Death. -

[exball]

So I was having one of those moments where your trying to get to sleep and your mind wanders. I started wondering what death is like and thought I would get everyone's opinion on it. Do you believe in an afterlife? Does the idea of dying scare you? Etc.

 

[Fibonacci]

I sincerely hope there's nothing after death. Peaceful non-existence would be pretty nice, I think. Life after death would be tantamount to living forever, and that would be tiresome.

 

[The Tyrant]

Death is a subject that really horrifies me. While I adore the macabre and grisly styles, death is the one thing I cannot dabble in. I have a problem with a wandering mind, and if I do not have a television near me, thoughts of death creep up on me. I tear up at the very fact that one day I will be without my mother, and when I'm having a really terrible day, I just think that we'd never be reunited if the afterlife results in just eternal darkness. Recently I've been very uncertain about my beliefs, and many negative events have gotten me doubting if there is an afterlife at all, and it's just...overwhelming. It's really something I cannot talk about without crumbling to a total mess. I should talk to The Dude about his paranormal encounters and see if that brightens me a bit? Or anyone else who has a positive outlook on the path of life...

 

[Some JERK]

It's funny you mention death and sleep in the same sentence. For most of the time you are sleeping, "you" are effectively dead. You only dream in short bursts here and there.

Death is an event that leads to non-existence. Non existence is a non-event. You didn't exist for the billions of years leading up to your birth, and you won't exist for the billions more that lead to the eventual heat-death of the universe. Existence is an infinitesimal spark hammered between two unimaginably wide gulfs of oblivion.

What I'm really trying to say is, stop fucking around. Go get drunk or hang out w friends. Get your heart broken. Make an idiot out of yourself in public. You'll regret the shit you didn't do way more than the shit you did.

 

[Watcher]

I don't really think about death.

I tend to think about this episode of Seinfeld when I think about death.

[youtube]fvEYgR9vr6U[/youtube]

 

[Surtur]

In Asatru, we believe that we join the Ancestors in Hel, of course Hel is not a bad place to us. On a more personal note, I don't really care. I live like this is my only chance.

 

[Zim]

Don't dwell on death because death doesn't dwell on you. It just happens. Usually without cerimony and sometimes without warning.

I'm a deep motherfucker.

 

[Marvin]

I don't worry about death because it's too far off for me to give a shit about it. And hell, that'll probably be my justification even when I'm 80.

 

[Picklepower]

Death isn't scary to me, but sometimes life is a little. When it comes to aging, I just think, my favorite old people, George Carlin, my grand parents etc. act like their not even old, I'd rather be like that when I'm older then dwell in sadness.

 

[Niachu]

I've gone through months long bouts of existential despair, but I'm coming to terms with it all. There are some things that help me through, though.

[youtube]DkzQxw16G9w[/youtube]
It seems trivial at first compared to what's being said in the thread, but watch it til 12:26 to the end. Oddly, it comforts me about death. This guy shares some existentialist views I do, I think.

 

[Burning Love]

I had a really shitty experience three months ago. I had a relapse to some bad shit because I was around the wrong people and they kept handing me drugs. Through mixing them and taking so much at once, my heart stopped and my vitals dropped for about 1.5 minutes. I can't say for sure what death was like because it's all kind of a blur now, but I do remember hallucinations nonstop and then it was like that state between being asleep and dreaming (you know, the nothingness), and then back to hallucinations. I'm pretty sure that nothingness was death.

A year earlier, my cousin tried to commit suicide. Drank a bunch of vodka with a bottle of klonopin and also died for between 1.5 and 2 minutes, he reported basically the same thing. After his (dream-nothing-dream) experience, we jokingly concluded that there is no god. We were both atheists beforehand but that was kind of a turning point for him especially, where he lost remaining doubts. As for me, mine didn't reinforce anything, but rather confirmed what it feels like. I got to see for myself. I wasn't scared before, and I'm much less so after.

Through life and death, brushes with death, addiction, disease, all this unnecessary bullshit, I've concluded that the best approach to the topic of death is to just assume (right or wrong) that this is it, one chance, and give it all you've got. I might die tomorrow, but shit, if I could say I did the best I could, great.

 

[bradsternum]

I fear dying before I'm able to accomplish something I'm proud of. But if Death really is non-existence, I don't think I should fear it, because I won't have the capacity to fear it when it happens.

 

[Marvin]

I fear dying before I'm able to accomplish something I'm proud of. But if Death really is non-existence, I don't think I should fear it, because I won't have the capacity to fear it when it happens.

