How do you view death?

[PhanthomOps]

dave654:

I know much about what you are saying and I would like to speak with you send me an email.

[Nono]

Pooeypants: "Empirically correct but you know what philosophers are like..."

Kind of hard to be empirical here.

PhantomOps: "Exactly what proof are you looking for?"

Any old thing pitched at skeptics would do.

This problem is dealt with in "Hichthiker's Guide to the Galaxy". God basically says the He refuses to prove He exists, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing". But people who feel there is ample proof say to Him that all this "proves You exist and so therefore, by Your own arguments, You don't."

"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that", and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

[PhanthomOps]

Nono:
Quote: "Any old thing pitched at skeptics would do."

Like what for instance??

[Nono]

PhantomOps: 'Nono:"Any old thing pitched at skeptics would do."

Like what for instance??'

I think I see what you may be getting at: that nothing, however obvious, could convince a truly determined skeptic (e.g. a thunderclap followed by stentorian voice from the heavens as various miracles are performed before one's eyes could still be put down to hallucination). Right?

Let's just say that I have a completely open mind on the subject and am not about to be convinced of X just because a lot of people say it's X, and not Y.
At the same time, an open mind doesn't rule anything out.

[Sonart]

How do you view death?

I'm thinking it would be dark... very dark.

Originally posted by bugsbunny04, I view it rather strangely I suppose. I do not fear it, nor seek it, nor do I think I can cheat it, I simply accept it. And my explaination is this: If you fear death, you think it is something that can be avoid forever and you refuse to accept that it is going to happen anyway. If you seek death, depending on the reason, you are a coward. If you are trying to escape from your problems, you are a selfish coward. If, on the other hand, you do not want to be a burden to others, or you want to avoid the indignity of being like Howard Hughs, I understand. If you think you can cheat death and think you are invincible, you are an idiot. You will die, it is a matter of when and how. Personally, I hope I die fighting for something I believe in, or put more simply, I hope I "die well" as Rodenberry's fictional warrior race, the Klingons would say. Real life examples of "dying well": The Henly crew, the occupants of The Alamo, Japanese soldiers who, in WWII, fought quite literally, to the death, knowing they would lose the battle (not including kamakazi pilots). WWI soldiers who died fighting in the trenches, who charged after each other knowing the odds of survival and doing it anyway, that sort of thing. Note that I do not think suicide bombers "die well", because they are killing civilians instead of the enemy too often (in the case of terrorists), and they generally have the option of doing it another way, and they are dying by their own hand, not being killed in honorable combat. I also do not think that persons who do not resist being ceremoniously executed "die well", because they are dying in surrender, instead of dying in defiance and resistance, plus they were captured to begin with and that is a no-no, unless you actually think you can eventually get an opportunity to kill more of them/ I am not seeking death, but I figure if I have to die, I might as well "die well." Anybody have any comments?

Succinct, insightful and well thought out. I agree 100%.

[castille]

I simply accept death as it is. Death is like pre-birth, it is nothing. If one must die, it should be in a good, non-cowardly manner (although that doesnt mean terrorism). One has to learn to accept death as death, not as any other entity.


Also too many people who watch Japanese movies think about the idiotic "honourable death". If you're dead you're not going to be honourable. You're going to be dead.

[PhanthomOps]

Nono:
Quote: "Let's just say that I have a completely open mind on the subject and am not about to be convinced of X just because a lot of people say it's X, and not Y.At the same time, an open mind doesn't rule anything out."

Having an open mind is a very good thing.:) :)

Truth:
Quote: "Personally, I hope I die fighting for something I believe in, or put more simply, I hope I "die well" as Rodenberry's fictional warrior race, the Klingons would say. Real life examples of "dying well"

Very cute anology, however, this is in essence dying honorably. Thanks :) :)

castille:
Quote: "Also too many people who watch Japanese movies think about the idiotic "honourable death". If you're dead you're not going to be honourable. You're going to be dead."

IMHO, the Code of the Samuri happens to be one of the most demanding ways of life. Yes, there were corrupt Samuris, however, most were honorable. The enevitablity of facing death was an integral part of their lives, and was faced head on, not turning tail and running away.

