If you are afraid of non-existence, why is this so?

Forums: Philosophy, Death, Fear Of Non Existence
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For me my assessment that I will cease to be after death is fine and dandy.

After all, it wasn't a problem for me before I existed, there being no me to experience such a thing, so I see no reason to fret about it, there being no me to experience it after existence.

The little deaths of deep sleep without dreams and the more analogous death of anaesthesia cause no fear...

(I'd like it if we assumed we exist for this discussion.....I'm kind of not interested in one of those weary discussions about whether we exist.)

I'm wondering if people who are fearful of nothingness after death imagine that they will EXPERIENCE this? Or is it something about not existing that really worries you, even though you know that you'll not be experiencing it?

Fear of the dying PROCESS I get......or if you think there to be some hell of some sort, but not fear of not being.

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@dlowan,

I'm with you on this, d. If I don't exist, then I cannot be aware of any sensations. So what difference does it make? I think those who fear the idea that there may be -- litreally -- nothing after death suffer from a terrible form of egomania. They think that, somehow, their existence has some importance beyond whatever value they have for their immediate circle of friends and relatives.

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I understand all that and I am fine with being non-existent. But there is no need to be fine with it occurring any time soon. We have such a short time for life and forever to be not alive. So much to do and to appreciate this one time around.

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@edgarblythe,

Bingo edgar. I don't fear non-existence. But the thought of missing out on what is to come is just terribly unpleasing.

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@Lustig Andrei,

I do wonder if it is hardwired in.....so that an unlikely species managed to so concerningly well. I sometimes wonder if I am just a weird sport of nature, since many people I know do not understand the LACK of fear of annihilation. These are also people who wish for children desperately, another thing I lack a visceral desire for.

Are people like me simply a genetic aberration?

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@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

I understand all that and I am fine with being non-existent. But there is no need to be fine with it occurring any time soon. We have such a short time for life and forever to be not alive. So much to do and to appreciate this one time around.

But you won't KNOW you are non-existent. Nothing that you experienced or did not experience will remain.... unless it affected others. And you hae few ways of knowing that. I wonder why it matters to you?

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@thack45,

thack45 wrote:

Bingo edgar. I don't fear non-existence. But the thought of missing out on what is to come is just terribly unpleasing.

I so want to know about space exploration. But I won't know I didn't know. Why does it matter?

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@Lustig Andrei,

Lustig Andrei wrote:

I'm with you on this, d. If I don't exist, then I cannot be aware of any sensations. So what difference does it make? I think those who fear the idea that there may be -- litreally -- nothing after death suffer from a terrible form of egomania. They think that, somehow, their existence has some importance beyond whatever value they have for their immediate circle of friends and relatives.

I don't think its egomania....I suspect its hardwired in. But, id some of us can discard it, are we, or those who cant, weird?

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@dlowan,

Well, speaking for myself only, of course I'm weird.

But you knew that.

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@Lustig Andrei,

Lustig Andrei wrote:

Well, speaking for myself only, of course I'm weird.

But you knew that.

But so may of those of whom I speak cannot conceive of having no existential dread of annihilation, and consider US weird.

Surely somebody can articulate the dread?

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@dlowan,

It only matters to me in that I have the unique opportunity to experience life. I love doing it. Why would I want to quit?

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@dlowan,

The "dread" is the anticipation of the experience of perpetual non-experience ...of "the void"...hence the invention of religion and its heaven and hell....logical solutions to an illogical paradox.

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Fear of the unknown is extremely common. Regardless of the irrationality behind such a fear, it's still there. That fear is even there for those that believe in something after. It could be roses, but it's still unknown.

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@Lustig Andrei,

Quote:

I'm with you on this, d. If I don't exist, then I cannot be aware of any sensations. So what difference does it make? I think those who fear the idea that there may be -- litreally -- nothing after death suffer from a terrible form of egomania. They think that, somehow, their existence has some importance beyond whatever value they have for their immediate circle of friends and relatives.

Yes, once we no longer exist, our consciousness is non-existent as well .... so it hardly matters any more, does it?

But ... at the risk of sounding like one of those egomaniacs who likes to actually believe her small life does mean something, no matter how small a "something" in the grand scheme of things .... I like the think that all the struggles we've been through, the knowledge & wisdom we've acquired along the way ... actually mean something, or matters.
I guess I have a sense of grief, almost, that a human life means so little in the long run ...

I'm not at all concerned about there being no life after death. If I was I'd become religious in my old age to convince myself of the opposite.
But there's something rather moving, rather honorable even, about the struggles we go through in this one life we have ... the efforts we go to, to live ethically, to over-come our own inadequacies & become wiser.
Well, there is to me, anyway.
There's something sad that, ultimately that struggle doesn't seem to mean much at all ... poof! Your time is up! Next!

I would love to pass on what I've learned in this life in some perfect, accessible package, for someone in the future who who is on a similar wave-length, to refer to & use in their life. Smile

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@Questioner,

Yes, I can see 'the fear of something after death, that undiscover'd country from whose bbourne no traveler returns' as being legitimate. But non-being clearly implies non-experience. Why fear something you do not believe you'll be aware of?

I understand edgar's concern about not wanting to leave, to become nothing. But that's not what dlowan is asking, I don't think. She's talking about a fear of the condition itself. Why fear that?

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@Lustig Andrei,

Because it's an unknown. Even if the condition is 'you will cease to be or care' it's still something that is unfathomable to my mind. That sort of variable has always made me nervous, if not fearful. I've nothing in my experiences or memories to compare that against, nothing to provide any sense of scale.

As I said, it's not a rational fear, but it's there.

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@Lustig Andrei,

Lustig Andrei wrote:

Yes, I can see 'the fear of something after death, that undiscover'd country from whose bbourne no traveler returns' as being legitimate. But non-being clearly implies non-experience. Why fear something you do not believe you'll be aware of?

I understand edgar's concern about not wanting to leave, to become nothing. But that's not what dlowan is asking, I don't think. She's talking about a fear of the condition itself. Why fear that?

I said early on, I don't mind becoming nothing. I just don't think it is a good move to rush it.

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@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

It only matters to me in that I have the unique opportunity to experience life. I love doing it. Why would I want to quit?

That's wonderful!

But you'll not know you quit.

I don't, generally speaking want to die.....at least not now....and I think about how I'll potentially miss some great stuff.....like if we ever really get into space, for instance....but I'm not really asking why people want to live....I'd assume that's pretty much hard wired in....but what is the dread of non existence.

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@fresco,

fresco wrote:

The "dread" is the anticipation of the experience of perpetual non-experience ...of "the void"...hence the invention of religion and its heaven and hell....logical solutions to an illogical paradox.

But you'll not EXPERIENCE a void. Assuming, as I do for the sake of this thread, that we totally cease to be.

1 Reply

@Questioner,

Questioner wrote:

Fear of the unknown is extremely common. Regardless of the irrationality behind such a fear, it's still there. That fear is even there for those that believe in something after. It could be roses, but it's still unknown.

I accept fear of the unknown easily....but I can't see a reason for fear of an unknown we won't know.

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If you are afraid of non-existence, why is this so?

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