How do you feel about death being THE END?
- Thread starter banshee150
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I used to think death was as you described — an endless void of nothingness. Then I took some DMT years back and my hardcore atheism turned into everyday agnosticism.
I won’t go into too much detail as I don’t have the time, nor do I think it’ll do much to sway any opinions here, but I do believe there is something “else” after we die.
In essence I’ve started to sway more and more towards buying into simulation theory since my DMT trip, and every breakthrough in A.I. helps reinforce my belief.
Or maybe I’m only half-right, and we’re doomed to a void until/unless we create a “San Junipero” simulation of our own where the digital upload of our consciousness at the very least will live on after our physical selves expire.
Either way, I don’t believe in a simple “cut to black.” Not anymore.
I won’t go into too much detail as I don’t have the time, nor do I think it’ll do much to sway any opinions here, but I do believe there is something “else” after we die.
In essence I’ve started to sway more and more towards buying into simulation theory since my DMT trip, and every breakthrough in A.I. helps reinforce my belief.
Or maybe I’m only half-right, and we’re doomed to a void until/unless we create a “San Junipero” simulation of our own where the digital upload of our consciousness at the very least will live on after our physical selves expire.
Either way, I don’t believe in a simple “cut to black.” Not anymore.
I look forward to, what will presumably be, eternal dreamless sleep. I still occasionally feel the dread that comes with the idea of never “being” again but it’s always struck me as a survival mechanism rather than legitimate existential fear.
We live on a planetary tomb floating in a monument to death. Death couldn’t be more natural so what’s there to truly fret about?
We live on a planetary tomb floating in a monument to death. Death couldn’t be more natural so what’s there to truly fret about?
It's presumptuous of people to assume their potential children wouldn't want to be born. You have no idea what drives people and what makes life worth living for them. Things can be in the best of conditions and someone might hate being alive whereas someone else can thrive even in the worst shit.
Life may be pointless, but it's up to each of us to just make what we will of what's in front of us.
Life may be pointless, but it's up to each of us to just make what we will of what's in front of us.
I'm not scared of death because, as has been pointed out, once it comes it'll just be nothing as it was before I was born. It's more of a vast bummer than a fear; before I was born I had nothing to lose, and now I do, so it's perfectly reasonabe to be occasionally down that I've arrived at a party I never knew existed, but I'm acutely aware that I'm going to be kicked out as it goes on into the night. It's what I'm going to miss out on that sucks, not what I'll become. So just enjoy the party if you're fortunate, and try to not look at your watch too often.
I think of it like this: you look at collective action problems like climate change, and there are also collective-action solutions like the widening acceptance of LGBT. There are "great" people whose names will be written as long as we have writing, but all of us make a difference in the teeming mass that is humanity. My life is only one link in that chain.
The flipside of that is that while I *am* here, I want to fill this time of experience with as much interesting stuff as I can and try to have a positive impact on that chain all the while. I certainly want to avoid death as long as I can maintain quality of life to continue to accrue more experience and do more things, but once that quality of life threshold is passed, the end is the end, it's no longer my problem.
The flipside of that is that while I *am* here, I want to fill this time of experience with as much interesting stuff as I can and try to have a positive impact on that chain all the while. I certainly want to avoid death as long as I can maintain quality of life to continue to accrue more experience and do more things, but once that quality of life threshold is passed, the end is the end, it's no longer my problem.
As I've gone through life, I've slowly gone from thinking sleep was a waste of time that prevented me from doing the things I enjoy to enjoying sleeping over a lot of things. If it's anything like that, it ain't the worst thing by a long shot.
You turned so serious when the corpse
was carried past us;
are you afraid of death? “Oh, not of that!”
Of what are you afraid? “Of dying.”
I not even of that. “Then you’re afraid of nothing?”
Alas, I am afraid, afraid … “Heavens, of what?”
Of parting from my friends.
And not mine only, of their parting, too.
That’s why I turned more serious even
than you did, deeper in the soul,
when the corpse
was carried past us.
—“Separation” by Friedrich Klopstock
Death isn't bad for the dead, it's bad for the survivors who are forever separated.
was carried past us;
are you afraid of death? “Oh, not of that!”
Of what are you afraid? “Of dying.”
I not even of that. “Then you’re afraid of nothing?”
Alas, I am afraid, afraid … “Heavens, of what?”
Of parting from my friends.
And not mine only, of their parting, too.
That’s why I turned more serious even
than you did, deeper in the soul,
when the corpse
was carried past us.
