Night
Boring old fossil
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2007
- Messages
- 4,755
- MBTI Type
- INTJ
- Enneagram
- 5/8
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.
To your point, life existed for billions of years before our notice. Why then should we care if it persists for billions after?
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.
Living in the now is a hard screw to turn. It's in our nature to seek patterns in existence as to improve and protect our present quality of our survival.
If you get there before I do, let me know the answer Jennifer.