# So how do you deal with death?



## Lelii046

It's something that's inevitable and will have to face some day. I know that. However, it still scares me. It crosses my mind often, and I get anxious when I think of it. I don't want to think of it, but I will have to face it some day no matter what. Problem is, I'm atheist, and I don't really think any other way, nor do I want to ever again, just out of fear. I want to get over my fear of death, but its impossible.


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## pati

I'm always thinking about it and I'm always afraid of it. I'd say I don't go one day in my life where I don't stop for a second in a panic because I realize I'm going to die.


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## Lelii046

I go through the very same thing as well. I try to find ways to ignore it and realize that I have to live my life in order to stop thinking about it as opposed to letting it take over, but I just can't.


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## kittyxbabe

I think of all that could have happened that could have stopped my existence from occuring, I mean the odds I would have existed were probably like a billion to one. One miscarriage in my lineage would have stopped me from being born. I am agnostic (in my head I debate evolutionism, creationism or a combination of both as a possibility), so just in case God DOES exist I always pray and thank him for everything I have. It also pushes me to do the things I want to do more.


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## harrison

I never think about it but maybe I should start - I'm a lot closer to it than you are!  (I'm a lot older.)

You've got a loooooong time before you need to worry about this - so why would you? As you say, we all will one day - hopefully after we've all lived a reasonably full life. Try and get on with living first, you'll be fine.

( Sorry - but I can't help thinking of that old Woody Allen joke - "I'm not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens." )


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## wordscancutyoulikeglass

I sometimes fear death, and sometimes look forward to it out of pure curiosity. I just avoid thinking about it, or even joke about it. I try to not regard it seriously because it is inevitable, and therefore doesn't matter to me.


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## Post_Punk_Proclivity

Maybe first you can learn to deal with anxiety. Fear is the essence of what propels these incessant thoughts and the key to enlightening yourself is to remember that no matter what you do, you are going to die and hence you have to deal with it when the time comes. So how then does it make sense to spend all this time and energy mulling over it?

Spending your time in fear isn't a notion I'm fond too of, so I am consciously going to make the choice to do everything to fight that. Maybe you should strive for that as well.


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## altqq

Lelii046 said:


> It's something that's inevitable and will have to face some day. I know that. However, it still scares me. It crosses my mind often, and I get anxious when I think of it. I don't want to think of it, but I will have to face it some day no matter what. Problem is, I'm atheist, and I don't really think any other way, nor do I want to ever again, just out of fear. I want to get over my fear of death, but its impossible.


Think of it this way, the way things are we can't be sure of what happens after death. So no matter how much you think about it, you won't know how it feels or what happens after it. So why worry about it?

Like the old Chinese proverb - 
"If your problem has a solution, why worry?;
if your problem has no solution, why worry?" <--- kinda paraphrased. THE ESSENCE IS STILL THE SAME!


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## oubliette

I'm not too concerned with death. As the OP mentioned, death is inevitable. Even if scientists were to put an end to aging one's way to the grave, all people would still die eventually, whether by starvation, fatal accidents, natural disasters, murder, etc. "On a long enough time line, the survival rate for everyone will drop to zero."

I am more concerned with how I die (and how I live until that moment) than death itself. I would like my death to be as physically and mentally painless and peaceful as possible. If I had to die violently, Capa's end in _Sunshine_ might not be a bad way to go out.

And perhaps I am already dead, and concurrently have yet to be born. (cue Strauss' _Also Sprach Zarathustra_ to play in the background ) "The past, present and future are only illusions, even if stubborn ones." - Albert Einstein


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## Monroee

don36 said:


> I never think about it but maybe I should start - I'm a lot closer to it than you are!  (I'm a lot older.)
> 
> You've got a loooooong time before you need to worry about this - so why would you?


That type of reassurance is not true. I don't like when it people assume that they are going to live to old age. I could get into a car accident next month and die. Any number of things could happen that cut our lives short. I think about death all the time, only so that I can appreciate each and every moment that I'm breathing. Because it could all end tomorrow, nobody knows.


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## Keyblade

I usually don't think about it. Although when i do, i always think i'll come back as someone else but then brainwashed and not knowing anything that happened.


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## harrison

Monroee said:


> That type of reassurance is not true. I don't like when it people assume that they are going to live to old age. I could get into a car accident next month and die. Any number of things could happen that cut our lives short. I think about death all the time, only so that I can appreciate each and every moment that I'm breathing. Because it could all end tomorrow, nobody knows.


I really don't think it's necessary to think about death all the time just so that you can appreciate our time here, I do that too. I guess all different things could happen to you - but being pre-occupied with thinking these things are likely to happen strikes me as a little unnecessary, even morbid.

I have had so many things to worry about in my life, not including social anxiety and depression, but death itself is something that I rarely think about. That doesn't mean I can't appreciate being alive.


