Sarpedon

I became an atheist when I stopped being afraid of death. It has always seemed to me that the fear of death is what makes people religious. It is something I accept stoicly. Read some of the stoics. Marcus Aurellius and Epictetus are good. As Bertrand Russel said "the end of fear is the beginning of wisdom." I guess there are many ways one can become a non-believer. My transition was so gentle that I didn't have any issues like this. For example, for a while I believed in a god but no afterlife. After all, why would a perfect being bother collecting souls? Does he keep them in jars and show them to his friends? So, in conclusion, you cant change it, so become a stoic. "I do not grieve when misfortune happens to others, so why should I grieve when it happens to me?" Epictetus.

Jamie_L

It seems like a lot of atheists have no problem with the thought of their own death (or they say they don't). They say things about how not existing ain't so bad. About how they wouldn't want to live forever. Yadda, yadda, yadda. I believe all these people are sincere, and I admire them for their ability to handle the idea of death so well.

I ain't one of those people. Death terrifies me beyond all reason, to the point that I can go into panic fits if I think about it too seriously. The only solution I've found is to just not think about it that seriously.

After all, what can I do? I can't change the way things are. Thinking about death that seriously doesn't do anything useful. I plan for my death (in so far as making sure those who depend on me will be taken care of if I go, and in trying to avoid dying whenever possible), but beyond that, I mostly act from day-to-day like I won't die. How else can I act?

I also like this website.

Good luck.

Jamie

Rhea

In another thread someone pointed out that we have two periods of non-existence to wonder about. And pondering one may help bring balance to pondering the other. I thought this was an interesting concept, one that I hadn't considered until then.

But one might as well ask, was it frightening for you before you were born? It will probably be equally frightening - or not - for the next phase of non-life.

Anomalocaris

I'm not at all afraid of death. I'd like to live forever, simply because things are just so interesting and fascinating, however that just doesn't happen. The only thing I'm a bit concerned about is the method - a long lingering painful illness wouldn't be fun, nor would a frightening and messy end be nice. However, death itself will end all those horrors of life. I worry about death no more than I worry about how I felt before I was born.

CX

I think of the words of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) who said (paraphrased), "I was dead for millions of years before I was born and I'm none the worse for it." Basically the thought of living forever is far scarier to me than death. I mean presumably once I'm dead I'll no longer exist so I'll hardly be able to be upset about it, right? I view it sort of like a dreamless sleep. After a long full life(or even a short full life) seems like a natural and fitting conclusion.

eldar1011

I wouldn't say that I fear death. As many others have said, there's no point in fearing what can't be controlled and ceasing to be presents no major problems as ... I'll cease to be.

I do have a problem with my curiosity, though. I get kinda frustrated knowing that after I die, I'll probably miss things like space travel for everyday people, a good Batman movie, fat-free healthy bacon cheeseburgers and uh....transporter technology.

All the really cool stuff happens after you die!

azazel

Stop wasting your time thinking about death. From various 'theories", you'll have a lot of time to think about it or none at all.

"when we die, we rot" -michael scriven

DamagedGoods

What if we, as a species, could change the way things are? I fall into the "it might be nice to find out what being immortal is like" group, assuming that we can figure out some way around death in the 50 years or so I might have left. But even if we do, we all will eventually die, if our current understanding of the laws of physics is correct (probably a topic for another forum, though ).

But even if it were possible for me to live for an indefinitely long time, I would still have problems. I would still have arguments with my wife, I would get bored, I would have to deal with nasty people, I would have to sit in meetings with pointy-haired business leaders, and pay taxes. I would have to continue to put up with all the uncomfortable things that are just part of life.

My personal feeling is that, at some point, I would be tired and want to take a break from all that, forever. So is there really much difference between taking that break 15, 50 or 5,000 years from now? I might miss out on some really cool things if I die, but I will also miss out on some really ugly things. Do you think we can go another 5,000 years without fighting major wars? I don't.

So for now I just try to make my life as enjoyable as possible without mortgaging my future too much. I figure if I try to avoid things I'll regret on a daily basis, I won't feel too bad about my life when the end finally comes around. And even if I do regret something, I will only regret it until I'm dead, and then I won't be around to regret it anymore. Once I stopped fearing the threat of eternal regret, I just don't have much to worry about.

n5667

Thanks for all the advice, guys and gals. I spent the weekend out and about living the hedonistic life and it suited me rather well... I suppose I should heed your advice and go out and live life!

Getting into the guts of it... When I approach death from a logical point, I have no problem with it. When I'm dead, I won't exist, so why worry? Just concentrate on the fact that now is forever.

Alas, we humans aren't completely logical, and perhaps evolution has bred into me an inate desire to live, and exist. The fact that I won't be aware that I'm dead is exactly what terrifies me, because I won't be aware. All good things must come to an end, and that doesn't sit well with me at all.

And the fact that all those around me'll die, and so many people live lives far worse than mine doesn't exactly do me good... Honestly, the more I think about this, the more I understand why religion exists (now that's where ignorance is truly bliss).

Shake

That is a good site, Jamie_L! Very nice! Lots of humor interspersed with more serious thoughts.

My own opinions echo a lot of what's already been said here, so I just leave you with something I saw as a T-shirt/bumper sticker design: "It's not that life is short, it's just that you're dead for so long!"