Death terrifies me.

[prwraith]

Death is pretty peaceful though. You'll just switch off. The method of death may suck but you'll just go to a dreamless sleep and never wake up. Couldn't be that bad

[Pony Soldier]

I used to be afraid of it but I got over it and accepted the fact that I will die someday whether I like it or not. Everybody does. I just hope that I die at a good old age of like 85-90. I'd like a good long life with a children and grandchildren. Death to me has become more interesting to think about now. Like what happens after? Do I become a ghost? Do I float on up to the pearly gates? Do I get reincarnated? Do I wake up in a chair and told that I was living a simulation? People say that it's just nothingness but I just find it hard to believe that. There has to be something at the end of the tunnel. I don't totally believe in reincarnation but for me it's a more believable answer than just nothingness forever. I guess you can say I'm agnostic about it.

Anyway, yeah, once you can find a way to get over that fact you'll stop thinking about it and you'll start to enjoy life more, almost forgetting about death entirely and when it does come to mind you won't think much of it.

[Vash The Stampede]

TL;DR Kurzweil has no clue.

I'm not about to go into detail about which prediction he made is wrong or partially correct. I'm not one to scrutinize his work. People smarter than me say he has a 86% success rate on his predictions. People who read his books.

Regardless of his predictions, we will eventually get to the point where a human could stay healthy and young for as long as they want. Why? Cause if we want to fix cancer, and alzheimer's, and heart disease then we need to address the core problem and that's aging. You want to fix these problems then we need to address these several types of damage.

Death and taxes aren't guaranteed in life.

[Felnoire]

Well I rather live than die, but I don't really consider my mortality all that much in a way that would make me get overly emotional over it. I'm going to die one day, maybe right now, or when the sun expands.. doubtful as that's billion's of years from now but somewhere in between. No real control over it, could be a bus, nuclear war, stubbed toe, so why bother worrying over it? Might as well live for the time I know I have, which is now or then. Depending on how you view the nature of a non existing constant as present as it's gone the moment it's turned up off into the past.

[Thessik-Irontail]

Hi guys, i'm sitting here behind my screen with some nice liquid dnb on the background and yet again the thought of dying goes through my head.
I think about this like every day. It just terrifies me to think about the fact that i will lose my parents, lose my brother and lose my girlfriend some time in the future, and i don't know how people can ignore this fact. I don't even feel ashamed to tell that i sometimes cry about this in my bed.

I don't believe in a god or after-life. So the thought of losing my close ones is really hard for me. The thought of never seeing them again..
There is so much shit going on with humanity at the moment, i really wonder when the first nuke will be dropped ( my thought at this moment )
I just don't understand how humanity fails to live in peace and harmony, i hate it and i wish i could change this.

There was a girl on my Facebook, 21 years old and dropped dead randomly because a vain snapped in her brains.
It can happen anytime, you can die without knowing it, you don't even have to suffer from a disease..you can be a healthy person. This can also happen to the people you love and that is in my opinion even worse than dying myself. the emptiness and idea of just not existing or feeling anything anymore is scary.

Am i the only person that thinks about death this often? i don't know how to forget about this or to ignore this fact.

Most people are not self reflecting and so really thinking about and examining what death means rarely if ever happens for them, or when it does it passes quickly.

The more inquisitive, questioning, and reflective people wrestle with issues to really get to the bottom of it and death is one of those things that people struggle with and find their own way out of having to face it every day.. acceptance, religion, etc..

I found this quote very helpful when I was thinking on my own death:

Epicurus, an ancient philosopher said:

“Why should I fear death?
If I am, then death is not.
If Death is, then I am not.
Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not?"

Also, regarding god/religion, I urge you to take what I believe to be a more refined position on the issue and say that we simply do not know. If god is outside of the universe, and science studies the universe, we should expect no evidence of god, even if he does exist. Even if god didn't exist, an afterlife may exist.. possibly it is a yet undiscovered natural phenomenon where you transition to an alternate dimension. It sounds silly, but that is only because it is so far removed from our experience. The fact of the matter is that most likely, no one really knows, science has absolutely no clue either. So the best bet is to say that there may indeed be a god and there may indeed be an afterlife.. you have no reason to think one way or the other. You will "see" one day or not.

