Philosophical: We're all come and go. Only those, who accept this fact, are "free", for real.

[Tiki Tom]

Throughout the ages, people have struggled to find meaning in death. Many ancient philosophies held that there had to be some form of 'afterlife', otherwise human sentience and understanding didn't make sense to them. The samurai, amongst other warrior classes over the centuries, sought to die a 'good death' with 'honour'. Another saying I've heard touted over the years is that 'death is a part of life', or it's a 'natural part of life'. If that's true, why is it anathema to us? Why do we fear it, hate it, rail against it? Doesn't life have more meaning than just to be born, struggle, and then vanish into eternity?

I can't see any freedom to be gained by just accepting we all 'come and go'. There has to be more to life than that.

I tend to agree with Benny. Without going off-the-rails into coocoo-land, a school of modern physics seems to be leaning towards thinking that alternate universes are multiplying like rabbits, that the universe continues to expand, that there are millions of habitable worlds out there. The cosmic urge seems to be to fill the vast void using all resources available. Given all of this, it seems a bit wasteful to snuff out conscious souls by simply extinguishing them. Recycle, I say! To anyone who cares to poo-poo me, I have two simple words: "Pascal's wager". I may be wrong, but I will go to my grave blissfully wrong.

Still semi-gods in white...

Never mind Doctors, what about airline pilots? Whenever I think of Germanwings Flight 9525 where the severely depressed co-pilot decided to commit suicide and take a planeload of people with him, I get the shivers.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

. If that's true, why is it anathema to us? Why do we fear it, hate it, rail against it? Doesn't life have more meaning than just to be born, struggle, and then vanish into eternity?

Prehaps the main barrier for modern man to accept death as a finality is that he considers himself so important & special that being just a biological entity is unconceiveble for him. Religion too has persuaded mankind that if they follow the doctrine, they will have a life after death, an idea which permiates collective cultural beliefs. Also in modern western cultures we are extremely protected from death, it is kept at a safe distance..... there are no famines or major epidemics, we have healthcare, clean water & there are no wars on our doorsteps. These 'advantages' of modern civilization also prevent us from accepting death as part of life's cycle as we're led to believe that "there is always something we can do to prevent it." This of course only applies to 'us', we readily accept the thought that hundreds of thousands are slaughtered in our name in foreign lands.

I can't see any freedom to be gained by just accepting we all 'come and go'. There has to be more to life than that.

Of those who can never accept that their greatness will one day vanish & of those who accept death as the end of the journey..........whom do you think are more liberated ?
There is as much to life as you want there to be.........................and as little to death.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I think the fear comes most from the utter uncertainty of it all. We can pose and posture all we like about being creatures of pure logic and reason, or of unshakable faith, but the fact of the matter is that nobody living *knows* for certain and for sure exactly what happens to a dying being at the moment of death. We know, deep down, that we don't know, and that we *cannot* know, until the moment that it happens to us. And on a visceral level, that's terrifying.

So we come up with all sorts of elaborate cultural coping mechanisms to blunt the terror, whether it's building elaborate monuments to the dead to ensure they will "never will be forgotten" -- even though most of them will be completely forgotten within a century or so -- or convincing ourselves that they can communicate with us thru psychic powers. Or whatever other whistling-in-the-dark we can come up with so that we can sleep at night.

 

[Tiki Tom]

I think the fear comes most from the utter uncertainty of it all. We can pose and posture all we like about being creatures of pure logic and reason, or of unshakable faith, but the fact of the matter is that nobody living *knows* for certain and for sure exactly what happens to a dying being at the moment of death. We know, deep down, that we don't know, and that we *cannot* know, until the moment that it happens to us. And on a visceral level, that's terrifying.

So we come up with all sorts of elaborate cultural coping mechanisms to blunt the terror, whether it's building elaborate monuments to the dead to ensure they will "never will be forgotten" -- even though most of them will be completely forgotten within a century or so -- or convincing ourselves that they can communicate with us thru psychic powers. Or whatever other whistling-in-the-dark we can come up with so that we can sleep at night.

Bingo!