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## Lelii046

I know that my anxiety has to do with it, but theres not many I can talk to about it. I get pretty much all of the advice I've gotten here. While its helpful, it never usually works. I try not to think of it and try to continue living on, but the fact that it will happen one day no matter what scares me.


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## Monroee

don36 said:


> I really don't think it's necessary to think about death all the time just so that you can appreciate our time here, I do that too. I guess all different things could happen to you - but being pre-occupied with thinking these things are likely to happen strikes me as a little unnecessary, even morbid.


I never said it's necessary to think about death all the time. Everyone is different and should enjoy life in whatever way they want. I was just sharing my own way, it's something that is on my mind a lot for many reasons that I don't wish to elaborate on. For me personally, it helps me, so I don't view it as unnecessary or morbid. And I don't think about specific situations that are likely to happen, I just always remember that my time here is impermanent, and that helps me.


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## harrison

Monroee said:


> I never said it's necessary to think about death all the time. Everyone is different and should enjoy life in whatever way they want. I was just sharing my own way, it's something that is on my mind a lot for many reasons that I don't wish to elaborate on. For me personally, it helps me, so I don't view it as unnecessary or morbid. And I don't think about specific situations that are likely to happen, I just always remember that my time here is impermanent, and that helps me.


Fair enough. All the best.


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## jonny neurotic

The prospect of dying some day is the only thing that keeps me going. Lol. No, I joke. 

It's not so much dying that bothers me as the concept of not existing. Being the introvert that I am I spend a lot of time imagining stuff and the one thing I can't do is non-existence. It's a paradox or something. Sure I can imagine black nothingness but that still puts me in the position of existing and perceiving the black nothingness. One simply cannot imagine not existing yet one must reconcile oneself with the idea that one will cease to exist at some time in the future. The alternative to this, of course, is to let ones imagination run riot and come up with fantasies about spirit realms and afterlifes. I could, if I wanted to, conjure up all manner of possibilities but I could not step over that boundary in my head which separates me from the schizotypal religiomaniacs who believe any old crap that springs to mind.

So death still scares the crap out of me as it has scared the crap out of many human since consiousness of ones morality ocurred in the mind of the first poor bugger to be troubled with such thoughts. The best solution I can come up with to date is to just try not to think about it...


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## Lushiro

I don't fear death. The only thing that is 100 percent certain is death. There's no escape from it. I actually welcome it. Wouldn't want to be stuck here on earth forever. Death is just another step, one we all must take.


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## Bleeding Heart

Thinking About Death Makes Me Anxious at Times.., but it is Becoming More Certain That What I Fear the Most About Death is.., Not Leaving Behind a Positive Legacy That Would Carry on Throughout the Ages...

Namaste!


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## RelinquishedHell

It doesn't really bother me as long as I get to experience life first. I wouldn't want to die feeling like I haven't lived.


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## JohnnyR

Well Eckhart Tolles view on the topic is quite interesting! He believes that All fear is ultimately the fear of death. He says when we are ignored, when we are shunned, or when we are rejected, he says that this is like a little death which is quite interesting. He puts this down to our identification with the mind that 'tells the story of a person in this body that is living this life, with its autobiographical narration going on in the head'. He says this is the ego mind and that It is ultimately false. And all suffering is caused by identifying with that


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## Tensor

Death doesn't frighten me, but it does sadden me greatly. I find the world and the experience of living, good or bad, quite fascinating. I'd like to know how things turn out. I'd like to know how the human story ends. Alas, I won't.


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## Rainbat

Dying a slow death would suck, but death itself? Not worried about it. Why? Because I will cease to exist, it's not like I'll be around afterwards thinking about how much it sucks. When you die, you're you know..... dead. There's nothing there. You are not cognizant.


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## Noca

While I don't like the process of dying and don't look forward to that, being dead doesn't bother me in the least. As once I am dead, I will cease to exist and I won't be able to regret anything because regret is a feeling you have to be alive to experience. 

Knowing that we all die anyways helps me deal with the fear of dying while knowing that I only live once and am going to be dead in the end helps me to make the most of my time here. There is no point for me to rush to suicide anymore as I will end up dead regardless, so why not enjoy the time I have? I have nothing to lose by living.


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## Karsten

It saddens me deeply when I think about it. Beyond the fact that just me is going to die, this whole solar system is going to be gone in a matter of time. There will be no remnants or memoirs to remember us or anything by.

I guess you need to realize you are part of the universe, not just an observer to it. You are made of atoms that were thrown about space by some star dying. Be gracious you've been given this experience and humble enough to respect the fact that it's not going to last forever.


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## ForeverFloating

For me death is something that can not be escaped, so why fear it? I'm not afraid of death, but the dying part does scare me. I suppose not knowing what happens afterwards could be scary, but for some reason that does not bother me. I think the fear of death has more to do with what you think would happen when you die, not the being dead part.


