Have you ever pondered your own mortality?

[Doboji]

Originally posted by: 50cent1228
humans tend to have a fear of the unknown...death/afterlife could be just like this life, no one knows

Unless consciousness is a function of brain chemistry... which seems likely... which means the afterlife is the same as the way you remember life before you were concieved...

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: 50cent1228
humans tend to have a fear of the unknown...death/afterlife could be just like this life, no one knows

exactly. and the unknown is the new drive of life for those who have the power to think for themselves, and not those brainwashed by the simple answers of religions.
we are always seeking answers to the many questions, and the unknown kind of kills us inside because we strive to know about everything we encounter. the universe provides many answers, that as of now are unanswerable, unless your willing to believe crackpot theories and possibly create new answers based on the current teachings.

i'd love to double-major in philosophy and astronomy, if that would provide a good career. but astronomy is something I know I just don't have the ability and time for (ROTC takes up a lot of time in of itself in the later years of school), and nor do I really want a career in those areas of research. so beyond personal knowledge, they are pointless. i'll stick to self teaching through published readings from astronomers and philosophers, though I'll never be able to teach myself stuff like quantum theory. 🙂

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: 50cent1228
humans tend to have a fear of the unknown...death/afterlife could be just like this life, no one knows

I have a pretty good idea. Picture being hard asleep, it's like that.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Doboji
What really blows my mind is how willing we are to die. In my mind there is no doubt that if we as an entire population put our collective efforts, and massive brain power to work we could find away to eliminate death. In my mind it's simply a matter of erstanding 2 concepts, and where and how they reside physiologically.

1) The Self

2) Our memory

Once we can learn how these systems work, we can begin developing better, more durable, more renewable systems for supporting them.

Here's the rub... I find it impossible to accept the concept of dying in 50-60 years. But I also find it difficult to imagine living for 10,000 years... or 100,000 years.

But it's all moot... because when you consider the gravity of death... we spend a paltry amount of our energy attempting to avoid it.

-Max

Death is much more important to our species than you think it is.

 

[Doboji]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Doboji
What really blows my mind is how willing we are to die. In my mind there is no doubt that if we as an entire population put our collective efforts, and massive brain power to work we could find away to eliminate death. In my mind it's simply a matter of erstanding 2 concepts, and where and how they reside physiologically.

1) The Self

2) Our memory

Once we can learn how these systems work, we can begin developing better, more durable, more renewable systems for supporting them.

Here's the rub... I find it impossible to accept the concept of dying in 50-60 years. But I also find it difficult to imagine living for 10,000 years... or 100,000 years.

But it's all moot... because when you consider the gravity of death... we spend a paltry amount of our energy attempting to avoid it.

-Max

Death is much more important to our species than you think it is.

The species is nothing... I am everything... If I exist so does the species.

Immortality would be a social problem... resolvable via space colonization, and birth control. The death of I... is permanent.... catastrophic and irrecoverable.

I mean really.... you're willing to die... just so unborn people can come into existence and die?

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Doboji

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Doboji
What really blows my mind is how willing we are to die. In my mind there is no doubt that if we as an entire population put our collective efforts, and massive brain power to work we could find away to eliminate death. In my mind it's simply a matter of erstanding 2 concepts, and where and how they reside physiologically.

1) The Self

2) Our memory

Once we can learn how these systems work, we can begin developing better, more durable, more renewable systems for supporting them.

Here's the rub... I find it impossible to accept the concept of dying in 50-60 years. But I also find it difficult to imagine living for 10,000 years... or 100,000 years.

But it's all moot... because when you consider the gravity of death... we spend a paltry amount of our energy attempting to avoid it.

-Max

Death is much more important to our species than you think it is.

The species is nothing... I am everything... If I exist so does the species.

Immortality would be a social problem... resolvable via space colonization, and birth control. The death of I... is permanent.... catastrophic and irrecoverable.

I mean really.... you're willing to die... just so unborn people can come into existence and die?

I didn't say that people want to die, I'm saying that it's better for humanity as a whole that they do. Of course, not in large numbers.

 

[Doboji]

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Doboji

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Doboji
What really blows my mind is how willing we are to die. In my mind there is no doubt that if we as an entire population put our collective efforts, and massive brain power to work we could find away to eliminate death. In my mind it's simply a matter of erstanding 2 concepts, and where and how they reside physiologically.

