If none of this life has meaning, if we just fade into nothing when we die, if this is all a coincidence, then why do you fear death? Many men can say that they do not fear death, but an incredible anxiety comes over them when they feel death knocking. Even the christians who feel that this life is all, and they will wait in a long unconscious period awaiting judgement, dread this seemingly eternal unconsciousness while they await their reward, they fear that regardless of living according to their preachers advice, that still they have done something wrong. Is it really proper to believe that God is a perfect being, yet humans have a more loving sense of justice in that we give people a 2nd and 3rd try even to redeem themselves after being punished for a short time? Are you believers of Hell after just one life really putting the human race above God in that we are more all loving in our forgiveness and 2nd chances? So, why are you afraid to die if you know death is the complete end, if all your life experiences will mean nothing and will be forgotten, if all your successes will be in vain, why are you alive? If you knew that tomorrow you would forget and lose everything, would there be a reason for you to do anything today, because regardless of if you had fun or not, it would be as if you did nothing at all?
Not in the slightest. Everything in this universe works according to exact laws, intelligent laws that never fail. It is not a product of chaos, it is the highest of Order.
People don't fear death. They fear change. Anxiety build up in a human the instant it is put into a foreign environment or is facing change from their usual environment. Death is just the most extreme form of change for a human, so obviously it elicits the most fear. I do believe it really is this simple. Why am I alive? For the same reason a newborn is alive. We were born. We really didn't have a choice in the matter, it just happened. And regardless of what happens in the afterlife, we all feel a sense of purpose, and again I believe it's a natural human trait. We tend to naturally believe we exist for a reason, and life is spent finding it. Along the path, society and other human interaction create additional purposes of life, or simply concrete an existing one. To be honest, our society would self-destruct if people started believing they had absolutely no purpose in life, which suicide is the obvious result of localized self-awareness. We were given the ability to reason for a reason; to survive. Part of reasoning is realizing you exist for a reason. Sorry, random sober thoughts.
No man they fear the unknown. I think of it this way. Only the members of our species (or ancestors) who feared death, where the successful ones who furthered their genes. What were pondering over now, is instinct - caught in the net of intelligent thought.
Ah, I see your just being a smartass. And actually, yes. If we can reason, what's to stop an animal to evolving into being able to reason? If an animal can evolve into a higher intelligence/consciousness, what makes you think we're at the absolute peak of consciousness and can go no further. What makes you think that there aren't beings as far evolved above us as we are above an insect? Evolution goes on into infinity. If we evolved out of microbes to this point, how can one reasonably say that we can't advance to a level higher above our current state that we are above the microbes we came from? Most people haven't the slightest clue how one would go about seeing the future, they think it has to do with scrying mirrors and magic spells, but it is a very precise thing, that again goes along with unchanging laws. I'm not going to delve into it, because it would be absolutely useless to do so on this forum.
It's all occurred to me. Logically, if you will dissipate into nothingness upon death, you would have no memory of such things, you would not miss anything, you would not leave anything behind because it would cease to exist to you. I know the answers most will give, my question is if you believe there is no meaning to life, and everything you do has no purpose as it will become non existent to you, what is the motivation for doing right.
Well, yes, the obvious answer is there would be very little motivation for doing right. This is likely the reason that serial killers often feel nothing when they kill, for they have elevated their thinking to another plane that separates traditional thinking about purpose and meaning of life. However, to be quite honest, your original post didn't really question right from wrong, although it is related.
Not many people are aware of, or completely certain that that will happen. feels good man... here a question for you... if there is some sort of supreme being out there that gives us a task and a purpose in life... how do you know what it is? and does he give purpose and meaning to other animals?
It is a natural instinct to survive, that is why animals just don't come up to use and let us eat them. I don't believe there is a meaning to life, but that doesn't make life worthless.
Perhaps we are just conditioned by society to do right, we are born neutral, not good or bad. But societies have formed as human populations have grown and evolved. In order for this large organization of peoples to work we have formed laws and rules to govern ourselves. We aren't ants who function in social units due to their biology. There are many things that humans do that go against our own fitness/ evolution. However, we still try to survive and reproduce. This will never go away. So I think if we approach these questions coming from the viewpoint that we are animals, just like any other animals, we will see more clear answers and reasoning. Why do we fear death? Well where does fear even come from. I would argue that fear comes from fearing death. It is what has evolved in animals to prevent them from dying. In case you haven't studied this kind of stuff, animals can be seen to have fitness values. Not physical fitness like how strong/buff one is, but rather their 1)Survival and 2)Reproduction. It has evolved so that the most fit, and therefor the ones who spread their genes, will survive and reproduce the maximum amount. So fear would have evolved so that when your in a dangerous situation, life-threatening, you can avoid it. We fear death just like any other animal would. Our emotions are amplified for sure. I agree with tokinITguy that if we knew our purpose our lives would not be worth living. I think some people go through life without really asking any of these questions at all. So any reply, I feel, is worth something. If you question your existence, than you have achieved something. Question everything and keep an open mind. Your reality could rip at the seams at any moment.
The "feels good man" is the lower nature, the nature all animals have. The desire of pleasure. A dog will eat tastey food until it's stomach needs pumped, and many people are the same way, their life is all about the pursuit of pleasure in varying forms. This pursuit of pleasure accounts for the boredom todays youth feels when they do not have anything to stimulate their physical senses. As far as animals having a purpose, indeed they do. They are not self aware so they cannot contemplate on why they are here, they just go about doing what they are meant to do for now until they evolve into a state of awareness, but every little atom has purpose. How do I know what the supreme being is? I don't think I could answer this question anymore than I already have by defining Gods Laws in any kind of "prove to me God exists" kind of way, which is the way I'm sure you want me to explain. I've experienced certain things, I have senses and a mind the average person does not (but one day will), that I do not elaborate on to anybody, only the Brotherhood, as I have taken a very serious vow of silence on the subject. I am free to discuss the philosophies, as they can be found in various books, most published by the members of the Brotherhood themselves. It is the Philosophers Stone so to speak, "It is nothing but the coagulated blood of the red lion and the glutten of the white eagle. If you discover it, keep it sacred and keep silent". As the lord giveth he also taketh away, and using these faculties to make money or gain fame would undoubtedly cause me to lose everything I have worked so hard for through the various incarnations. I learned my lesson about using these things to amass power and wealth, and it is a mistake I remember very clearly and do not wish to live through again. I could prove at any distance many things, but I cannot do so unless Divine Providence deems it right or necessary to do. I will never impose these things on one who is not ready. I can only elaborate on the philosophies, nothing more.
Sounds pretty nutty man. What powers do you think you have that others do not? Any one can reach a state of enlightenment... Or have moments.... I think we are all the center of our own universes, and we are special in that way, but to claim that you possess something that the "average person" does not, come on... Pretty soon your going to start saying you are God. I have seen documentaries about people who had strokes and woke up and thought they were God, it is a mental illness. Might want to check into that...
The fear of death can be taken from two standpoints. From a biological standpoint, fear of death should be an intrinsic quality of any species that has any desire to survive. If a species were reckless and apathetic to the point of their death, they would die out. I would probably consider the 'desire to live' one of the most fundamental motivations of a species. From an intellectual standpoint, it is absurd to be concerned about one's death because it is both unpredictable, and inevitable. However, doesn't it make sense to you that people who do not think their life is going to be pizzas and blowjobs after they die would want to live to the fullest, and not want to die? Death is the end, and it makes sense to me that people would want to avoid it.
people fear because they are bound by emotions they have developed on earth; pretty much an illusion to the big picture.