Being scared of death is dumb

[usernamesarehard]

I'm having a shit day at work and generally feeling pretty terrible, but I've had the ability to do some thinking. I realized that being scared of death is really dumb. I can understand being scared of the act of dying. It's painful. But being scared of death makes no sense. We're all going to die anyway. Whether we ctb now or die of old age we WILL die.

But what if there's an after life?
But what about reincarnation?
But what if it's eternal darkness? What if we return to the void?

It doesn't matter. If any of these things exist, they exist now and they'll exist when you're old and die. Time doesn't change the laws of nature.

 

[cme-dme]

Uncertainty is scary. To me, I would also agree being scared of death is dumb but I still feel That Feeling In Your Stomach™ from time to time if I think too deeply about it. I think that is mostly because the brain cannot comprehend the feeling of "nothingness" if that makes sense? So the way I imagine it is just me in complete darkness but still conscious like a sort of purgatory even if that most likely isn't what is going to happen.

 

[monetpompo]

It doesn't matter. If any of these things exist, they exist now and they'll exist when you're old and die. Time doesn't change the laws of nature.

very true!! i watched a youtube video about someone talking about how they survived a suicide attempt and they compared it to when they were under anesthesia, where it's just the complete absence of anything. while i do have a primal fear of death like everybody else, it's kind of comforting to know that there's firsthand accounts of there truly being nothing once you go unconscious/die.

 

[CumbriaCTB]

My only concern is the idea that suicide, unlike dying of old age, is a grave sin that could get me sent to Dante-style Hell for all eternity (my mother was a Bible thumper lmao) and, even though I'm not religious anymore, it's still this dumb little fear I have in the back of my head whenever I contemplate CTB.

Still hasn't stopped me from carrying out multiple CTB attempts in the past though.

 

[bananaolympus]

Is not dumb because people always being scared of the unknown so it is completely rational to be scared of both the dying process and death itself

 

[GhostInTheMachine]

My fear of death is a Top 5 reason I haven't killed myself yet, so I think it's somewhat useful.

 

[artificialpasta]

I'm having a shit day at work and generally feeling pretty terrible, but I've had the ability to do some thinking. I realized that being scared of death is really dumb. I can understand being scared of the act of dying. It's painful. But being scared of death makes no sense. We're all going to die anyway. Whether we ctb now or die of old age we WILL die.

But what if there's an after life?
But what about reincarnation?
But what if it's eternal darkness? What if we return to the void?

It doesn't matter. If any of these things exist, they exist now and they'll exist when you're old and die. Time doesn't change the laws of nature.

"X happens to everyone therefore it's irrational to be scared of X" is not a serious argument. Keep in mind X could also mean eternal torment.

 

[Gustav Hartmann]

The fear of death is not rational, it is an instinct that becomes the stronger the closer the time of death approches. When we passed a point of no rerturn, when we now that our death is inevitable, than our survival instinct has no function anymore an it subsides.

 

[pthnrdnojvsc]

Yes to me fear of Death is irrational

We all will die anyway

1 microsecond after my brain dies is my Death which is Non-existence forever. Non-existence forever is the only guarantee of me never suffering a trillion times worse than i can imagine. So I don't fear my Death

100 years of neuroscience experiments show the evidence that all thinking, consciousness, illusion of a self, emotions etc are functions of the brain

Books like Ego tunnel , attention schema, show the self is an illusion. There is only brain cells connecting in a brain where is the self? There is no evidence for a soul

Neural networks or how brain cells connect in patterns to create software create the illusion.

A microscopic worm c. Elegans has only 302 neurons or brain cells but can perform many functions. A human has 86 billion neurons

With 302 brain cells the worm can learn and form associative memories

Uncovering novel regulators of memory using C. elegans genetic and genomic analysis - PMC

How organisms learn and encode memory is an outstanding question in neuroscience research. Specifically, how memories are acquired and consolidated at the level of molecular and gene pathways remains unclear. In addition, memory is disrupted in a ...

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Invertebrate Learning: What Can't a Worm Learn?

The nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans can learn and remember the stimuli it encounters, the environment it is in, and its own physiological state. …

www.sciencedirect.com

 

[Carrot]

But what if there's an after life?
But what about reincarnation?
But what if it's eternal darkness? What if we return to the void?

It doesn't matter. If any of these things exist, they exist now and they'll exist when you're old and die. Time doesn't change the laws of nature.

Early death might result in a different afterlife than a late death. Maybe if you die by suicide you instantly go to heaven (or some equivalent of eternal happiness or suffering), maybe if you die under age of 3 the same. Maybe something else.

Since we don't know any of these afterlife rules, I agree we might as well ignore it completely (or live as long as possible hoping that science will somehow discover more about afterlife, allowing for a better evaluation of whether, when or how one should die).

 

[Linda]

My only concern is the idea that suicide, unlike dying of old age, is a grave sin that could get me sent to Dante-style Hell for all eternity (my mother was a Bible thumper lmao) and, even though I'm not religious anymore, it's still this dumb little fear I have in the back of my head whenever I contemplate CTB.

Still hasn't stopped me from carrying out multiple CTB attempts in the past though.

Until about the 4th century, christianity had no problem with suicide. They took the same attitude that the society around them took. Most people in ancient Rome (and, before Rome, in ancient Greece) considered that suicide is not merely acceptable in appropriate circumstances, but that sometimes it is the proper thing to do.

Christian teaching changes all the time. They will tell you that it doesn't, but they are lying. For example, for centuries they used to teach that charging interest on loans is sinful. (Try telling that to your mortgage provider!) Now they would laugh in your face if you claimed that, and they would call you an idiot.

Religion - all organised religion - is nothing but lies, superstition and general nonsense. (It is also good at separating you from your money and molesting your children.) Ignore it.

 

[lifeisbutadream]

Until about the 4th century, christianity had no problem with suicide. They took the same attitude that the society around them took. Most people in ancient Rome (and, before Rome, in ancient Greece) considered that suicide is not merely acceptable in appropriate circumstances, but that sometimes it is the proper thing to do.
...

There are seven suicides and one attempted suicide in the Bible.

I think that suicide should be a cause of celebration not sadness, as your soul - you! -
goes on to an infinitely better place than where it is now, so wondrous that you can't even begin to imagine it here on earth. I look forward to it with great anticipation. The sad part is that people left behind will miss loved ones. But they will meet again anyway soon enough.

 

[lifeisbutadream]

There are seven suicides and one attempted suicide in the Bible.

I think that suicide should be a cause of celebration not sadness, as your soul - you! -
goes on to an infinitely better place than where it is now, so wondrous that you can't even begin to imagine it here on earth. I look forward to it with great anticipation. The sad part is that people left behind will miss loved ones. But they will meet again anyway soon enough.

Can't edit, but I meant to say "death" not "suicide" should be a cause of celebration, but actually it's the same thing.