1) The Self

2) Our memory

Once we can learn how these systems work, we can begin developing better, more durable, more renewable systems for supporting them.

Here's the rub... I find it impossible to accept the concept of dying in 50-60 years. But I also find it difficult to imagine living for 10,000 years... or 100,000 years.

But it's all moot... because when you consider the gravity of death... we spend a paltry amount of our energy attempting to avoid it.

-Max

Death is much more important to our species than you think it is.

The species is nothing... I am everything... If I exist so does the species.

Immortality would be a social problem... resolvable via space colonization, and birth control. The death of I... is permanent.... catastrophic and irrecoverable.

I mean really.... you're willing to die... just so unborn people can come into existence and die?

I didn't say that people want to die, I'm saying that it's better for humanity as a whole that they do. Of course, not in large numbers.

Who gives a crap about Humanity as a whole when faced with the premise of immortality?

 

[puffff]

reincarnation.. i'm trying to decide what i'll be next life.

 

[JetBlack69]

This body holding me reminds me of my own mortality.
Embrace this moment. Remember, we are eternal,
all this pain is an illusion.

 

[RapidSnail]

Well I trust in God as Savior, so I have nothing to worry about 🙂.

 

[cardiac]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: djheater

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
I ponder it all the time, but not in an unhealthy obsessive way. My religious beliefs are such that I spend a lot time thinking about the afterlife. Its going to be really really good for those of us who are preparing for it while there is still time...

No offense, but that strikes me as exclusionary dogmatism. I am not one of you, and my belief set, which I hold just as strongly, tells me my afterlife will be just as jolly as yours. Many believe that if you live your life preparing for death you're missing the point.

Exactly. Ned is telling us that he lost his fear of death by imagining (in conceited fashion no less) that his afterlife fate will be better than that reserved for the rest of us fools. Unfortunately, such thinking is contrary to the teachings of the faith he believes has saved him. Salvation is a gift of God.

I didn't take it that way at all. He wasn't boasting or bragging, etc. I'm a Christian, and have accepted Jesus Christ, and I too, believe that there will be more.....

Bob

 

[DainBramaged]

I think about it every day.

 

[Praxis1452]

Nietzche in Thus Spake Zarathustra had a different view. He presented the story of the tightrope walker falling down after his foe leapt over him on the rope. Lieing dieing on the ground Zarathustra reassures the man that there is nothing waiting for him. In this view there is no pain, so nothing to fear.

 

[Lu Bu]

Heh, Death is what makes life worth living!

 

[RapidSnail]

Originally posted by: Lu Bu
Heh, Death is what makes life worth living!

Strange way to come out.

😛

 

[MikeSci457DC]

I've lost a whole lot of sleep over this doozy of a question in recent weeks, but a few days ago I came to a conclusion that seems to work for me. I told the reaper to fvck off because I had better sh*t to be doing than waiting around for his lazy ass come collect me. Personifying it makes it that much easier to deal with, and allows you to move on with your life. I'm hoping to end with the motto, "Life might be pointless, but at least I had fun."

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: Zysoclaplem

Originally posted by: illusion88
just start drinking before noon

I don't have any alcohol.

You are soooooooooooo screwed.

 

[Howard]

Originally posted by: Doboji

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Doboji

Originally posted by: Howard

Originally posted by: Doboji
What really blows my mind is how willing we are to die. In my mind there is no doubt that if we as an entire population put our collective efforts, and massive brain power to work we could find away to eliminate death. In my mind it's simply a matter of erstanding 2 concepts, and where and how they reside physiologically.

1) The Self

2) Our memory

Once we can learn how these systems work, we can begin developing better, more durable, more renewable systems for supporting them.

Here's the rub... I find it impossible to accept the concept of dying in 50-60 years. But I also find it difficult to imagine living for 10,000 years... or 100,000 years.

But it's all moot... because when you consider the gravity of death... we spend a paltry amount of our energy attempting to avoid it.

-Max

Death is much more important to our species than you think it is.

The species is nothing... I am everything... If I exist so does the species.

Immortality would be a social problem... resolvable via space colonization, and birth control. The death of I... is permanent.... catastrophic and irrecoverable.