Death itself probably isn't much to worry about. It's just the lead-up to it that might be bad.

 

[The Hunter]

Might as well give my two cents on the subject.

I'm not scared of death at all. Don't have a reason to be scared of it. I guess it might hurt, but when I'm dead, I doubt I'm gonna give a shit. I don't think I'm going to care if my last demands aren't met and I'm buried instead of cremated, I won't care if my casket is made of cardboard, I won't care if my body is just dumped in some shallow lake. I do care about other people in my life and how it will affect them, but I won't care after I'm dead because... well, I won't be alive to feel emotion. I don't want people to care about me after I'm dead, I want them to move on with whatever the hell they were doing with their lives. I want to make a difference, but I'm not gonna be able to do that or even see the fruits of my labor after I'm dead. There's really a lot more I have to say, but let's just leave it at I personally don't care about dying.

 

[Holdek]

We are hardwired to fear death for evolutionary purposes but if you can transcend that notion some of the time it's a good thing because it it helps put things into perspective. When you're dead you'll feel like you did before you were born (that is to say: you won't).

Also Marvin's right: there's nothing to fear about death but the lead up to it could be frightening and painful.

 

[c-no]

Death isn't something I really fear since we all will die, sooner or later but it's how you die that does scare me. The though of dying a slow, painful death is something I'd fear compared to a quick and painless death. I believe in an after-life but that is just my opinion so really whether it's a fluffy cloud heaven with God or a cessation of existance, death is something that shouldn't be feared even if there is a Hell. After all, not all us really believe in an after-life whether it's some burning inferno or meeting up with your ancestors and whose to say there is one? As one here has said, assume this is the only chance you have and give it your all. If we are going to die one day, then we may as well live our lives and accomplish whatever goals we have.

 

[Marvin]

Might as well give my two cents on the subject.

I'm not scared of death at all. Don't have a reason to be scared of it. I guess it might hurt, but when I'm dead, I doubt I'm gonna give a shit. I don't think I'm going to care if my last demands aren't met and I'm buried instead of cremated, I won't care if my casket is made of cardboard, I won't care if my body is just dumped in some shallow lake. I do care about other people in my life and how it will affect them, but I won't care after I'm dead because... well, I won't be alive to feel emotion. I don't want people to care about me after I'm dead, I want them to move on with whatever the hell they were doing with their lives. I want to make a difference, but I'm not gonna be able to do that or even see the fruits of my labor after I'm dead. There's really a lot more I have to say, but let's just leave it at I personally don't care about dying.

I see this argument a lot, but I really don't think it's valid. The "I'm not going to care, I'm dead" argument. At least for painful deaths, anyway.

The big problem is that time is experienced differently for all conscious entities. So, when you're experiencing strong pain, it takes forever for it to be over. Like, an eternity. And the only way it ends is when you experience relief. It doesn't matter that you're dead, so you won't care about things, because you're not alive to experience that relief. If you die painfully, that pain will be your last experience. It will be burned into your mind as your last conscious thought for all eternity.

All the other emotional feelings, yeah, they probably won't matter to you. Pain is really the important feeling, as far as dying goes.

 

[Night Terror]

I like to imagine that when you die, you pretty much immediately wake up as a fetus in a womb who's just gained consciousness. I don't know if it's true, but it's a comforting thought.
Better than ending up as a ghost or something.

 

[cheersensei]

I do fear for my own mortal passing one day, but until my time comes, it's just a thought that rests in the back of my head. Only time it really upsets me is when my husband and I discuss our future funeral plans.

Working in an assisted living community, death is inevitable, especially those who are in hospice care. It's not an easy subject to talk about with the residents, but with fellow coworkers, it's a bit easier, though rough regardless. One coworker walked in on a resident who had passed, and it was an extremely rough night afterward.

I'm also a believer in euthanasia or more specially assisted suicide. If I were to be stricken with a serious condition like cancer (or in the case of my godfather: ALS), I would rather die with some dignity than let myself waste away and cause more of a burden to my family.

 

[random_pickle]

It's not death itself that terrifies me, it's what comes after it that scares me.

Let's say there is no afterlife out there, that when you die, you're just gone. No more thinking, no more feeling, no more anything, all the while the rest of the world moves on and leaves you behind. I cry everytime I think of that outcome.

Now let's say there is an afterlife, what then? You live forever and ever, watching as the world changes for all eternity. That also seems very insane.

The only good outcome I can think of is reincarnation.