7 ms·

Always enjoyed his interviews and his style. I happened to just watched a very short clip of him talking about his fear of death with Norm Macdonald last night

by tux1968 6y ago

Always enjoyed his interviews and his style. I happened to just watched a very short clip of him talking about his fear of death with Norm Macdonald last night. Guess we all have to face that moment, and even though he had a long and successful life i'm sorry for him and his family now. I linked the clip[1] below, but it may be a bit disconcerting and too soon to view for some. [1] https://youtu.be/8ZKq7CoZv4w https://youtu.be/8ZKq7CoZv4w

alsetmusic 6y ago
Sad news that he died. I don’t identify with a fear of “not existing.” Not existing doesn’t have a negative connotation to me. It’s an absence of awareness, so who cares?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- djitz 6y ago
  People who want to maintain awareness.
  - DJBunnies 6y ago
    That's their point though. They wont have any.
    - alisonkisk 6y ago
      They like their life and want a future.
      - DJBunnies 6y ago
        That does not conflict with the premise though.
    - scsilver 6y ago
      Are people who are drawn to the spotlight more likely to care about what people think of them when they are not around/dead.
      - DJBunnies 6y ago
        Based on this Larry King example, I would agree. It seems related to ego and image.
        fattire 6y ago
        Yeah, what an ego-maniacal self-centered jerk this guy is not wanting to die.
    - jamesrcole 6y ago
      The person said "who cares?". This is an issue about people who are still alive and their attitude towards death. What you're saying doesn't apply.
- taneq 6y ago
  The survival instinct is the most basic drive in any living thing. If the idea of ceasing to exist truly doesn't make you uncomfortable then it might be worth talking to a professional...
  - abellerose 6y ago
    Ah yes, the mentality that anyone that doesn't fear what I fear must be mentally ill in some way.
  - saberdancer 6y ago
    There is a difference between survival instinct (would I swim up, jump to avoid getting hit by a car or duck if something is thrown at me) with fear of death. I don't fear death, I fear the process of dying, I wouldn't want it to be painful or slow, but not existing, that I do not fear.
    - spacedcowboy 6y ago
      Agreed, and we’ll said
  - staticman2 6y ago
    Many religions are all about not fearing death as a goal. If your immediate reaction to hearing someone doesn't fear death is talk to a professional you have an interesting take on what professionals are for.
    - dota_fanatic 6y ago
      Those belief systems also tend to have things in store for the individual after death, though. Why should one fear death itself if it's actually the means to travel to a place where 72 virgins are waiting for them? Not disagreeing with your second sentence.
      - jazzyjackson 6y ago
        The "ego in heaven" stuff is in the washed down religion for mass appeal, the actual mystical practices, whether islam christian or hindu/buddhist are overcoming attachment to your identity on earth, to identify your 'self' with the infinite unfolding of the universe so you know that 'you' never die, you just stop looking out this window.
- dalbasal 6y ago
  At some point, you get to fundamentals. "Why live?" is not, IMO answerable logically or by reference to other things. That said, wanting not to die is fairly compatible with all our other beliefs and judgements. Murder is bad, for example. That's pretty compatible with not wanting to die.
- dkersten 6y ago
  Right. I wasn't scared of the time before I existed, so why would I be scared of the time after.
  - fattire 6y ago
