Are You Afraid Of Death

[Snoopy]

why should this leave us at the mercy of the cosmos, Chris?

and what if living to 140 just meant more years of physical and mental deterioration?

s.

 

[Cross-Sword]

I think we're all a bit afraid of death

 

[China Cat Sunflower]

why should this leave us at the mercy of the cosmos, Chris?

Because the essential neurosis of our experience is a built up defense mechanism against the realization of our helplessness and mortality. Self realization implies the stripping away of that defense, leaving one alone, naked, helpless, comfortless, and in utter awe and terror.

and what if living to 140 just meant more years of physical and mental deterioration?

s.

It would mean that you reach middle age at seventy instead of forty. Thirty more years of adventure, fu**ing, and carousing, and thirty more years of economic supremacy, consolidation, and reflection on the other end. Tell me that doesn't sound like a good deal! Of course it's all relative...blerf.

Chris

 

[China Cat Sunflower]

I think we're all a bit afraid of death

I dunno Crossy, so far you and I are the only ones. I wasn't afraid when I was younger. Somehow reaching the mid-point got me thinking about how much time I might have left. I'm 47. If I have, optimistically, 40 more years, I think about how quickly the last 40 went. And now time seems to go by more and more quickly. Voomf, another year is gone. I don't like it. I don't like getting older. The young men are crawling up my back, reaching for my neck, trying to make me obsolete. I'm smarter but they're stronger.

Chris

 

[wil]

There is that, age. I heard it explained as 20 ain't nothin, double it it is 40... 30 getting closer, double it that's 60, many don't make it. 40 double it, 80, err that seems pretty old...double 50 is 100, very few make it that far...and then we get to 60, no matter what you think....not likely to double it again, for the past years you can see the end...

 

[Snoopy]

Because the essential neurosis of our experience is a built up defense mechanism against the realization of our helplessness and mortality. Self realization implies the stripping away of that defense, leaving one alone, naked, helpless, comfortless, and in utter awe and terror.

You're supposed to be in love!!! Is this what golf does to a man??

s.

 

[Saltmeister]

You're supposed to be in love!!! Is this what golf does to a man??

Just about any game can make a man lose interest in his love -- football, cricket, tennis, chess, golf, the Grand Prix, ..... and um ..... Starcraft 2 (just wanted to see who else played that game)?

 

[Saltmeister]

Evidently I'm the only one who is afraid of death. That makes me wonder if there's a taboo against admitting it.

Oh no, for sure you're not. I am very, very afraid of death. I haven't done all that I wanted to do in this life of mine. Some really bad stuff has happened to me lately (I prefer not to talk about it) and I have been set back a few years from where I want to be. Death is the worst thing that can happen to me now.

I'm so bloody smart now, imagine if I had an extra 50 or 100 years. I'd be almost God-like.

Really? How quickly can you beat me at a game of chess?

my friend Tom so I'd have someone to beat at golf for all eternity!

ah, that's what Snoopy was talking about before.

The rest of you buggers can wither away since you embrace your deaths and have no fear (so you say).

I for one would like to be immortal and as for everyone else, they are to live as long as they can in order to allow me to fulfill my own dreams. They will just be my tools. I will have multiple lifetimes and will be able to take multiple careers. Scientist, engineer, architect, politician, military leader, fighter pilot, spy, religious leader, chess grandmaster, astronaut, historian, economist and philanthropist.

I will invent time travel, find a way to harness zero-point energy, lead armies, build cities, manage entire economies, defeat a hundred air forces, win a hundred wars and battles, build empires and have people read about my victories, introduce amazing innovations in spirituality, participate in the most crucial political and legal battles in history yet to be written, become a national chess champion, set up a colony on Mars and possibly ...... create artificial life.

Maslow talks about "self-actualization" and "peak experiences" where a person comes to see the world as it really is in all its awfulness and splendor, and begins to cultivate the freedom of his own inner expansion within the realization of the miraculous nature of his own sovereign being. He calls this state "being cognition," the openness of perception to the truth of the world, a truth concealed by neurotic distortions and illusions that protect us from being overwhelmed by our experiences. It's all well and good to break out of the cave of our one-dimensionality, but the paradox of that triumph is that it utterly undermines one's self-perceived position in the world. It destroys the self-security mechanisms that we have spent our whole lives building up. It makes routine, automatic, secure, self-confident activity impossible. It transforms us into trembling animals at the mercy of the cosmos and its indecipherable meaning. The reward for this psychological break through is that we suddenly see ourselves for what we are: not gods or the children of the gods, but pseudo-intelligent worms with no greater standing than dumb animals awaiting slaughter- only they don't know it and we do. That's a hell of a thing to contemplate!

This last paragraph just blows me away ..... where'd you learn to write like that? ...... still trying to understand what you're saying.

The reward for this psychological break through is that we suddenly see ourselves for what we are: not gods or the children of the gods, but pseudo-intelligent worms with no greater standing than dumb animals awaiting slaughter- only they don't know it and we do. That's a hell of a thing to contemplate!

Wait, wait ...... are you saying that when we finally realise our potential and that "this is all there is" that we will finally realise what a horrible life this is? Have I got it all wrong?

