What does it mean to die?

[Night]

Sooner or later it happens to us all. Time runs out. We reach the end. Life comes to a sudden and irreversible point.

While the means differ, the conclusion is always the same - all of us will one day die.

So, what does human death mean to you? Is death simply the logical conclusion to a physical beginning - the inevitable expression of being gifted with life, or is it something else? Something more holistic - perhaps the chance to experience singularity with a creator, or for resurrection in a context entirely distinct from your previous life?

Maybe death is not necessarily oppositional to life. Maybe life and death are just instrinsic to what it means to be an organism. Death as energy reconfiguring itself towards equilibrium.


What do you believe?

 

[Nicodemus]

The parts of my brain that produce the illusion that I call 'I' stop working, the heart stops beating, the oxygen stops running: shutdown.

 

[gromit]

I don't understand it. I guess we don't know until it happens to us...

 

[Night]

The parts of my brain that produce the illusion that I call 'I' stop working, the heart stops beating, the oxygen stops running: shutdown.

So, you favor a material approach. What we can measure is what we will experience. Physical transition from cogniton to non-cognition as a consequence of profound biological failure. That the parts of your neural sentience responsible for the electrical impulses commonly referred to as "consciousness" simply end.

What would make you change your belief?

What has led you to it?

 

[cascadeco]

It means that I will cease to exist, and very well that could happen in a very 'real' way, even with my consciousness - I am no more. My awareness/self is wiped out of the universe. I used to be more alarmed at this, until I realized that it would be no different from sleep - each night when I sleep I am effectively non-existent, as if I died in my sleep I would have no idea. Just as when I wake up I effectively have no idea what happened while I was sleeping.. because I wasn't aware of any of it.

But it's also possible that my consciousness will continue on in some way. I won't know until it happens, or when it happens, nothing will happen other than what I said above. Basically I don't have any beliefs regarding what will happen after I die, because I don't think I'm in a position to really know. Of course I think it would be rather nice for my consciousness to continue ever on, in some capacity/form, but I'm also not banking on that. What happens happens.

 

[entropie]

Death is the moment at which people who lived their life thinking about death are happy for a nanosecond and then dead

 

[Night]

It means that I will cease to exist, and very well that could happen in a very 'real' way, even with my consciousness - I am no more. My awareness/self is wiped out of the universe. I used to be more alarmed at this, until I realized that it would be no different from sleep - each night when I sleep I am effectively non-existent, as if I died in my sleep I would have no idea. Just as when I wake up I effectively have no idea what happened while I was sleeping.. because I wasn't aware of any of it.

But it's also possible that my consciousness will continue on in some way. I won't know until it happens, or when it happens, nothing will happen other than what I said above. Basically I don't have any beliefs regarding what will happen after I die, because I don't think I'm in a position to really know. Of course I think it would be rather nice for my consciousness to continue ever on, in some capacity/form, but I'm also not banking on that. What happens happens.

Being open to possibility remains a hallmark feature of critical thought - kudos.

As an aside unrelated to your point, I find for some that the answer to death - and its transcendance - sits vested in the concept of a deity. That our ability to guarantee the survival of our conscious thought is somehow related to our worldly acceptance of doctrine.

Why is mortality something to be hurdled? Why would perpetual life necessarily be a reward?

 

[entropie]

Being open to possibility remains a hallmark of sure insanity tho aswell

 

[nolla]

It seems that quantum theory could be interpreted in a way where nothing exists at all if there is no one to experience it. From this point of view it could be that my consciousness is creating the world now, and this just created stuff goes both forward and backward in time. So, universe is created because of consciousness. True or not, this makes me very uncertain to say anything about death.

 

[cascadeco]

Why is mortality something to be hurdled? Why would perpetual life necessarily be a reward?

I don't know. For myself, I love life/mortality. There are so many things I love and I find so much beauty in this world. At this juncture, I would hate to give it up. Later on in life, should I live to be old enough, I may find myself growing weary of it, but as of now - in the big picture - I've never viewed mortality as something I want to put behind me. I don't view a 'better place' ahead of me, because I think I can create/find a beautiful place/life here, now.

As for the concept of eternity/perpetual life, if consciousness were of the same.. vein and space/time awareness, then it really doesn't seem that appealing and I don't know why I'd want to have an eternity of it.

I've never really understood the reward concept, but then I am also one of the lucky minority on this planet who isn't struggling for survival and I live an exceedingly privileged life compared to most. From the perspective of many people on this planet, I could see why it might be a psychological necessity to want to rid oneself of mortality - because the reality of mortality for many people on this planet is pretty abysmal. I'm lucky and I actually have the... luxury of contemplating things like this, rather than my very survival.

 

[Night]

It seems that quantum theory could be interpreted in a way where nothing exists at all if there is no one to experience it. From this point of view it could be that my consciousness is creating the world now, and this just created stuff goes both forward and backward in time. So, universe is created because of consciousness. True or not, this makes me very uncertain to say anything about death.

Being open to possibility remains a hallmark of sure insanity tho aswell

nolla, ftw.