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## ourwater

I remember the sound of gunfire and how quiet it made everything seem. I recall people on the ground seemingly unable to move, asking others if they would make it, if I could take them with me, if I was going to die. I remember them not being able to look me in the face, telling me that I wasn't going anywhere. I remember the silence and look of confusion on peoples faces. How little they reacted to my voice. It makes me think how peaceful it must seem to those that are not familiar with it.


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## ManuelVinn

wouldn't death be like before you were born for atheists?


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## bsd3355

you didn't care before you were born and therefore you won't care when you are dead.

is anyone really ready for death? i guess it's just one of those things. you can't escape it. i try not to worry about it right now


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## mfd

Tensor said:


> Death doesn't frighten me, but it does sadden me greatly. I find the world and the experience of living, good or bad, quite fascinating. I'd like to know how things turn out. I'd like to know how the human story ends. Alas, I won't.


That's exactly how I feel as well 

I'm not afraid of dying, but it is something I'd rather avoid is possible. There are things I want to experience and see that likely won't be possible within my lifetime, and that's the part of death that bothers me. I want to see what happens to the Earth, watch humanity embark on further space exploration (and eventually colonization), see robots and AI become a reality...

With death there are only two possibilities.

#1 - There is nothing after we die, and we cease to exist. If this is true, we won't exist to be aware or sad about it, so there's no reason to fear it.

Or...

#2 - There _is_ something after we die, and we'll continue on somehow. If this is true, death is merely a transition into another state, and perhaps that state will be a better one. Regardless, death wouldn't be the end so there would be nothing to fear about it.

I'm agnostic, and I lean heavily towards the first possibility. Throughout my life I've never seen anything to suggest spirits, souls, ghosts etc exist, but I can't say with absolute certainty they don't. It would be nice if they do, but I can't believe something just because it sounds nicer than the alternative.


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## corbeaublanc

We are all scared of being killed; but dying may be a different matter (especially by one's own hand.) I am _not _afraid of dying; but I do have fear of being killed- many of us do, it is the fear before..you know, when you have a freaking gun being held up to your temple.

I believe in free reincarnation. After all; we don't know what happens in the afterlife.


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## Alienated

I have watched all of my family die off 1 by 1 over the years. I had to look in my brothers eye to know he was brain dead, and sign papers to turn life support off. at 25 years old

Then my dad's life support off when he wouldn't quit having seizures after a heart attack and had brain damage. From lack of oxygen.

My point is " It is but once to die, and then comes judgment " and we aren't guaranteed tomorrow. It's not mine or anyone else's feelings or how we deal with it that matter is it ?

Then mom from bone cancer over a 1 1/2 year into a 75 lbs. skin and bones.


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## enfield

i kind of hope i make it to post-human existence, but if there is never going to be any post-human existence, and humans die before that, then i kind of hope i live to at least know that. it would be sad, but i can't really comprehend the sadness enough for it to be worse than the feeling of not knowing. in all likelihood i probably wont know.

and i like what cheimison said, except i'm more doubtful about the perpetual dark ages scenario, since i think it's we survive and prosper, or don't survive, and that there's not much chance at all for anything in between (that's what other people think, too).



cheimison said:


> As regards pessimism I think that, if the human race manages to survive for a while without falling into a permanent dark age (which is entirely possible - see 'most of human history') then they will eventually develop either massive genomic engineering or other artificial intelligences, which will result in the species being engineered out of existence. Once mankind is no longer recognizable as such its chances (and its desert) will vastly increase.


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## duckie

Lelii046 said:


> I'm atheist, and I don't really think any other way, nor do I want to ever again, just out of fear. I want to get over my fear of death, but its impossible.


unfortunately nobody knows what we can expect when we die but i do believe it will be peaceful. i use to believe it would be like before we were born but now i'm not so sure. quantum physics has given me much to think about.

quoted comment from vid i watched a while ago. i think it was a physics vid but not sure:


> "Lucifer is just another fictional creation of mankind. Once you are fully awakened you will no longer seek or need a 'Lord' or a 'God' as you will understand that the universe itself is the supreme being, a living, growing, loving, knowing, learning, understanding, experiencing and ever-expanding life-force... and that every single﻿ one of us is an integral part of it. We are all one."


the fact that all matter exists as a wave and everything is connected within this wave is something i understood from quantum physics videos. but then this guy goes and says the universe is god, you are god, everything is god... so to speak. i always had a hard time accepting the concept of god but this definition makes sense to me with my new knowledge of the matrix.

anyhow, that was an interesting way to put it and it makes me wonder if our personal consciousness ends. physicists tell us that energy is never destroyed and our body contains energy. our life form will transform but will consciousness end for us or will we experience another level of consciousness? obviously we won't know until it is too late to relay the information. i've always thought life after death would be the same as life before birth. we would have no thought or consciousness but now i wonder if a new experience is ahead of us.


