Why Such An Illogical Fear?

[Gvac]

Dear Oracle,

Why do some people have an overwhelming (and obviously illogical) fear of death? It's going to come to each and every one of us, as well as every living thing on the planet.

If something is so definite and concrete, why do people live in fear of it?

I also think that's why people want stem cell research and health care reform - they're hoping they can live forever.

What a bunch of creeps.

[lleeder]

This insurance guy wants to sell me a 20yr policy. I'm 30 and it runs til I'm 50. If I die, my family gets a million dollars. I feel like if I get it I'll either be mad that I wasted the money or dead before 50.

[BlackSpider]

I personally don't fear death. When your number's up, it's up.
If everyone lives longer, we'll run out of room, unless people reproduce less.
I also think funerals, viewings, and burying the dead are obsolete customs.
I wanna die before I lose the ability to take care of myself, and become a burden on someone. Then burn me, and scatter me, I don't care where.
We should keep the land for the living.
When you're dead, you have no more use for your body.
Those are my thoughts on death...

[Foster]

the thing about death that bothers me is not knowing how things turn out once I'm gone,

it's like leaving a movie before its over

[RhinoinMN]

I don't fear death. How I may die is different.

The fact of me ceasing to be does not bother me at all.

[BlackSpider]

I guess the only thing that bothers me about death is
for eternity,
I have to keep repeating "Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy..."

[Hottub]

The fact that I will be gone doesn't bother me so much. The fact that my family and friends will be without me does.
The Dr. put the fear of God into my wife because my cholesterol was a bit high. He aslo sent me for a CAT because his x-ray equipment blows, but that's another story.

Bottom line. I don't have fear of my own mortality. I do worry about the impact on my wife and kids. I guess that is why I try and do the right thing. My responsibility to others.

[RhinoinMN]

The fact that I will be gone doesn't bother me so much. The fact that my family and friends will be without me does.
The Dr. put the fear of God into my wife because my cholesterol was a bit high. He aslo sent me for a CAT because his x-ray equipment blows, but that's another story.

Bottom line. I don't have fear of my own mortality. I do worry about the impact on my wife and kids. I guess that is why I try and do the right thing. My responsibility to others.

I think that you may think you are too important in your fam. I'm sure you do woderfully, but that is not a fear you should have.

My Grandma didn't do a THING in her 80 year life beyond the kitchen and laundry. My Grandpa died and she was lost for little bit, but with family support she is kicking ass now!

She is doing very well on her own at 84.


Please don't take offense. It is just another view.

[Hottub]

No offense taken, bud. But I really am pretty fucking important around here.
I would love to be the ghost of Christmas yet to come and see the disaster.

Garbage piled up outside. Unbathed kids. A dead dog. A yard that looks like the outback. Boys kicked off the team for not making games.
When I kick, the insurance will pay off the house, all bills and a downpayment on college.
If she goes, I'm ass out.

[drjoek]

No offense taken, bud. But I really am pretty fucking important around here.
I would love to be the ghost of Christmas yet to come and see the disaster.

NewGarbage cans. well dressed kids with haircuts. A new dog that doesnt shit on the rug. A yard that looks like Yankee Stadium. Boys captain of the team and starting shortstop.
When I kick, The wife mourns a week, then finally invites the UPS guy in. He does all the stuff on the old Hottub Honey do list AND pleases her in bed once in a while. They take a nice vacation every year and he doesnt wear a flannel shirt with cutoff sleeves, the kids forget about the old man and live happily ever after.

fixed

[underdog]

I've always wondered why. I had a thread (http://ronfez.net/forums/showthread.php?t=76444) about fearing the end of the world, which is the same confusion I have.

[hammersavage]

I have the opposite of this

[Hottub]

drjoek wrote:

Originally Posted by Hottub
No offense taken, bud. But I really am pretty fucking important around here.
I would love to be the ghost of Christmas yet to come and see the disaster.