You can do nothing to change the fact that you will die. You can do something to change how you live however. So think about death, that is healthy and normal from time to time, but think far more about life. Worry about the things that you can change instead.

Hope that helps

[Deleted]

I'm not about to go into detail about which prediction he made is wrong or partially correct. I'm not one to scrutinize his work. People smarter than me say he has a 86% success rate on his predictions. People who read his books.

I read his books ("Spiritual machines" and "Singularity"). If you feel like you're "not one to scrutinize his work" it means you're intelectually giving up. Don't. With dedication you can understand and scrutinize even the most complex bleeding edge science, let alone a pop-sci book or two filled with ramblings.

Regardless of his predictions, we will eventually get to the point where a human could stay healthy and young for as long as they want. Why? Cause if we want to fix cancer, and alzheimer's, and heart disease then we need to address the core problem and that's aging. You want to fix these problems then we need to address these several types of damage.

Just because we *WANT TO* doesn't mean we *WILL*. Have you ever considered that success isn't guaranteed? ;D

And the timeframe (2 decades) is just completely laughable.

The problem with this kind of bullshit is that it creates completely off, unrealistic assumptions and expectations in the public, and then actual science tends to suffer because of these unrealistic expectations. This creates a climate where scientists have to bite more than they can chew, make unrealistic claims to "sell" their work. I've done it, everyone who's ever written a grant proposal in biomedical sciences has probably done it, nobody likes it, but there it is. You're studying a pathway or a process or something, and you need to at least imply your research is a crucial step to curing cancer or Alzheimer's or autism or whatever the fuck. When in reality it's basic science, it's another stone for the pyramid of understanding. Some succumb to the pressure and just publish plain bullshit (by which I mean, fake data, the worst thing a scientist can do). Others simply oversell legitimate results (again, I've done it, probably everyone has, at some point).

Ray and his ilk *hinder* science. Not help.

[starlord]

i work in a job where i must be prepared to see and/or deal with death, and see their loved ones in tears after. all i can do is do my best to help them, and accept that sometimes the reaper must have his due. and that applies to my own life as well.

[Sky High]

I think of death a lot but not in the terrified way the OP feels, quite the opposite really. blame it on my mom's trademark "don't cry over split milk" teachings or my nihilist view on life in general. It's rather pointless to stress out or really even think about death because, well, it's going to happen anyway. nothing in your power is going to stop the inevitable, you can either accept that and live life to it's fullest or cower in the corner. I opt for the former.

[Vash The Stampede]

And the timeframe (2 decades) is just completely laughable.

If you think about where we were two decades ago, it isn't that surprising. Unless humanity goes into WW3. But the next 2 decades won't cure age related deaths, but instead extend lifespan. At that point the technology will get better before you get worse.

The problem with this kind of bullshit is that it creates completely off, unrealistic assumptions and expectations in the public, and then actual science tends to suffer because of these unrealistic expectations. This creates a climate where scientists have to bite more than they can chew, make unrealistic claims to "sell" their work. I've done it, everyone who's ever written a grant proposal in biomedical sciences has probably done it, nobody likes it, but there it is. You're studying a pathway or a process or something, and you need to at least imply your research is a crucial step to curing cancer or Alzheimer's or autism or whatever the fuck. When in reality it's basic science, it's another stone for the pyramid of understanding. Some succumb to the pressure and just publish plain bullshit (by which I mean, fake data, the worst thing a scientist can do). Others simply oversell legitimate results (again, I've done it, probably everyone has, at some point).

This is true, as a lot of fake experiments can't be recreated. Though I don't think it's because of these expectations from the public, but from the companies who pay for the research. Ray works for Google who also created a company called Calico. Calico's job is to comb through genes to find which gene seems to extend life. Don't think Google would dump money into a company that wouldn't produce a product for them to sell.

Ray and his ilk *hinder* science. Not help.

There are other sources of info on this. Like the realization that removing senescent cells do rejuvenate mice. But it's not all in blind faith. For example, there's the Major Mouse Testing Program which will use this laboratory "proven" ideas on mice to see which works best. Then you have Project21 which by the year 2021 will start a program that will test these products on people to see if it rejuvenates them. I'm not saying by 2030 we'll have cured death, but something would surely come out of this.

