Are you afraid of DEATH?

I've actually thought a lot about death recently so I suppose it is interesting that this thread has popped up. I am really a nihilistic fatalist I suppose. We all must die and the actions taken up until that point are pointless because of that fact.

 

My answer is No. Why be scared of something that happens to everyone and every living thing on this planet? Nothing is forever, and everything comes to an end. Funny thing is I've actually been thinking about this for quite some time now and it really does fuck with you mentally. I think my childhood ended when i realized i was going to die, one day. Whether you like it or not, it will happen. My question is, why are we born in the first place if we have to die? This makes me believe in a higher power. Maybe not everyone has the same opinion on this topic... Overall a very good topic though, enjoyed reading others responses.

 

Why does it make you believe in a higher power?

We are not really coming from nothing nor are we going anywhere, nor does anything significant happen when we die. The matter and energy of which we are composed is very much part of a cycle. Suppose you get buried beneath an apple tree. That apple tree uses the matter of your dead body for nutrients. Guess what? Someone's going to eat that apple. Guess what? That nutrients is very possibly going in to a developing foetus.

Humans are obsessed with finding reasons and purpose, which is why they get depressed when they realise the meaninglessness of their achievements. It's really rather silly, considering "purpose" is a very much relative, qualitative term. You can define your own purpose if you're that desperate for one.

 

No Grow Some Balls

 

Agree with this

 

Why are you so pessimistic about life? There is no bad in having optimism for an afterlife. It only gives life greater meaning.

 

Well if you read his previous post he describes himself as a nihilist, so that kind of gives you an idea on his life philosophy. Life is essentially pointless. You HAVE to die, you have no other choice. All of the decisions made in life are negated by that simple fact. It doesn't matter if you're a multi-trillionaire who owns an entire nation. You'll die sooner or later and all of that was irrelevant.

 

"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, its about learning how to dance in the rain."

We give life a meaning. Achievements are not pointless, it will carry on to the next generation.

 

If pessimism is described as requiring substantial, testable, repeatable and peer-reviewed evidence of something before I let it shape my life, then I guess I'm pessimistic. Are you content with having a "greater meaning" even if, when compared to every other possible 'false' religion and/or deity, the possibility of it being completely false is incalculably high?

That's not greater meaning. That's blissful ignorance.

Relatively speaking, once you die nothing particularly matters in terms of your conscious self any more, is the point that was being made. If you CHOOSE to make your life purpose about something, then you probably want to see that something be successful. Hence, if you make your life purpose about, say, environmental sustainability, and you pave the way for other generations, then your life could essentially be counted as fulfilled.

Your quote I interpret thusly: "learn and find what your own purpose is. Don't let others define it for you."

 

"God is dead."
I mean I could quote learned philosophers all night, but when I am gone nothing I ever did will be relevant to me.

 

I myself would rather be pessimistic for the rest of my life than allow myself to be fooled thinking there's an invisible man in the sky, listening to my petty wants and giving me rewards when I praise his name.

When you think about it, the time frame in which human life is possible in the lifespan of the universe is such a minuscule fraction of a blink (relatively) that believing we have any purpose at all in this life is worse than just religious delusions. It's every possible delusion combined, wrapped up around a core of ignorance. Delusions of grandeur, control, reference, etc. Religion and the belief in the afterlife is LITERALLY man's greatest insanity. It's a sad day when insanity is preferred to pessimism.

 

- Anonymous

It's not a quote that I pulled out of google. It's a quote that my mother likes to utter all the time; it drives inspiration. Better to make the best out of your life, than to do nothing and wait for death. Yes, you do not bring anything relevant to yourself when you die, because you're dead. This does not mean that what you've done your life will be irrelevant to everyone else. Show a little aspiration for something so simple, yet delicate.

 

-Nietzsche

Life has no meaning, there is no greater goal than to exist for a short time then die. Anything you've ever done is meaningless. Humans have the need to believe they're not some sort of cosmic clusterfuck and will aspire to things greater than existing for a short time. You can believe in the greater entity of society evolving and changing, but that is still irrelevant. All of our achievements will only ever be a momentary blip on the history of space time. Humans in current understanding are no more fit the travel the vastness of space than mites to sail the ocean. In the grand scheme of the universe we are nothing.

 

Not really all that scared. I have faith in God, so really, i'm looking forward to death. I'll get to see all the loved ones that have already passed, and will pass.

I was at a funeral once, and the pastor was saying something like "The day you're born, God (sorry atheists) put an expiration date on you. It doesn't matter what you do, you'll die the way God planned."

It seriously changed my entire perspective on death. Like... I always piss myself off when i think about it. Like, what if I want to "change" my expiration date, so i go shoot myself now? But, that was Gods plan all along. He already knew i was gonna die on that day, because of that.
idk its crazy ass shit lawl bye

 

I worry about the possible pain I might go through. Iam scared about the life I know will come to an end. I worry I will lose who Iam.

Also I don't understand how life is meaningless. We don't exist just for the lols
Sure we die but we are part of the cycle which is the universe. We are small but we are a part of something. Without understanding the universe how can we tell about the parts that make it up? Now as an individual and the purpose you have in society is subjective and totally up to you. All your aspirations apply only to the world you are currently living in and then you move on

I don't know this is just what I think

 

Death is not something I'm afraid of, it never really bothered me. I see it as just what we're all waiting for, really.

 

This thread is gettin deeeeeeeeeeeep....

 

Before I say anything, please keep in mind that this is in no way intended to be disrespectful. I simply like to view things with a critical eye, and I like to provoke thought.

What if, IF, shall we say, what you believed turned out to be false? It just seems a curious thing to me that you can say this sort of thing without any particular factual basis.

 

Some people have to rely on those hopes to get through life.

 

That's what I find the most curious thing of all.