NewGarbage cans. well dressed kids with haircuts. A new dog that doesnt shit on the rug. A yard that looks like Yankee Stadium. Boys captain of the team and starting shortstop.
When I kick, The wife mourns a week, then finally invites the UPS guy in. He does all the stuff on the old Hottub Honey do list AND pleases her in bed once in a while. They take a nice vacation every year and he doesnt wear a flannel shirt with cutoff sleeves, the kids forget about the old man and live happily ever after.

Thanks, Doc.

Feel free to bring me the big knife now.:glurps:

[Meataball23]

I agree w/ the theme of the thread. I dont care about what happens to me, but Im more concerned about family/loved ones.

Like if im on a sketchy subway or street and alone I dont give a crap b/c I can handle myself, but if someone is w/ me I become panicky pete and do a bad impression of a secret service guard.

[Gvac]

I know people who swear the company they work for would collapse if they didn't do everything there or if they took a day off or quit.

They actually believe it.

None of us are as indispensable as we'd like to believe.

[AF Mike]

I can understand someone fearing an absolute end more than
I can comprehend someone banking on a cloud - hopping
wing -wearing afterlife.

This is it. Enjoy it while you can.

[Meataball23]

Id rather fall backwards in a chair for eternity over holyholyholyholyholy...

[boosterp]

There were times in the Army I felt fear. It was more a fear of how I was going to die and there was some "well I could not tell my loved ones where I am going" type fear. I knew that the Army would take care of my loved ones but when there is dangerous conditions all around you tend to wonder how and what will get you first.

[underdog]

I know people who swear the company they work for would collapse if they didn't do everything there or if they took a day off or quit.

They actually believe it.

None of us are as indispensable as we'd like to believe.

This is so funny because its so fucking true. Everyone I know says the same thing (including me), but business always go on.

[Devo37]

the thing about death that bothers me is not knowing how things turn out once I'm gone,

it's like leaving a movie before its over

this is really the only reason i'm concerned about dying. i'd like to see how this sh!t party of a planet will meet its final end. i'd also like to be here when E.T. shows up (if only to give a big FACE! to all of the religious loonies that think our planet has some universal impotance to god).

other than those 2 events, i'm pretty sure this movie is gonna drag on and on for hundreds and hundreds of years before it ends, so i won't be around to see it even if i lived another hundred years.

[Fez4PrezN2008]

I think the reason people fear death is because there is part of their logical side that just does not buy into anything you were every told or preached at etc about what happens after death.

[razorboy]

I'm just scared of spiders.

[mikeyboy]

I want to live at least long enough to see how Lost ends up.

[Freakshow]

I thought this was going to be about the stairs thing.

[SinA]

If something is so definite and concrete, why do people live in fear of it?



That's exactly why. Death is maybe the single thing in our lives of which we can be certain. People often say that the unknown is worse/scarier than the known, but death puts that into perspective.

The moment of our death isn't even the part we fear, I think (for me I guess) it's the last ten seconds or so right before that moment that I fear. The couple of seconds after I'm pretty anxious about too.

[sr71blackbird]

It is not illogical to fear dying, or to fear a loved ones death. It will happen to all of us for sure, but I think it is logical to be scared of not being around. I think it is more illogical to not fear it. If someone does not wear their seat belt, or drives drunk, or have unprotected sex with strangers, isnt that illogical? I think so.

[biggirl]

I don't want to leave my kids alone with Rhino, he might leave the doors unlocked at night. Otherwise, I am not scared of death.

My son, Burkely, said he is not scared to die now that he knows there will be billions of legos in Heaven. "They might even have the $100 fire station lego set that I want", he tells me.

[KC2OSO]

I personally don't fear death. When your number's up, it's up.
If everyone lives longer, we'll run out of room, unless people reproduce less.
I also think funerals, viewings, and burying the dead are obsolete customs.
I wanna die before I lose the ability to take care of myself, and become a burden on someone. Then burn me, and scatter me, I don't care where.
We should keep the land for the living.
When you're dead, you have no more use for your body.
Those are my thoughts on death...
What do you care about?

[Fez4PrezN2008]

What do you care about?
I think he answered this in the Have you ever shot a handgun thread...

"I got a .40 Glock 27 that I love very much"

[KC2OSO]

I think he answered this in the Have you ever shot a handgun thread...

