fear of death

[danyboy27]

i was wondering about death and the fear we all have to meet it.

i am juggling about a lot of theories about it, and i want your opinion.

is fear of death the dirrect result of our self consciousness, or its coming from our social and cultural environnement?

at first i was about to say its beccause of our self consciousness, but then i realized that the whole fear of death thing didnt really applied to all people, certain violent regions of this world are habited with people who no longer fear death, mainly beccause of its constant presence.

is fear of death linked to our genetic code?

beccause has far i remember we are the only living being to be affraid of death, other living things are scared of many things but death isnt one of them.

what do you think?

[Ele'ill]

Other living creatures aren't aware of their own existence in the same way that humans are.

I think the idea of death is cultural.

[brigadista]

i think you will find that suicide rates are non existant in war zones

[TheCagedLion]

I've always understood it so that from a animalistic point of view, we are all hardwired to be afraid of dieing. If we see something(A tiger, guy with a knife, etc.) that can kill us, our body will react (flee or fight) in the hope that we might see another day, and we therefore are able to do what animals do best - multiply.

Now that's what our instincts tell us, but humans are remarkable creatures, in that we can, to some degree, use our brain to rationalize said instincts. Which is why different cultures have different perceptions of death.

I remember Karen Blixen writing something about this in "My Africa", on how the white people were completely opposites of the black people, the first fearing death, but having no problems being around the dead(corpses), and the latter not fearing death nearly as much, but having a hard time being around the dead.

[Forward Union]

"If I am alive, I need not fear death, for I am alive. If I am dead, I cannot fear it. Why should I fear something that cannot exist alongside me?" - Cicero

[Ele'ill]

"If I am alive, I need not fear death, for I am alive. If I am dead, I cannot fear it. Why should I fear something that cannot exist alongside me?" - Cicero

Because everything that we knew will be gone. (to us)

[STJ]

I dont fear dying.

[Bitter Ashes]

I think we have a fear of the process of dieing, but not of death as a state of bieng by default.
The social side of things are the stuff that puts it into your head that you must give birth to several children before you die and you must have made sure never to have sinned and so on and so forth. So, you've got people who are either worried that they havent achieved enough, or worried that thier religous beliefs mean that there will be an afterlife where they may be judged even more harshly than in life. At the end of the day, if we personaly think something is important enough that we must do and we're phsycially capable of doing it, we'll do it. If we're not phsyically capable of it, then it's not our fault. If it's something we've chosen not to do, then we really didnt feel strongly enough about it in the first place and it's just something that somebody else feels we should have done, hence a social construct.

[RGacky3]

i think you will find that suicide rates are non existant in war zones


Hahahah.

[Bitter Ashes]

i think you will find that suicide rates are non existant in war zones
http://www.suicidewall.com/SWStats.html

So, either 20,000 or 150,000 suicidides in the Vietnam War, depending on which source you trust and these are just for the US soldiers.

[DesertShark]

Other living creatures aren't aware of their own existence in the same way that humans are.

I think the idea of death is cultural.
There other creatures who self-aware (http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/m/mirror_test.htm) like us, and also mourn their dead - think elephants (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2006/oct/31/uknews). (You can look up the "mirror test" on wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_test) also.)


Because everything that we knew will be gone. (to us)
But when you're dead you won't know that.


I think we have a fear of the process of dieing, but not of death as a state of bieng by default.
The social side of things are the stuff that puts it into your head that you must give birth to several children before you die and you must have made sure never to have sinned and so on and so forth. So, you've got people who are either worried that they havent achieved enough, or worried that thier religous beliefs mean that there will be an afterlife where they may be judged even more harshly than in life. At the end of the day, if we personaly think something is important enough that we must do and we're phsycially capable of doing it, we'll do it. If we're not phsyically capable of it, then it's not our fault. If it's something we've chosen not to do, then we really didnt feel strongly enough about it in the first place and it's just something that somebody else feels we should have done, hence a social construct.
I think a lot of what you said here is true. There's a movie and a book about this issue; the book is called Denial of Death, I can't remember what the movie is called.

[Dejavu]

I would think the more you fear death that is the extent to which you value life more.

[DesertShark]

I would think the more you fear death that is the extent to which you value life more.
Could you elaborate on this?
I would think the less you want/try to or actually kill any living thing, the more you value life.

[Dejavu]

Any living thing? Is that possible? Do you realize how many microorganisms you kill by just scratching your nose, taking a shower, eating, or cleaning a wound?

[Dejavu]

I would think the less you want/try to or actually kill any living thing, the more you value life.

Emphasizing any here really puts your opinion here in jeopardy. If a person takes antibiotics they are engaging in mass killing of micro-organisms in their bodies. We should not say that that person values life less.

What I meant by fearing death = valuing life more pertains more to an individual person. I'm not saying I'm right but its a way of looking at it.

[Pogue]

don't really fear it that much, it just happens and then theres nothing. i'd fear a slow death, but if it was quick theres not much to fear. being mindful of detah and mortality makes you more aware and respecful of life, i find, if you think of it the right way. with the attitude of 'fuck it, one day i'll be dead' you can get along done.

[Comrade Anarchist]

the fear of death in my opinion stems from the fear of nothing. We always want life to have meaning but with a death and nothing after that makes life seem pointless in many ways.

