death

But you won't be scared any more once yer dead.

golazydude, Death is a part of life. If not for death, you would never have existed on this planet. It's a cycle of nature; life and death is the same.

This question came up for me, truly for the first time, almost 9 years ago. I felt as you do. And I still feel as you do about that possibility. I began to have a lot of questions and did a lot of searching for answers. I can't say I have any unequivocal answers, certainly none that I could provide with concrete proof. But for my own mind, I believe those answers have settled the question you now ask. Do I still have doubt about what I believe? Yes. The doubt comes and goes, but it's nowhere near the internal debate I had with myself all those years ago.

truth
Stalin once said that death is the solution to all problems, no person, no problem.
But he was referring simply to the ending of life. I have said elsewhere here that I do not believe in death as some kind of state of being or non-being. I do believe that all humans stop living eventually, but that does not mean that they will some day be in "a condition of death". This phrase, condition of death, implies that death is happening to someone. Since there is no one (no subject) there can be no condition of death (no predicate). The notion of a condition of death is therefore meaningless.

Now if anyone thinks I'm arguing for afterlife or immortality they completely miss my point.

I have the Star Treck point of view on death. It's just the next adventure. Honestly I'm MUCH more afraid of life than I am of death.

I have always found it interesting that some fear death and some seem to seek it out. That bourn from which none return to tell the tale of the hereafter has fascinated the human race eternally. Children seem to understand death at an early age, and both fear and are fascinated by it. There are a wealth of children's songs in English alone which are haunted by death, a terror and a titilation:

Here comes a candle to light you to bed
Here comes a chopper, to chop off your head

John Donne speaks of his faith in the resurrection when he writes:

Death, be not proud,
Thou too shall die

and he also tells us that we are all diminished by the deaths of others, telling us that just as Europe is diminished by a clod falling into the sea, so we are diminished by the death of a stranger, and advises us:

Send ye not so seek for whom the bell tolls
It tolls for thee . . .

In many cultures, there are cults of death fascination, with the symbolism of death celebrated in holidays (the Mexican observance of All Hallows Eve--Hallowe'en--is a striking example), and elaborate rituals performed to placate the Grim Reaper.

Perhaps in our consideration of death, we are most alone with ourselves, and in the cosmos. Perhaps then, we are most in touch with the child within, regarding metaphorically the darkness around us as the toddler apprehensively peers into the darkened bedroom at night.

truth
But then there really isn't anything to fear. We're born out of nothingness; we live, we die into nothingness; no problem.

Life is essential to existence, I think. Once you die, you stop existing. It doesn't scare me particularly, because I don't dwell on it.

Perhaps you don't physically exist in this world, but how can you say so certainly that once you die, you cease to exist? You can't know with absolute certainty. None of us can.

golazydude, why does the idea of ceasing to exist scare you? There would be no "you" to feel any pain or worry about the future, and no nightmares.

"I" cease to exist every time I fall into dreamless sleep or undergo anesthesia. What is there to fear about a natural state of non-being? Of course I have a very good expectation of being re-animated in each case!

I am enjoying my life and would not wish to cut it short, but can honestly say that I am not afraid of death. My only concern would be the financial and emotional burden my death would have on my family and avoid a long and painful dying process.

truth
What's this "absolute certainty," Caprice? There is no such thing, at least not when it comes to ideas ABOUT reality.
Great insights, Terry. Now if you can also see that they apply to your living situation as well.

Death doesn't scare me. It angers me.

I think it is fundamentally injust that the Universe creates sentient beings capable of understanding, nobility and beauty only to snuff them out and forget them.

I have accepted this fact-- but I don't like it.

----------
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work;
I want to achieve immortality through not dying."
- Woody Allen

I would love to be able to believe otherwise, but death is nonexistence. It isn't even like are asleep: it's worse than that- you don't exist. There's no afterlife, no reward or punishment, just- nothing.

I wish it were otherwise, but that's the dirty truth.

Don't worry; let's say we really are just a collection of molecules. What counts is the structure, not the exact molecules. If this is true then 'I' is a particular configuration, vaguely defined ('I' changes non-stop!) , and given billions of billions of stars and so much time, not to mention other universes, what is the chance of resurrection?
I'd say 100% - there is no way that something similar to 'I' will NOT happen again.
So when 'I' ceases to exist one day it will be like going to sleep, and somewhere in the future waking up as another 'I'. Maybe in another galaxy, maybe in two billion years, but who knows?
(BTW What is the speed of consciousness - is it a quantum process, like entanglement ?)

OK, what if we are not just a combination of molecules? Then there must be afterlife .....

truth
Equus, please see my post above, the one beginning with "Stalin."
Interesting comment, Relative. Reminds me, in part, of Nietzsche's Hypothesis of the Eternal Recurrence.

"We Have Nothing To Fear, But Fear Itself"
(Franklin D. Roosevelt)

easy to quote, but we all sense fear at times....

"The Tibetan Book Of The Dead" is an excellent book.... it really helps take away some of those scary feelings....

Terry.... I like what you wrote.... I would just add "and someone please feed my dog".

PaL
:-)

Was not being born troubling and distressing to you?

Do you fear it?

Well then, why fear death?

Now - DYING I ain't looking forward to...

Ahhh! What the hell am I!?!

See, thinking about death makes me think about that last flicker of consciousness (probably long before that last flicker of brain activity), and just what the hell that means, anyway. Thinking really creeps me out.

Death? I've had a couple of brushes, and of course they were scary in those split seconds, but I really don't know how I feel about the prospect of it. Certainly both times I enjoyed the adrenaline and the fact that I was still alive more than I felt spooked by the near-miss.

The only person I've known who had a protracted death -- at least, who I knew during their protracted death -- was scared as hell, and this was someone who had done some damn frightening things in his life. (Also things for which he felt great guilt; this may have been part of it.)

Some of us don't necessarily look forward to death. It's something that'll happen sooner or later; nobody can escape it. When I was a young man driving on highway 101, south of San Francisco, the traffic in front of me stopped, so I did the same - but as I looked into my rearview mirror, I saw the car behind me coming at about 30 miles per hour - and too close for him to stop. I thought then I was a goner for sure, but here I am, still kicking around....... He made an accordian of my trunk, and I survived.