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## inerameia

It was a very unpleasant and anxiety-inducing topic just thinking about when I deconverted from my former religion. I think it's impossible to know if there's something after death or not when you're alive. You can't say for a certainty there is nothing, but when you die, you'll either know or you'll be nonexistent. That makes it less of a problem for me. There's no use in worry about something you don't know. And everyone will eventually die, it's our eventual fate. I'm also trying to be "in the Now", like Eckhart Tolle says aha. It sorta helps, knowing reality is here, and not in my mind or worries. I don't really worry about death much anymore.

@duckie that's interested me ever since I deconverted. What counsciousness is, and if we really do live on after death in some transcendental manner. It's amazing thinking of the possibilities


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## duckie

omofca said:


> @duckie that's interested me ever since I deconverted. What counsciousness is, and if we really do live on after death in some transcendental manner. It's amazing thinking of the possibilities


i doubt we are capable of understanding what happens after death but if we
do discover the answer then you can bet quantum physics solved the puzzle.
this field of science has more questions than answers, i could watch quantum
physics vids on youtube for days. :yes

search "Michio Kaku" on youtube for some easy to understand physic vids.
originally his vids got me interested.


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## Implicate

When I die, I die. When you die, you die. Every living thing dies, it's one of the most natural things we will experience in our lifetime. 

Quite frankly, I don't care. It doesn't make me anxious or depressed, and it's really of no consequence to me. It's going to happen, when it does I won't be in a position to worry about it, so why waste my life crying about it instead of living?


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## Zyriel

Death has always intrigued me since as far back as I remember. Once I learned of different religions and their beliefs (in my family mainly Catholicism and Buddhism) it caused me to question it even more due to the vast differences of the destination afterwards. I have had existential OCD since I was about 2-3 lol which has cause quite a bit of headaches in my younger years due to my seeking, or lack of purpose in this world. For awhile, I sought it out of curiosity and overall respite, being weary of the drama and complete bureaucratic bull**** in life. I do not fear death, nor do I really welcome it. Once you eliminate that fear of death, many of the worries of the everyday are eliminated. What remains is the fear of indignity, and rather how one would die a dignified, if not, glorified death.


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## rawrguy

Death - You become what you were before you existed.


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## Bawsome

Looking at accounts of near death experiences it sounds like dying is an amazing thing to go trough, though it cannot be proved by anyone if our consciousness actually survives our physical death i see it as the craziest adventure you can go trough, yea so it totally scares me. the unknown would scare anybody!



rawrguy said:


> Death - You become what you were before you existed.


That is such a cool way to picture it.


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## duckie

rawrguy said:


> Death - You become what you were before you existed.


it seems logical but i don't know if true. guess we will just have to wait and see.


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## sliplikespace

I don't exactly "deal" with it. I just accept that it happens. I get depressed/anxious when I think about the death of people I care about but not so much myself. Not much else to it for me.


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## streetspirit

Well interesting topic here.... Thanks for posting this, and I dont think we can really deal with death maybe the death of a loved one or someone else but once you experience it or even have a NDE it really changes your views on it. 

I just had my little brother pass away from cancer, I just hope he doesn't have a similar experiences as i did even though i was near death.. well was actually pronounced DOA by the EMT's and supposedly i was given cpr and paddle shocked. It is indeed a frightening experiences and I dont think a person should have to go through that, they should just die and not be brought back, honestly wish i came back brain dead and not remembered any of that ****, hey you call it Hell Its worse than you can ever imagine, and no its not some big demonic looking thing or bull **** like that, its your worse true inner most fears brought to life in front of you.. And yeah you cry and hurt and truly believe what you are seeing. If that's waiting for me when i die again I will find away to beat it. Just be in control when you are near death be aware that you and your feelings make your (Hell or possibly your Heaven). So i leave you with a question fellow Agnostics or Christians or Atheists, what do we have left when we don't believe in the after life or heaven or helll or god or religion?, Remember i had all this from the start as I was raised as a Christian myself.


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## Melzy3

My boyfriend the love of my life who was also my best friend died last year,its been very hard for me,I have been more depressed then ever,my anxiety has become even worse,I read a lot of books on life after death,reincarnation,ghost stories and near death experience,I find comfort in these things cause I feel just maybe one day I will be in his presence again,I myself have have what I guess was a ghost experience either that or poltergeist,Ive also had premonition dreams and my gut feelings never lead me wrong.......I like to believe their is something beyond death,I believe in magic and I believe in the unseen.....


