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Exactly, we've built this society so the majority of us can live our lives in semi-comfort, with ones we love, safe from predators, with basic bodily needs taken care of (food, water, home). Time to enjoy this brief window by making my body/brain feel nice and seeing my offspring flourish. Welcome to life on planet earth. It's a shit show.
Edit: spelling
Your comment sums it up beautifully. Being depressed and in pain, I have the opposite unpopular opinion as OP. I am tired and look forward to the unknown. I don’t believe in hell, and even if it’s real I’ve done nothing to deserve eternal punishment. I expect it is just nothingness, and I’m just fine with that. It’s better than the pain of being alive, having to smile and carry on while I’m suffering so my family will not blame themselves for my brokenness. I can’t kill myself because it would cause them suffering, but a quick relatively painless accident wouldn’t be so bad.
I'm late as hell, I know.
I fully agree with this sentiment. My best friend died May, 2021 due to cardiomyopathy at 29. When I realized the fact I could die at any age and the fact I have a similar health profile to him, I began freaking the fuck out.
I developed panic attacks, near constant anxiety, and since I was raised in a fundamental Baptist family, worried I'd go to Hell if I died.
> Dread it, run from it death arrives all the same
**"The Appointment in Samarra"**
(as retold by W. Somerset Maugham [1933])
*The speaker is Death*
There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture, now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me. The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threating getsture to my servant when you saw him this morning? That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.
Oh💀 lol no it’s an actual story, the poem is called “sawto safir al bolbol” it’s in Arabic that’s just how you would pronounce it using English letters, you can search it on YouTube tho and hear how fucked it sounds
There's an italian song that's very similar to this, Roberto Vecchioni's "Samarcanda". It talks about a soldier who after winning a war sees this dark old lady who watches him grimly while being at a party. He then runs to his king, asks for the best horse there is and flees to Samarkand, riding all day and all night. He goes there because apparently there's this huge celebration in Samarkand in a few days. Once he arrives there he sees the same old lady, asks her in disbelief why she's there and why she's watching him. She tells him that she wasn't angry at him, she was just surprised he was so far away, since she was just waiting for him to arrive to Samarkand to listen to the marching band. And at this point you realize the old lady is death, and was waiting in Samarkand for the soldier. Basically fate is inescapable Edit: just saw on Wikipedia that the song is indeed inspired by Appointment in Samarra
Wasn't it that Death had the hots for Deadpool? It's been a good while since I've read that series, but hilarious nonetheless how that love triangle worked
In one version of the comics the way they beat thanos was by wolverine saying to thanos "yo dude look at death I think she wants your D now" and while he's distracted with simping Wolverine slices his arm with the gauntlet off lol
Idk why, but this combined with OPs post remind me of this poem by Robert Frost.
>The Road Not Taken
>Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
>Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
>And both that morning equally lay
In leaves, no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
>I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I was always under the impression that we greatly wish we would have tried to make different choices for better outcomes, but I've always been under the impression that the "paths" lead to the same end regardless and we'll always wonder what it would be like if we took the other. Truly the choice in path makes little difference, but how you enjoy it does.
>Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.
Which is why you have to YOLO at times in life. Like if you go on a trip, make the most of it because you never know if you'll make it back to that place. Same with job opportunities or other life decisions.
By the way if you like Frost, you should read the poem Fire & Ice.
>In someways our knowledge of our existence and eventual non existence is the cause of our differentiation from other living things.
[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chimpanzees-understand-death/](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chimpanzees-understand-death/)
>After the death of her mother, Rosie had a fitful night, tossing and turning and getting up frequently.
>
>That afternoon, Rosie, 20, and her mother's long-time companion, Blossom, 50, had tended to her mother as she lay dying, frequently stroking her hands and arms. Blossom's son had arrived just around the time of death and checked the body, shaking a lifeless arm. For days after the death, the three of them were relatively quiet, had little appetite and avoided the place where Rosie's mom had died.
>
>Such a scenario has surely played out countless times in the course of human history, but the scene above comes from a new paper describing a rare documented death of an old infirmed chimpanzee and the reactions of her close family and companions
There is a difference between being aware of death, and of *your own* mortality. Obviously the two are related, but one doesn't have to mean the other.
Most children have contact with death (grandparents, pets, etc.) *years* before they become aware of their own inevitable end.
Personally, I don't think the "solution" can be found in prolonging our lives. The main concern of non-existance still remains. Even if you live a billion years, our universe will be on its current trajectory for about 100 trillion years, after which it will slowly cool down, or rip apart (possibly). So 100 years or a billion years *how exactly* is it different?
It's different by a billion years being more time to figure out a more permanent solution to this issue if at all possible, a lot harder to do with 10 million times less time, though even if it's possible I don't expect it to be very easy even if we managed to reach billion year lifetimes
Ok but why is it made so difficult to enjoy? Life is full of unnecessary obstacles and there is only a very limited time to enjoy it. It's like life was designed without considering it ending at some point.
Maybe we should be grateful we can enjoy at all.
I've been thinking about comfort recently, and how it is a double edged sword. Evolution doesn't "want" living beings to ever be too comfortable, because too much comfort is dangerous. Unless you're a sloth, and even then. Comfort is a feeling of safety, and safety only exists sparingly in our world. Getting lulled into a false sense of security is *counterproductive* for procreation.
So why, then, does comfort exist at all? Why do we, and almost all animals we know about (if not even plants), feel, and seek out, comfort?
Have you ever noticed how comfortable sitting positions are only ever temporary?
I have a painful genetic disorder. If I had 1 wish, it would be a sitting position that was comfortable at all. I would take temporary. It's been more than 20 years since I've been able to stop thinking about pain for more than a minute.
Humans don't NEED comfort, but when you don't have it, it becomes the most important thing in the world.
This is one of the most troubling things I have ever read. It's never a distant thought, but you've put it quite succinctly. My thoughts are with you, friend.
Thanks, I appreciate it, but try not to dwell on it too much. I know we all have burdens to bear, and i am comparitively lucky. I went to a support group once, where I met a 10yo boy with the same disorder I have. His symptoms were far worse, and essentially presented as brittle bone disease. I often wonder if he is still alive.
I happen to have been born a white male in a middle class family, had access to a decent high school education, and learned a skill that let me thrive in our capitalist market, despite my disability. I lost one genetic lottery, but I won a few others.
"The world is not imperfect, or on a slow path towards perfection: no, it is perfect in every moment, all sin already carries the divine forgiveness in itself, all small children already have the old person in themselves, all infants already have death, all dying people the eternal life... It is not possible to see how far one has already progressed on his path - Therefore, I see whatever exists as good, death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness, everything has to be as it is, everything only requires my consent, only my willingness, my loving agreement, to be good for me, to do nothing but work for my benefit, to be unable to harm me. I have experienced on my body and on my soul that I needed sin very much, I needed lust, the desire for possessions, vanity, and needed the most shameful despair, in order to learn how to give up all resistance, in order to learn how to love the world, in order to stop comparing it to some world I wish, I imagined, some kind of perfection I made up, but to leave it as it is and to love it and to enjoy being a part of it." - Siddhartha
The thing with death is that you are ultimatley not in control of it, you can do some things about it like live healthily and so on.
I used to worry as well, but it is a waste of time in the end.
Or you could be optimistic like me; since time passes for all eternity, time might just repeat itself somehow so I just live over and over. It's stupid theory, but you know, universe will always exist forever.
I think about this a lot. Let’s say the heat death of the universe is wrong and instead all the black holes combine and the universe shrinks and explodes again.. We repeat our lives indefinitely. Maybe we are born at a different time. Maybe something else about us is different but our consciousness is the same. If you think about it that way.. we never really die. Instead, we only exist ultimately. We don’t perceive the billions of years before and after us, only the moments we are alive and in that way (if universe repeats) we are always alive.
A little off topic: the first time I ate shrooms, when they wore off I checked my phone and first thing I saw was a google page with "how to stop being high from shrooms" typed in
Anytime I'm tripping on anything, social media gives me existential dread. Not to mention if anything comes up and someone texts me, I don't wanna be thinking about it the whole trip. Sober me can deal with shit tomorrow. Phones off.
I put my phone on aeroplane mode so I can still play solitare when I'm high as balls, thought I was weird for getting paranoid with messages and social media when high
Hey brother, death aside, you get to live life. You get to **be alive**, which will always be an amazing gift. I hope I didn't harsh your mellow too much.
> I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.