 

[entropie]

It seems that quantum theory could be interpreted in a way where nothing exists at all if there is no one to experience it. From this point of view it could be that my consciousness is creating the world now, and this just created stuff goes both forward and backward in time. So, universe is created because of consciousness. True or not, this makes me very uncertain to say anything about death.

The problem with that theory is: it makes you very uncertain of saying anything else tho aswell. Because outside of your perception anything is possible then and if you operate within such given parameters, you go crazy cause then you have nothing left you can think of as being real. Tho that may be a great thing to do for a pghilosopher on cocaine, I think for the common people like me that is just too much to *not* take

 

[entropie]

nolla, ftw.

Ah cmon, "everything is possible" isnt really a win

 

[Totenkindly]

It means that I will cease to exist, and very well that could happen in a very 'real' way, even with my consciousness - I am no more. My awareness/self is wiped out of the universe. I used to be more alarmed at this, until I realized that it would be no different from sleep - each night when I sleep I am effectively non-existent, as if I died in my sleep I would have no idea. Just as when I wake up I effectively have no idea what happened while I was sleeping.. because I wasn't aware of any of it.

But it's also possible that my consciousness will continue on in some way. I won't know until it happens, or when it happens, nothing will happen other than what I said above. Basically I don't have any beliefs regarding what will happen after I die, because I don't think I'm in a position to really know. Of course I think it would be rather nice for my consciousness to continue ever on, in some capacity/form, but I'm also not banking on that. What happens happens.

I have had the same thoughts, the same comparisons to sleep, etc. There's a reason that sleep is seen as a mini-death and that death is sometimes referred to as sleep. I used to have trouble when I was young going to sleep, because I did not know if I would wake up again.

I have a hard time saying I believe in specific details that I cannot confirm are true, even if they are palatable. Religious beliefs seem to be that way for me. I use patterns in religious systems to help me determine how to live and to help me define my hopes and joys, but the reality is that I don't know what is true and what is not in terms of the specifics; death will provide a final answer that unfortunately at that point in time will no longer have meaning. All that matters to me now is how I live now, not what happens after death. (I don't even understand people who can focus on eternal reward as a motivator, and so loudly proclaim something that might or might not be true.) When I get there, then I'll be subject to what it is, and if I'm still conscious, then it'll be something new to work through.

Why is mortality something to be hurdled? Why would perpetual life necessarily be a reward?

I don't know why it is looked at that way. Sometimes eternal life could be seen as a curse, as much as a suffering eternity here on earth would not be heaven but hell.

My mind leaps through many patterns. I remember the end of "Insomnia," where Detective Dormer has probably lost his life's work and been mortally wounded, and now he's ready to rest and just says, "Sleep, Let me sleep," rather than being saved. (See "Awake" from "Sucker Punch" too.) Sometimes I've felt that way; even when life is good, the pain of some experiences still lingers and leaves me grateful at the thought of releasing all that and finally being at peace. It's good to finally be able to lay down your burden and find a respite from the unendurable grief, there at that end of all things.

Also reminded of the end of Billy Joel's "Lullaby" to his daughter:
"...Goodnight my angel now it's time to dream
And dream how wonderful your life will be
Someday your child will cry and if you sing this lullaby
Then in your heart there will always be a part of me

Someday we'll all be gone
But lullabies go on and on
They never die that's how you and I will be"

 

[Night]

As for the concept of eternity/perpetual life, if consciousness were of the same.. vein and space/time awareness, then it really doesn't seem that appealing and I don't know why I'd want to have an eternity of it. I've never really understood the reward concept, but then I am also one of the lucky minority on this planet who isn't struggling for survival. From the perspective of many people on this planet, I could see why it might be a psychological necessity to want to rid oneself of mortality.

Good thoughts here.

Death as an end to physical suffering. As an escape from the responsibilities and inequalities contemporary to our lives. I wonder if these variables contribute to real-world problems like violent fundamentalism (not necessarily religious...) through pervasive socioeconomic disparity. That death serves a fond alternative to dealing with these inescapable disadvantages.

 

[entropie]

When death isnt the end of this life I am really pissed, cause not that nobody ever asked me if I wanted to have it, if it should then even continue after the time I tought it was finally over, I'll go on a killing spree

 

[Night]

Ah cmon, "everything is possible" isnt really a win

Don't tell that to Quantum theorists.

 

[entropie]

How can you get rid of feeling physical pain by dumb people when you are dead and supposed to not feel physical pain no more ? Does the physical pain then transcend and not feels physical but more, I dunno... how can you be anything at all, if you do not feel a thing no more ?

 

[rav3n]

To explain my stance on death, I have to explain my belief about human life. Human beings are animals where our lives are accidental meetings of sperm and egg. With this in mind, when we die, we no longer exist.

And frankly, the thought of living forever is far more disturbing to me than the thought of ceasing to exist. Considering human nature, it's better that we cease to exist. Cynic, who me?

 

[entropie]

Don't tell that to Quantum theorists.

Thats not what quantum theorists say. they say there are a lot of possibilities but only so much are true at a given level of dimension