death

Hey guys there's already a reality thread! Thought this was answering the question of the fear of death.

truth
Caprice, the criterion of "absolute certainty" is a dubious basis for constructing one's view of reality. Just because we cannot know with absolute certainty (which we can't even define, except in vacuous and tautological logical terms) that anything is possible, that doesn't warrant the tentative acceptance of all absurdities.

Like I said, I thought this thread dealt with the fear of death...not a view of reality.

And again, you miss my point. Your statements, made as they are, imply fact. Facts imply certainty.

Caprice,

I was merely pointing out that when I die, the Universe and everything in it ceases to exist.

That is a comment on death.

Whatever this says about reality is coincidental...

Damn, brown. Stay healthy, all right?

truth
Patiodog, fear not. When Ebrown dies it is only HIS version of you (and everything else) that comes to an end. YOUR version of you (and everything else) remains. EBrown and I agree that when you die you take it all with you. My wife, of course, will continue to have "our" house. But as far as I'm concerned "I" will not die and leave it (and everything else) behind. Psychologists sometimes talk of the fear of death as "object loss" anxiety. EBrown has grasped the cure for that. At the same time, he is--I presume--not a solipsist. His (and my) extreme subjectivism does not hold that only HE (or in my case I) exist, that everything else is "objectively speaking" only his (or my) dream. If that were so, we could not agree with each other. If he were to say to me, "Only I exist", I would simply answer with "Ditto."

That's a relief. I thought he was the keystone of the universe (which is, of course, made out of rock without mortar, as we all know).

I give up.

I have not heard that before, rock without mortar. Wonderful. God used the wrong bag of mortar mix.... insufficient to the task..



Uh, excuse me, once in a while I speak up... and am virtually always offtopic.

truth
Oh my God, Osso, don't get "off topic." We ghouls and children of the night love to talk about death. Blah.

Don't give up, Caprice.

caprice, Don't give up. Tangents are a natural occurance on chats - on most topics. A reminder now and again if somebody should go overboard is all that's needed - imho.

And you either, JL. I just don't want Caprice to leave til she gets used to the participants' views and a certain byplay among them. I see it as entering along a freeway onramp...
and getting into the second lane....

These are my thoughts on death.

I dont worry about it. it comes for all of us, and the worst thing we can do is wait around for it. live life. i don't know what comes after death, maybe nothing, maybe a pretty field full of flowers, maybe 70 virgins, maybe hell.

But it doesn't matter.

Death comes, and none of what we think might or might not happen after death will change the reality of what it is, whatever the hell it happens to be. Speculating on what death is is pointless. Until you have died, you only theorizing, and if you find out for sure you can't exactly post on the forum .

I have chosen my path no matter whatever afterlife, or non-existance, that brings me after I bite the big one.

truth
There's nothing wrong with your position, Monty, but it does seem to me that since I have no consciousness of what before birth was like I expect to have no consciousness of after life either.

Agreed, JLN. People wish to think our life on tihs planet is some kind of transitional experience. The fact is, it starts and ends here.

truth
Yes, C.I., from the frame of reference of a "self", an ego that came about shortly after birth and ends with death, that is so. But remember from other threads, Like Twyvel, I do not believe that ego/self is more than illusory. My TRUE SELF (and yours) is the eternal cosmos, which has neither beginning nor end (what the Hindus call Brahman).

Unless you believe in Hell, it's all OK.

If there is no after life, there is simply non-existence. Non-existence means there is no longer an "I" to react in any way to the loss of existence.

If there's an after-life...well, it should, at least, be interesting.

Like dlowan, I don't fear death, but I do fear dying. It is quite difficult not to. We're genetically programmed to live. The fear of dying is a trigger to to take actions necessary to keep us alive.

I used to take some comfort in what I thought was a sensible belief that very old people eventually come to terms with dying, because it is such a constant companion. Then my 98 year old grandmother suffered several successive heart attacks and strokes, and yet she held on to life with amazing tenacity. Eventually, her sister who remained at her bedside throughout most of the ordeal told her "It's OK Florrie, you can let go." My grandmother who hadn't spoken a word for three days opened her eyes and responded "I can't, I'm afraid."

Now if you buy that there is a Hell, it's a whole other story.

Finn d', Welcome to A2K. Our mother was a christian, but she was afraid of cremation. I'm an ahteist, and I've asked my wife to have my body cremated, and the ashes thrown into the Pacific Ocean. Both my wife's parents were cremated, and their ashes are in metal boxes in a special section of the buddhist church in San Jose.

truth
Dying shouldn't be difficult; all you've got to do is lie there.