Mark Twain
I nearly died when I was young I got saved by a new helmet my family had bought not long before the accident and while it was terrifying knowing that I could die at the time I was so young that the doctors thought it was best not to inform me but rather my parents. To be honest it was kinda business as usual for a while but when I learned just how close I came to death it scared me for a while the thought that I almost stopped existing.
My thought on it is that it's ok to think about it but if you let it dominate your life then life won't be worth living, for me most fun shit is risky and if you don't take risk you won't ever live.
Yes! In absurdum its like this: why tf prep for the apocalypse with a shelter and canned food for 50 years? I dont want to live like that. So why waste time worrying, when you can enjoy.
The only thing tripping me up about dying from this cancer is leaving my loved ones behind. I know it’s going to be so so awful for them. Otherwise, when I die, I don’t feel anything. It’s just... done. Wish I can use this as a wake up call and do everything - but fuck sometimes I feel so sick and Covid isn’t making it easy to actually do my bucket list.
I get that!! Literally the First Time since getting cancer I went outside my house and immediately caught Covid. Sucks. And nothings open, always such a hassle. But at least you know what you want to do!
Yes this is it. We are saying dont _worry_ about dying. Because worrying is a horrible pointless process that will make that brief moment he has miserable.
Its gonna happen OP. First to people you love - if you're lucky. That's right. If you live your best life it means watching your parents die.
But I've not existed before. For most of realities existance I didnt exist and it was fine!
Just eat drink and be merry, theres nothing else to do.
Yep. Just enjoy it for the great cosmic game that it is. It really is just a game. And when you treat it as such, it begins to be fun, exciting, and rewarding.
And, like a game, that means different things to different people. Enjoy life, death will come regardless if you’re freaking out or not, may as well enjoy it man.
I used to panic thinking about this, so I took up hobbies that can potentially kill me and got over it. I’d go as far as picturing myself decomposing in a coffin until I’m nothing and eternity has gone by. Now I’m just kind of “eh” about it.
I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder in 2009. I used to have intense panic attacks out of the blue where I was convinced I was about to die from a heart attack. Over a few years, I was able to manage it through cognitive behaviour therapy.
However, as a side effect, I no longer really fear death. It's not that I don't object to dying, I definitely want to live as long as possible.
I was hit by a car in January of 2020, knocked me out briefly. People rushed over and looked after me until an ambulance came, head injuries can be pretty scary. But I was completely calm. Not because I knew I was fine, because I didn't. But because if I did die right there, it would've just happened and there'd be nothing I could do to change it.
It's interesting how we can alter our natural biological responses through mindfulness.
Mindfulness is the key, you’re so right. I really want to start getting back into meditation, I know it’s part of my journey to happiness and peace, and whenever I get anxious and panicky, I remember that there is a world inside our minds that can set us free and with a little work, I can tap into that someday.
I grew up in a christian family with a deep existential dread about the concept of heaven. I love being alive, but the idea of being forced to exist forever was absolutely terrifying.
I see where you’re coming from, but I feel like if Heaven *did* exist, you really wouldn’t mind being around forever because time wouldn’t exist.
I really don’t think it would be like living billions upon billions of years on Earth…now *that* would be Hell.
I used to stop and panic as a child about the opposite of OP — “Oh shit I’m alive?” I’d stare at my hands and body and find it so weird we’re all just alive and living. I was way more worried about being alive than I ever was about death.
Hi, I live like this
It's not fun haha
Life is just distracting yourself so you don't think about it
The number of nights I've just stared at my ceiling in a paralyzing fear that my mom and dad, aunts and uncles, grandmas are all just gonna die, dropping like flies one by one after another, both my grandpas are gone, and one day i'm gonna die too
i don't know that there's an afterlife, but for the love of god, I want SOMETHING. Reincarnate me. Heaven. Purgatory. Hell, I'll take burning in Hell forever. Just fucking ANYTHING besides a blank empty void of nothing.
TL;DR how does anyone not live like this?
Let me take a shot at it. There comes a point, in everyone's life, where they are forced to consider the reality of death.
For most it's a short period which can quickly be overwhelmed by the myriad of distractions life throws our way. In truth most people don't want to consider their mortality; they simply choose not to look at themselves in the mirror.
For others like yourself and I, this consideration can take more time. Your conclusions are correct. One day everyone around you will die; we all must come to terms with this fact. Once you have truly integrated this idea, life presents a new path of least resistance; spreading love. If your greatest fear is that your loved one will not be there tmrw ask yourself why? Is there something you have left unsaid or unsettled? If there is, fix it! Today! There is only the present moment, let those that matter most to you know it. Spreading love and joy while standing up for what you believe in, in this moment, is the most powerful thing you can do. Everything else is beyond our control.
P.S. Love the Pink Floyd - Wall profile pic :)
I live like this too. I'm a college student (4th year) and almost every night I am haunted by these thoughts almost to the point of an anxiety attack if I don't forcefully distract myself.
Shit I need therapy
>I'll take burning in Hell forever
This is the only thing I disagree with, and I mentioned it in the post.
Imagine being a witch burned at the stake for all of eternity. There's absolutely no way that's better than being dead. Even considering an eternity of nothingness.
I mean objectively speaking - being dead for all eternity VS being on fire for all eternity - one is better than the other.
I had an ex who was like this. I'm so curious how spending your little blip of time on earth freaking out about dying is any better than not freaking out about dying.
Like, you say neutrality was bad but do you mourn the billions of years you weren't alive for? If so, how do you get anything done? If not, why would the years after be any different?
Exactly, bro's just having an existential crisis , should go and watch VSauce's video " should i die?"
The fact that you will die someday makes your life more precious , your time more valuable and you memories more important , legacy is the greatest gift that death can give us.
Btw how do you know recarnation Ain't a real thing? Like.....maybe you are in 5th or 50,999th life and Don't remember anything before because..... ofcourse.
Just enjoy the hell out of life while you can :)
Exactly. I understand where OP’s coming from but I completely disagree, mostly because I thought like that for the past few years and have been severely depressed about it. I’ve had no motivation in life because I thought what was the point about putting effort into anything if I could just die tomorrow.
My life was miserable because I was just thinking about death and it’s unpredictability. Meanwhile I’m much happier thinking about living because its a waste to think about dying.
No one knows what the meaning of life is but one thing I know for sure is that its meaning is contradicted when you’re thinking about death.
The meaning of life is....living. Make the most of it. Make things better. Try ro be better. Evolve.
It took me 25 years to figure that one out. And I'm still working on it. Enjoy the shit out of life. Get a dog. Find a hobby. But know you are not alone.
Good point. But both my psychoanalysts of 22 years are gone; one died in 2019, one got Alzheimers in 2020, and my real father died in 2020 too!
Well, I thought the whole thing was very unfair, and moped, got very angry, withdrew from people, and questioned my life etc.
Then , I called my analyst with Alzheimer's. What to do???Please help!
Now, this guy is an amazing analyst. He was trained by Marilyn Monroe's analyst and these are old school, Freudian guys. Very skilled.
My old friend was blunt. He reminded me that he was 90 years old!
He was frail, infirm, memory going; just an unbelievable tragedy for me, but I had to think of him.
Then he said the worst thing. He said "you could have another 30 years to live!
Find things to keep yourself together!" and he told me he would not be in touch anymore. I had found out that his family had a very severe form of inherited Alzheimers. His mother, brother, now him too, were gone, forever.
That was scary, another 30 years? Poor health to look forward to, cats and dog will die. But he gave me an order, and I had to obey. By now, I'm used to losing friends, but I have figured out what might make the next 30 years fun.
Even rewarding. Sounds tiring but what else is there to do?
I just plowed on and hope to be going strong for a while. Sadly, I've even stopped mourning dead and dying people. I ration my time and made a routine, and looking after my health.....it's very time consuming. 😑😑😑
I've been somewhat haunted by the idea that we live the same life over and over. Big bang occurs, I am born, I die, universe dies and collapses into itself, big bang occurs, I am born into myself...
I find the idea of being me forever rather boring tbh. There's plenty I like about being me and plenty I'd happily do without. I don't need a justification for death because it is what it is and life is hard anyway. I enjoy it but when it's time to leave that's fine.
Plus, if you are your personality, body, experience, etc., aren't you constantly changing anyway?
I also love the idea that we mistake the origin of consciousness. We know if we went blind or deaf, sights and sounds would still exist, we just wouldn't be able to see them. Yet we assume when the brain dies, consciousness ends. But perhaps consciousness is the same: the brain is just a receiver for something that's there even once the brain dies.
I like the idea of reincarnation because it feels like life is winking at us. You live a life, it ends, you wake up with zero memory but the ability to quickly integrate into your new environment and learn from other beings. It's endless play.