If we did have an accurate way to tweak the genes of people, then curing diseases is no longer throwing darts at a board, but a mere software problem. CRISPR isn't that tool, but once we have such a tool it wouldn't be long before doctors can alter peoples genes to cure diseases, including age related ones.


https://www.jax.org/news-and-insight...-cell-ablation

[Hammerfest]

Death can be pretty scary if you don't believe in an afterlife OR you are convinced you're going to Hell.

[Pickynerd]

The fear of death is the reason you make the most of life.

Life should scare you more than death.

[Sesethi]

Fear of death created religion to begin with, a justification we try giving ourselves of why we are here in the first place and if our stay here will be compensated in another place of existence/reality.
Everything will die OP, you, me, this planet, this solar system, even the universe. Just make the most you can out of life, like the other users suggested. If you believe in the multiverse concept, it might become easier to deal with it. And remember, you don't experience death at all, you experience dying though.

Although I don't fear Death, i do dread for the end of all life and the eternal silence.

[Santti]

I find this fear of death to be bizarre. Dying I can understand, but death itself? Just a waste of time and energy to fear something as inevitable and natural as death.

About losing loved ones, I personally was devastated by the loss of my cat, who died at the age of 18. Took me years time to come to the conclusion that it was leaps and bounds better to have that cat part of my life rather than not. I have all the memories of her with me, and I would never trade them away for a button that would erase her existence and the pain of loss from my brain. The same will apply to fellow human beings that I'm very attached to right now.

Also, I find the idea of not existing kind of comforting to be honest. I don't believe in religions or any kind of afterlife, either. What is there to dislike? Nobody can claim they were inconvenienced from the time before they were born, and the same will apply after we die. Just dreamless sleep.

That's my view on death anyway.

[Gandrake]

dont take life too seriously

none of us are getting out alive

[Zephire]

Hi guys, i'm sitting here behind my screen with some nice liquid dnb on the background and yet again the thought of dying goes through my head.
I think about this like every day. It just terrifies me to think about the fact that i will lose my parents, lose my brother and lose my girlfriend some time in the future, and i don't know how people can ignore this fact. I don't even feel ashamed to tell that i sometimes cry about this in my bed.

I don't believe in a god or after-life. So the thought of losing my close ones is really hard for me. The thought of never seeing them again..
There is so much shit going on with humanity at the moment, i really wonder when the first nuke will be dropped ( my thought at this moment )
I just don't understand how humanity fails to live in peace and harmony, i hate it and i wish i could change this.

There was a girl on my Facebook, 21 years old and dropped dead randomly because a vain snapped in her brains.
It can happen anytime, you can die without knowing it, you don't even have to suffer from a disease..you can be a healthy person. This can also happen to the people you love and that is in my opinion even worse than dying myself. the emptiness and idea of just not existing or feeling anything anymore is scary.

Am i the only person that thinks about death this often? i don't know how to forget about this or to ignore this fact.

Point is... they're still alive. Mourn and move on when they're in the ground. Enjoy the living while you can. What will you miss when they're gone? Figure that out and talk about it.

Stop being afraid of dying from random stuff. If it'll happen it will. Who knows what happens in death? Death is currently inevitable. That's that. Next!

[Deleted]

If you think about where we were two decades ago, it isn't that surprising. Unless humanity goes into WW3. But the next 2 decades won't cure age related deaths, but instead extend lifespan. At that point the technology will get better before you get worse.

Extending lifespan is all well and good, but not quite enough, if the demographic data is to be believed. Extending high-quality lifespan? Maybe. Going beyond the 100-and-something years that starts to emerge as the likely limit of human lifespan? I remain unconvinced.

This is true, as a lot of fake experiments can't be recreated. Though I don't think it's because of these expectations from the public, but from the companies who pay for the research. Ray works for Google who also created a company called Calico. Calico's job is to comb through genes to find which gene seems to extend life. Don't think Google would dump money into a company that wouldn't produce a product for them to sell.

