Do you fear Death?

[ChristineM]

I dont fear death at all, almost been there four times now. It's nothing.

I do have concerns for those left behind so i would rather wait, at least until my kids are indipendant.

 

[ChristineM]

I was watching Lord of the Rings and I was stricken by this quote, figured it would be appropriate here.

"Death Is Just Another Path. One That We All Must Take."
- Gandalf

Another quote by Terry Pratchett i think


Life is addictive and always kill you in the end

 

[Gargovic Malkav]

I dont fear death at all, almost been there four times now. It's nothing.

I do have concerns for those left behind so i would rather wait, at least until my kids are indipendant.

Care to share how your flirting with the Reaper went?

 

[ChristineM]

Care to share how your flirting with the Reaper went?

First time i considered suicide as an escape from a bad situation. A good friend pulled me through. That doesn't really count though

The hairy stuff has been in the last 18 months. I had a stomach operation that went wrong. I nearly died on the op table, i dont remember that. Recovery in hospital was touch and go. I was very ill in waves over the next 8 month's and was close to death from infection and jaundice several times, 3 times requiring critical care hospitalisation. Another op early this year undid the mess inside my abdomen and I have been recovering since. I feel ok, and am told i am almost back to me.

As for flirting with the reaper man. I didnt much considered it, when i was that close i was either dilerious or out of it completely. My family were far more worried about it.

 

[Vee]

Do you fear death?

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The older I get the less I fear death and the more I fear not living while I'm still alive. This world sucks the life out of us.

 

[Aupmanyav]

"Do you fear Death?": No, but I have a few things to take care of. A 98-year old mother. Then, my wife, she would be lonely for some time. My daughter will have a hard time, but time dulls sorrow. Otherwise not much packing to be done.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I had an experience in my life that caused fear, not only of death, but of everything, to fall away. While I did, at one point, fear death, I no longer do. Every body dies (and yes, the space in that word is intentional )

As far as dying in a dream, I see the point of death (there are two dreams I’ve had that I recall like I had them last night, though they both occurred during childhood) and immediately awaken into this reality. So to me, it’s interesting to consider what will happen at the point of death in this reality. I’ve already been afforded a glimpse on more than one occasion.

 

[bobhikes]

Do you fear death? Have you ever died completely in a dream?

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At this point I no longer fear death. When I do think about it I find it welcoming. Life is a constant struggle and in mine negatives and boredom exceed the better times. Death ends the struggles completely. My biggest worry is the pain before death, I would like it to be painless as possible.

 

[Erebus]

My own death doesn't worry me nearly as much as the thought of my loved ones dying. If I have a nightmare about death, it's pretty much always focused on the grief of loss rather than being killed myself.

One way to take the sting out of death though is to consider the alternative: being unable to die. There was a 3 part miniseries loosely based on Dracula* that had quite a disturbing concept in it. Some people through a quirk of fate are simply unable to die. They remain conscious and trapped in their coffins, alone and immobile forever. Death doesn't look nearly as bad as that in my opinion.


*The first two episodes were alright but the third was rubbish.

 

[FearGod]

So my own death crops up in my mind every once in a while, and I typically take stock of that fact and move on.

But, I recently was reading an article online in regards to death anxiety and the fact that, this tends to follow people throughout their lives, whether they realize it or not. Upon reading this, I was reminded of a very memorable religious experience that made me realize that I am not that afraid of death anymore, at least not like I used to be. I took this as a sign of having mostly reduced my own inner death anxiety, but alas the Gods have a sense of humor.

While I was traversing the dreamscapes of sleep, I was shot at near point blank range in the head. I was absolutely terrified, lol. I felt my life ebbing away, and the only thought to cross my mind was "not now" and then I turned to the person on my right and I told them I loved them, before I woke up in a cold sweat.

Do you fear death? Have you ever died completely in a dream?

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Fear of death is instinct, even animals fear death and run to survive.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Fear of death is instinct, even animals fear death and run to survive.

Please cite your references.

 

[FearGod]

Please cite your references.

There are no references for how instincts work, new born babies suck milk
without knowing anything about life, this is an innate instinct and without it
sucking milk will be impossible and if we don't fear death then we won't
care about survival.

 

[SalixIncendium]

There are no references for how instincts work, new born babies suck milk
without knowing anything about life, this is an innate instinct and without it
sucking milk will be impossible and if we don't fear death then we won't
care about survival.

Disappointing that there are no references for your to post. But since you decided to suggest as a matter of fact that fear of death is an instinct, perhaps you will demonstrate for us that fear of death is, indeed, an instinct rather than a learned behavior.

 

[FearGod]

Disappointing that there are no references for your to post. But since you decided to suggest as a matter of fact that fear of death is an instinct, perhaps you will demonstrate for us that fear of death is, indeed, an instinct rather than a learned behavior.

Learning is different than feeling, for example if I tried to taste something
for the first time which is extremely bitter , how taste works in our minds
is not understood but I can learn that the taste is awful for that thing, the
same thing of fearing of something that I learnt it may kill me, so what
I fear is different than fearing of death itself.

 

[PoetPhilosopher]

I do fear death. But I used to fear it more for religious reasons, etc.

 

[SalixIncendium]

Learning is different than feeling, for example if I tried to taste something
for the first time which is extremely bitter , how taste works in our minds
is not understood but I can learn that the taste is awful for that thing, the
same thing of fearing of something that I learnt it may kill me, so what
I fear is different than fearing of death itself.

So what prevents you from tasting again? Could it be fear of repeating such an awful taste?

I find it interesting (especially so given your moniker) that you think the feeling of fear is instinctual rather than learned.

So tell me, were you born fearing God? Or did someone teach you about God first and fear developed based on what you learned?

 

[Secret Chief]

I don't fear death. I "fear" loss of independence, chronic pain which cannot be ameliorated, loss of dignity, a world without cake. I suppose I fear a drop in my quality of life below a certain level. I've seen that in others and I know I don't want that and may act before it occurs (assuming I see it coming). I can initiate this final act of love for my cats, but we cannot (officially) do it for humans (in the UK). I don't get that.
I don't want a diagnosis where I'm told "You've got X time to live." We've all got X time to live, but in ignorance it doesn't mess with our head. I've known someone who was told they had about 2 years to live. She died 3 months later. My partner has a friend who was given 6 months to live, with nothing more to be done. That was 5 years ago.
I did think I was about to die once, only a few years ago. I was sitting on the toilet as it happens, but that's irrelevant. I remember my "final" profound thought: "Oh, I'm about to die." Turns out I didn't.

 

[Secret Chief]

I had an experience in my life that caused fear, not only of death, but of everything, to fall away.

Was that when you stepped out of a plane?

 

[SalixIncendium]

Was that when you stepped out of a plane?

No. It was the experience of my daughter's death.

Stepping out of a plane, at least in part, was a test to see if my suspicions about fear having fallen away completely were true.

 

[Secret Chief]

First time i considered suicide as an escape from a bad situation. A good friend pulled me through. That doesn't really count though

The hairy stuff has been in the last 18 months. I had a stomach operation that went wrong. I nearly died on the op table, i dont remember that. Recovery in hospital was touch and go. I was very ill in waves over the next 8 month's and was close to death from infection and jaundice several times, 3 times requiring critical care hospitalisation. Another op early this year undid the mess inside my abdomen and I have been recovering since. I feel ok, and am told i am almost back to me.

As for flirting with the reaper man. I didnt much considered it, when i was that close i was either dilerious or out of it completely. My family were far more worried about it.

One frube isn't enough for that.