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Personality type and attitudes toward death and infinity

Kaveri

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Aug 18, 2007
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183
MBTI Type
intp
Many people say that they are afraid of or feel anxious about the idea of infinity or eternity (for example, an infinite universe). Many people also say that they are very much afraid of death. I don't recall ever being afraid of death or infinity as thoughts. On the contrary, these thoughts intrigue me. I have sometimes been afraid of death in situations where I think I'm dying on that instant but I have pretty much gotten over those fears.

I was wondering: does this have something to do with personality type? Or the eight functions? Are certain types more prone to fear death and infinity?
 

KDude

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Jan 26, 2010
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8,243
I'm not... afraid exactly. Not in exploring infinity or death in my thoughts. I can be afraid in situations when I lack any sense of control though. For instance, something as simple as being in the passenger seat of an idiotic driver's car. The smallest bump or near miss would make my mind jump into horrifying scenarios, like that movie Final Destination (seriously..). I also thought it was common sense to think this way, but other people in the car could be enjoying themselves.. There was one ocassion where I threatened a driver if he didn't either slow down or drop me off right there (not sure what I was going to do.. it's like being a hostage in that situation). I don't think it's just a fear of death though, so much as not wanting to be a victim of someone's stupidity. That's not a cool way to go out. I'll be a victim of my own stupidity, thank you very much!

I'm usually right though. The driver in that example, where I wanted to be dropped off, ended up flipping his car a week later, and almost dying. He did eventually die of something else though.
 

skylights

i love
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Jul 6, 2010
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7,756
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
6w7
Instinctual Variant
so/sx
hm, i dunno. i'm way more afraid of death - or more specifically, the possibility of finiteness - than i am of infinity. infinity does not scare me at all.

i guess Ne could be related though. i think everything is interesting and there always seems to be more things to do than i ever will have time for. i hardly have time to try things out, much less enjoy them fully for what they are. i can see living over and over again, as a marine biologist... skydiver... artist... musician... spy... princess... wanderer... the possibilities are endless.

KDude said:
I don't think it's just a fear of death though, so much as not wanting to be a victim of someone's stupidity. That's not a cool way to go out. I'll be a victim of my own stupidity, thank you very much!

lol! i feel the same way. i've made a tipsy driver get out and let me drive his car because we were on a mountain and i WAS NOT having any of that. he was concerned that i would hurt his stick shift car (learned years ago), whereas i was concerned he was going to THROW US OFF A CLIFF :doh:
 

KDude

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Yeah, mountain roads aren't my idea of fun either. My grandparents (passed away now) lived in Washington state, and there were plenty of roads like that. I could barely stand letting my grandpa drive.. like, I'd be hunched up against the door, tense, silently playing out some worst case scenario in my head. Ugh... :doh:

On the flipside, I will be one of the first people to jump off of a cliff at a lake or something. I might just even swim to the middle of the lake and test how far I can go and come back without getting exhausted and drowning. Go figure.
 

gromit

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Mar 3, 2010
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6,508
Both infinity and death are impossible to comprehend, really, because we don't have any context for either.

That said, contemplating death makes me a little uneasy, because, well, I like existing, and there's no guarantee of anything when we die, we really take things on faith, I guess. I just don't like to think about death. Although a part of me is somewhat curious, I will be able to experience it soon enough, so I'd rather think about what I'm experiencing right now, I guess. We cannot control whether we are going to die or not, just when and how (to a certain extent, by living a healthy lifestyle and avoiding foolish decisions).

Kaveri, are you thinking of any type of correlations already, or are you waiting to see what people have to say and then see if you can draw some conclusion based on patterns of responses?
 

Coco

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Aug 8, 2010
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271
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ENTP
Enneagram
7
I'm not scared of death.
However, I'm scared of washroom bugs!!!

Cuz it's something that will happend one day, like its our destiny, and no need to fear it (Death, not bugs)
 

Snuggletron

Reptilian
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Sep 25, 2009
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INFP
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10
I'm only scared of the pain that goes with. If death is anything like going unconscious then it won't matter because you won't care because everything will just end.

...but that DOES make me scared of not living life to the fullest or doing the things I want because of stupid insignificant raisins.
 

Random Ness

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Aug 17, 2010
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270
Throwing out an opinion of a nihilist INFJ.

Pondering infinity makes my brain hurt. But no it does not make me afraid.

As far as death, I'm more afraid of the afterlife, hell or of not existing anymore, than death itself.
 

Night

Boring old fossil
Joined
Nov 2, 2007
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MBTI Type
INTJ
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5/8
Why does everyone presume infinity? What if death is over in an instant? What if nothingness doesn't involve human consciousness?

Perhaps death is simply absence. What might that mean?
 

