Death is Nothing

All our life, we don't want to think of death, because we're living. But, we have those like me who are kind of wanting to know what death is like, so a thread like this decided it needed to be a thing today. I want to discuss it and all its contents: death. Mostly pertaining to this discussion: what do you think it might feel like to die? What is death? Are you afraid of it?

I'm going to refrain from answering right now. I'll end up getting "obsessed."

Carry on.

I don't think you can know. Once dead, you lose the capability to feel. We can never experience that, because experiencing is feeling. The moment you grasp what it feels like to die or be dead is the moment that you haven't felt it at all.

When I was younger I'd be curious to know how death is. If it hurts, if we do go "somewhere else". I still am not sure about it. It's really complicated. Kanzler did sum it up though, but it's still not comforting for me though.
And if you do believe in something higher, in a divinity or whatever you might, feeling what death is like is something. After all... You'd go somewhere else.

And I'm afraid of death. I hate to think about it, and when I think about it, I do get a little bit depressed. If it's something I'm really afraid of, that thing is death. I know it's impossible to avoid it, and eventually it'll happen. I just don't want to die from some disease or something like, being shot or whatevs. It's really something I fear and I'd rather not think about it. The sad part on all of that, is that it happens.

I think its an interesting question about death, but we really don't know what death is like. Your view on death depends highly on whether you are religious or not, but either way its a scary proposition.

I think its also important to note that even those proclaimed dead by doctors, then revived don't know what its like because their heart only stopped, they weren't brain dead. So technically nobody knows what its like or whether there is an afterlife.

Personally, I'm not overly worried about it. I am religious, so I do believe in a for of afterlife, but I still don't want to die. Not dying is pretty high on my list of things to do.

I just see death as the moment of separation between the soul and the body. I do believe souls do end up somewhere. Am I afraid of death? No. But I'm afraid of the idea that I won't be able to live my life to the fullest, without regrets.

I once dreamt I was dying (there had been an earthquake and I couldn't get out). It felt like my consciousness was slipping away and my soul leaving my body. I think that death will feel something similar to that dream. I do believe that there is a place our souls will go to after death.

I fear death, but other times I don't. I am also curious what comes after.

I fear death, but other times I don't. I am also curious what comes after.

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This sums up perfectly my thoughts and feelings on death. I really wish that there's a place to go to after that, it doesn't matter if we're turning into spirits or going to heaven (along those lines). It really scares me whenever I think of losing consciousness, senses, feelings and simply turning into dusts or like a rotten fruit.


That reminds me, I've watched a decomposition video of a piglet.... Ugh... #How2Feels

as someone who's died and come back, i can at least tell you for certain it's pretty wild.

Universe said:

as someone who's died and come back, i can at least tell you for certain it's pretty wild.

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Have you really?

Universe said:

as someone who's died and come back, i can at least tell you for certain it's pretty wild.

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Could you elaborate on your experience, if you remember?

Nah said:

Have you really?

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Euphonium said:

Could you elaborate on your experience, if you remember?

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yeah, i definitely have. i'd elaborate further but public forum and all that jazz.

you're certainly free to ask me privately if you want to. :)

guess I should post what I think....

Death is basically one of the biggest mysteries in the world since there's no good way to collect data on what happens after one dies. Because, ya know, you have to die and then come back to life. Not to mention that most people who die and then come back/have a near-death experience only experience something for a brief amount of time, and that's usually their only experience until they die and don't ever come back (and so can't tell us anything). We can't exactly just gather up a bunch of volunteers, kill them, leave them dead for 48 hours, and then throw a Phoenix Down or Life Bottle at them and ask what it was like, then repeat the process next week for many weeks. Then there's the fact that everyone seems to experience something different, but at the same time there's some similarities between stories too (like the appearance of some sort of light being extremely common).

So what happens when you're dead for a long time? How similar is it to our living reality? If you were to die multiple times, will you always have the same kind of experience or will it vary (greatly) each time? Will you ever encounter other dead people? Does death eventually lead to the same thing for everyone? Is there an end to death itself, or does it go on forever?

Personally I'd like death to just be the complete and utter end of my existence/consciousness, but it's not like I'll really have any control over what happens. I....suppose it'd be a bit of a lie if I said I wasn't afraid of death at all. It's hard not to be, when fear of dying is such a strongly hardwired biological instinct in living things. Or maybe it's not so much that I fear death (other than how I die, I'd rather not get burned or eaten alive), but rather humanity's other primal fear: fear of the unknown. I don't know what death is like. Even if I was to have a (near) death experience tomorrow, that wouldn't really assure me of what will happen when I stay dead. What if hell or something similar is real and I spend basically forever in that? Who knows.

