Pain and the fear of death.

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Here's a question I've had mulling around in my head for the past week. I've included additional questions that I felt were obvious branches off the original question.

Q: Is the sensation of pain a result of our innate fear of death?

*If Humanity were to accept their mortality, would they cease feeling pain?
*Is emotional/mental pain a product of our fear of death as well, or is this limited to physical pain?
*Is the fear of injury ultimately the fear of death?
*Are all fears ultimately the fear of death?

-James.

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@Rubix Cube,

Rubix Cube;98818 wrote:

Q: Is the sensation of pain a result of our innate fear of death?

*If Humanity were to accept their mortality, would they cease feeling pain?
*Is emotional/mental pain a product of our fear of death as well, or is this limited to physical pain?
*Is the fear of injury ultimately the fear of death?
*Are all fears ultimately the fear of death?

If we take "innate fear of death" and make that primal aversion to death... I could maybe see it: leprosy is an example of what happens when there is a lack of pain... the leper fails to protect his flesh because his central nervous system isn't receiving the signals that would make him stop an action that is damaging. So I'm saying that pain is protective, just as pleasure, idealy, is leading to something life giving.

The thing is: the only way to eliminate pain is to eliminate all feeling. Is life in a state of complete numbness worth living?

"Hope and despondency, pleasure and pain
are mingled together like sunshine and rain
the smile and the tear, the song and the dirge
still follow each other surge upon surge." -- part of "Mortality" by William Knox

And has it not been established that most people are more afraid of public speaking than death? Yet we go on... blah blah blah. Smile

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@Rubix Cube,

Rubix Cube;98818 wrote:

Here's a question I've had mulling around in my head for the past week. I've included additional questions that I felt were obvious branches off the original question.

Q: Is the sensation of pain a result of our innate fear of death?

*If Humanity were to accept their mortality, would they cease feeling pain?
*Is emotional/mental pain a product of our fear of death as well, or is this limited to physical pain?
*Is the fear of injury ultimately the fear of death?
*Are all fears ultimately the fear of death?

-James.

1. Do you speak of Humanity as a single being? One human can train himself mentally to block out pain and walk across hot coals. If someone who didn't train accidently walked on the coals, they may not be afraid of death, but the physical shock of the coals would send the emotional element into chaos. This may enhance and concentrate on the feeling of pain.

2. I think this point can be added in with the 'walking on coals' part.

3. I think that this could be true in a way. It is basic human instinct to avoid anything that could end their lives. Injury being the main one I'd say.

4. I wouldn't say all fears. There is the fear of being wrong. If you said to someone that a coin toss would turn out to be heads; as the coin flipped in the air, you would have a sense of fear for being wrong. On the other hand, the coin toss may decide your fate, or it could be as trivial as to who gets the last biscuit in the packet.

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@Rubix Cube,

Rubix Cube;98818 wrote:

Here's a question I've had mulling around in my head for the past week. I've included additional questions that I felt were obvious branches off the original question.

Q: Is the sensation of pain a result of our innate fear of death?

International Association for the Study of Pain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rubix Cube;98818 wrote:

*If Humanity were to accept their mortality, would they cease feeling pain?
*Is emotional/mental pain a product of our fear of death as well, or is this limited to physical pain?
*Is the fear of injury ultimately the fear of death?
*Are all fears ultimately the fear of death?

-James.

* I accept my mortality (why wouldn't I?). I stubbed my toe yesterday. It hurt, but just for a minute. I went hiking all day last Saturday on very rocky trails, and as a result I was stiff and sore on Sunday, but I was not afraid that I would die of the pain. Sometimes people say things like, "it hurt so bad, I thought I was going to die," but that's just a figure of speech. Has anyone died of pain from wisdom tooth removal? - Yahoo! Answers India

* I'm unsure what you mean when you say mental pain. Do you mean pain that is mental, in the sense of "your pain has no discernible physical source and is all in your head," or do you mean something else?

* I had a college professor who is a Vietnam combat veteran who once said, "dying is not the worst thing that can happen to you."

* I suppose one could make a case for this, though I wouldn't say that all fears are ultimately the fear of death. For instance, some people are afraid of being laughed at. Perhaps they think that they could die of embarrassment?

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Pain and the fear of death.

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