Have you come to terms with reality?

Aion

Aion

Time-Traveller
What I really mean to ask is this: Have you thought about the fact that, at some point in the future, you will cease to exist and, eventually, it'll be as if you never existed?

At an early age we all come to understand that everything alive has to die at some point. What we don't do is confront the issue and think about it until our later years - after all, it's best not to try to put too much thought into something you can't do anything about. However, it scares me to keep living with an invisible clock ticking away over my head...fear of the unknown is an awful thing.

In order to at least prevent their name from being lost over time, people attempt to make themselves famous (or infamous) so that they'll be remembered. Yet even that is pointless since when everyone who knows you for who you were as person dies it's meaningless for your name to be spoken by lips who only know of the real you because of others.

When I think about death I'm not sure what I want. I don't want to die young but I also don't want to live to 108 and be unable to do anything for myself. Living through old age, only able to look on as your body fails, would be a fate worse than death. My real answer to the question would be that I don't want to die at all, but that's not an answer that can be said when death is the only certainty of life.

The one thing I'm not looking forward to is losing others. It's inevitable that, for example, my parents will die before me unless something unexpected occurs and I don't want to have to deal with that. I haven't yet had to deal with death outside of my first dog dying and I'd like it to stay that way for as many years as possible.

...bah, I'm rambling. Sorry, I'm in an odd mood and felt like getting this out of my head by using my fingers. :)
 
It's something that I try not to think about. I guess the best way to think of it is "What can I do to make the most out of this life??"
 
I think it's good when people talk about death - it is the one absolutely certain thing in life and yet far too many people would rather pretend it doesn't exist!

Personally, I think my unrelenting athesim has helped me out a lot with getting my head around the concept of death. Because I know what's going to happen when I die, I'm much less afraid of it.

I do emphatise with how tragic the inevitability of losing loved ones is. I'm 18 and all of my grandparents are, thankfully, still alive. But I know that they will die, as will my parents and my aunts and uncles, before I do barring some accident or illness on my part. Again, I think perhaps because I understand death (I'm really very confident in my atheism ;]), I can justify it and reconcile myself with it better.

Aion said:
, it scares me to keep living with an invisible clock ticking away over my head...fear of the unknown is an awful thing.
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You're just stealing ideas from Death Note now! :p In any case, I do think that is a horrifically unhealthy way to think about death. Perhaps it would be a good idea to look at death from a different perspective?
 
Not the best time to have a depressing topic just before Christmas :D

Anyway on topic no, and no i persoanlly don't think that come a time in the future we'll no longer exist.

I personally believe in some form of afterlife, be it "heaven" as the Christians put it or the one i truely belive in which is Reincarnation.

Personally i believe that if the reason of existance is just to be born, pro-create, then die, then why does everyone stive to live on? You see humans with feats of strenght at times when lives are at risk, animals doesn't lay down and die, they fight to live on.

I'm not saying that there's a god, or 1 being that controls our destiny, and what happens to us in life derterminds what happens after death, but i do feel there is some undiscriable force that makes us want to live on, and so the best thing to do is just keep living your life each day as it comes, and don't think about the end, as it's not the end at all, just a new beginning
 
well as long as i have made an impression or left something behind for posterity....

i guess this is one reason that people have offspring
 
I think it's good that I went into ceramics then. Because, even now geologists and excavators are digging up mementoes and art that has been forgotten for thousands of years. Especially in terms of pottery, whereas even if it's been smashed a bit, you can still get the basic image from numerous pieces. I just hope I leave more stamps and such to leave on them when I'm gone.

As for the fear of death, I’ve seen it, so I know what it looks like and the emotions that go through in that moment. However, in my own death, I would probably be scared if I was waiting in a bed for it to come. I’d much rather be face-to-face with it than waiting for death to make it’s mind up, but I wont commit sepaku/suicide. I want to live on as long as I can happily. I know there’s an end, but like CG mentioned, because I’m an atheist, I don’t believe in the “Final Judgementâ€
 
While not religious in any way, I'm unable to comprehend the notion that your "soul" merely ceases to exist when you die, and so believe that each individual, regardless of faith or lack of, will live another life once he/she has passed away.
 
I'm content with the idea of my own death and find the idea of everything just stopping one day rather comforting. However, I'm dreading losing any of the people I love before then. I've lost loved ones before and it never gets easier.

R
 
I know that at some point it is inevitable, but I do not want to die.

If there really is nothing after it (as I believe is the case) then existence, to me, seems kinda pointless. All the knowledge you build up over a lifetime, all the experiences you have, it makes more sense to carry on building on those. Perhaps the reason humanity can't advance is because one lifetime isn't enough to understand things enough, and certainly isn't time enough to impart onto the next generation what you've learnt (who then keep making the same mistakes and so on, and so on...).

That's why I absolutely believe in the ideals of Transhumanism and the migration of human minds to some kind of artificial shells at some point. I doubt it will be in my lifetime but hope it will become a reality at some point soon. To my mind the only way for humans to advance is if certain people can carry on living indefinately and use their time and experience to solve the world's problems. Imagine if Einstein was still alive and unaffected by the ageing process. What might he have discovered by now?

Just the two penn'oth of a somewhat twisted mind, I admit. But nevertheless it's what I believe in.
 
It's something I used to fear. It even made me cry out of fear when I was younger. Now I've come to terms with the fact that my death is inevitable.

However, it still worries me that I'll lose other people in my life before I pass on.
 
chaos said:
Am I the only one who wasn't actually afraid of death, but afraid of no being able to see the end of Bleach?
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well im sure if we pull are might together and not sleep for about a fortnight, we might possible make it :D
 
I'd be more worried about the Berserk author getting thrown in jail for rape. I'm sure he'll live long enough to finish his needlessly lengthy masterpiece.
 
Personally, Id love to live forever, I just enjoy life too damn much, but I dont fear death, I fear the pain of death, but not death.
I love the idea that we somehow go on afterwards, and frankly more and more science is starting to hint at this being a possibility, "Energy can neither be created nor destroyed, but can only change form" as they say.

Its a comforthing thought, I say enjoy the hell out of your life, and never make it miserable for someone else, just keep smiling :p (cheesy much^^)
 
I remember when I was 12 years old and I was just thinking about it for the first time and it really hit me hard and I got really upset about it realizing that one day I wont be here.
 
I laugh when I think of death, because if I were to die right now how could I possibly regret anything? I'll be dead :D

It is sad when other people die but don't dwell on it for too long remember your still alive and have to live your life aswell.
 
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