Fear of Death

like someone else said, "were thinkin ourselves insane". but they do have their own symbolic language, like when they give each other signals to set traps for prey as a team. i dont doubt they think out plans to avoid death either, thats a same primal instinct that we share except humans are all twitchy and emotional and wild animals are more inclined to 'just do it'. that natural prowess we have ends up being barraged with our societies morals/ethics and ways of life.

"DONT FEAR THE REAPER" -blu oyztr kult
come on now people

 

To overcome the fear of death... I think you simply need to accept it... Understand that one day YOU are going to be dead... YOUR concsious may stop... your body will degrade... You will not exist

Now I don't know what happens after you die, I don't really believe we're punished (see my other post) but if nothing happens after you die (which many fear) then by simply accepting that one day, your entire being will not exist at all, in a way we can't fathom now, then maybe we wouldn't create religion...

 

thats such a depressing thought. especially for physicists like einstein. They get so close, they just want to understand reality, then they die. Its like playing a long video game, then game over right before you finish. so sad..

 

Almost every religion I have investigated, has made observations about the world, and told people to think about such parables and ideas. In fact none have truly dove into the after mortal experiences. Some have talked about death, but back in the day death even refered to the sun setting. So death could have delt with our state of mind, our bad habbits, or our condition of soul status. so heaven and hell or reincarnaion could have spoken of mortal occurances.
LOVE~

 

What do you think then - does a dog bark to itself in it's head?

 

Dude, there's a difference between preserving life and fearing death. I doubt an animal can even concieve of death, all they know is life. Besides, you can guarantee that your dog or cat or the squirrel outside isn't sitting around worrying about that inevitable day it will die. It isn't cowering in the hole in the tree afraid to go out because it might die. They just...live.

Now, of course they have fear. But it's not a constant, ever present fear. It's functional fear. Like, I'm a gazelle. I'm here, eating my grass, happy as hell, yum yum...then...oh shit! it's a lion! Off I run, adrenaline surging. Five minutes later (assuming I escape) I'm back to calmly eating grass.

A human in that instance? Eating grass, worrying about the lions, hyenas, leapards, snakes, tsetse flies, stubbed toes, hangnails, annoying wives, whining kids, the office deadline...then the lion attacks, and we run or fight it off (functional fear), adrenaline surging. Ten minutes later, we're still quaking in fear absolutely petrified. An hour later, still very on edge. etc. Actually, thanks to our constant worry, we're so wrapped up in our heads that we probably don't even see the lion till it's too late.

Oh, and Naykid Ape: Death is not the opposite of life, it is the opposite of birth. Life has no opposite, except maybe "non-life".

 

well yeah i guess some humans are little pussies like that
theyre "thinking themselves insane"
i'm positive most people in society are prey anyways
as for wrapped up in our own heads & constant worry, speak for yourself
u ever been shanked while just talking to your girl?
we're all predator and prey
no shit my dog's not concerned with death, theres no panthers here
i'd only be afraid of dying if i were injured and felt a tru possibilty of my demise
to me were humans r caught up between optimism and pessimism
i'm sticking with my primal urge of being an oppurtunist

 

Yes, I think you're right. Also, psychologists say that the root of all anxiety symptoms in humans is a kind of development of the 'fight or flight' response which animals have when threatened by danger. Only in humans, the so called threat is often unreal, or a result of social pressure etc, and the thing also sparks negative thinking which then lead to more percieved threats and hence more anxiety in a vicious circle. It all comes because of our capacity for abstract thinking.

 

I agree, although I'd mend that to say it's because of our overuse/overdependance on abstract thought. Thought is a very useful tool, necessary even for our day to day lives. But we no longer control that tool, it controls us. That's the problem.

 

The imagination is a wonderful tool but a terrible master.

 

That may not be entirely true. Elephants are known to go to a certain area to die. A friend of mind had a cat which refused to die until she was cuddled in his arms. My dog cried when showed a picture of her dead pup. So there is a chance that animals know when they are going to die.

 

Well, if they do, they don't seem to worry about it. I doubt that they know, though.

 

I didn't say it was .I was pointing out the misconception of dualistic perception, ie, how most people see most things most of the time (duh).

 

i have a real problem, as i worry about this all the time, i may be insane already, may be too late

i need to learn about abstract thinking

what is it ?

thanks

 

I say we fear death because we can think of eternity, what'll happen in eternity?

 

nothing, when youre dead