    Counterpoint: I am extremely scared of the fact that I don't exist on Antarctica and in the center of the Andromeda galaxy. And 10 meters below where I am. I'm just as dead on my roof right now. I'm dead in most of the universe RIGHT NOW and this is terrifying.
    - fattire 6y ago
      Update: I've just discovered I am not alone. Turns out Hannibal Hamlin, Abraham Lincoln's V.P., is just as dead/not in existence on my roof. This is very disconcerting and I hope there are no more ghosts like this in my vicinity.
  - tolbish 6y ago
    Because you've become rather fond of existing and would like to keep it that way?
  - jamesrcole 6y ago
    it's not being scared of that time after you've died, it's being scared of no longer being able to exist.
- hackerNoose 6y ago
  You don't fear it because it's an abstract thing to you. If you'll have an moment of facing impeding doom your primal instincts will rear it's head no doubt.
  - rohit89 6y ago
    Unless you're sick and in pain, in which case you'll be wishing for it. I also don't fear not existing. But I do fear the possibility of an afterlife.
- warent 6y ago
  Many people see birth and death as a clearly defined ultimate boundary: the final infinite wall; a big blank room forever; the bookends of existence. but our origin can be traced backwards forever: present day; yesterday; childhood; exiting the womb; formation in the womb; initial conception; individual cells split between two people; grandparents; formation of the elements of the solar system; beginning of the universe; etc. Presently and onward we are also experiencing death: cells are dying and creating anew; elements breakdown and reform; etc. In this way we can see life and death are convenience abstractions for speech, but neither are real. This is an endless process of transfiguration and change. So what shakes me is the possibility that nonexistence and existence are an illusion, and this is just eternity
  - acct776 6y ago
    You are One with the swirling oceanic vortex that Is.
- deanCommie 6y ago
  I admire and want to learn from people who do not fear "not existing". But I'm always turned off by the complete lack of empathy that such folks (including you) show those of us who DO fear it. Most of folks like you don't just act like you don't fear not existing, but you actively don't understand how OTHERS can fear it. Which makes me think one of two things: 1) The type of person who can be comfortable and this pragmatic about it is the kind of cold unfeeling unempathetic person that I simply could never be, or 2) Your cold detached pragmatic attitude is ITSELF a coping strategy for dealing with mortality. I dwell in the fear of not existing. You deal with it by pretending it's not even something worth burning an ounce of energy on. If I'm wrong, then I'm sorry. I'd love to see you explain that you understand the fear, and then explain why you personally believe it's something you can make peace with. But every explanation I've heard so far I just haven't been able to follow. My consciousness and awareness is all I have. When that ends, so will every dream, fantasy, feeling, emotion, hope, aspiration, joy, fear, sadness, idea, invention, and creative outlet I've ever had. And I won't have any more after that. That is objectively terrifying. Just because it's inescapable doesn't make it any less disturbing.
rococode 6y ago
Here's another clip of him repeating that fear: https://twitter.com/OfficialCHall/status/1352971460206276609 https://twitter.com/OfficialCHall/status/1352971460206276609 Definitely more than just an off-hand comment, and, I think, quite a common fear among successful people. Bill Gates, Peter Thiel, Larry Ellison, and a handful of other tech execs have all shared how uncomfortable they are with death ("I don't understand how someone can stop existing", greatest fear is not being able to think, "death is a terrible, terrible thing", etc.).