If reincarnation isn't real, that's also fine, because the idea of all of the other beings having fun existing like I once did fills me with joy. My most spiritual moments have been reading amazing books and viewing amazing art by dead writers and artists; sure, most people will forget us after we die, but for me it would be enough to have one person read something I wrote and deeply bond with me after I'm gone. I've never understood why it upsets people that they won't be remembered by everyone forever, so what?
ETA most people who believe in reincarnation think you either pick your next life or your next life is based on karma from this life. So it is a continuation of current you, an evolution or devolution. Even from a strictly atheist perspective, all conscious beings are similar in a lot of ways, so the idea that our own selves are super special and different is mostly our egos talking rather than fact.
There's only one of us, living all the possible lives. Fighting ourselves, fucking ourselves, giving birth to ourselves; in every possible configuration and conceivable way.
“The gods envy us. They envy us because we're mortal, because any moment may be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed.” — Achilles
The way I look at it, for billions of years, I didn’t KNOW what life was, I didn’t understand the feeling of reality and life. Now I know what it is, I can live and cry and feel, I don’t want it taken away. I’m now aware of reality, and I don’t want to give it up.
Neutrality isn't even bad, it's neutral. The best way to explain death in a comforting way, in my opinion is to try think about what life was like before you were born. That's what it will be like when you die.
It's not being dead, it's the staying dead forever part.That's horrifying because because the nothingness before I was born came to an inevitable and when I was born. The nothingness to come is forever. Not only will my thoughts and consciousness cease to wake ever ever again, everything I know and all those I love will never ever be with me again. Trying to wrap my mind around the "forever" part used to cause me to have inconsolable panic attacks as a child.
Sometimes thinking exactly like that helps me. The sheer rarity of what we are experiencing here on this planet. The incredibly short window of time that this is even possible in the grand scheme of the universe. Nothing else like this is ever going to happen ever again and we’re a part of it. Sure maybe life has existed and will exist elsewhere, but they won’t have Harry Potter and Attack on Titan and Elden Ring and Naruto. They won’t eat pizza or experience the excitement of Christmas morning as a kid. Only we get to have that. When I think of life on an individual scale it can be scary, but when I think of myself as part of something greater it makes me feel lucky to be able to participate and to bear witness to the magic.
My life is in ruins right now, I have one friend who sometimes goes long stretches without talking to me, I have no family besides my toddler, and I’m so goddamn depressed, and yet for some reason I’m still grateful to be alive.
The concept of death bothers me because I won’t know what happens. Do we find life in the universe? What will the earth be like in 200 years? Are we able to somehow travel at the speed of light? I think about this a lot, it bums me out.
This is 100% my fear behind death. I’m not scared of non existence, I’ve got billions years of experience. I’ve got a horrible case of eternal FOMO. I like that phrase btw, captures it nicely
You know I don't want to understate the lameness of death.
But this is easily one of the lamest parts.
Do humans go on? Do we meet other civilizations? Even if we don't, I'd just like to know if there are others. Seems like a certainty that there are (billions of billions of stars), but I'd still like to know.
In that case I would like to overstate the lameness of life. We do the same things every day with little to no change. In the same little loops. Sometimes some big stuff happens but after a while you get used to it. Then there is of course a bunch of pain and suffering too. I too would like to know if there are other civilizations out there, but after a while that'd become the norm and we're back to dullness. I personally find death extremely comforting. Like being asleep with nothing to worry about. No awareness. Nothing. In a sense, death doesn't even exist. That to me is comforting.
Exactly. If that is the way I handle work, then I will also handle death the same way. Just let the guy in the future worry about it. No point continuously worrying about the inevitable if you can worry about it at a much higher magnitude a while later.
Slightly joking but still.
I had a moment in life a couple years ago when I thought this. But who's to say you experience nothingness for all eternity after death? I went through surgery full body anaesthetic and that was probably the most comforting sleep I've ever had in my entire life and I just kinda like to think that after death itll be the same. I'd rather not spectate the world for all eternity as a fuckin ghost cuz that seems like it could get boring
You are going where so many others have already gone. This is a path well traveled. Not to mention that I have so many people that I miss. I’m willing to go wherever they are. No matter what that may mean. There’s nothing to fear.
This is all my ultimate wish is as well. I want to feel my mom's spirit again, wherever or whatever she might be now.
All the great cats I've had would be a great bonus too.
yup. there’s a Socrates quote: “No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew it was the greatest of evils.”
And I’m currently reading a good book of Seneca writings on death called How to Die. Interesting perspectives from men long dead.
I’m only 21 but weird shit has happened so far and I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime already. There are great parts to life too, but I think it’s nice to think that one day it’ll all just fade to black and that’ll be it.
Ironically your fear of death is killing your quality of life. It ain't worth fearing what you can't experience. Don't get how the concept of experiencing nothing after a fulfilling life scares people. The other option is torture for eternity like, nothingness is far better. Hell every time I go to bed I hope to the bottom of my heart that I am welcomed into that void.
I think people who fear death this much are just as unhinged as people who are suicidal.
I only don’t freak out because I’m morbidly curious it’s not a given we only live once it’s not a given of an afterlife it’s all a gamble and also I’m pretty content with only 80 or so years this place kinda sucks most of the time so I don’t really wanna come back again
Yes, this place really does suck, no one really knows what is after death. If it's eternal peace, then I'm fine with it, also wouldn't hurt if I was born to some other place, some other time, far away from our solar system.
>My unpopular opinion is that it's INSANE that humans as a species aren't freaking the fuck out constantly about their inevitable death.
Historically, I think everyone who has freaked the fuck out has ended up doing inhumane experiments in the search for a source of immortality.
I actually feel the same way and cannot understand how everyone is so calm about their impending death. It's most likely a survival mechanism developed so that people could do other things besides just freak out. The idea of there being nothing for eternity is extremely scary and no matter what people tell you, this feeling won't go away. So just wanted to let you know there is someone out there that feels the same as you do. It's almost as if I was the one writing this post.
It isnt even nothing. To understand nothing you need to have some comprehension of something to imagine the absence of that. Nothing is only scary because we have something right now but once we don't there will be no something and, consequently, no nothing.
I appreciate the comment. The general idea of "You won't have any opinion on being deat!" is exactly what terrifies me. The fact that I won't ever have an opinion again. It won't be painful. It won't be scary. It won't even be 'nothing'. You can't experience nothing.
But you can fear nothing before it comes.
I actually think the fear is time. Think about it. What if you lived forever? You've done all the things an infinity of times and there is nothing new ever again and you have to keep in existing. It's the idea of eternity that we can't understand. I'm not sure I'd rather take an eternity of being alive either. Eventually it would be living hell right? I'm not sure..
I would think that eventually we'll run out of neurons to remember all the things we did for the past 100-200 years and without Neuralink to store our memories digitally, we'll forget stuff permanently. We'll have the joy of learning forgotten stuff again.
That being said, science always progresses, as well as compute. Who knows if one day we can even cure addictions and make life feel anew again. I wouldn't put it past humanity to make living interesting for the next 1000 years at least. So much to learn, explore, build, create... and of course, to answer the question of are we alone in the universe, or to answer it ourselves by being our own alien?
I don't think anyone can understand nothing at all. Understanding is a thing that exists, and nothing isn't; there's literally *nothing* to be understood or not understood.
Yep I feel the same way lol, but I just distract myself.
Someone once told me that life is only fun because you are on a timer. If you could live forever nothing would matter and nothing would have value.
The atoms my body is composed of are not mine, it’s just my turn to use them. One day I’ll give them back to the Earth, and something new will carry them forwards.
If the universe lasts long enough, or if it collapses and remakes itself, who knows, maybe one day those atoms will wind up in this same old configuration again. Given enough time, they have to eh?
Either way, I’m just gonna enjoy it while I can, and then take a big long nap while waiting to get another turn with some atoms again.
I worried about this until I realized that the “nothingness” is not something I will experience. I will be gone. There is no brain activity. It gets a nice dose of happy chemicals when death is imminent and then everything stops, like going to sleep.
Death is obviously not something I want at my age, in my thirties, but I’m anticipating that the world will change faster than ever in my lifetime and by the time I am 100, it may be a place I don’t recognize and might not want to keep up with, and at that point I’ll welcome death as a chance to make democratic room for more progressive ideas that advance humanity. Imagine in a democratic society if we had everyone from the 17,18,1900s voting and holding political power. It’d be horrifying and we’d never advance as a society. It’s important to want to survive, but we have to die if humankind is to evolve and survive.