(last paragraph partly paraphrased from The Denial of Death, by Ernest Becker)

Oh ........ that wasn't actually all thought up by you, it was taken from somewhere else.

 

[Snoopy]

Just about any game can make a man lose interest in his love

but so soon??!!


s.

 

[Snoopy]

ah, that's what Snoopy was talking about before.

Playing golf for eternity. That's got to be some sort of definition of hell.

s.

 

[Snoopy]

Oh ........ that wasn't actually all thought up by you, it was taken from somewhere else.

Patience IS a virtue my dear Salty.

s.

 

[Saltmeister]

but so soon??!!

Falling in love isn't so much different from playing a game and that's because falling in love is a game. A woman is just a game.

I'm thinking China-Cat has already won, that's why he isn't playing anymore.

 

[Saltmeister]

Playing golf for eternity. That's got to be some sort of definition of hell.

s.

Ah, that's why he's in love. He's found another game already.

Of course, if he's "God," he'd be making love and playing golf at the same time. Work, rest and play.

Patience IS a virtue my dear Salty.

s.

What does patience have to do with it?

 

[Snoopy]

the patience to get to the end of the thread...

s.

 

[Paladin]

This is interesting. Evidently I'm the only one who is afraid of death. That makes me wonder if there's a taboo against admitting it. I don't think about my death too often. It's not like I'm obsessed with it. I just don't like the idea of not being here. Maybe I'm la la la ing with my fingers in my ears to some extent. I dunno, the days, weeks, and years seem to click by so quickly and it doesn't seem like I'm getting to the bottom of my bucket list fast enough to fit it all in. I'm so bloody smart now, imagine if I had an extra 50 or 100 years. I'd be almost God-like.

Hell yes I want to be immortal! Well, I'd want the people closest to me to be immortal too. Kelly and our kids, my sister, my friend Tom so I'd have someone to beat at golf for all eternity! The rest of you buggers can wither away since you embrace your deaths and have no fear (so you say). I suppose at some point I might have had enough, but 40 more years, at best, isn't enough for me. I won't even be fully enlightened by then, much less learn to levitate or break 70 at golf (equally difficult to achieve IMO).

Maslow talks about "self-actualization" and "peak experiences" where a person comes to see the world as it really is in all its awfulness and splendor, and begins to cultivate the freedom of his own inner expansion within the realization of the miraculous nature of his own sovereign being. He calls this state "being cognition," the openness of perception to the truth of the world, a truth concealed by neurotic distortions and illusions that protect us from being overwhelmed by our experiences. It's all well and good to break out of the cave of our one-dimensionality, but the paradox of that triumph is that it utterly undermines one's self-perceived position in the world. It destroys the self-security mechanisms that we have spent our whole lives building up. It makes routine, automatic, secure, self-confident activity impossible. It transforms us into trembling animals at the mercy of the cosmos and its indecipherable meaning. The reward for this psychological break through is that we suddenly see ourselves for what we are: not gods or the children of the gods, but pseudo-intelligent worms with no greater standing than dumb animals awaiting slaughter- only they don't know it and we do. That's a hell of a thing to contemplate!

(last paragraph partly paraphrased from The Denial of Death, by Ernest Becker)

Chris

I'm sorry Chris but I must strongly disagree with Beckers understanding of Maslow and what a "Peak" experience really is. Apparently he has an intellectual understanding but not an experiential one.

 

[Saltmeister]

the patience to get to the end of the thread...

s.

We could be talking for an eternity, or more accurately a lifetime. But all threads eventually die anyway, so we may indeed see the end of it and live.

the death of a thread, good heavens!!! how dare you!!!! could you not have spoken of better things to come?

I will be lying unconscious in the next few hours and I assume I will be back to read more optimistic words.

 

[greymare]

Falling in love isn't so much different from playing a game and that's because falling in love is a game. A woman is just a game.

I'm thinking China-Cat has already won, that's why he isn't playing anymore.

A woman is just a game???????????????

so............ hows YOUR love life then?

Love the Grey

(ps, sorry for taking part in hijacking this thread)

 

[Snoopy]

We could be talking for an eternity, or more accurately a lifetime. But all threads eventually die anyway, so we may indeed see the end of it and live.

the death of a thread, good heavens!!! how dare you!!!! could you not have spoken of better things to come?

I will be lying unconscious in the next few hours and I assume I will be back to read more optimistic words.

If you're going to be having conversations with yourself like this, I suggest you try decaf.

s.

 

[Saltmeister]

A woman is just a game???????????????

so............ hows YOUR love life then?

I haven't started playing the game yet. I'm still learning the rules and from what people have told me, the game is really hard.

If you're going to be having conversations with yourself like this, I suggest you try decaf.

s.

I just took a shower, didn't feel like sleeping so I decided to listen to some music on my computer and check the forums. Oh no, I feel tired again.

 

[arthra]

Death for me has become more like a transition. There's a lot of people I know that have made that transition, .. family members, friends and I know we all have a ticket so I'll have a lot of company when I get there.

My faith tells me there's nothing to be afraid of on the other side.. death is a messenger of joy!

I would like to stress here though that we should make provision for our loved ones when we pass on..so write a Will and it will save those who succeed you some grief.