alsetmusic 6y ago

Sad news that he died. I don’t identify with a fear of “not existing.” Not existing doesn’t have a negative connotation to me. It’s an absence of awareness, so who cares?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
djitz 6y ago
People who want to maintain awareness.
- DJBunnies 6y ago
  That's their point though. They wont have any.
  - alisonkisk 6y ago
    They like their life and want a future.
    - DJBunnies 6y ago
      That does not conflict with the premise though.
  - scsilver 6y ago
    Are people who are drawn to the spotlight more likely to care about what people think of them when they are not around/dead.
    - DJBunnies 6y ago
      Based on this Larry King example, I would agree. It seems related to ego and image.
      - fattire 6y ago
        Yeah, what an ego-maniacal self-centered jerk this guy is not wanting to die.
  - jamesrcole 6y ago
    The person said "who cares?". This is an issue about people who are still alive and their attitude towards death. What you're saying doesn't apply.
taneq 6y ago
The survival instinct is the most basic drive in any living thing. If the idea of ceasing to exist truly doesn't make you uncomfortable then it might be worth talking to a professional...
- abellerose 6y ago
  Ah yes, the mentality that anyone that doesn't fear what I fear must be mentally ill in some way.
- saberdancer 6y ago
  There is a difference between survival instinct (would I swim up, jump to avoid getting hit by a car or duck if something is thrown at me) with fear of death. I don't fear death, I fear the process of dying, I wouldn't want it to be painful or slow, but not existing, that I do not fear.
  - spacedcowboy 6y ago
    Agreed, and we’ll said
- staticman2 6y ago
  Many religions are all about not fearing death as a goal. If your immediate reaction to hearing someone doesn't fear death is talk to a professional you have an interesting take on what professionals are for.
  - dota_fanatic 6y ago
    Those belief systems also tend to have things in store for the individual after death, though. Why should one fear death itself if it's actually the means to travel to a place where 72 virgins are waiting for them? Not disagreeing with your second sentence.
    - jazzyjackson 6y ago
      The "ego in heaven" stuff is in the washed down religion for mass appeal, the actual mystical practices, whether islam christian or hindu/buddhist are overcoming attachment to your identity on earth, to identify your 'self' with the infinite unfolding of the universe so you know that 'you' never die, you just stop looking out this window.
dalbasal 6y ago
At some point, you get to fundamentals. "Why live?" is not, IMO answerable logically or by reference to other things. That said, wanting not to die is fairly compatible with all our other beliefs and judgements. Murder is bad, for example. That's pretty compatible with not wanting to die.
dkersten 6y ago
Right. I wasn't scared of the time before I existed, so why would I be scared of the time after.
- fattire 6y ago
  Counterpoint: I am extremely scared of the fact that I don't exist on Antarctica and in the center of the Andromeda galaxy. And 10 meters below where I am. I'm just as dead on my roof right now. I'm dead in most of the universe RIGHT NOW and this is terrifying.
  - fattire 6y ago
    Update: I've just discovered I am not alone. Turns out Hannibal Hamlin, Abraham Lincoln's V.P., is just as dead/not in existence on my roof. This is very disconcerting and I hope there are no more ghosts like this in my vicinity.
- tolbish 6y ago
  Because you've become rather fond of existing and would like to keep it that way?
- jamesrcole 6y ago
  it's not being scared of that time after you've died, it's being scared of no longer being able to exist.
hackerNoose 6y ago
You don't fear it because it's an abstract thing to you. If you'll have an moment of facing impeding doom your primal instincts will rear it's head no doubt.
- rohit89 6y ago
  Unless you're sick and in pain, in which case you'll be wishing for it. I also don't fear not existing. But I do fear the possibility of an afterlife.
warent 6y ago
Many people see birth and death as a clearly defined ultimate boundary: the final infinite wall; a big blank room forever; the bookends of existence. but our origin can be traced backwards forever: present day; yesterday; childhood; exiting the womb; formation in the womb; initial conception; individual cells split between two people; grandparents; formation of the elements of the solar system; beginning of the universe; etc. Presently and onward we are also experiencing death: cells are dying and creating anew; elements breakdown and reform; etc. In this way we can see life and death are convenience abstractions for speech, but neither are real. This is an endless process of transfiguration and change. So what shakes me is the possibility that nonexistence and existence are an illusion, and this is just eternity
- acct776 6y ago
  You are One with the swirling oceanic vortex that Is.
deanCommie 6y ago
I admire and want to learn from people who do not fear "not existing". But I'm always turned off by the complete lack of empathy that such folks (including you) show those of us who DO fear it. Most of folks like you don't just act like you don't fear not existing, but you actively don't understand how OTHERS can fear it. Which makes me think one of two things: 1) The type of person who can be comfortable and this pragmatic about it is the kind of cold unfeeling unempathetic person that I simply could never be, or 2) Your cold detached pragmatic attitude is ITSELF a coping strategy for dealing with mortality. I dwell in the fear of not existing. You deal with it by pretending it's not even something worth burning an ounce of energy on. If I'm wrong, then I'm sorry. I'd love to see you explain that you understand the fear, and then explain why you personally believe it's something you can make peace with. But every explanation I've heard so far I just haven't been able to follow. My consciousness and awareness is all I have. When that ends, so will every dream, fantasy, feeling, emotion, hope, aspiration, joy, fear, sadness, idea, invention, and creative outlet I've ever had. And I won't have any more after that. That is objectively terrifying. Just because it's inescapable doesn't make it any less disturbing.

rococode 6y ago

Here's another clip of him repeating that fear: https://twitter.com/OfficialCHall/status/1352971460206276609 https://twitter.com/OfficialCHall/status/1352971460206276609 Definitely more than just an off-hand comment, and, I think, quite a common fear among successful people. Bill Gates, Peter Thiel, Larry Ellison, and a handful of other tech execs have all shared how uncomfortable they are with death ("I don't understand how someone can stop existing", greatest fear is not being able to think, "death is a terrible, terrible thing", etc.).