I mean really.... you're willing to die... just so unborn people can come into existence and die?

I didn't say that people want to die, I'm saying that it's better for humanity as a whole that they do. Of course, not in large numbers.

Who gives a crap about Humanity as a whole when faced with the premise of immortality?

At which point in time did I state that humans put the species before the individual? :roll:

 

[chambersc]

Originally posted by: RapidSnail

Originally posted by: chambersc
Every waking minute of my life I wonder why I am and how I came to be... to come from nothing (in the grand sense) is mind boggling.

Right now I'm doing some basic stuff with the quantum theory, and even at that level I think to myself how it could be even remotely possible for everything we know to have evolved. The universe is so unbelievably complex, yet at the same time so perfectly ordered that everything just points to a divine Being.

Oh, is that right?

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: chambersc

Originally posted by: RapidSnail

Originally posted by: chambersc
Every waking minute of my life I wonder why I am and how I came to be... to come from nothing (in the grand sense) is mind boggling.

Right now I'm doing some basic stuff with the quantum theory, and even at that level I think to myself how it could be even remotely possible for everything we know to have evolved. The universe is so unbelievably complex, yet at the same time so perfectly ordered that everything just points to a divine Being.

Oh, is that right?

Well, the thread's gone down this path, so what the hell. 😀

Ok then, where did the inexplicably complex diving being come from to create this complex Universe? If this being could always exist, why is it not ok to say that the Universe always existed in some fashion? Or perhaps even to say that time itself was spewed forth from the Big Bang, along with space, energy, and matter?


Concerning death, yeah I think it sucks that humans have this amazing mental capacity, but are destined to the same death as any plant or animal, but hey, not like I can do anything about it right now. There may come the time when our consciousness can be transplanted into a less fragile container, and allowed even to expand considerably from there. But that won't be happening in my lifetime. I just kind of have to accept that one day my consciousness will cease to exist. Not like I'll care, the absense of consciousness means I won't be perceiving any of it - if I was perceiving, I wouldn't be dead.

 

[SlitheryDee]

Yeah I think about it and it scares the fvck out of me.

Everyone's like "Oh well, after I die I'll be dead and since dead people can't think that'll be alright".

Not existing is gonna suck big time. I'm terrified of the prospect of winking out like an old lightbulb. It won't be like a dream, or eternal darkness, or anything you might imagine it to be. All those things at least require you to be able to perceive something.

Even Hell would be better than what I think is really going to happen so try Pascal's wager on that one.

 

[Cooler]

Why care if you die you die. Nothing you can do to change it its better just to accept it and move on with life. Thinking about only gets in your way. Besides what is your concept of time other then the time your lived there is no way to experience more then that thus to you it is eternity.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Cooler
Why care if you die you die. Nothing you can do to change it its better just to accept it and move on with life. Thinking about only gets in your way. Besides what is your concept of time other then the time your lived there is no way to experience more then that thus to you it is eternity.

And besides, those who think the afterlife is going to be utterly amazing, they should be hating this life. I know I would. Yay, I get to suffer for several decades before allowed to really live good! Take me now, dammit!!

I've had that thought too, that since your consciousness has a start and an end, in a sense, you feel like you always existed. You knew of no existence before you were born, right? You assume it was there, but you didn't experience any of it. Same with after death - you're never around to experience your own complete absence of perception.

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: Cooler
Why care if you die you die. Nothing you can do to change it its better just to accept it and move on with life. Thinking about only gets in your way. Besides what is your concept of time other then the time your lived there is no way to experience more then that thus to you it is eternity.

If you care, you can take measures to slow down aging, and that could pay off big time in the long run. Don't obsess, but care, a fine line.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
Yeah I think about it and it scares the fvck out of me.

Everyone's like "Oh well, after I die I'll be dead and since dead people can't think that'll be alright".

Not existing is gonna suck big time. I'm terrified of the prospect of winking out like an old lightbulb. It won't be like a dream, or eternal darkness, or anything you might imagine it to be. All those things at least require you to be able to perceive something.

Even Hell would be better than what I think is really going to happen so try Pascal's wager on that one.

You wouldn't even bbe aware of non-existance, so why would it suck?