"I got a .40 Glock 27 that I love very much"
Nice thought.
That was just a post he made I guess.
I was actually looking for an answer.

My observation of late is that once you begin to accumulate some responsibilities, death becomes a little less of an option. People begin to depend on you. Wives and kids and such.

[jennysmurf]

I'm cool with dying myself, but I don't want any of my friends or family to die before me. I agree with BS that when your time is up, it's up, just go with it.

[WampusCrandle]

i am pretty afraid of _____________, it's pretty intense.

[TripleSkeet]

For me personally its not fear of death more then fear of missing something. Ive always been that way, which is why I hardly sleep at night.

I was never the guy leaving a party early or staying in to relax when friends were going out because I was always afraid of missing something.

I have a feeling though that as you get older that fear starts to dissipate as you experience more and more things like the birth of children, watching them grow and get married and give you your grandkids.

[razorboy]

i am pretty afraid of _____________, it's pretty intense.
















!!!!


Take that!

[A.J.]

Today is a good day to die.

[~Katja~]

the thing about death that bothers me is not knowing how things turn out once I'm gone,

it's like leaving a movie before its over

that's the last thing to worry about... it's not like you can change it now or then...

I don't fear death I just hope it happens after Lukas is old enough to live on his own and handle the situation better.

[jimmyolsenblues]

I think it's a combination of a fear of pain or the existence of hell

[K.C.]

If you've ever tried to comprehend in your mind your own non-existence, your brain hits a wall.

And I mean really trying to place yourself inside the thought of you ceasing to exist and not retaining any form of conscious memory on any level, which takes time to break down all the layers of what that potentially is in your head...not just saying "Yeah, I get it...what's the big deal."



That said, I think very few people do that, and the fear of death that we most experience from others is largely ego driven, and very superficial.

[CofyCrakCocaine]

Sounds like serious Ivan Ilyvich syndrome around here.

[barjockey]

:clap:I want to live at least long enough to see how Lost ends up.
:clap::clap:

[CofyCrakCocaine]

It's funny, I can think of various stages of my life where I had similar Mikeyboy-type "well I hope I'm not dead before Dallas lets me know who shot JR" moments. One of them was as a little kid seeing Fred Savage on The Wiz (just the commercial never saw this amazing cinema in its fullest form) and thinking "boy oh boy I hope I don't die before I get to play super mario bros. 3!!"

[mikeyboy]

If you died before Super Mario Bros. 3 you would have missed out. That game ruled.

[razorboy]

Fireworks?

[underdog]

If you died before Super Mario Bros. 3 you would have missed out. That game ruled.

Or Super Mario Galaxy.

That one was definitely one of the best SMB games.

[BinaryTaoist]

It is not death I fear; rather, it is the possibility of reincarnation that worries me.

[fezident]

I want to live at least long enough to see how Lost ends up.
That was surprisingly hard to read aloud.

[Fez4PrezN2008]

For me personally its not fear of death more then fear of missing something. Ive always been that way, which is why I hardly sleep at night.

I was never the guy leaving a party early or staying in to relax when friends were going out because I was always afraid of missing something.

I have a feeling though that as you get older that fear starts to dissipate as you experience more and more things like the birth of children, watching them grow and get married and give you your grandkids.
If you're dead, you won't have a functioning brain in which to emote so you won't "feel" bad for missing something that you are not even aware of - right?

[Gvac]

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/h9eQ8_T1ytU&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/h9eQ8_T1ytU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[sr71blackbird]

<object width="512" height="296"><param name="movie" value="http://www.hulu.com/embed/pPhpW6ED4nobOGqAv3QmDw"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.hulu.com/embed/pPhpW6ED4nobOGqAv3QmDw" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" width="512" height="296"></embed></object>

[Gvac]

I don't get it.

[mikeyboy]

Just nod and smile.

[Gvac]

Just nod and smile.

HAHAHAHA!!!!

[sr71blackbird]

I am groggy, sowwy

I meant to put this one up

http://www.hulu.com/watch/58398/onion-news-network-courageous-man-refuses-to-believe-he-has-cancer