BlackCat

Shaman
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Nov 19, 2008
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sx/sp
I never understood why people made crap up about the afterlife; like heaven and hell. The afterlife is probably some other dimension, so how a human could even comprehend it without being in ethereal form is beyond me.

But I do hope that there is one.
 
R

ReflecTcelfeR

Guest
Perhaps death is simply absence. What might that mean?

I like trying to digest this thought, it's quite strange, but I enjoy it. I don't mean to sound elitist, but if death is just nothingness then this life truly doesn't matter because you will not have known you existed at all.
 

Snuggletron

Reptilian
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Sep 25, 2009
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Why does everyone presume infinity? What if death is over in an instant? What if nothingness doesn't involve human consciousness?

because people are very scared. When someone you knows dies, isn't it comforting to think they are in a "better place", looking "down" at us, and are still reachable when we die and presently in our prayers?

I hope when someone close to me finally dies I will be able to deal with the possibility and default reality that they no longer exist.

Perhaps death is simply absence. What might that mean?

my guess is that it wouldn't mean anything and that life probably doesn't either, as far as what we know now. Maybe if everyone thought that way our lifestyles would be a lot more chaotic and free.
 

miss fortune

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not disturbed any more by them than the table in the middle of the living room... they exist... so what? :huh:

interesting concepts, but there's a lot of other things that I think about more often... most of them are edible :blush:
 

wolfy

awsm
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Jun 30, 2008
Messages
12,251
I like trying to digest this thought, it's quite strange, but I enjoy it. I don't mean to sound elitist, but if death is just nothingness then this life truly doesn't matter because you will not have known you existed at all.

Your actions and thoughts could live on for an eternity. There is no way of knowing the reach of even this post. How do I know how far it will reach? Your effect is a real thing too.
 
R

ReflecTcelfeR

Guest
You wouldn't realize you had these effects though, so I suppose for you (whoever that may be) it doesn't matter. This is to say that there is no after life. I get what you are saying though.
 

Stevo

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Jun 16, 2010
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I'm not afraid of the death that comes out of a long and fulfilling life. I am afraid, a little, about a sudden, violent death before my time has come. I am regretful that I will not live to see humanity achieve its full potential, but immortality is a repugnant idea, if you really think about it. I do not think there is an afterlife, and honestly I would prefer it that way.
 

Within

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Jan 22, 2010
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I want to live forever simply to watch the rise and or fall of future technology and hopefully the eradication of religion. Hoarding knowledge would be much more rewarding if you knew with certainty that it was forever. But when I die I will be happy knowing that it will make room for another human.

But whenever I watch movies like A.I, Up and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button for examples. They can make me feel a bit anxious at times though. They depict a whole life or an extensive period of time, so I can understand why some people fear infinity.
 

Tamske

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I'm quite scared of death. Not what might lie behind it, but just the fact that life is over. I don't want to die yet because I want to finish my novel first and I want to finish my next novel too and the next and the next... I also want to learn how to repair cars and electricity and plumbing first. I want to get kids and raise them. There's so much I want to do, I can't do that in only 60-ish years I've left (and that's an optimistic estimate).
Death is the ultimate deadline.

Infinity is awesome. Somebody I know is afraid of thinking about the universe because it's so big. And it still isn't infinite! I love to stretch my mind to very big things (universes) and very small ones (elementary particles) and try to get further. Most string theorists have problems with the "landscape", an infinite plethora of possible universes according to string theory. They would have liked the theory to predict a single universe, ours. I love the landscape. Infinite possibilities? Great! What if they all existed? What if ours is just one in an infinite bubblebath of universes, each with their own time and space and matter? Splendid isn't it! Never say again that science killed science fiction - you've got the whole landscape to populate with whatever universes your imagination can come up with.
 

Wonkavision

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hm, i dunno. i'm way more afraid of death - or more specifically, the possibility of finiteness - than i am of infinity. infinity does not scare me at all.

i guess Ne could be related though. i think everything is interesting and there always seems to be more things to do than i ever will have time for. i hardly have time to try things out, much less enjoy them fully for what they are. i can see living over and over again, as a marine biologist... skydiver... artist... musician... spy... princess... wanderer... the possibilities are endless.

Same here.

Except for the princess part.

Or....

Well, actually that would be pretty interesting. :D
 

CzeCze

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Sep 11, 2007
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I'm not afraid of death and have an element of fearlessness in me (coupled with lots and lots of anxiety). I think that may just be youth talking. And overall as a species humans, particularly in the developed world who are at least middle class have less fear of death simply because there is less threat of dying before old age. Also with modern medicine dying will at least not be as painful as it was 100 years ago. Infinity doesn't scare me, when I think of life or the world there is an element of forever, rhyme and reason, and cycles in there.
 
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