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## Rawbyn

Death is my biggest fear, I have developed a sort of phobia of it. I think it's even harder to deal with because I am Atheist. I don't like being one because everything is harder. I want so desperately to believe that there is an afterlife but I just don't. I'm terrified of dying and I imagine it to be the same as before I was born. Simply not existing anymore, only it lasts for eternity. I have too many deep thoughts especially about existence and the universe that it makes it hard to function in life. The only thing that works is to try to push those thoughts away but I always go back to it. So much that sometimes nothing seems real and everything feels foreign to me. I don't want to die...


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## Chrissysoul

This hits home for me. For many years, death was the source for my panic attacks. I could not get over it. I still am really anxious about it, I learned how to control my panic most the time, but it doesn't stop scaring me. I can relate! It's really scary. I have never been able to get over it either . I feel like the fear of not knowing what happens gets me.


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## Chrissysoul

Rawbyn- I do that exact thing. I don't know what belief system I am, but I do have a hard time believing you die and still are alive somehow? I get anxious constantly about it.


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## Dull Boy Jack

This is something I usually avoid rather than dwell on, but it's been on my mind recently. My best friend died in an accident and I was partially to blame... 
The guilt is bad enough, but the worst part is that she is just gone. She existed, then she suddenly stopped existing and I do not believe I will ever see her again. The afterlife is something I've always wanted to believe in, but given everything I've experienced in my life, I just can't.


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## fredbloggs02

The Epicurean: "when death is here, I am not" never consoled me. It doesn't bring death closer or send it away. The thought of it is still with me. It doesn't console me because I must have a sense of purpose higher than candle wax.

Ayn Rand quoted a philosopher I never heard of who said: "I will not die. The world will end." That meant more to me. The idea of a world left behind is unsettling.

I like what Heraclitus had to say about the cosmos. I would hope my soul departs as he described: "both living and dying are in all living and in all dying: while we live our souls are dead and buried in us, and when we die our souls revive." He had an honesty and independence of thought to see all of existence with a fearlessness that inspires me with more confidence in thoughts he is purported to have expressed than those of any other philosopher.

The way my thoughts on death have traveled so far have lead me to the idea that the fear of death is an ethical weight, equipoise of the mind, consciousness of others around us living and dying, an unconsummated sense of purpose, and the consequent pressure on the mind to kill itself. I would be happier dying if I had seen a higher purpose to life and less suffering. The way Dostoevsky's Kirillov killed himself and his thoughts deeply unsettled me. I can't laugh at all human tragedy; especially one who follows the ideas of their will and their heart through their actions: there was something deeply demoralizing in that. Kirillov's thoughts and what others thought of him had disturbed me before they were acted out in his life. My thoughts have become far heavier since I heard that story. If I could kill my mind I feel I would be happier sometimes. I don't want to cling to the idea of an afterlife in life... I feel it's clinging to life that makes it not worth having. I wouldn't want to feel it forced on me, nor feel compelled to believe it, nor feel compelled to live in a heaven where everyone were compelled to be a certain way without the ability to leave. I have nothing against the afterlife, only the human idea of it disturbs me...and that is what all children go for. I have a strong sense of freedom. I don't have the ethical conviction of a child yet, so I do and will suffer my thoughts in this life. I admire Nietzsche's Zarathustra because he represents freedom and the will of the mind to go under for a higher human ideal. I feel great relief from myself reading him aloud. I feel like someone who spoke well said much of what needed to be said in my place.


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## Squirrelevant

Thinking of death makes me imagine myself old, full of fear, in poor health, rather alone, having watched people I care about disappear from my life in one way or another, after living a largely joyless and empty life. Often fills me with a grim panic. I don't really wish for an afterlife despite that.


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## Alienated

You want a experience look into a fresh dead persons eyes, IT WILL CHAGE YOU !!


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## fredbloggs02

Alienated said:


> You want a experience look into a fresh dead persons eyes, IT WILL CHAGE YOU !!


What do you mean?


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## Lelii046

Sorry I was unable to be around lately so I haven't been able to get to posts, but theres a lot of great posts here. I will just have to accept it one day I guess. Just don't think about it for now. Nice to know I'm not the only once who goes through it though.



Alienated said:


> You want a experience look into a fresh dead persons eyes, IT WILL CHAGE YOU !!


What??


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## sas111

I don't have anyone to lose, so il deal just fine..Idc what happens to parents, I'm bitter they brought me here and are far from being likeable people. Idc who dies, should be me.


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## Beingofglass

Alienated said:


> You want a experience look into a fresh dead persons eyes, IT WILL CHAGE YOU !!


 Change*

He's right though.
My relationship to death is very neutral actually. It's more fascinating than frightening, imo.


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## onyxxtreme

Beingofglass said:


> Change*
> 
> He's right though.
> My relationship to death is very neutral actually. It's more fascinating than frightening, imo.


thats pretty much sums up me. Ive seen the aftermath of IEDs with bodyparts and ****, and it is extremely fascinating. 
And when people I'm close to, have died, it doesn't affect me at all. I have to fake feeling sorrow around other people so I don't seem like an evil dickhead


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## onyxxtreme

i also have no fear of death anymore. Which is extremely odd to me, because I have an extreme fear of heights. 
I used to have severe anxiety, when I was younger, from thinking about all the crazy **** that can kill me. Especially tornado's, lightning, car crashes. Seems like overnight, I grew out of that way of thinking, and became an emotionless freak.