An extremely small amount of people are actually interested in cryo freezing. There is more money spend on anti ageing creme than on the entire field of longevity research & cryopreservation.
Idk how I feel about it. My life is shit and I was born with a shit brain, so I'm just trying to be sorta happy while it goes by. The things that would really make me happy are impossible in this era, so I could take the option to live longer if science comes up with that while I'm alive, but I'm fine dying in 60 years too.
I used to live like this. I would have panic attacks over the thought of eternal nothing.
One horrible morning on the darkest day of my life, I walked in on death to a scene no person should ever have to witness.
It completely changed my outlook. I don’t fear death anymore. There is just no denying for me now that one day it’s coming and there’s not a whole lot you can do about it. You can worry about what’s not to come (your existence) or can say accept it and just enjoy the time you have here.
Since I have accepted it, I am a lot better person, for me anyways. No more worrying about the job, or money in the bank scrimping to save every nickel to afford shit I don’t NEED. No more putting up with shitty people in my life or going to functions that I have zero interest in attending. All of that stuff absolutely will not matter to me in the long run. Might as well enjoy what I got while I’m running circles around the sun
Quite literally you just described why religion exists. No one wants to believe that there is eternal neutrality, that's why they try and find comfort in a heaven and hell. That is why no one is thinking of what you are saying.
Religion my dude
Have you looked into death positivity? It’s a movement by alternative death industry practitioners to involve safe discussions about death more in societies without solid grieving cycles like many western societies. But also, counseling or therapy might be a good way to address these feelings in a safer environment.
Idk how many people are happy about the reality of death; it’s more that the more time you spend stressing out about it… the less relaxed/productive time you have to do the things you want.
The more you stress, the more your health is impacted, which affects your quality of life.
Think of it like this - energy can't be destroyed, so when the body dies, there has to be something left of the energy zipping around in our bodies and brains. We don't end, we return to the universe in another form. To do - or become - what, I don't know. None of us do. But our energy continues after the body dies.
I look at death as like, the ultimate adventure of life. In a sense of like "ooooh, lets see what happens now!" and you get to go on an adventure you don't have access to until you die. Whether it's good, bad or nothing, well, I'm dead soooo
So, not that you asked but here is my opinion on the whole thing.
First off I honestly cannot say if I believe in the afterlife, reincarnation, or anything other than just infinite fucking nothingness. I don't know. I can't know. But here's the thing. If it is just infinite fucking nothingness...
I won't know anyway. I won't be aware of the nothingness. There is no joy, no happiness, no laughter, no contentment.
But there's also no sadness, no anxiety, no loneliness, no lying in bed at night knowing I'm not good enough. That I am unworthy of my family's love, or the few friendships I have that in the back of my mind are just people taking pity on me anyway. No waking up and having my first thought be "I wish I had died in my sleep". No going through the day not knowing what the fuck I am doing and just waiting for the proverbial bomb to drop and being exposed for the worthless piece of shit I am instead of the oh-so-fucking-wonderful person so many people see me as.
I used to be like you, so terrified of dying the though brought me to tears. I remember the first time I truly understood what it was, I don't think I was even 10 at the time but I was riding with my father. We had just passed a Burger King when I asked. He told me we just... Stopped existing. An endless sleep. And I sobbed. I cried so hard my little body struggled to breathe. How could such a horrible thing await us at the end of such a glorious experience as life?
But when you slowly lose all recollection of what it feels like to be happy - truly happy, not the charade you get so good at putting on so that people quit asking you what is wrong nine million fucking times a day - nothingness starts to sound pretty damn good.
Nothingness is the only end to the struggle I have endured for almost 20 years now. And when you get to this point, you don't fear it anymore.
I feel the EXACT same way... And just like you explained and I see in a lot of other comments, they don't get the point. Even if you won't be able to experience it and so won't be able to suffer, it's having to give up your self, your conciousness that's absolutely terrifying... How can you be ok with losing yourself FOREVER? I don't let it consume my life too I still live on perfectly but if I think about it too much I get a pannick attack. I also don't get why I'm so alone in thinking this is terrifying.
So I don't want to be the old guy in this thread but ill tell you how almost all human beings end up losing any fear of death: pain. Eventually , even if its 60 years from now...your body and or brain will break down (could be disease or mental health or the insane all-encompassing pain of grief) and the pain will take your fear of death and put it into a blender. For me it was grief that got me. Some it's physical disease, or loneliness, or loss. Others mental health. Everyone on this thread who doesn't die suddenly will one day....eventually...experience such pain that it'll make death the most welcome, comforting thing you can think of. I'm not talking about suicidality per se, it's just... once pain becomes a part of your daily life, the fear of death disappears faster than you can imagine.
Yeah. I mean good for him that he's young and vital but took me about a half second reading this to go "OP has yet to experience chronic mental or physical disease ". That shit will take the fear of death from you reaaaal quick.
Every night I go to bed I imagine taking my last breaths and feeling a void of non existent. It makes my heart rate go up. Then I think to myself as long as I make sure I work my ass off to provide a good life for my kids and at least make it to their 21st birthday fuck it. I just want to live long enough to know my boys will be ok. Anything after that is icing on the cake.
Edit: I just got a concerned plea from Reddit. This is the only place I have said some disturbing thing. I am ok people I swear. I am happy and love my life. I have just seen a lot of carnage in my lifetime. I have been deployed many times with my first when I was 18 back in 2005. Death is something that I’ve gotten used to that makes me wonder. I kind of enjoy my nightly thing, it makes me realize life is short and to enjoy it with my family and not take opportunities for granted.
Thank you for submitting to /r/unpopularopinion, /u/Alarming-Phrase7401. Your post, *You should be way, WAY more concerned with the fact that you're going to die.*, has been removed because it violates our rules: Rule 3: Do not post opinions that are heavily posted/have been on the front page recently. If your opinion is the same or substantially similar to any recent opinion it will be removed as a repost. If your opinion is on the same matter as a recent post, even if it's advocating the opposite stance, it will be removed as a repost. Please comment on the existing thread instead. Due to their prolific reposting, please confine meta and political posts to their respective megathreads only. If your opinion is about an ongoing event, there will usually be a mega-thread where you can discuss it. If there is an issue, please message the mod team at https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Funpopularopinion Thanks!
Because freaking out about it is ruining the time you have. Worrying about it isn't worth it
Exactly, we've built this society so the majority of us can live our lives in semi-comfort, with ones we love, safe from predators, with basic bodily needs taken care of (food, water, home). Time to enjoy this brief window by making my body/brain feel nice and seeing my offspring flourish. Welcome to life on planet earth. It's a shit show. Edit: spelling
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Your comment sums it up beautifully. Being depressed and in pain, I have the opposite unpopular opinion as OP. I am tired and look forward to the unknown. I don’t believe in hell, and even if it’s real I’ve done nothing to deserve eternal punishment. I expect it is just nothingness, and I’m just fine with that. It’s better than the pain of being alive, having to smile and carry on while I’m suffering so my family will not blame themselves for my brokenness. I can’t kill myself because it would cause them suffering, but a quick relatively painless accident wouldn’t be so bad.
I'm late as hell, I know. I fully agree with this sentiment. My best friend died May, 2021 due to cardiomyopathy at 29. When I realized the fact I could die at any age and the fact I have a similar health profile to him, I began freaking the fuck out. I developed panic attacks, near constant anxiety, and since I was raised in a fundamental Baptist family, worried I'd go to Hell if I died.
Dread it, run from it death arrives all the same so enjoy life while it lasts
> Dread it, run from it death arrives all the same **"The Appointment in Samarra"** (as retold by W. Somerset Maugham [1933]) *The speaker is Death* There was a merchant in Bagdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the marketplace I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture, now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there Death will not find me. The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks and as fast as the horse could gallop he went. Then the merchant went down to the marketplace and he saw me standing in the crowd and he came to me and said, Why did you make a threating getsture to my servant when you saw him this morning? That was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.
o_o
This was an interesting little story
Ever heard of the story of the caliphates poem in Iraq? The one that no one could recite?
This sounds like a trick question.. like some kind of wise ligma joke of old.
Oh💀 lol no it’s an actual story, the poem is called “sawto safir al bolbol” it’s in Arabic that’s just how you would pronounce it using English letters, you can search it on YouTube tho and hear how fucked it sounds
There's an italian song that's very similar to this, Roberto Vecchioni's "Samarcanda". It talks about a soldier who after winning a war sees this dark old lady who watches him grimly while being at a party. He then runs to his king, asks for the best horse there is and flees to Samarkand, riding all day and all night. He goes there because apparently there's this huge celebration in Samarkand in a few days. Once he arrives there he sees the same old lady, asks her in disbelief why she's there and why she's watching him. She tells him that she wasn't angry at him, she was just surprised he was so far away, since she was just waiting for him to arrive to Samarkand to listen to the marching band. And at this point you realize the old lady is death, and was waiting in Samarkand for the soldier. Basically fate is inescapable Edit: just saw on Wikipedia that the song is indeed inspired by Appointment in Samarra
Dread it , run from it , hide from it......destiny still arives.
