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I'm convinced my generation will be the last to know what it was to be raised to respect our elders and their wisdom...
I don't know. I raised mine to respect their elders and their wisdom, and they didn't respect either anyway. I don't think it's entirely or even mostly a question of how children are raised, as how their peers, their culture, and the educational system, drown out the voice of parents. I've noticed that the latest crop of young adults are crappy to one another too, not just to their elders. Their throw away lines to each other include things like a vociferous "shut UUUUUP!" that used to be reserved for truly grievous offenses. Civil society is fading. Despite its occasional superficiality, politeness fostered humility and kindness and tamped down impulsiveness.
I am happy to pass the torch to this generation, they're welcome to it.
Don't want to bring religion/spirituality into it. Or whatever one chooses to call it. I'll pass on quoting the rules some religions set for a peaceful passage into the next life. Always found this to be just another way of people needing to be right. And most that spew this are far from the good _________ they think they are.
Not afraid of dying. God wants us to be happy after we pass on, if that is being with family members or a special pet etc.
I'm planning on time traveling. No I have no proof but faith.
As George Michael's sang, you gotta have faith! I've been succcessful in life cause of faith. Being born in the outfield, it was all hard work, planning, and faith. Unlike Trump who was born on third base.
What does it hurt anyone if this is how I believe. If I'm wrong, the person that matters is me, do I care if I'm wrong - no.
I'll be dead and won't know.
If this gives me comfort about not dying, sounds a whole lot better than some options I'm reading here.
Actually yeah, I can understand that. Not wanting can be on all sorts of levels; I think I was thinking mainly just not wanting something, but not that desire becoming so immense that it takes on a sort of fear. So basically it's a fear of life ending, which is death. Yet--as it was described, that there was no consciousness afterwards and that's what the fear was of, that is something that passes my ability to comprehend.
Can you comprehend eternal consciousness?
Do you fear that?
I don't know. I raised mine to respect their elders and their wisdom, and they didn't respect either anyway. I don't think it's entirely or even mostly a question of how children are raised, as how their peers, their culture, and the educational system, drown out the voice of parents. I've noticed that the latest crop of young adults are crappy to one another too, not just to their elders. Their throw away lines to each other include things like a vociferous "shut UUUUUP!" that used to be reserved for truly grievous offenses. Civil society is fading. Despite its occasional superficiality, politeness fostered humility and kindness and tamped down impulsiveness.
I am happy to pass the torch to this generation, they're welcome to it.
So, now you are agreeing that the future sucks? Just recently you were saying it's all going to be great and peachy and getting better.
I didn't fear (or feel) the nothingness that came before my consciousness, therefore I don't fear the nothingness that will come after. I mourn the brevity of our lives because it passes so swiftly, but that which begins, must someday end. Fearing the inevitable is completely pointless. Accept the inevitability and make the most of the time you have. Be grateful that you have this wonderful time.
Steven Wright made a wierd movie ("One Soldier") that kind of has this theme. He spends the entire film worrying about when and how he was going to die. At the end...
*SPOILER ALERT*
He is in front of the shooting squad about to be killed. He has an epiphany.
"Why did I spend so much time worrying about this? I should have just had a sandwich".
In other words, stop worrying about it and enjoy the time you have. Any time I think about it I just say to myself: "Just have a sandwich!"
You can not avoid death but you can choose to live a life that gives you the most time here on earth. Stay fit, don't smoke, don't use illegal substances, stay active, even working years into a normal retirement age are things that help to extend life. In healthcare someone mentioned that close to 70% of health problems are self inflicted. Lifestyle will determine how long you live for the most part. Can not do anything about getting eaten by a bear though.
Being that you are alive and conscious right now, how is it that people aren't afraid of death?...
I understand to not to worry about things you can't control but the mind doesn't work like that. Since you are alive right now, how can you not worry that it will be taken away from you.
People are afraid of death - I think it's natural - which is why, even if we just get hurt a little - touch a hot stove, we automatically move back quickly.
However, death is the end of this existence, as we know it. It's not like burning ourselves on a hot stove, where we survive it. Death is something we will never know until the end of our time in this type of consciousness. In the back of most peoples' minds, there is a fear of death. Partly because of the fear and partly because it is likely something we won't have to face for a while, most people don't think about it often. The facing of death may be seen, for some, as a stripping away - to inspire a deeper letting go of superficial ways and becoming even more spiritual.
You're right that our minds work in ways to keep us alive - to survive. Our tongue has many more poison/bitter receptors than it has sweet receptors. We're wired to look for danger - to worry about death. Yet, we're also smart enough to adapt - and it's good to realize that life demands a lot - and it's better to focus on that which gives us hope and courage, than the opposites.
Personally, I see death as more of a change of consciousness than the end-all. Consciousness is energy and according to basic laws - energy never zaps out of existence, but may change form. This idea is supported by spiritual experiences I've had.
I haven't read through this entire thread, but here's my thoughts---
I don't fear death, but I don't particularly look forward to it, either. I look to live a long and good life. Death itself is the great equalizer, it happens to everyone. Its supposed to happen. Whatever happens, its the same for us all. There's no getting out of it, or around or through it. What if one never died? Like those Twilight Zone episodes, where the guy never dies but could suffer illness, incarceration, etc, forever? No one really knows what, if anything, awaits us on the other side, but no one's being singled out for anything special, either. We all go sometime
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