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## JNM

I think of death as just a eternal sleep and that's it. I don't really fear death just because of how much sometimes I could really use a moment of not existing at times and I think when I get older ill be tired of living anyways. But what I do fear is how to die, the pain is the only thing I fear.


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## Alienated

Lelii046 said:


> Sorry I was unable to be around lately so I haven't been able to get to posts, but theres a lot of great posts here. I will just have to accept it one day I guess. Just don't think about it for now. Nice to know I'm not the only once who goes through it though.
> 
> What??


When my brother was on life support, they told me he was brain dead. But I didn't believe the doctors, so I opened his eye and looked at it and I knew.

I knew he wasn't there any more, I could see he was gone. It will change you ideas about death, and afterlife !!


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## bzguy

I have watched a lot of my family die, as they got older life got tougher and they started to accept and even look forward to it.
This has brought comfort to me, as I don't buy into the "Eternal life", or an "Omnipotent and Benevolent God".
I am fascinated with evolution and the adaptive behavior of all organisms.
I see this "acceptance of death" by the elderly as just another evolutionary adaptation.
The happiest people were people comfortable with the status quo, and were more attractive as mates from an evolutionary standpoint.
Just my humble opinion.


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## Recipe For Disaster

Shouldn't you ask this question to dead people? I dont deal with death, because I am living. When I die, I will deal with it then just like I deal with everything else when the time for it comes. There is no sense in worrying about before then.



Lelii046 said:


> It's something that's inevitable and will have to face some day. I know that. However, it still scares me. It crosses my mind often, and I get anxious when I think of it. I don't want to think of it, but I will have to face it some day no matter what. Problem is, I'm atheist, and I don't really think any other way, nor do I want to ever again, just out of fear. I want to get over my fear of death, but its impossible.


Its not impossible to overcome the fear of death. The fear of death is absent in deep sleep and peace prevails. Upon waking, something we call the ego rises up and simultaneously with it arises the fear of death. This is due to wrong indentification of the Self with the ego. Your same self that had no ego and no fear of death in deep sleep, is present now while you are awake. It only becomes frightened of death when it identifies with the thought of ego. Cease this identification with ego and fear of death will not trouble you any longer.


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## Archibaldovich

I don't fear death. My deepest nightmare is to waste my existence alone.


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## Zack

I might OD on morphine sulphate tonight. I haven't decided yet. (PS: I hate Google USA-spelling Nazis.)


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## Drought

I don't  I try not to think about it too much. I've accepted the fact that death results in the end of consciousness, but I still can't really accept that I am going to die. I hope that someway or another, I'll live forever, although that's probably not very realistic .


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## The Misery Chick

I don't.


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## Shockjaw

I embrace death. I can't wait to go into the ground.


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## superman556

Damn, that's intense. Me too, although my daily fear revolves around something else. (different post, different day)

If nothing else I'd like to commend your honesty. I've never heard a self-professing atheist say that any more than I hear televangelists remind people God doesn't actually help people who send in $20.

I wish you the best of luck. I still fear death, but no longer in a crippling way any more than other fears I've 'beaten'. I'm a Christian though, which is sort of cheating lol. Feel free to message me if u want.


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## Bur

I don't worry about death. I think I've actually spent more time contemplating the "before Me" time. How was *I* sparked from seemingly nothing and yet at the same time so many somethings? I guess where ever I'm going, I'll be going "home". Back to nothing and an infinite amount of scattered somethings.


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## herk

I try not to think about it, because if I do, I freak out.


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## prettyful

scares the crap outta me


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## markwalters2

For some strange reason, I'm totally unafraid of death except for the people I'm responsible for in this life. If I have enough money to cover them for the rest of their lives, then I can go any time without any worries. Other than that, I am unafraid as I feel more secure in my position as an agnostic-atheist or whatever you want to call it.


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## footballhead

I don't worry too much about it because I think of death as an illusion.

The atoms that make up your body were once part of a star, or a planet, or some supernova billions of years ago. The matter you are comprised of has always existed and will always exist. As an atheist you reject the idea of a non-physical soul, right? So why ruminate over no longer being here? You will always be here.

Some day the atoms that make you what you are might be part of another being. Or another consciousness.

I keep thinking of that Epicurus quote;

“Death is nothing to us, since when we are, death has not come, and when death has come, we are not”

Sorry to be so esoteric, but I think about that a lot, whenever I fear sickness or death.