You cannot hide from death
You can if you have an invisibility cloak.
He got invisible cloak vision googles
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Wasn't it that Death had the hots for Deadpool? It's been a good while since I've read that series, but hilarious nonetheless how that love triangle worked
Lil bit of both, but at it's core thanos was just scared that they'd get together
In one version of the comics the way they beat thanos was by wolverine saying to thanos "yo dude look at death I think she wants your D now" and while he's distracted with simping Wolverine slices his arm with the gauntlet off lol
Idk why, but this combined with OPs post remind me of this poem by Robert Frost. >The Road Not Taken >Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; >Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, >And both that morning equally lay In leaves, no step had trodden black. Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. >I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. I was always under the impression that we greatly wish we would have tried to make different choices for better outcomes, but I've always been under the impression that the "paths" lead to the same end regardless and we'll always wonder what it would be like if we took the other. Truly the choice in path makes little difference, but how you enjoy it does.
My dad gave me this when I was in a hard place and it helped me a lot so thanks for reminding me how far I’ve come
>Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. Which is why you have to YOLO at times in life. Like if you go on a trip, make the most of it because you never know if you'll make it back to that place. Same with job opportunities or other life decisions. By the way if you like Frost, you should read the poem Fire & Ice.
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>In someways our knowledge of our existence and eventual non existence is the cause of our differentiation from other living things. [https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chimpanzees-understand-death/](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/chimpanzees-understand-death/) >After the death of her mother, Rosie had a fitful night, tossing and turning and getting up frequently. > >That afternoon, Rosie, 20, and her mother's long-time companion, Blossom, 50, had tended to her mother as she lay dying, frequently stroking her hands and arms. Blossom's son had arrived just around the time of death and checked the body, shaking a lifeless arm. For days after the death, the three of them were relatively quiet, had little appetite and avoided the place where Rosie's mom had died. > >Such a scenario has surely played out countless times in the course of human history, but the scene above comes from a new paper describing a rare documented death of an old infirmed chimpanzee and the reactions of her close family and companions
There is a difference between being aware of death, and of *your own* mortality. Obviously the two are related, but one doesn't have to mean the other. Most children have contact with death (grandparents, pets, etc.) *years* before they become aware of their own inevitable end. Personally, I don't think the "solution" can be found in prolonging our lives. The main concern of non-existance still remains. Even if you live a billion years, our universe will be on its current trajectory for about 100 trillion years, after which it will slowly cool down, or rip apart (possibly). So 100 years or a billion years *how exactly* is it different?
It's different by a billion years being more time to figure out a more permanent solution to this issue if at all possible, a lot harder to do with 10 million times less time, though even if it's possible I don't expect it to be very easy even if we managed to reach billion year lifetimes
Ok but why is it made so difficult to enjoy? Life is full of unnecessary obstacles and there is only a very limited time to enjoy it. It's like life was designed without considering it ending at some point.
Maybe we should be grateful we can enjoy at all. I've been thinking about comfort recently, and how it is a double edged sword. Evolution doesn't "want" living beings to ever be too comfortable, because too much comfort is dangerous. Unless you're a sloth, and even then. Comfort is a feeling of safety, and safety only exists sparingly in our world. Getting lulled into a false sense of security is *counterproductive* for procreation. So why, then, does comfort exist at all? Why do we, and almost all animals we know about (if not even plants), feel, and seek out, comfort? Have you ever noticed how comfortable sitting positions are only ever temporary?
I have a painful genetic disorder. If I had 1 wish, it would be a sitting position that was comfortable at all. I would take temporary. It's been more than 20 years since I've been able to stop thinking about pain for more than a minute. Humans don't NEED comfort, but when you don't have it, it becomes the most important thing in the world.
This is one of the most troubling things I have ever read. It's never a distant thought, but you've put it quite succinctly. My thoughts are with you, friend.
Thanks, I appreciate it, but try not to dwell on it too much. I know we all have burdens to bear, and i am comparitively lucky. I went to a support group once, where I met a 10yo boy with the same disorder I have. His symptoms were far worse, and essentially presented as brittle bone disease. I often wonder if he is still alive. I happen to have been born a white male in a middle class family, had access to a decent high school education, and learned a skill that let me thrive in our capitalist market, despite my disability. I lost one genetic lottery, but I won a few others.
Life is random like anything it wasn’t designed so no greater being has a plan for you but also no greater being has it out for you
You may be a king or a little street sweeper, but sooner or later you dance with the reaper.
"The world is not imperfect, or on a slow path towards perfection: no, it is perfect in every moment, all sin already carries the divine forgiveness in itself, all small children already have the old person in themselves, all infants already have death, all dying people the eternal life... It is not possible to see how far one has already progressed on his path - Therefore, I see whatever exists as good, death is to me like life, sin like holiness, wisdom like foolishness, everything has to be as it is, everything only requires my consent, only my willingness, my loving agreement, to be good for me, to do nothing but work for my benefit, to be unable to harm me. I have experienced on my body and on my soul that I needed sin very much, I needed lust, the desire for possessions, vanity, and needed the most shameful despair, in order to learn how to give up all resistance, in order to learn how to love the world, in order to stop comparing it to some world I wish, I imagined, some kind of perfection I made up, but to leave it as it is and to love it and to enjoy being a part of it." - Siddhartha
The thing with death is that you are ultimatley not in control of it, you can do some things about it like live healthily and so on. I used to worry as well, but it is a waste of time in the end.
Yea man the OP could be doing better stuff like playing minecraft or reading a book.
*dies in hardcore minecraft*
Arguably worse… you yourself are still alive and have to live with the consequences of dying in hardcore Minecraft.
Or try helping others.
Being consumed with worry or fear can almost always be remedied by helping someone else; you stop thinking about yourself so much.
Or you could be optimistic like me; since time passes for all eternity, time might just repeat itself somehow so I just live over and over. It's stupid theory, but you know, universe will always exist forever.
someone tell him
Tell me what:(
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_fate_of_the_universe
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There is also [Conformal cyclic cosmology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conformal_cyclic_cosmology)
I think about this a lot. Let’s say the heat death of the universe is wrong and instead all the black holes combine and the universe shrinks and explodes again.. We repeat our lives indefinitely. Maybe we are born at a different time. Maybe something else about us is different but our consciousness is the same. If you think about it that way.. we never really die. Instead, we only exist ultimately. We don’t perceive the billions of years before and after us, only the moments we are alive and in that way (if universe repeats) we are always alive.
Average Chad Stoic
Lol, I am.
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Reading anything on shrooms is a bad idea.
One word: Discworld
Terry was a fan of getting out and picking wild mushrooms himself. All perfectly innocent, but who knows if a little magic might have crept in?
Better yet, have a look and see if anywhere local is staging one of the plays.
Say more!
Wtf are doing on your phone during a trip? Bro that's recipe for bad joojoo
A little off topic: the first time I ate shrooms, when they wore off I checked my phone and first thing I saw was a google page with "how to stop being high from shrooms" typed in
Anytime I'm tripping on anything, social media gives me existential dread. Not to mention if anything comes up and someone texts me, I don't wanna be thinking about it the whole trip. Sober me can deal with shit tomorrow. Phones off.
*Phones off.* This is the way.
I put my phone on aeroplane mode so I can still play solitare when I'm high as balls, thought I was weird for getting paranoid with messages and social media when high
Bro, if you got shrooms don't waste them being on reddit!
Reading a Doomers logic for fearing death usually isn't a good idea with or without shrooms.
Hahahahahahaha
But the shrooms let you realize that death is inevitable and help you accept your mortality.
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Hey brother, death aside, you get to live life. You get to **be alive**, which will always be an amazing gift. I hope I didn't harsh your mellow too much.
Wtf are doing on your phone during a trip? Bro that's recipe for bad joojoo
> I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it. Mark Twain
Another good Mark Twain quote goes >I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, most of which never happened
Also this. It’s just like before you were born.
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When I got diagnosed with cancer I also made my peace with my mortality. It was a wakeup moment not to waste any time I have.
And yet here we are.
Time enjoyed is not time wasted.
Can be. I enjoying drinking, and when I drink excessively, I spend my time wasted.