Companies invest into a LOT of things that don't bring a "product to sell". Do some reading on the cost and the amount of time to go through the pipeline for a single drug from proof of principle to P2 clinical trials, then look up success rate for drug development start to end, then come back and tell me how you feel ;D

I also see a problem here in your assumptions. Biomed "companies who pay for the research" are the source of scientific misconduct, but software corps that spin off biomed startups aren't? Time will tell ;]

There are other sources of info on this. Like the realization that removing senescent cells do rejuvenate mice. But it's not all in blind faith. For example, there's the Major Mouse Testing Program which will use this laboratory "proven" ideas on mice to see which works best. Then you have Project21 which by the year 2021 will start a program that will test these products on people to see if it rejuvenates them. I'm not saying by 2030 we'll have cured death, but something would surely come out of this.

It's relatively easy to extend the lifespan of mice. The reasons are genetic, physiological (normal lab mice aren't readily reaching the time of their "biological obsolescence", humans actually might) and practical (controlled environment and stock). Don't take me wrong, there are many promising avenues of research, but not a single one has the potential to be the "golden bullet". Take remyelination and neuronal repair, which are things of interest for me. You have to realize we're working against 300 million years of amniote evolution here, where basically the pressure from coevolving immune and nervous system requirements led to a sort of trade-off between regenerative capacity and acquired immune system function. There are some beautiful experiments in remyelination, such as RJM Franklin's work with parabiosis, where his group basically connected a young and an old animals' circulation to provide an influx of "young" peripheral macrophages into the old animal to boost remyelination. This opened up some new possibilities, but also problems to surmount, and it's not going to be an easy task to figure out how to try and make it from an observation to an idea to a possible therapy to proof of concept to trial to application. That's decades, right there. Unless you propose we start affixing young, engineered "volunteers" to our billionaire playboys in their 70s ;D

And "no golden bullet" also means that each challange has to be tackled and each will likely bring additional questions to answer. The central nervous system alone has a fuckton of processes and systems to "patch up", if you will, and it's probable that we haven't even discovered or defined some of them (considering some major recent paradign shifts, like the discovery of the glymphatic system).

If we did have an accurate way to tweak the genes of people, then curing diseases is no longer throwing darts at a board, but a mere software problem.

That's a misunderstanding of biology right there. The genome is not a program. Nor is it a blueprint.

[Soeroah]

I'm in a weird state where, while I still worry and have general anxiety about things, I can console myself with the idea of death and put things in perspective. I don't normally fear death.

Having said that, if I were to be faced with a legitimate possibility of near-future death I'm sure I'd be shitting myself like a world champion, but other than that death doesn't affect me unless I'm in the process of mourning.

I'm more worried about getting my wisdom teeth removed than I've been about the possibility of random death.

[Deleted]

Not really afraid of death myself. I accepted that it will come some day anyways because that's the natural way of things.

However, just because death doesn't scare me it doesn't mean I am reckless or would welcome it or anything. I will try to live for as long as possible. The only thing that saddens me is that there would be people who would be sad if I was gone but that too is a problem for the living.

Death always hurts the living the most. I have seen enough death of all kinds thus far IRL. Close ones, random strangers.

Don't focus too much on what will be. Live in the present and lead a happy, joyful life you will not regret.

PS

I am an atheist so I am in peace with the idea that after death there is nothing but that doesn't really seem scary at all. It's just like a night of dreamless sleep from which you never wake up.

[Googolplex]

Most people are afraid of dying to some extent, but most people don't think about death until it gets close - either when someone they love is dying/dies, or when they are dying themselves.

You just have to accept that death is part of life, and get the most out of the one life you have. Thinking about it wont help help much. Talking about it with someone who have the same problem probably could - that's what I would do if I was you.

[Queen of Hamsters]

I'm not religious in any way and I find comfort in the fact that I can't change it, so why worry? I've already experienced a terrible loss which left me in shock, had me blank out 6 months after it happened and sparked a mourning period which lasted 4 years.

Even if people take comfort in religion, death is just as unknown and scary and they'll mourn their loved ones all the same. Hell, both my grandparents were deeply religious and they both feared death to a point where they fell into a depression over the fact that they were dying. Everyone experiences it, everyone dies eventually. It's a part of life and if you're not part of it, you're already dead.