Fear of the Unknown - More about Death

[Koolish]

Originally Posted by LHX

I am not so sure I agree with this.

Most old people I come across seem annoyed by the way life turned out to be, and are bitter toward younger people. It is as though their life experience did not turn out the way they were expecting it to. And as they are finally reaching an 'important' moment in their life, they find it frustrating that they are being forced to think about money and wills and bills.

Plus having to cope with a body that is consistently shutting down.




Old people experience many years of pain - and humiliation.

Diapers?
Poor eyesight?
Crooked Back?

see, so then at an old age death would come as welcome gift. old people are frustrated at an old age, but does that mean they fear death?

[RAT NIPPLED REBEL]

they are only frustrated as they look back and see they have accomplished nothing of any meaning, they look back an see them selves as ants, who just worked to live, and now thye see their kids, and their kids. in this modern world, and they can see how things have gotten worse from when they was young.

u gota snap out the loop!

[My First Timbs]

i didnt read all posts but just had to comment

the fear of death is a dual faceted psychosis

it is comprised of two main emotional responses

1) an ingrained evolutionary adaptation to "want" and "try" and "feel" a need to try to stay alive as long as possible (ultimately this is the whole "reason" of life... to simply stay alive so that hopefully u can contribute someway to the next generation) this inate fear of death is merely a subconscious manifestation of this evolved cognition

2) the 2nd (and arguably more important/relevant) is purely emotional. Meaning that we as emotional sentient beings dont "truly" fear death, but rather what we fear is the "possiblility of somehow not being in existence anymore", and "the end of a life where as certain aspects would of went possibly unfulfilled" or "unsatisfied"............. what we fear is the notion that we can exist and have conceptual "goals" and that we could possibly "die" before being abvle to realize those "goals" and "objectives"..... this fear in and of itself does indeed have great evolutionary advantages, and thus persists to this day.... (the second we no longer have that "fear", its plausible that humanity's "fitness level" could decrease.)

[arto]

Originally Posted by My First Timbs

i didnt read all posts but just had to comment

the fear of death is a dual faceted psychosis

it is comprised of two main emotional responses

1) an ingrained evolutionary adaptation to "want" and "try" and "feel" a need to try to stay alive as long as possible (ultimately this is the whole "reason" of life... to simply stay alive so that hopefully u can contribute someway to the next generation) this inate fear of death is merely a subconscious manifestation of this evolved cognition

2) the 2nd (and arguably more important/relevant) is purely emotional. Meaning that we as emotional sentient beings dont "truly" fear death, but rather what we fear is the "possiblility of somehow not being in existence anymore", and "the end of a life where as certain aspects would of went possibly unfulfilled" or "unsatisfied"............. what we fear is the notion that we can exist and have conceptual "goals" and that we could possibly "die" before being abvle to realize those "goals" and "objectives"..... this fear in and of itself does indeed have great evolutionary advantages, and thus persists to this day.... (the second we no longer have that "fear", its plausible that humanity's "fitness level" could decrease.)

i agree completely with you

[WARPATH]

Originally Posted by LHX

I might be beating a dead horse at this point, but I got beef with this society's attitudes toward death.



Imagine, for a moment, what life would be like if we saw 'the unknown' as an ally instead of approaching it as though it were an enemy that needed to be avoided and conquered.

Just consider it for a moment.

Why do we raise people to be so afraid?

And once we see why there is nothing to be afraid of, why does it take so long to get all that damage out of the system?


With Love,
X

Death should be a celebration.

[LHX]

Originally Posted by Koolish

see, so then at an old age death would come as welcome gift. old people are frustrated at an old age, but does that mean they fear death?

Good point.

[LHX]

Originally Posted by My First Timbs

i didnt read all posts but just had to comment

the fear of death is a dual faceted psychosis

it is comprised of two main emotional responses

1) an ingrained evolutionary adaptation to "want" and "try" and "feel" a need to try to stay alive as long as possible (ultimately this is the whole "reason" of life... to simply stay alive so that hopefully u can contribute someway to the next generation) this inate fear of death is merely a subconscious manifestation of this evolved cognition

2) the 2nd (and arguably more important/relevant) is purely emotional. Meaning that we as emotional sentient beings dont "truly" fear death, but rather what we fear is the "possiblility of somehow not being in existence anymore", and "the end of a life where as certain aspects would of went possibly unfulfilled" or "unsatisfied"............. what we fear is the notion that we can exist and have conceptual "goals" and that we could possibly "die" before being abvle to realize those "goals" and "objectives"..... this fear in and of itself does indeed have great evolutionary advantages, and thus persists to this day.... (the second we no longer have that "fear", its plausible that humanity's "fitness level" could decrease.)

Take it personal, Timbs:

Is there any legitimate reason to fear death?


Also - have you come across anything in your research that suggests that there was a point in time where living things did not 'fear' death?

[LHX]

Originally Posted by Os3y3ris

Lets take things down to a really basic level. You are all still alive. Why?

Stubborn-ness?

Because we aren't aware of our choices?

[whitey]

I forget who which greek philosopher I was reading it was about 4 years ago but it was excellent. One of the big ones, possibly Socrates..?

But anyways it was on this very topic. He was saying we really have no reason to fear death. We don't know what it is, and its not here until its here, and until then your still alive. And when your dead you are dead, so it doesnt matter. So in reality there is nothing to fear at all, its coming either way if you fear it or dont so why waste your time?

[Orion Nebulus]

I dont fear death at all....I basically just want to live my life first. I mean I know Im going to die one day but the fear comes from ending prematurely. I have goals that I want to reach....I have my queen..in the future the kids...a dope career...travel the world when I retire..things like that. Going through life you figure your inner being. After all that then I welcome the time to inflict on my afterlife.

[june181972]

I hope this is not too far off base for this thread":

Do not let religion fool you, the greatest reward is life, not some unproven "promise" after your death.

Consider the magnitude of the universe, then look at yourself in the mirror.
We are blessed to be here, we were given time in the creation.

I think fear of the "unknown" comes from a lack of understanding of how to maximize one's life.

[LHX]

Originally Posted by The Hagakure

To say that dying without reaching one's aim is to die a dog's death is the frivolous way of sophisticates. When pressed with the choice of life or death, it is not necessary to gain one's aim.
We all want to live. And in large part we make our logic according to what we like. But not having attained our aim and continuing to live is cowardice. This is a thin dangerous line. To die without gaming one's aim is a dog's death and fanaticism. But there is no shame in this. This is the substance of the Way of the Samurai. If by setting one's heart right every morning and evening, one is able to live as though his body were already dead, he pains freedom in the Way. His whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling.

What goals have we been tricked into pursuing?

What is all this talk about 'dying prematurely'?

[MoT]

very interesting thread LHX..


fear of the unknown goes way back and for some strange reason ..

usually that fear was dealt with in an effort to eliminate that "unknown" before even trying to explore what it really was..

only legitimate reason to fear death.. is again the unknowning of the amount of pain and time period it will take before death arrives ..

Originally Posted by LHX

What goals have we been tricked into pursuing?

What is all this talk about 'dying prematurely'?

good questions but im not going to guess on the first one cause there's room for endless alternative explanations ...

the second is different for that only blame can fall upon self.. stubborn-ness and/or lack of awareness of our choices can be what sparks the dialog about this nonsense.

[LORD NOSE]

we don't fear death

we are more afraid of the ways we die

why ?


the movies show us how to be afraid while being killed

we are afraid of being killed, not what may exist on "the other Side"

[Fresh]