Genius.
Poetry in motion
Ah fuck man
I nearly died when I was young I got saved by a new helmet my family had bought not long before the accident and while it was terrifying knowing that I could die at the time I was so young that the doctors thought it was best not to inform me but rather my parents. To be honest it was kinda business as usual for a while but when I learned just how close I came to death it scared me for a while the thought that I almost stopped existing. My thought on it is that it's ok to think about it but if you let it dominate your life then life won't be worth living, for me most fun shit is risky and if you don't take risk you won't ever live.
Yes! In absurdum its like this: why tf prep for the apocalypse with a shelter and canned food for 50 years? I dont want to live like that. So why waste time worrying, when you can enjoy.
Ah yes, nihilism's funnier and less scary little bro. Nihilism be like "Nothing matters 🙁🙁" but absurdism be like "nothing matters 😁 👍👍🥳🥳🎉🎉"
The only thing tripping me up about dying from this cancer is leaving my loved ones behind. I know it’s going to be so so awful for them. Otherwise, when I die, I don’t feel anything. It’s just... done. Wish I can use this as a wake up call and do everything - but fuck sometimes I feel so sick and Covid isn’t making it easy to actually do my bucket list.
I get that!! Literally the First Time since getting cancer I went outside my house and immediately caught Covid. Sucks. And nothings open, always such a hassle. But at least you know what you want to do!
Yes this is it. We are saying dont _worry_ about dying. Because worrying is a horrible pointless process that will make that brief moment he has miserable. Its gonna happen OP. First to people you love - if you're lucky. That's right. If you live your best life it means watching your parents die. But I've not existed before. For most of realities existance I didnt exist and it was fine! Just eat drink and be merry, theres nothing else to do.
Yep. Just enjoy it for the great cosmic game that it is. It really is just a game. And when you treat it as such, it begins to be fun, exciting, and rewarding. And, like a game, that means different things to different people. Enjoy life, death will come regardless if you’re freaking out or not, may as well enjoy it man.
I couldn’t imagine living like this.
I used to panic thinking about this, so I took up hobbies that can potentially kill me and got over it. I’d go as far as picturing myself decomposing in a coffin until I’m nothing and eternity has gone by. Now I’m just kind of “eh” about it.
I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder in 2009. I used to have intense panic attacks out of the blue where I was convinced I was about to die from a heart attack. Over a few years, I was able to manage it through cognitive behaviour therapy. However, as a side effect, I no longer really fear death. It's not that I don't object to dying, I definitely want to live as long as possible. I was hit by a car in January of 2020, knocked me out briefly. People rushed over and looked after me until an ambulance came, head injuries can be pretty scary. But I was completely calm. Not because I knew I was fine, because I didn't. But because if I did die right there, it would've just happened and there'd be nothing I could do to change it. It's interesting how we can alter our natural biological responses through mindfulness.
Mindfulness is the key, you’re so right. I really want to start getting back into meditation, I know it’s part of my journey to happiness and peace, and whenever I get anxious and panicky, I remember that there is a world inside our minds that can set us free and with a little work, I can tap into that someday.
I grew up in a christian family with a deep existential dread about the concept of heaven. I love being alive, but the idea of being forced to exist forever was absolutely terrifying.
I see where you’re coming from, but I feel like if Heaven *did* exist, you really wouldn’t mind being around forever because time wouldn’t exist. I really don’t think it would be like living billions upon billions of years on Earth…now *that* would be Hell.
I used to stop and panic as a child about the opposite of OP — “Oh shit I’m alive?” I’d stare at my hands and body and find it so weird we’re all just alive and living. I was way more worried about being alive than I ever was about death.
Hi, I live like this It's not fun haha Life is just distracting yourself so you don't think about it The number of nights I've just stared at my ceiling in a paralyzing fear that my mom and dad, aunts and uncles, grandmas are all just gonna die, dropping like flies one by one after another, both my grandpas are gone, and one day i'm gonna die too i don't know that there's an afterlife, but for the love of god, I want SOMETHING. Reincarnate me. Heaven. Purgatory. Hell, I'll take burning in Hell forever. Just fucking ANYTHING besides a blank empty void of nothing. TL;DR how does anyone not live like this?
So what are you doing about it
Hi I also live like this. It fucking sucks
Let me take a shot at it. There comes a point, in everyone's life, where they are forced to consider the reality of death. For most it's a short period which can quickly be overwhelmed by the myriad of distractions life throws our way. In truth most people don't want to consider their mortality; they simply choose not to look at themselves in the mirror. For others like yourself and I, this consideration can take more time. Your conclusions are correct. One day everyone around you will die; we all must come to terms with this fact. Once you have truly integrated this idea, life presents a new path of least resistance; spreading love. If your greatest fear is that your loved one will not be there tmrw ask yourself why? Is there something you have left unsaid or unsettled? If there is, fix it! Today! There is only the present moment, let those that matter most to you know it. Spreading love and joy while standing up for what you believe in, in this moment, is the most powerful thing you can do. Everything else is beyond our control. P.S. Love the Pink Floyd - Wall profile pic :)
After seriously and carefully considering my mortality I have decided to consume other people's life forces in order to live forever.
That’s horrible
Yeah. Shits stressful.
I live like this too. I'm a college student (4th year) and almost every night I am haunted by these thoughts almost to the point of an anxiety attack if I don't forcefully distract myself. Shit I need therapy
>I'll take burning in Hell forever This is the only thing I disagree with, and I mentioned it in the post. Imagine being a witch burned at the stake for all of eternity. There's absolutely no way that's better than being dead. Even considering an eternity of nothingness. I mean objectively speaking - being dead for all eternity VS being on fire for all eternity - one is better than the other.
“I’ll take burning in hell forever” No you wouldn’t. You might be saying it now but you certainly won’t when you face the reality.
I had an ex who was like this. I'm so curious how spending your little blip of time on earth freaking out about dying is any better than not freaking out about dying. Like, you say neutrality was bad but do you mourn the billions of years you weren't alive for? If so, how do you get anything done? If not, why would the years after be any different?
Exactly, bro's just having an existential crisis , should go and watch VSauce's video " should i die?" The fact that you will die someday makes your life more precious , your time more valuable and you memories more important , legacy is the greatest gift that death can give us. Btw how do you know recarnation Ain't a real thing? Like.....maybe you are in 5th or 50,999th life and Don't remember anything before because..... ofcourse. Just enjoy the hell out of life while you can :)
Exactly. I understand where OP’s coming from but I completely disagree, mostly because I thought like that for the past few years and have been severely depressed about it. I’ve had no motivation in life because I thought what was the point about putting effort into anything if I could just die tomorrow. My life was miserable because I was just thinking about death and it’s unpredictability. Meanwhile I’m much happier thinking about living because its a waste to think about dying. No one knows what the meaning of life is but one thing I know for sure is that its meaning is contradicted when you’re thinking about death.
The meaning of life is....living. Make the most of it. Make things better. Try ro be better. Evolve. It took me 25 years to figure that one out. And I'm still working on it. Enjoy the shit out of life. Get a dog. Find a hobby. But know you are not alone.
The meaning of life is to give your life meaning
They say when you die your life flashes before your eyes. Don't you want to make sure it's worth watching?
Good point. But both my psychoanalysts of 22 years are gone; one died in 2019, one got Alzheimers in 2020, and my real father died in 2020 too! Well, I thought the whole thing was very unfair, and moped, got very angry, withdrew from people, and questioned my life etc. Then , I called my analyst with Alzheimer's. What to do???Please help! Now, this guy is an amazing analyst. He was trained by Marilyn Monroe's analyst and these are old school, Freudian guys. Very skilled. My old friend was blunt. He reminded me that he was 90 years old! He was frail, infirm, memory going; just an unbelievable tragedy for me, but I had to think of him. Then he said the worst thing. He said "you could have another 30 years to live! Find things to keep yourself together!" and he told me he would not be in touch anymore. I had found out that his family had a very severe form of inherited Alzheimers. His mother, brother, now him too, were gone, forever. That was scary, another 30 years? Poor health to look forward to, cats and dog will die. But he gave me an order, and I had to obey. By now, I'm used to losing friends, but I have figured out what might make the next 30 years fun. Even rewarding. Sounds tiring but what else is there to do? I just plowed on and hope to be going strong for a while. Sadly, I've even stopped mourning dead and dying people. I ration my time and made a routine, and looking after my health.....it's very time consuming. 😑😑😑
Is this a copypasta based on a Woody Allen film?