[rednordman]

the fear of death in my opinion stems from the fear of nothing. We always want life to have meaning but with a death and nothing after that makes life seem pointless in many ways.Interesting post this. The reason I say that is because when I was very young, for some very odd reason, I remember trying to invisage what death was like. I have zero idea why i did this other than that of pure curiosity. What was this concept that everyone fear most? I must of thought.

Weird thing was though when thinking about it, all I could imagine was a pure, swith out all the lights kind of blackness. and nothingness. For all eternity.

This is now baffling me, but i can actually remember thinking about this clearly, yet i must have been only 6-8 years old. Very odd. Anyone else have simillar experiences?

[Pirate turtle the 11th]

When I was little I used to think death would involve just lieing in a coffin for eternity getting really really bored.

[rednordman]

When I was little I used to think death would involve just lieing in a coffin for eternity getting really really bored.You put it better than me in simpler terms. damit:lol:

[mikelepore]

The explanation is evolution. A type of animal that has a strong survival instinct has a greater probability to live long enough to transmit its genes to a future generation. Animals that don't care whether they survive or not will be the first ones to become extinct.

[DesertShark]

Any living thing? Is that possible? Do you realize how many microorganisms you kill by just scratching your nose, taking a shower, eating, or cleaning a wound?
A lot of those microorganisms you're thinking of aren't technically alive. For instance, all viruses are not alive because they don't meet the qualifications to be a living thing. To be alive it must have the ability to: reproduce; obtain and use energy; grow, develop, and die; and respond to the environment.


Emphasizing any here really puts your opinion here in jeopardy. If a person takes antibiotics they are engaging in mass killing of micro-organisms in their bodies. We should not say that that person values life less.

What I meant by fearing death = valuing life more pertains more to an individual person. I'm not saying I'm right but its a way of looking at it.
How does it put my opinion in jeopardy? Indeed, the purpose of taking an antibiotic is to kill what ever bacteria is infecting you. So it goes, some things just deserve to die I guess.

I'm sure there are people who kill others (as part of their job: military, police, prison; or because they're crazy) that are afraid of death. I just don't see how fearing death means you value life more. I would think that living your life to its fullest would mean you value life more, not living in fear and wasting part of your life on it.

[Ele'ill]

The explanation is evolution. A type of animal that has a strong survival instinct has a greater probability to live long enough to transmit its genes to a future generation. Animals that don't care whether they survive or not will be the first ones to become extinct.

But survival instinct is learned isn't it?

[redarmyfaction38]

But survival instinct is learned isn't it?
i don't think it is, it's like the male urge to procreate indiscriminately :D, it's in the genes!

everyone wants to live for ever, if they don't, what was the point of living in the first place :laugh:.

[mikelepore]

If a behavior is learned, we usually get the hint of that when we observe someone who doesn't do it. But what kind of animal doesn't show a survival instinct? Almost all of them do. With the exception of a moth flying into a flame -- and if you try to swat it with your hand even that same moth displays the instinct again.

[Dooga Aetrus Blackrazor]

I have a fear of spiders that is irrational. I developed it because I saw other people "fear" spiders, and I didn't like the loud noises they made. I imagine I could overcome this fear. If a spider bit me, though, it could become worse. We naturally associate emotions based on our experience. Our reason tells us "that is wrong," but we don't always listen.

We regularly see people fear the death of others, and we fear the death of others. Therefore, perhaps we fear death because of precedent or a sense of moral continuity with our community.

I don't fear being "dead." I fear any random pain, that could be associated with death. I also fear that "if I make plans for time X" my sacrifices for my "future self" are wasted by death. The idea of death implies that I'm wasting my time. However, we essentially take risks, each day, because death isn't very likely.

I really don't worry about death. I don't worry about spiders. If I see a spider, I might jump. However, I'm also ticklish and spiders are very good ticklers so maybe my fear is a rational "dislike of being tickled." I do get rather violent when people try to tickle me, and I simply apply this fear only to insects, who have a particular motion about them that facilitates tickling, maybe?

Who knows. I don't worry about death, and I put it in the irrational fear category with spiders. Maybe all our fears are "rational," but I don't think that's true.

[DesertShark]

I have a fear of spiders that is irrational. I developed it because I saw other people "fear" spiders, and I didn't like the loud noises they made.
What loud noises do spiders make?

[Dooga Aetrus Blackrazor]

What loud noises do spiders make?

I meant people who made loud noises in reaction to seeing spiders. Should have made that more clear, I suppose.

[NecroCommie]

I am not afraid of death, since my party has two clerics of lvl 21 and above. Even if they would fail to raise me, my character would propably join Ilmater in his eternal suffering... wait.

[PCommie]

Talking about death as a state is pointless, since death as a state is simply nonexistence, which means you won't be there to experience it. "You" won't even exist.

Now, I have an interesting theory about after-death, not religious, just... hard, nay, impossible to explain. I will try, but you have to understand it at some point, because I can't find the right words.

This is how I see it. You die, you're done. You are finished, you will never exist again, your consciousness is gone forever, there is no more you. However, this does not mean that the world stops also. Other people will be born. "You" may be one of these people, not as "you" the old you, but a new person. It's really just stating the obvious I guess, but this is where "understanding" comes in.

H&S forever,
-PC

[NecroCommie]

I didn't get it. However I aim to be immortal. So far I'm doing well.

[Dr Mindbender]

Einstein once said ''the fear of death is the most irrational of all fears''