—“Separation” by Friedrich Klopstock
Death isn't bad for the dead, it's bad for the survivors who are forever separated.
The concept of infinite existence terrifies me. It makes me think of the possibility of the ending of the White Christmas episode of Black Mirror. So I like the idea of becoming nothing and my ego disappearing.
The Buddhist ideas of afterlife always seemed a lot more appealing to me than the Christian or Islamic ones. I welcome the thought of infinite peace. Heaven is usually presented as euphoria/joy IMO and as an addict I'm done with that.
The Buddhist ideas of afterlife always seemed a lot more appealing to me than the Christian or Islamic ones. I welcome the thought of infinite peace. Heaven is usually presented as euphoria/joy IMO and as an addict I'm done with that.
You'll get your revenge in the post-credits scene which is a setup for the zombie-themed sequel.
I went from believing in an afterlife for most of my life to no longer believing in one and it is still something I haven’t become comfortable with yet.
I'm OK with it. I understand the nothingness at the intellectual level, but obviously cannot properly know what it will mean beyond absence of everything. I do think about my legacy and how I'll be remembered for ill or well. And I don't wish it anytime soon. But I suspect I'll be at peace if it comes to me late in life.
The movie that feels the "truest" to me in terms of the beginning of the dissociative aspect of death is Gaspar Noe's Enter the Void, which I think is a beautiful film - and I am NOT a Noe fan. I find some of his movies absolutely unwatchable and despicable (not through lack of ability but simple revulsion at the material). But it's a fascinating meditation and tour of the final moments of a "gentle" death (there's violence preceding it) and the camera often represents the victim's soul and being - as it starts to become literally detached from its mortal coil and floats dreamlike into oblivion slowly and carefully and methodically - gathering up some of the meaning of his life before -- and the meaning his death will and won't have to a world he leaves behind.
There's no religious aspect or even a spiritual one in my opinion, but it does treat the final moments as a bridge into another experience - but doesn't shy away from the reality of simply ceasing to be. It's nothing like his other films beyond some mood and tone aspects. Trippy, surreal visuals and an underrated auditory experience too. There are a few jarring Noe moments, but they're not the point or the focus. It's told mostly in first and over the shoulder third person and is also an essay on death as a method of escaping from squalor or pain or even responsibility.
The movie that feels the "truest" to me in terms of the beginning of the dissociative aspect of death is Gaspar Noe's Enter the Void, which I think is a beautiful film - and I am NOT a Noe fan. I find some of his movies absolutely unwatchable and despicable (not through lack of ability but simple revulsion at the material). But it's a fascinating meditation and tour of the final moments of a "gentle" death (there's violence preceding it) and the camera often represents the victim's soul and being - as it starts to become literally detached from its mortal coil and floats dreamlike into oblivion slowly and carefully and methodically - gathering up some of the meaning of his life before -- and the meaning his death will and won't have to a world he leaves behind.
There's no religious aspect or even a spiritual one in my opinion, but it does treat the final moments as a bridge into another experience - but doesn't shy away from the reality of simply ceasing to be. It's nothing like his other films beyond some mood and tone aspects. Trippy, surreal visuals and an underrated auditory experience too. There are a few jarring Noe moments, but they're not the point or the focus. It's told mostly in first and over the shoulder third person and is also an essay on death as a method of escaping from squalor or pain or even responsibility.
I'm not sure it is the end. I don't necessarily mean a spiritual thing. Even if we exist as automatically self replicating object it's with the illusion of consciousness and free will, whatever that thing is happened after infinite space time. Given infinite space time whatever you are will happen again without any recollection. You can only self check your existence when you are alive, and what is time? After death is asking to go norther than the north pole.
Being dead doesn't scare me. I just get sad for the things I'll miss. Dying on the other hand...
Well I like to believe I'm going to heaven but at the same time at least I don't have to suffer/worry anymore once it's all over.
In reality I think about death daily since I was 7, it sucks but one day we all gotta go
In reality I think about death daily since I was 7, it sucks but one day we all gotta go
I’m catholic and I’ve always enjoyed the idea of an eternal afterlife, whatever it may be. And since I have yet to find a reason not to believe, I’m just going to keep on going with that.
Having it just be the end is just so anticlimactic...
Either way though, being dead won’t be the issue. its the dying part that I’d rather avoid...
Having it just be the end is just so anticlimactic...
Either way though, being dead won’t be the issue. its the dying part that I’d rather avoid...
You were dead for 6 billion years before you were born, life is just a vacation from death.
It's not the destination but the journey. Dying doesn't mean a damn thing. It's what you do before you die that matters.