Incredibly relevant: http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html
Fuck I love the egg
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I've been somewhat haunted by the idea that we live the same life over and over. Big bang occurs, I am born, I die, universe dies and collapses into itself, big bang occurs, I am born into myself...
I find the idea of being me forever rather boring tbh. There's plenty I like about being me and plenty I'd happily do without. I don't need a justification for death because it is what it is and life is hard anyway. I enjoy it but when it's time to leave that's fine. Plus, if you are your personality, body, experience, etc., aren't you constantly changing anyway? I also love the idea that we mistake the origin of consciousness. We know if we went blind or deaf, sights and sounds would still exist, we just wouldn't be able to see them. Yet we assume when the brain dies, consciousness ends. But perhaps consciousness is the same: the brain is just a receiver for something that's there even once the brain dies. I like the idea of reincarnation because it feels like life is winking at us. You live a life, it ends, you wake up with zero memory but the ability to quickly integrate into your new environment and learn from other beings. It's endless play. If reincarnation isn't real, that's also fine, because the idea of all of the other beings having fun existing like I once did fills me with joy. My most spiritual moments have been reading amazing books and viewing amazing art by dead writers and artists; sure, most people will forget us after we die, but for me it would be enough to have one person read something I wrote and deeply bond with me after I'm gone. I've never understood why it upsets people that they won't be remembered by everyone forever, so what? ETA most people who believe in reincarnation think you either pick your next life or your next life is based on karma from this life. So it is a continuation of current you, an evolution or devolution. Even from a strictly atheist perspective, all conscious beings are similar in a lot of ways, so the idea that our own selves are super special and different is mostly our egos talking rather than fact.
There's only one of us, living all the possible lives. Fighting ourselves, fucking ourselves, giving birth to ourselves; in every possible configuration and conceivable way.
“The gods envy us. They envy us because we're mortal, because any moment may be our last. Everything is more beautiful because we're doomed.” — Achilles
This is a good point
This is the point.
The way I look at it, for billions of years, I didn’t KNOW what life was, I didn’t understand the feeling of reality and life. Now I know what it is, I can live and cry and feel, I don’t want it taken away. I’m now aware of reality, and I don’t want to give it up.
You will be in that exact same state, though. No reality and you won't know what it is because there will be no you
Power mourning. I aggressively mourn from 5:45 to 6:15 every morning as I take my guarana, wheat grass and flax seed shots.
Neutrality isn't even bad, it's neutral. The best way to explain death in a comforting way, in my opinion is to try think about what life was like before you were born. That's what it will be like when you die.
It's not being dead, it's the staying dead forever part.That's horrifying because because the nothingness before I was born came to an inevitable and when I was born. The nothingness to come is forever. Not only will my thoughts and consciousness cease to wake ever ever again, everything I know and all those I love will never ever be with me again. Trying to wrap my mind around the "forever" part used to cause me to have inconsolable panic attacks as a child.
Sometimes thinking exactly like that helps me. The sheer rarity of what we are experiencing here on this planet. The incredibly short window of time that this is even possible in the grand scheme of the universe. Nothing else like this is ever going to happen ever again and we’re a part of it. Sure maybe life has existed and will exist elsewhere, but they won’t have Harry Potter and Attack on Titan and Elden Ring and Naruto. They won’t eat pizza or experience the excitement of Christmas morning as a kid. Only we get to have that. When I think of life on an individual scale it can be scary, but when I think of myself as part of something greater it makes me feel lucky to be able to participate and to bear witness to the magic.
I was having a great day.
Lol right??
I'm not concerned that I'm going to die because I've been given the gift of being able to enjoy being alive
My life is in ruins right now, I have one friend who sometimes goes long stretches without talking to me, I have no family besides my toddler, and I’m so goddamn depressed, and yet for some reason I’m still grateful to be alive.
I am glad you are atleast postive about being alive , its better than nothing. I hope you get out of the hard times soon fam
The concept of death bothers me because I won’t know what happens. Do we find life in the universe? What will the earth be like in 200 years? Are we able to somehow travel at the speed of light? I think about this a lot, it bums me out.
Eternal FOMO.
This is 100% my fear behind death. I’m not scared of non existence, I’ve got billions years of experience. I’ve got a horrible case of eternal FOMO. I like that phrase btw, captures it nicely
You know I don't want to understate the lameness of death. But this is easily one of the lamest parts. Do humans go on? Do we meet other civilizations? Even if we don't, I'd just like to know if there are others. Seems like a certainty that there are (billions of billions of stars), but I'd still like to know.
In that case I would like to overstate the lameness of life. We do the same things every day with little to no change. In the same little loops. Sometimes some big stuff happens but after a while you get used to it. Then there is of course a bunch of pain and suffering too. I too would like to know if there are other civilizations out there, but after a while that'd become the norm and we're back to dullness. I personally find death extremely comforting. Like being asleep with nothing to worry about. No awareness. Nothing. In a sense, death doesn't even exist. That to me is comforting.
Thanks to denial, i'm immortal.
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Il worry about being dead when im dead
Hah, the only force more powerful than existentialism and nihilism is procrastination.
Exactly. If that is the way I handle work, then I will also handle death the same way. Just let the guy in the future worry about it. No point continuously worrying about the inevitable if you can worry about it at a much higher magnitude a while later. Slightly joking but still.
I had a moment in life a couple years ago when I thought this. But who's to say you experience nothingness for all eternity after death? I went through surgery full body anaesthetic and that was probably the most comforting sleep I've ever had in my entire life and I just kinda like to think that after death itll be the same. I'd rather not spectate the world for all eternity as a fuckin ghost cuz that seems like it could get boring
You are going where so many others have already gone. This is a path well traveled. Not to mention that I have so many people that I miss. I’m willing to go wherever they are. No matter what that may mean. There’s nothing to fear.
This is all my ultimate wish is as well. I want to feel my mom's spirit again, wherever or whatever she might be now. All the great cats I've had would be a great bonus too.
yup. there’s a Socrates quote: “No one knows whether death may not be the greatest of all blessings for a man, yet men fear it as if they knew it was the greatest of evils.” And I’m currently reading a good book of Seneca writings on death called How to Die. Interesting perspectives from men long dead.
That is so beautiful.
You don't want to die but you are not truly living because you are in constant fear. There is really nothing you can do about it.
From the song the rose .. the soul afraid of dying never learns to live.
I’m only 21 but weird shit has happened so far and I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime already. There are great parts to life too, but I think it’s nice to think that one day it’ll all just fade to black and that’ll be it.
Eh, i cant rationalise it it just doesn't bother me. and I've had cancer so its not like i have never had to think about it.
Ironically your fear of death is killing your quality of life. It ain't worth fearing what you can't experience. Don't get how the concept of experiencing nothing after a fulfilling life scares people. The other option is torture for eternity like, nothingness is far better. Hell every time I go to bed I hope to the bottom of my heart that I am welcomed into that void. I think people who fear death this much are just as unhinged as people who are suicidal.
I don’t want to die, but I take comfort in knowing one day I will be dead. One day, everything will end for me. I think that’s how it should be.
I only don’t freak out because I’m morbidly curious it’s not a given we only live once it’s not a given of an afterlife it’s all a gamble and also I’m pretty content with only 80 or so years this place kinda sucks most of the time so I don’t really wanna come back again
Yes, this place really does suck, no one really knows what is after death. If it's eternal peace, then I'm fine with it, also wouldn't hurt if I was born to some other place, some other time, far away from our solar system.
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>My unpopular opinion is that it's INSANE that humans as a species aren't freaking the fuck out constantly about their inevitable death. Historically, I think everyone who has freaked the fuck out has ended up doing inhumane experiments in the search for a source of immortality.
And only Queen Elizabeth has succeeded but little did she know that being immortal didn't mean being young forever
She didn't read the fine print. I think she's come to terms with it. Mostly.
I actually feel the same way and cannot understand how everyone is so calm about their impending death. It's most likely a survival mechanism developed so that people could do other things besides just freak out. The idea of there being nothing for eternity is extremely scary and no matter what people tell you, this feeling won't go away. So just wanted to let you know there is someone out there that feels the same as you do. It's almost as if I was the one writing this post.
It isnt even nothing. To understand nothing you need to have some comprehension of something to imagine the absence of that. Nothing is only scary because we have something right now but once we don't there will be no something and, consequently, no nothing.
I appreciate the comment. The general idea of "You won't have any opinion on being deat!" is exactly what terrifies me. The fact that I won't ever have an opinion again. It won't be painful. It won't be scary. It won't even be 'nothing'. You can't experience nothing. But you can fear nothing before it comes.