I don't think about death that often, as thinking about it makes my head hurt. Thinking about the concept of just not existing at all is just too strange, you can't possibly know what it feels like. It's like how it felt before you were born.
However, I am not afraid of death for a variety of reasons. If it's my time to come that's because the universe has willed it so I won't be bitter or sad about it.
What does make me a bit sad is my existence and soul being extinguished completely so I'd like my soul to be passed on to someone or something new.

This gotten me curious so I looked up some stories of people dieing and coming back. They explained it be a peaceful experience. A lot of them said deceased relatives were there to welcome them. They described it as if they were being welcomed home. There were a couple of them who committed suicide who experienced the same thing. Even though some religious beliefs stated suicide is a one way ticket to hell. Makes you wonder why these religions give false threats to keep you alive on this ludicrous world. There are theories out there that states that dreams are a connection with the after life. It makes sense because the after life is explained by people to be like a dream state world. There are stories of people that had vivid dreams of a relative that was deceased that had major impacts on them. They claimed that after there visit with the deceased relative in the dream they no longer grieved there death. How can a dream have that much impact unless what happened was them actually communicating with the dead?

I used to be terrified of death. I think of my teacher's story of his friend spending his life dreaming to be a teacher, only to be killed in a car accident a year into his first teaching job. I think of a close family member who's lived his life for today, only to end up in his grandparent's basement with partial custody of his child. That creeping thought that death can come at any time isn't liberation. It's hell. It makes so much sense, yet is so wrong. What's the point of building for the future if there might not even be a future? Why follow your dreams when you might never reach them?

I think I've found the answer. I came with the realization I'm okay with dying to save another's life. It's a simple argument; what could make your life more meaningful than saving someone from death? It's the ultimate show of self-worth. There's no primal fear. Sadness, yes, but not for myself. Sadness that this world is a cruel place where death still happens. My mind is far more powerful than my body, at least in this regard.

I continue to live so I can make the world a better place. If I receive a favor, then I'll return it. This cooperation, even on the small scale my first-world life experiences, gives me the will to live. I don't mean to be dramatic, and I'm probably oversimplifying. I have no idea what's after this life, I have no way of figuring it out, and so I don't care. What matters, here and now, is what I live for. I'm not afraid of death, not because someone else said it's my time, but because my life was lived to it's fullest. And by fullest, I mean helping the world, if just a little bit.

I'd have to say, this philosophy's working out pretty good so far. :)

xFataLx said:

How can a dream have that much impact unless what happened was them actually communicating with the dead?

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There are ways to accept death without knowing what's out there. I don't expect you to accept death yourself, but you should at least be able to see other people have. Apart from myself, my first thought goes to the military. Those stories of heroic sacrifice, even when in vain.

As for the power of dreams, I know from personal experience that dreams can change the person you are. On multiple occasions I've woken up in the middle of the night, all because of a cautionary tale a nightmare shows me. They're usually random, but once in a blue moon they form a story I couldn't get myself to face while awake. If you haven't already felt that, give it some time. Dreams are more powerful than the strongest hit of acid.

I don't like the idea of ceasing to exist. To tell the truth the idea of it all ending scares me a lot and I'd like to try to avoid death for as long as i can.

It's not really an overly complex issue. I like my existence, so I don't want to die. I suspect most people feel similarly.

It bothers me greatly that I was destined to die ever since I was born. We all were. I try not to think about it, but when I hit "middle age" I am worried that I will realize that I have probably lived for longer than I have left, and how could I rest with that thought gripping me? I always look ahead, too too much.

A way to cope is to accept that death could actually come at any time, unsuspectedly, without warning. So there is no point going around being afraid of it because you won't be able to control it if it happens. If I at some point would fall to my death or otherwise face certain annihilation, I'd like to think that I'd accept it and mostly just go blank and wait for it. It's not death itself I'm afraid of, because I'm one of those who think that you'll completely cease to exist once your consciousness gives in. What I'm afraid of is partly that others might suffer (not being self absorbed here; the death of a friend or relative impacts us hard) and partly the pain that I might experience just before dying. Even if in a moment I wouldn't feel anything ever again, I'm still so afraid of great pain.

I'm happy that death exists, this world is too messed up. Gets more messed up everyday.

Human cloning? Pffft, I'm outta here. I don't want to deal with clones.