel.
I fear terribly the death of any of my loved ones. I tell all my children that I made them sign a contract with their little baby footprints that they will all outlive me. And now that my dad is in his seventies, I worry about him and made him promise to live to be at least a hundred.
I wonder if people over sixty and up into the higher decades fear death less. I wonder if there is a natural progression, that you become more accepting.
Interesting thread; thanks, JDeMobray, for starting it.