To stand side-by-side with your comrad-in-arms happens to be a code prevelant in the armed forces today and has been for time and memorium. There is a moto of "no one left behind". To protect your buddy as he protects you as best as possible.

Yes, death is death, however, it is the way you die that in the military determines whether it was honorable or due to cowardice.

[Sgt. Rock]

When I die I hope it's fast. I don't want to linger for several weeks getting ate up by cancer. Sometimes alzhimers is a blessing. I think death is the real final frontier. If God does exist and heaven is real I think it will be an incredible place where we will finally get to understand what we don't now. How cool would it be to be able to look back to the moment that the universe began or to look directly at the sun! And how about finally figuring out where I lost my keys.

[Paavo]

God videotaped the big bang / his week of construction?!
jk.

And lol @ sun & keys.

[rez]

I want to add this reply before I read everything so it doesnt fall off the first page.

whenever you see someone die you see people cry, and say things like "please dont leave me"

so in return we try to ease our pain by creating cures and solutions.....is this good or bad?

Dont you guys think its weird when you are with someone for a long time and then one day they are just totally gone and never coming back? Friendships just dont end, when people go abroad they dont just do it last minute.

I dont know what to think, we could easily be energy traveling back to our source or we could just be a ("virus with shoes" - Bill hicks.)

either way its hard to take it....

over the years we have become more and more afraid of it....I dont know if this is natural or not.

[Nono]

Don't mind dying
If I don't get sick.
Don't mind the needle,
I just hate the prick.
Don't mind the undertaker but
Please note this:
Don't want no ambulance,
Just take me away in a hearse.
I don't want to hang around
Pretending that I'm brave.
Right past the hospital
Straight to my grave!

-- Don Walsh, Downchild Blues Band

[samsara15]

Death happens, and none of us knows what lies beyond.

[Zan]

Actually, none of us really need to know what's after death. If you think about it, all we really get from thinking about death is how short Life is. So essentialy, we should just live life to the full to try and give meaning to our very existence.

I don't mean that "Carpe diem" (latin for "seize the moment") is a good thing, because it may suggest a certain amount of moral irresponsability when leading our lives, but more that we should just learn to appreciate the good sides of Life.

[Nono]

"I don't mean that "Carpe diem" (latin for "seize the moment") is a good thing, because it may suggest a certain amount of moral irresponsability when leading our lives, but more that we should just learn to appreciate the good sides of Life."

But carpe-diem reasoning can also also serve as motivation precisely for shouldering one's moral repsonsibilities: since it's later than you think, it's about time to take that moral high road you're always tempted to put off taking until tomorrow.

i am as alive as i will ever be. life is the spirit within my body. my body will die, but my spirit will always live on. my body is merely the physical extension, the shell my spirit lives in. spirit is part of the living energy that is all things.

when i die, i expect to return to the energy of the universe and then be reborn on earth after a brief period.

[debespace]

bob dobbs you is the man, i will go with what you are saying that is so cool and says it all, for me, thanks.

[Zan]

I would just like to ask here: why is reincarnation and rebirth such a popular concept of the afterlife? I have nothing against the idea, it´s just that personally, being an aetheist, I find the idea quite strange. I understand the mechanics of the idea, it´s just that it seems highly improbable. Or is that too harsh a judgement?

[Golgo13]

Originally posted by Mr.Vicchio, I personally have struggled with this question. My logical and scientific mind considers the possibilities. 1.  Death is oblivion.  You die, and thats it, it over, there is... nothing.  Eternal Nothingness.  My mind shrinks from this thought.  Its very difficult to accept that at some point..  I may cease to forever exsist.

To prevent being redundant and reposting it here, i'll simply link you to a previous post I made which deals with the subject of what happens to all our sensoory perception/ character traits that define us and make us who we are post mortem from a scientific perspective.

Consequentially, it supports your first scenario with observation and corroborative evidence obtained through controlled experimentation.

being born once is just as amazing as being born twice.

if it is a reality, i would assume that many people would perceive it to be real, as it seems they have. i too perceived reincarnation and witnessed portions of my past lives. it explained quite a lot.