Are you scared of death?

[Eudaimonist]

So you are a mountain climber, you slip, and now you find yourself clinging to a rock face by your finger tips, with a 1,000 foot drop below you. You are guaranteed an almost instantaneous death when you hit the ground, so no need to worry about the process of dying, but you would still be terrified of the prospect of death itself.

No, it would be the heights and the fall that would frighten me.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[lesliedellow]

No, it would be the heights and the fall that would frighten me.


eudaimonia,

Mark

Why would a 1,000 foot drop frighten you, if you were just going to get up and walk away as if nothing had happened, afterwards?

 

[Eudaimonist]

Why would a 1,000 foot drop frighten you, if you were just going to get up, and walk away as if nothing had happened, afterwards?

I am terrified of heights. It's a natural, instinctive reaction. It would not matter if I had the superpower of indestructibility.

I would also never go bungee jumping, even if I was certain that it was safe.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[bhsmte]

Why would a 1,000 foot drop frighten you, if you were just going to get up and walk away as if nothing had happened, afterwards?

I didn't see that happen to the many who jumped of the Twin Towers on 9/11.

 

[lesliedellow]

I am terrified of heights. It's a natural, instinctive reaction. It would not matter if I had the superpower of indestructibility.


eudaimonia,

Mark

It might be instinctive to be afraid of heights, but the instinct in question is the one which makes you fear death, no matter where the threat comes from.

 

[Eudaimonist]

It might be instinctive to be afraid of heights, but the instinct in question is the one which makes you fear death, no matter where the threat comes from.

As I had said, I don't fear the death. I fear the heights and the falling. I don't care where the fear comes from.

I would never go bungee jumping, even if I was certain that it was safe.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[lesliedellow]

I didn't see that happen to the many who jumped of the Twin Towers on 9/11.

Even something hard wired into you will malfunction if the instinct is to avoid death, but in reality there is no means of doing so.

 

[bhsmte]

It might be instinctive to be afraid of heights, but the instinct in question is the one which makes you fear death, no matter where the threat comes from.

The instinct is really more driven around, the fear of bodily harm and injury, as opposed to actual death.

 

[bhsmte]

Even something hard wired into you will malfunction if the instinct is to avoid death, but in reality there is no means of doing so.

Nothing malfunctioned, they made a compelling decision based on their choices.

Die a slow death of being burned to death or not being able to breath (not pleasant) or die a quick death.

So, the fear is really around the negative experience you will have to go through and not really death.

 

[Freodin]

It might be instinctive to be afraid of heights, but the instinct in question is the one which makes you fear death, no matter where the threat comes from.

Not quite. All the experiences that you mentioned refer to the process of dying. And every of these instincts is, consciously or unconsciously, based on the experience of hurt and pain.

Falling 1000 feet... ok. You might instantly die. Or perhaps not. How many experiences have you had with falling 1000 feet and instantly dying?

The answer is: not one.

But you have had experiences with falling, 3 feet, 30 feet... and you know that it hurt!

This is what you fear.

And the other side: hanging on your fingers over a 1000 feet drop and doing everything you can to get back up and stay alive - this isn't based on fear of death... it is based on wanting to live!

 

[Stellar Vision]

Nothing malfunctioned, they made a compelling decision based on their choices.

Die a slow death of being burned to death or not being able to breath (not pleasant) or die a quick death.

So, the fear is really around the negative experience you will have to go through and not really death.

I disagree. You could know you face a certain but quick death in a short time, like the people aboard United flight 93.

 

[lesliedellow]

Nothing malfunctioned, they made a compelling decision based on their choices.

Die a slow death of being burned to death or not being able to breath (not pleasant) or die a quick death.

So, the fear is really around the negative experience you will have to go through and not really death.

How do you know what was going through their minds? Atheists always seem to imagine that human beings are dispassionate logic engines. Well, they are not, and least of all when they are in extreme situations like that.

 

[Freodin]

How do you know what was going through their minds? Atheists always seem to imagine that human beings are dispassionate logic engines. Well, they are not, and least of all when they are in extreme situations like that.

I do not know what is going through their mind. But I know what is going through my mind... now, and when I was in dangerous situations.

When people tell you that they do not fear death... why is it so important for you to tell them that they really do?

 

[lesliedellow]

I do not know what is going through their mind. But I know what is going through my mind... now, and when I was in dangerous situations.

When people tell you that they do not fear death... why is it so important for you to tell them that they really do?

It is mildly irritating when atheists, who think they are oh so scientifically sophisticated, only manage to pay lip service to the fact that they are themselves the products of evolution. Like every other species on the planet, they are driven primarily by instinct, and the rationality they set so much store by is just a thin veneer on top of that.

 

[Davian]

It is mildly irritating when atheists, who think they are oh so scientifically sophisticated, only manage to pay lip service to the fact that they are themselves the products of evolution. Like every other species on the planet, they are driven primarily by instinct, and the rationality they set so much store by is just a thin veneer on top of that.

What of the theists, that deny that in its entirety?

 

[Davian]

It is relatively easy to be nonchalant about death, when you are not expecting its arrival any time soon. I suspect things might be different when you are only hours or days away from it.

Of course, the fun thing will be to wake up on the other side of it, and discover that you still exist.

Have you any evidence at all to suggest that this is even a possibility?

 

[Cearbhall]

Something about blacking out and knowing I never existed is kind of frightening.

What's your take on it?

I won't be distressed about it after it happens, so I'm not really distressed about it now. I'm afraid of pain and dying slowly, but not the actual death.

 

[Eudaimonist]

How do you know what was going through their minds? Atheists always seem to imagine that human beings are dispassionate logic engines.

I don't recall atheists here claiming that they are without passions or fears. We've freely asserted the opposite.

None of that means that we are incapable of logic, just as Christians are not incapable of logic.


eudaimonia,

Masrk

 

[Freodin]

It is mildly irritating when atheists, who think they are oh so scientifically sophisticated, only manage to pay lip service to the fact that they are themselves the products of evolution. Like every other species on the planet, they are driven primarily by instinct, and the rationality they set so much store by is just a thin veneer on top of that.

And it is totally impossible for you to imagine that people can overcome instincts (if the even might be what you - seemingly rationally - assume to be), and realize as true what their thin veneer of rationality tells them?

 

[Ada Lovelace]

I'm more afraid of how my parents and others who love me would respond to my death than of death itself. I have a rare endocrine disorder called Addison's Disease that is manageable but incurable, and had what is known as an Addisonian crisis last Christmas that put me in intensive care for the whole holiday. It was my second crisis, but was way worse than the first. It seems like my parents aged ten years in less than ten days. My mom still got carded at Whole Foods when buying wine sometimes beforehand - she looked remarkably youthful and so did my dad - and then suddenly, boom, after I was sick again they both actually looked their nearing-50 ages. JFK had Addison's while in the White House, so as long as I don't die young I can still do big things if I want to seek out and accomplish them. So long as my death is after theirs, and preferably when any children I might have one day are grown and self-reliant, I think I'll be okay with it.

Death itself has never seemed scary to me. There's a quote from Helen Keller about death being "no more than passing from one room to another." I'd like to believe that heaven is true, and I'll go there and be reunited with those I love who are already there. I've never believed in a literal hell; I just viewed it as a void, a separation from God rather than a lake of fire or anything Dantean. If I'm mistaken about heaven's existence, then I'll just cease to exist when I die, which isn't that huge of a deal since I didn't exist before I was born, either. Death has always hurt the living more than the dead.