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## jagmusic

We are wired to fear death, aside from that, noone should fear death. We are composed of materials just as Earth and everything in the universe is. When we cease to function as a machine we still exist as the material that we were composed of. We are part of the universe, and whatever is beyond and therein. 

What freaks me out the most is trying to fathom what that beyond is. Our whole universe can seem like its occuring on a spec of dust. And when we die we loose our ignorance of these truths, and everything that is, is.

P.S. Footballhead just noticed your post, great minds think alike XD.


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## inerameia

I don't care anymore. I've accepted it. It's a fact of life. Everything dies. Eternal life in heaven is just a false promise created by humans who feared death. My consciousness will dissipate but the matter I'm made of will just be recycled to the universe again. It seems almost magical. But anyway, death is unavoidable so the best thing for me to do is accept it. The only thing I fear is the process of dying. It seems it would be lonely. But I'm already lonely so it doesn't really matter right now.


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## jc90

I don't even fear death to be honest. I did at one time. Like someone stated above, the only thing I fear is the process of dieing. I really hope I don't die of sickness. That seems to be the way a lot of my family has gone. I think some more terrible ways of dieing would be dieing in a fire or drowning.


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## Just Here

I don't fear death. I fear suffering a long slow death. 

I believe that when you die you die that's it nothing more nothing less. Where do you think all the dirt came from.


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## ArbiterOfSufficiency

This is a deep subject. My question I would have for someone who is afraid of death (not the process of dying, but death itself) is, "What about it exactly are you afraid of?" In order to anticipate their response, it goes in a couple ways: 1. There exists something after we die, 2. there exists nothing after we die, 3. I don't know what exists or doesn't exist after we die (I personally take the latter stance).

For scenario 1 the question would then be: "What do you think happens after you die?" That should dictate why you're afraid right there, because if you think you'll burn in some "Hell" depending of the criteria you accept for entrance, of course it makes sense why you'd be afraid. There's only two options in this case: 1. To no longer believe what you believe, or 2. Twist/change the criteria for "Hell" to be something else that you can be exempted from (which is what most Christians I know do anyways, heh).

For scenario 2 I would just say, "Why are you scared? If you don't exist after death, there's nothing, literally nothing to be afraid of, heh, nor will there be a "you" to be scared". I suppose then it's either a misunderstanding on your part, or just being afraid of what you do in your LIFE that you're just afraid to accept and as a defense mechanism instead want to throw it farther away to this "death" that you actually don't believe you can reach, as to relinquish responsibility of the choices (don't get me started with determinism, heh) you make while you're alive. See the immense complexity of life in a way that allows you to accept your part to play in it.

And for scenario 3, I say this to myself (as I subscribe to this view): If there's nothing, then see #2 above, so I'm fine with that, and I am not scared, as there is no reason for me to be. Now, if there IS a god/s of some kind, the only god I would care to conceive of anyways is a just and completely understanding and forgiving thing that is far more intelligent than I, or anyone that could ever exist could be. So what am I really afraid of? If this god exists, would it not accept my human nature and all my imperfections (I apply this strongly due to my deterministic model of human behavior I prescribe to, most people don't like that, heh, but hey, whatever) anyways? A god that would condemn me for being human...um...isn't very understanding is it? I'll never let a god strong arm me by brandishing punishment in front of me to get me to do what it wants. The god I can make sense of isn't playing with humans as children play with army men or dolls, it would rather see that we are entities that are affected by what's around us, so we are not in as much control over our "destiny" as we like to believe. Yes, this is surely a controversial view on a god, because it would accept everyone no matter what they did (people don't like that, they want an anthropomorphic god that likes to judge and condemn as humans do, of course) would be accepted by it, and therefore, there's nothing to be afraid of either.

tl;dr
**** you, this is important, I need words to work with, heh.


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## Lelii046

IIllytch321 said:


