Serephim Posted November 8, 2012 Report Share Posted November 8, 2012 I was minding my own business when i came to the realization that i'm going to die one day. Shit creeped up on me reallllly slow like, and gave me the oddest feeling of panic i've had in a long time for a good 10 seconds. Of course, this is nothing special obviously, we've all had some religion / non-religion talk, the idea behind what consciousness really is, death is a function of time and what happens to a corpse when you become one yada yada yada but it's never... actually bothered me before, aside from the odd thoughtstream I just had thinking about what it would feel like to not exist. (If that even makes sense.) I'm quite fond of existing, after all. I think it happened because i tried to imagine myself 30, 40, 50 years from now, and then realized IF i got to 50 years from now (i'd be 72), having that thought again would be drastically different. Putting myself in my parents' shoes (mid 50s), i just wonder what it feels like to know projecting your existence into the future gets more and more limited every year you keep living. ....Of course just as quick as it came, im over it and back to what i was doing because, well, whatever. I'm pretty non-religious and being dead has never been a fear of mine. I just thought it was interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duckboy Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 yolo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serephim Posted November 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 thanks it was getting awkward in here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ila Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 We've all had that feeling at some point in our lives. It really hit me when I was about 15. It's normal though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TailsSena Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 Yeah, had that epiphany before. It's really just something I dismissed. Realized my Parents and Grandparents probably all have different "How long will I be around" thoughts, and then I just kinda' moved on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XeroNazoBlaze Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 It used to happen before my depression was treated, now hardly ever happens, but what was fear before is curiosity now. What will happen once I die? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TailsSena Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 What will happen once I die? Objectively... Your corpse will sit there rotting away, and your consciousness will simply shut off. Subjectively... I have no clue. As a realist though, I'm going to assume it's nothing more exciting than the former. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ila Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 Reincarnated as a furry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawr Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 The only time I worry about dying and/or really think much about it is when the snow falls here and everyone forgets how to drive. Which is like...right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delta Hedgehog Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 That thought has popped into my head before. It doesn't really bother me because I know it happens to everyone and that it will happen to me too. (Hopefully not soon though!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eminence Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 Funny enough, I have been having this same thought recently. It is really scary to look at your own mortality and every year a birthday swings by it really hits you: "I officially have one less year remaining on this planet." But as far as the actual topic of "death" goes. I look at it this way, at one point I didn't exist. Actually, rephrase that. For a VERY LONG time I didn't exist. The Universe functioned just fine before I came along and it will continue to function just right right after. I experienced nothingness before I was born and I experienced nothingness after I was born. It is crazy though and I am personally hoping that at some point there is a way to keep my consciousness alive. Even if my consciousness only exists in a "virtual reality" so-to-speak. That my body is being preserved. Even at that, our brains will decay over time and that appears to put a hole in a future where the elderly get strapped to a machine and can live forever. For all intensive purposes I don't want to die and there's probably nothing to fear about death itself. It won't be painful, it won't be scary, it will just be... nothing. When you break it down we are a finite portion of an infinite Universe. These words that I'm typing don't really exist or have any significance; they are merely language that other humans have learned to interpret. The words we speak, scientifically, are only soundwaves that our brains have learned to interpret. Life itself is the interpretation of our brain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TailsSena Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 Funny enough, I have been having this same thought recently. It is really scary to look at your own mortality and every year a birthday swings by it really hits you:"I officially have one less year remaining on this planet." But as far as the actual topic of "death" goes. I look at it this way, at one point I didn't exist. Actually, rephrase that. For a VERY LONG time I didn't exist. The Universe functioned just fine before I came along and it will continue to function just right right after. I experienced nothingness before I was born and I experienced nothingness after I was born. It is crazy though and I am personally hoping that at some point there is a way to keep my consciousness alive. Even if my consciousness only exists in a "virtual reality" so-to-speak. That my body is being preserved. Even at that, our brains will decay over time and that appears to put a hole in a future where the elderly get strapped to a machine and can live forever. For all intensive purposes I don't want to die and there's probably nothing to fear about death itself. It won't be painful, it won't be scary, it will just be... nothing. When you break it down we are a finite portion of an infinite Universe. These words that I'm typing don't really exist or have any significance; they are merely language that other humans have learned to interpret. The words we speak, scientifically, are only soundwaves that our brains have learned to interpret. Life itself is the interpretation of our brain. Holy shit dude... Have a cookie! Tonight I learned that you're actually rather wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lone8643 Posted November 9, 2012 Report Share Posted November 9, 2012 I've actually been having thoughts like this since October 31st, 1997. I had just finished watching an unsettling movie about these people who could live forever but their bodies kept falling apart. I also had been recovering from a bloody nose and was afraid I was going to die that night from not being able to breathe while asleep. The thought hits me 20-30 times a year now, and the only way I deal with it is remember that I'm here now. I treat every day as though nothing ever existed before now, and that I could have been dead already, so yeah, really yolo. Also, everything that the evanescence person posted. Really, it's made me realize that future generations matter far more than the current one, so I make it a goal to try to help as many people as I can, so they can in turn serve as role models for others. It's been going on for years as far as I know. The person I look up to must have been inspired by someone else. Never been able to say that before, but I've always thought it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlitznBurst Posted November 10, 2012 Report Share Posted November 10, 2012 If I ever die it will most likely be my own fault due to me failing to be a functioning member of society. :U That's probably just me being overly negative though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apricity Posted November 10, 2012 Report Share Posted November 10, 2012 I've never really questioned death at all. The thing that hit me when I had that "epiphany" moment was just that I will never accomplish anything in my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serephim Posted November 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2012 I've never really questioned death at all.The thing that hit me when I had that "epiphany" moment was just that I will never accomplish anything in my life. i dont know if you were serious or not but reading that gave me a rare type of chuckle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ristar Posted November 15, 2012 Report Share Posted November 15, 2012 when my lung collapsed in 2008 (for the fourth time) I had to undergo an emergency procedure which involved metal rods being inserted between my ribcage to allow the surgeon to get a chest drain in there. At one point he hit something and I jumped. That thing he hit was my heart. And it stopped. It may have only been for about 30 seconds, then they shoved some adrenaline in me to get it going again. But for those 30 seconds I had an idea what it was like to be dying. It was oddly beautiful; the colour drained from my vision and I couldn't really hear anything. Everything went in slow motion and I was just incredibly calm and happy. Ever since then, the whole dying thing hasn't really bothered me that much. I've done a lot of stuff that I'm proud of and I don't have many regrets, so it was kind of a good sign for me in a way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DimensionWarped Posted November 18, 2012 Report Share Posted November 18, 2012 I figure I'll probably live forever as long as I don't eat too many McGangbang sandwiches and drain the stem cells from aborted fetuses a couple times a month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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