This is disturbing. A big issue which every one of us should ponder over

My mind is filled with thoughts about you going to therapy, you sounds very skitzo!

This topic has been discussed several times on A2K.

Besides religious palliatives, there are "answers" from the study of consciousness which suggest that the concept of "self" is transitory and illusory.
IMO, a particular good (therapeutic) book on these matters is Reanny's "The Death of Forever".

In the meantime, remember that "the self" dies every night during dreamless sleep, and even in dreams it is hardly "coherent"!

NB: You are not "schizo". Dread of death is extremely common.

If you attempt to analyze what makes you you, you will find that either you can't, or that everything that makes you you is already ephemeral and in constant fluxuation. You aren't the same person from one moment to the next. The you who you think you are may simply be a bundle of adopted ideas and groups of adoptive people. You may find that aside from the animal urge for self preservation that it would be more fearful to lose those who have adopted you and provided the terms for your ideology to die than for you to die. Without them you cannot be the you that you are, although you may think that you could still be the the you that you think you are.

No, no, don't fret - keep fearing death. Any anti-aging serum or otherwise preventive death measure won't see the light for quite some time, and definitely not before you're dead.

Well that's certainly false. I don't know why you'd type that. Poor guy.

death is easy, its living that is hard.

I think this post could be confusing for some, but either fortunately, or unfortunately, I totally get what you're saying.

I know one cure for this feeling is to work with hospice. If that isn't something you're interested in then just seeking out others who are suffering will help you get out of your head and into your heart. You're much more likely to find peace there.

I tend to be confusing, say some.

Yes, some of your posts tend to be confusing, but I've learned not to ignore them since I find you to be an intelligent poster.


So, because everyone, whether it be mentally or physically, is in a state of flux (if only minuscule changes), you believe people can't maintain an identity? I find that to be demonstrably false. I suppose we would have to get into primary and secondary properties again, but I do believe that though we are not identical from one moment to another, we can still maintain identity.

Do you honestly believe that if you clip your toenails this evening, you will become a different person?

Immortality is impossible on so many levels it's not even feasible. At best we could (theoretically) postpone death by hundreds of thousands if not millions of years, and even that may be biologically and mathematically impossible. Rather than cling to false ideals, you should attempt to deal with your fear of death.

Yes technically we are the sum of our experiences, it does not take a dramatic or traumatic experience to change who we are. I'm not saying you will become a communist because you took a bath, although that is not impossible. I saying that we are in constant flux because of our interaction with experience. Dipping my toes in water tonight may affect all future events concerning toes, water, cleanliness etc... those events affected may quite literally change my ideals about those issues my attitudes change so do the people with whom I associate who provide new ideas which create new ideals etc...

I'm also saying who we are is not necessarily who we think we are. an Ideology is based on ideals not practices. We practice rationalizations of ideals. In this way we avoid cognitive dissonance between our actions and our ideals. The practice of the rationalization of new ideals often starts well before comprehension of us having new ideals.

Yes, well, it seems that the less biological matter in one's body, the higher the chance of the person living longer (this is yet to be proven, but I think scientists are on to something). I am very interested to see how cybernetics progresses in the coming years. Once we start installing mechanisms on a large-scale that break down at a much slower rate than biological matter, things will get interesting. Instead of going to the doctor, we'll go in for repairs

Hi Stevenya!

That's a cool name, by the way!

There is no such thing as death! You are not schizophrenic (Hex thinks everyone but he is.)

Everything is immortal! Energy is eternal and cannot cease to be.

Have a glorious day!
Mark...

I would say you are correct in the case of over 90% of the people living.

Twenty year olds think the world revolves around them. They usually do fear death. Maybe because life is so scary to them.

20 y.o.'s...By that you're probably referring to young adults/teenagers category, and no most don't fear death, because oftentimes it's the furthest thing from their minds. You know the old stereotype "those types act like they're invincible". Most stereotypes are around for a reason: they're self-perpetuated. But I digress.

I think that the author of this topic is a little misguided. Acceptance of mortality is very healthy, so long as it doesn't go as far as causing indifference to one's own life("oh well, who cares? I'm dying anyway."). Is that person really believing that we SHOULD be afraid of facing our own demise? And what's the reason for reinstating this fear? I don't see it doing any good to anyone, least of all things life extention (and besides, I'm much more a "quality over quantity" type anyway *lol*. What good are extra years if they're wasted on fear?). I've seen (and read about) more than my share of people not only dying despite their fear of it, but dying in the very manner their worst nightmares, phobias and imaginings illustrated. For example, a claustrophobe's body recovered from being locked in a dark, small enclosed area. A person afraid of heights falling to their death. ONE example in particular really stood out for me...you want to talk about "power of the mind"? One guy worked on freight trains and his biggest terrifying fear were the refrigerated freight cars. His fear of being locked inside and freezing to death was so strong, it bordered irrational. Everyone that knew him knew about his fear. Well, one day, it happened. He got locked inside one of the refrigerated cars as the train was leaving for an overnight trip. His body was found at the destination. Autopsy indicated that he died of freezing to death...But HERE'S the TWIST: the refrigeration WASN'T TURNED ON! The power of his mind combined with his fear and ALL IT'S STRENGTH, when misused (as in this case), worked against him and took his life. If he hadn't have been gripped by the terror of dying (and the manner of which he'd die), he would've just missed a day of work *lol*.

Maybe the route to take is the view that mortality SHOULD be accepted...but seen as an option of whether or not to participate *lol*. Sticking your fingers in your ears and going "la-la-la" over the facts is about as blockheaded as living in fear over it.