I get crippling fear when I think specifically about it but I also use that as fuel to make the most of the life I do have.
I’m ok with it. I know that it’s coming within the next 5 - 10 years. I’m going to be drugged up to deal with the pain, I’m not going to be aware of my loved ones at that point. The only thing that will herald my passing is the beeping of a HR monitor and the nurse will come in to turn them off and an attending will call my time of death.
Fully looking forward to afterlife internet so I can keep arguing about video games. Tatakae wa never end.
I think it's highly unfair, but nothing we can do...yet. I am not scared of the afterwards since with no life there is no awareness, there is no "void". I am more so scared of the process of dying. If the Universe is eternal, or if a crunch is eternal, maybe what constitutes "me" will arise again.
Hopefully it will happen in an enlightened society instead of being brought back in some kind of experimental hellscape, or returned to life in the middle of a vacuum.
It's best not to think about things that are completely out of your control. I'm terrified of death for the reasons everyone else is, but I don't dwell on it specifically for that fear. It hinders on your happiness and wastes time in the life you've been given. Live happy and take advantage of everyday you have, while hopefully also giving back to the world around you. That's all there is to it.
I'm not religious, but I did have an out of body experience my freshman year of college. I was asleep in my dorm, and I was drifting out through the window, seeing up and down, and then I rushed back into my body and woke up with a fever.
Back then I was extremely antisocial. Didn't drink or do any drugs.
Supposedly it's just the brain hallucinating, but why drifting out of the body?
Back then I was extremely antisocial. Didn't drink or do any drugs.
Supposedly it's just the brain hallucinating, but why drifting out of the body?
I deal with depression and while I have never attempted self-harm nor am I in danger, I sometimes wonder if my quickly approaching 40's, my lack of personal accomplishments and failure to find something that I love enough to stick with means that I should end it soon.
At the same time, the fear of death can keep me up in a cold sweat, trembling in my bed at 2am at least once every month.
I have a therapist (that I admittedly haven't seen in months), I have wonderful friends, I work at a company were I'm constantly being told I'm beloved (and amazing employees that I manage) and a partner and a cuddly affectionate rabbit in my little home whom I both love dearly. All of these things help and they are the hilights in life that make it all worth it. ... but the fear of infinity and non-existence terrifies more than I can possibly describe.
It's crippling. It does not motivate me the way it motivates so many people to "make the best of my time". It shuts me down and it does not pair nicely with my own self-image of a loser.
Does this make sense to anyone?
At the same time, the fear of death can keep me up in a cold sweat, trembling in my bed at 2am at least once every month.
I have a therapist (that I admittedly haven't seen in months), I have wonderful friends, I work at a company were I'm constantly being told I'm beloved (and amazing employees that I manage) and a partner and a cuddly affectionate rabbit in my little home whom I both love dearly. All of these things help and they are the hilights in life that make it all worth it. ... but the fear of infinity and non-existence terrifies more than I can possibly describe.
It's crippling. It does not motivate me the way it motivates so many people to "make the best of my time". It shuts me down and it does not pair nicely with my own self-image of a loser.
Does this make sense to anyone?
Turns out, death was all the friends we made along the way.
Seriously, as somebody who may be closer to the end of my life than most here, I gain a lot of satisfaction from having lived a joyful and pleasant life. I haven't cured cancer or produced any great works of art, but I'm appreciative of the fact that I lived through an era when it was great to be young, healthcare was free, and university education was fully paid for people from a working class family on a low income. I was stupidly lucky to be on the spot with skills in mathematics and software engineering at the time of the microcomputer revolution, and then I eventually talked my way into becoming a freelance expert in RDBMS, C, C+±, and Unix. I could do whatever took my fancy and the clients paid me happily.
Religion lost its iron grip on the population during my lifetime, pregnancy was no longer a life sentence to women, and sexual freedom finally reached us as LGBTQ+ rights advanced. A deadly global nuclear standoff ended. The border in Ireland came down. I cannot claim responsibility for any of those events, but they bring me great joy.
In the words of Wordsworth's Prelude, I can honestly say "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, But to be young was very Heaven!"
My life isn't over by a long way. The local political situations in Europe and the United States are very dicey, and there are still ways in which I can try to help. I'm also the main carer for a highly intelligent autistic adult, which is the occasion of alternating moments of joy and terror. I'm not changing the world, at least not by myself. But there are billions of me and together we're quite powerful.
Death has no sting, only the knowledge that I will one day have to hand over my caring responsibilities to social workers.