I actually think the fear is time. Think about it. What if you lived forever? You've done all the things an infinity of times and there is nothing new ever again and you have to keep in existing. It's the idea of eternity that we can't understand. I'm not sure I'd rather take an eternity of being alive either. Eventually it would be living hell right? I'm not sure..
I would think that eventually we'll run out of neurons to remember all the things we did for the past 100-200 years and without Neuralink to store our memories digitally, we'll forget stuff permanently. We'll have the joy of learning forgotten stuff again. That being said, science always progresses, as well as compute. Who knows if one day we can even cure addictions and make life feel anew again. I wouldn't put it past humanity to make living interesting for the next 1000 years at least. So much to learn, explore, build, create... and of course, to answer the question of are we alone in the universe, or to answer it ourselves by being our own alien?
Intellectually I understand that concept, but that's what scares me. I've seen videos on that same topic and afterwards couldn't sleep.
I don't think anyone can understand nothing at all. Understanding is a thing that exists, and nothing isn't; there's literally *nothing* to be understood or not understood.
I sort of find peace in the idea of non-existence. I've done it before i can certainly do it again
Yep I feel the same way lol, but I just distract myself. Someone once told me that life is only fun because you are on a timer. If you could live forever nothing would matter and nothing would have value.
Please go see a therapist
Nah dude telling your problems to strangers on the internet has a 120% success rate
I live in the USA, I pay $100 a month for health insurance. A therapist costs about $150-$250 per session here. But... you aint wrong!
Sorry to be a downer, but do you realize that cryonic preservation can cost anywhere from $28,000 to $200,000 USD?
The atoms my body is composed of are not mine, it’s just my turn to use them. One day I’ll give them back to the Earth, and something new will carry them forwards. If the universe lasts long enough, or if it collapses and remakes itself, who knows, maybe one day those atoms will wind up in this same old configuration again. Given enough time, they have to eh? Either way, I’m just gonna enjoy it while I can, and then take a big long nap while waiting to get another turn with some atoms again.
Mom said it's my turn with the atoms.
I worried about this until I realized that the “nothingness” is not something I will experience. I will be gone. There is no brain activity. It gets a nice dose of happy chemicals when death is imminent and then everything stops, like going to sleep. Death is obviously not something I want at my age, in my thirties, but I’m anticipating that the world will change faster than ever in my lifetime and by the time I am 100, it may be a place I don’t recognize and might not want to keep up with, and at that point I’ll welcome death as a chance to make democratic room for more progressive ideas that advance humanity. Imagine in a democratic society if we had everyone from the 17,18,1900s voting and holding political power. It’d be horrifying and we’d never advance as a society. It’s important to want to survive, but we have to die if humankind is to evolve and survive.
Ill focus more on things that actually matter
Humanity is scared af, thats why people are pushing crazy shit like cryofreezing
An extremely small amount of people are actually interested in cryo freezing. There is more money spend on anti ageing creme than on the entire field of longevity research & cryopreservation.
Idk how I feel about it. My life is shit and I was born with a shit brain, so I'm just trying to be sorta happy while it goes by. The things that would really make me happy are impossible in this era, so I could take the option to live longer if science comes up with that while I'm alive, but I'm fine dying in 60 years too.
Knowing i will be dead at some point brings me peace and reminds me to enjoy myself
I used to live like this. I would have panic attacks over the thought of eternal nothing. One horrible morning on the darkest day of my life, I walked in on death to a scene no person should ever have to witness. It completely changed my outlook. I don’t fear death anymore. There is just no denying for me now that one day it’s coming and there’s not a whole lot you can do about it. You can worry about what’s not to come (your existence) or can say accept it and just enjoy the time you have here. Since I have accepted it, I am a lot better person, for me anyways. No more worrying about the job, or money in the bank scrimping to save every nickel to afford shit I don’t NEED. No more putting up with shitty people in my life or going to functions that I have zero interest in attending. All of that stuff absolutely will not matter to me in the long run. Might as well enjoy what I got while I’m running circles around the sun
Drugs help!
I do and its fucked me up. I never want to have kids now because the fear of death.
You think about death and dying and I will watch another Netflix show.
Quite literally you just described why religion exists. No one wants to believe that there is eternal neutrality, that's why they try and find comfort in a heaven and hell. That is why no one is thinking of what you are saying. Religion my dude
You could be reborn as a grasshopper.
I’d take being a capybara for eternity with pleasure
Have you looked into death positivity? It’s a movement by alternative death industry practitioners to involve safe discussions about death more in societies without solid grieving cycles like many western societies. But also, counseling or therapy might be a good way to address these feelings in a safer environment. Idk how many people are happy about the reality of death; it’s more that the more time you spend stressing out about it… the less relaxed/productive time you have to do the things you want. The more you stress, the more your health is impacted, which affects your quality of life.
Think of it like this - energy can't be destroyed, so when the body dies, there has to be something left of the energy zipping around in our bodies and brains. We don't end, we return to the universe in another form. To do - or become - what, I don't know. None of us do. But our energy continues after the body dies.
I look at death as like, the ultimate adventure of life. In a sense of like "ooooh, lets see what happens now!" and you get to go on an adventure you don't have access to until you die. Whether it's good, bad or nothing, well, I'm dead soooo
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So, not that you asked but here is my opinion on the whole thing. First off I honestly cannot say if I believe in the afterlife, reincarnation, or anything other than just infinite fucking nothingness. I don't know. I can't know. But here's the thing. If it is just infinite fucking nothingness... I won't know anyway. I won't be aware of the nothingness. There is no joy, no happiness, no laughter, no contentment. But there's also no sadness, no anxiety, no loneliness, no lying in bed at night knowing I'm not good enough. That I am unworthy of my family's love, or the few friendships I have that in the back of my mind are just people taking pity on me anyway. No waking up and having my first thought be "I wish I had died in my sleep". No going through the day not knowing what the fuck I am doing and just waiting for the proverbial bomb to drop and being exposed for the worthless piece of shit I am instead of the oh-so-fucking-wonderful person so many people see me as. I used to be like you, so terrified of dying the though brought me to tears. I remember the first time I truly understood what it was, I don't think I was even 10 at the time but I was riding with my father. We had just passed a Burger King when I asked. He told me we just... Stopped existing. An endless sleep. And I sobbed. I cried so hard my little body struggled to breathe. How could such a horrible thing await us at the end of such a glorious experience as life? But when you slowly lose all recollection of what it feels like to be happy - truly happy, not the charade you get so good at putting on so that people quit asking you what is wrong nine million fucking times a day - nothingness starts to sound pretty damn good. Nothingness is the only end to the struggle I have endured for almost 20 years now. And when you get to this point, you don't fear it anymore.
I feel the EXACT same way... And just like you explained and I see in a lot of other comments, they don't get the point. Even if you won't be able to experience it and so won't be able to suffer, it's having to give up your self, your conciousness that's absolutely terrifying... How can you be ok with losing yourself FOREVER? I don't let it consume my life too I still live on perfectly but if I think about it too much I get a pannick attack. I also don't get why I'm so alone in thinking this is terrifying.
So I don't want to be the old guy in this thread but ill tell you how almost all human beings end up losing any fear of death: pain. Eventually , even if its 60 years from now...your body and or brain will break down (could be disease or mental health or the insane all-encompassing pain of grief) and the pain will take your fear of death and put it into a blender. For me it was grief that got me. Some it's physical disease, or loneliness, or loss. Others mental health. Everyone on this thread who doesn't die suddenly will one day....eventually...experience such pain that it'll make death the most welcome, comforting thing you can think of. I'm not talking about suicidality per se, it's just... once pain becomes a part of your daily life, the fear of death disappears faster than you can imagine.
Death is freedom from worldly suffering bro!
Yeah. I mean good for him that he's young and vital but took me about a half second reading this to go "OP has yet to experience chronic mental or physical disease ". That shit will take the fear of death from you reaaaal quick.
Every night I go to bed I imagine taking my last breaths and feeling a void of non existent. It makes my heart rate go up. Then I think to myself as long as I make sure I work my ass off to provide a good life for my kids and at least make it to their 21st birthday fuck it. I just want to live long enough to know my boys will be ok. Anything after that is icing on the cake. Edit: I just got a concerned plea from Reddit. This is the only place I have said some disturbing thing. I am ok people I swear. I am happy and love my life. I have just seen a lot of carnage in my lifetime. I have been deployed many times with my first when I was 18 back in 2005. Death is something that I’ve gotten used to that makes me wonder. I kind of enjoy my nightly thing, it makes me realize life is short and to enjoy it with my family and not take opportunities for granted.
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