 

[Lean'n'mean]

building elaborate monuments to the dead to ensure they will "never will be forgotten" --

Or ensure that they don't come back.

Even though we are aware of our own mortality from a young age & if we're lucky, have a whole lifetime to get used to the idea, death still remains a frightening prospect. Is it because of the 'unknown' ? I'm not so sure, maybe it's because deep down we do know but are afraid to be proven right.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

If there is life after death I hope it's optional, I shall be ticking the NO box, one life is enough for me.

 

[Feraud]

To say nothing of the lawyers whose main purpose in life seems to be finding ways for their clients to skirt the law.

Ah lawyers.. the students who score slightly lower in ethics and humanities than the rest of us.

 

[Harp]

Ah lawyers.. the students who score slightly lower in ethics and humanities than the rest of us.

"Every calling is great when greatly pursued." Oliver W. Holmes Jr.

 

[LizzieMaine]

If there is life after death I hope it's optional, I shall be ticking the NO box, one life is enough for me.

I'm willing to be open minded for the simple reason that today's "hard science" is often tomorrow's "alchemy." No matter how much there is that we think we know, there is always much much more that we don't. My only condition is if there's an afterlife it has to include cats.

 

[Fading Fast]

If there is life after death I hope it's optional, I shall be ticking the NO box, one life is enough for me.

I'm open to life after death, what I don't want to do is live to 100 in this life. Somewhere in my 80s will be more than enough for me - assuming I make it that far. I know there are exceptions, but my personal experience with family members and friends is that the quality of life one has then is not one I want.

Also, I will have had enough by then. I am already pretty tired out from fighting to survive, to earn, to pay, to live and all the geopolitical fights around us emotionally exhausts me. I'm 51, if I can get two to three more decent decades - I'm good to go. Maybe there is a next life - I'm open to that, but I only want so much more of this one.

 

[sheeplady]

I don't think there's an afterlife. Because I don't believe in something like Heaven (and I certainly don't believe in Hell), I've only got my time on earth to find justice or reap reward.

In other words, I believe we have to create heaven on earth, as this is our one shot. Therefore it's important to try to right wrongs, seek justice, and make the world better purely because I *am* mortal. That's what makes my existence meaningful. If you have some sort of good impact on someone's life, and they in turn impact someone else, that is meaningful. Those actions add like ripples. You touch someone's life, they touch another's, etc.

I've heard the quote that the third death only comes the last time your name is spoken. I think there's a fourth death: when the last ripple of kindness you passed along ends. I think that's pretty close to immortality as us skeletons flying through space on this rock can be guaranteed.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Maybe. Maybe not. You'll have to die to find out.

Adds a new spin to someone saying, "I'm dying to find out if . . ."

 

[Benny Holiday]

The latest scientific estimates reckon there are 8.74 million different species on the Earth. Out of all those, only one has developed the ability to reason, to grasp its own existence and mortality. And no, no number of experiments on dolphins, parrots or chimps have been able to detect anything even remotely close to the human mind's capacity for logical analysis. Why are we the only ones? Why are we special to have this ability, and not the other billions of living creatures? Surely we do hold an extraordinary place in this world, this universe, and we're not just another 'biological entity.'

 

[Lean'n'mean]

Why are we special to have this ability, and not the other billions of living creatures? Surely we do hold an extraordinary place in this world, this universe, and we're not just another 'biological entity.'

Prehaps the main barrier for modern man to accept death as a finality is that he considers himself so important & special that being just a biological entity is unconceiveble for him..

I rest my case.

It is a wonder how the immensity of our brains can fit inside such little skulls. I think you're right in suggesting that we are in an extraordinary position being able to contemplate the universe & our place in it, prehaps something no species has done before or will be able to do in the future but like all species past & present, humans will one day become extinct, for no species can exist forever, & both the Earth & the universe won't give a damn that we ever existed or no longer exist. As individuals, we will go the way of all flesh & as a species, we will go the way of all species because we are, in the end, just biological entities following the inexorable route of all life forms on this planet. The major difference for us is that we are aware of it, though I doubt we will be any more adept at recognizing the end of our species than the dinosaurs were 65 million years ago.