> This is a deep subject. My question I would have for someone who is afraid of death (not the process of dying, but death itself) is, "What about it exactly are you afraid of?" In order to anticipate their response, it goes in a couple ways: 1. There exists something after we die, 2. there exists nothing after we die, 3. I don't know what exists or doesn't exist after we die (I personally take the latter stance).
> 
> For scenario 1 the question would then be: "What do you think happens after you die?" That should dictate why you're afraid right there, because if you think you'll burn in some "Hell" depending of the criteria you accept for entrance, of course it makes sense why you'd be afraid. There's only two options in this case: 1. To no longer believe what you believe, or 2. Twist/change the criteria for "Hell" to be something else that you can be exempted from (which is what most Christians I know do anyways, heh).
> 
> For scenario 2 I would just say, "Why are you scared? If you don't exist after death, there's nothing, literally nothing to be afraid of, heh, nor will there be a "you" to be scared". I suppose then it's either a misunderstanding on your part, or just being afraid of what you do in your LIFE that you're just afraid to accept and as a defense mechanism instead want to throw it farther away to this "death" that you actually don't believe you can reach, as to relinquish responsibility of the choices (don't get me started with determinism, heh) you make while you're alive. See the immense complexity of life in a way that allows you to accept your part to play in it.
> 
> And for scenario 3, I say this to myself (as I subscribe to this view): If there's nothing, then see #2 above, so I'm fine with that, and I am not scared, as there is no reason for me to be. Now, if there IS a god/s of some kind, the only god I would care to conceive of anyways is a just and completely understanding and forgiving thing that is far more intelligent than I, or anyone that could ever exist could be. So what am I really afraid of? If this god exists, would it not accept my human nature and all my imperfections (I apply this strongly due to my deterministic model of human behavior I prescribe to, most people don't like that, heh, but hey, whatever) anyways? A god that would condemn me for being human...um...isn't very understanding is it? I'll never let a god strong arm me by brandishing punishment in front of me to get me to do what it wants. The god I can make sense of isn't playing with humans as children play with army men or dolls, it would rather see that we are entities that are affected by what's around us, so we are not in as much control over our "destiny" as we like to believe. Yes, this is surely a controversial view on a god, because it would accept everyone no matter what they did (people don't like that, they want an anthropomorphic god that likes to judge and condemn as humans do, of course) would be accepted by it, and therefore, there's nothing to be afraid of either.
> 
> tl;dr
> **** you, this is important, I need words to work with, heh.


Wow I need to keep up with my own thread heh. But you brought up some good points. Those are pretty much the main reasons why people fear death, and even if they were told all this, it can't change their fear because its inevitable.


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## teopap

I don't fear death. Two astral projections were enough to take the fear away. I know that the physical body will die, the consciousness not, it will probably reincarnate in a new form of life. We're energy, and this energy won't vanish.


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## AxeDroid

I don't fear death, when we die we die. To me death is just removing you from this earth because your purpose in life has been completed. We are all here for a reason and everything has been done. I do feel sad that I don't know what my purpose is before I bite the dust. All that I ask the Creator in exchange for the suffering that i'm going thru is to protect my family from harm, harm from outside forces and themselves.


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## CelestialRush

I think that a fear of death is really just a fear of being forgotten, and brushed aside as though we never existed. Or maybe of forgetting ourselves and everything that happened to us? I think people are driven by a desire to know that they matter, that they existed, that something they felt in the rush of their lives was real and counted and left a mark on the universe. And I think the hardest part of death is letting go of yourself. I mean, _you  encompasses everything you've ever known, everything you learned about the world, from your very first thoughts to your very last. Having to let go and move on from such a wealth of information is terrifying.
My personal beliefs about the afterlife is that the energy inside of you will continue on, but your consciousness and identity will not. This is a conclusion I came to on my own and in a very weird way that kind of transcends description. I was sleep-deprived and I was thinking about emotions, and I suddenly and very clearly realized that when I died, people all around the world would continue to feel the same things I felt. Even if my consciousness was gone, everything I felt would still be there to be experienced by other people and life would go on. Somehow, this lifted a giant weight from my shoulders. What others have said about a world left behind being disturbing intrigues me, and I can see how that could be true, but for me it's less unsettling to believe that the world will not end with me._


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## free thinker

My position on life after death has changed recently. I now think there's a good chance that our consciousness/self continues on after we pass away but as what, for how long, and exactly where, is anyone's guess. Having said that, I am puzzled when people use the Law of Conservation of Energy to justify life after death. The law states that energy cannot be created or destroyed but can change into another form (such as heat). However, since energy is a physical property it can only exist in the material universe and not in a supernatural form.


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## pitifultunic

Im completely comfortable with the thought of dying, doesnt scare me at all. However its being put in a coffin that scares me as im claustrophobic. I'd need to be cremated, or be buried with some kind of walky talkie, seriously.


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## Mcquiz

I don't exactly fear death. However, I fear the ways it will arrive. If it happens so quickly and/or painlessly that I don't even realise it then I don't even care when it will happen. My fear of dying in an awful way was magnified by my grandfather's death 3 years ago. His last 2 months were not pretty.


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## cloverlocket

It's always in the back of my mind but I try not to obsess over it because my only worry now is about how I should live life. I never had to deal with grief and recently my grandmother from my dad's side passed away,maybe its because I only saw her a few times in my life or that she lived far away but I felt indifferent.I felt horrible to be honest,it's even worse when you don't seem to feel anything. Seeing my dad's face hurt me more. Death is inevitable and might be scary but in the end its only natural. I guess what scares us most about is how vague it depending on each person's perspective.


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## Glass Child

I cannot fear death because by the time I am dead, there will already be nothing left for me to feel. That includes fright.

I'll accept the inevitable with open arms when it does come around- it is just another part of life from my view. Not that I'm wishing for a painful death anytime soon, but I think you get the idea. No reason for me to be scared.


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