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> This is not something you want to be anywhere near. Oh jeez. First I find out about Gliese 710, now this.

taneq 5y ago
Sounds dramatic, but on my scale of existential dread, nowhere near up there with simply being trapped in a human body where there's no offsite backups and you (or anyone else close to you) can just get an aneurysm and die at any moment. I'm not sure I'm helping. >.>
- fsloth 5y ago
  I don't think death of the individual is something to be dreaded. I suggest meditating on your own death until the thought no longer causes anxiety. Death of the individual is a completely natural part of the cycle of life and should not be dreaded beyond the fact that it hurts like hell when it happens to someone you love.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - colordrops 5y ago
    It seems like it hurts like hell when it happens to you in most cases as well, unless it's sudden.
    - fsloth 5y ago
      Moment of death might be full of horror and torment but there is no reason to make it worse by stressing about it your whole life. Worrying about death is like going to a movie, and being so sad throughout the movie it will end at some point that you fail to enjoy the movie.
      - PicassoCTs 5y ago
        This seems to be just another form of denial of existential dread to me. Draped in the ever fashionable "I can reshape anything by wishing upon it" but to be honest, i rather be around someone who suffers through and faces his mortal fears, then somebody thinking around them with some barely disguised religious rituals. The later is much less likely to lash out, when his "protective" bubble against existentialist fear is penetrated. Its also indicative of a curious mindset, if you stare into your own emotional blindspot, to find out what you are made of. Of course, it can become a self-destructive behaviour, destroying ones ability to function, which suppressing the fear in the end is.
      - colordrops 5y ago
        Is life simply a movie to be enjoyed, or is there value in contemplating the ephemeral nature of our existence, and investigating the nature of death?
  - taneq 5y ago
    There's a bit to unpack here: - The suggestion that meditation can reduce your fear of death - The suggestion that if it can do so, that's a good thing - The implication that things which are natural are not to be feared
    - fsloth 5y ago
      I meant meditating in the "thinking about it" sense. I generally consider not being anxious about future events you cannot avoid a good thing. The lack of anxiety does not mean that death would feel like a good thing, nor does lack of anxiety invoke irrational behavior. "Natural" was maybe a too loaded word. Maybe "unavoidable" would be better.
  - GeorgeWBasic 5y ago
    Does that work for you? Meditating? Do you have any more specific advice you'd want to give someone who would like to be at peace with the thought of it?
    - fsloth 5y ago
      I meant meditating not in the "sitting on the floor, breathing" sense but in the sense of ruminating and thinking. I'm not an expert on death anxiety. There is the "normal" kind, and then there are conditions that probably require a therapist. I am not suggesting life should not be cherished, nor that one should not consider each death a loss. Lots of people have written about getting rid of it. You just probably need to skim through self-helpy books until you find some rationale to appease you. Three points that helped me: It is a huge privilege to be born in the first place. The number of living people is infinitesimally smaller than the number of people who will ever exist (I'm referring to the fact that there is about 70B ways fathers and mothers genome can combine and you are only one of those options - as is any human of their parents genomes who has lived). Being dead is just like being before you were born. Renaissance doesn't cause anxiety in me so I don't know why a future centuries from now on without me would frighten me. There is the "imagine you are dead" visualization. Imagine you are dead, buried to the ground and worms are eating your corpse. Really vividly, focus for a few minutes. Then stop and continue your day. Notice the thought of being dead does not seem so frightening now you've imagined it. Some mythologies purport an afterlife, if you prefer in believing the continuity of consciousness go ahead and do that - I have nothing against it. I think everybody agrees patterns that are related to of us will remain in the world like ripples in the pond after we are gone. But beyond that I have no reason to believe in any sort of continuity.
    - pps 5y ago
      Stoicism. Other than old works from Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, you can also find modern stoic practitioners, Massimo Pigliucci and Donald Robertson (there are others, but these are the best at teaching IMO). Robertsons book has additional chapter you can find somewhere online on exercises for meditation on death. But it's better to read it after https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stoicism-Art-Happiness-Teach-Yourself/dp/1444187104/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stoicism-Art-Happiness-Teach-Yourse... Edit. Here it is https://learn.donaldrobertson.name/p/the-stoic-contemplation-of-death https://learn.donaldrobertson.name/p/the-stoic-contemplation...

Sounds dramatic, but on my scale of existential dread, nowhere near up there with simply being trapped in a human body where there's no offsite backups and you (or anyone else close to you) can just get an aneurysm and die at any moment. I'm not sure I'm helping. >.>

fsloth 5y ago
I don't think death of the individual is something to be dreaded. I suggest meditating on your own death until the thought no longer causes anxiety. Death of the individual is a completely natural part of the cycle of life and should not be dreaded beyond the fact that it hurts like hell when it happens to someone you love.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- colordrops 5y ago
  It seems like it hurts like hell when it happens to you in most cases as well, unless it's sudden.
  - fsloth 5y ago
    Moment of death might be full of horror and torment but there is no reason to make it worse by stressing about it your whole life. Worrying about death is like going to a movie, and being so sad throughout the movie it will end at some point that you fail to enjoy the movie.
    - PicassoCTs 5y ago
      This seems to be just another form of denial of existential dread to me. Draped in the ever fashionable "I can reshape anything by wishing upon it" but to be honest, i rather be around someone who suffers through and faces his mortal fears, then somebody thinking around them with some barely disguised religious rituals. The later is much less likely to lash out, when his "protective" bubble against existentialist fear is penetrated. Its also indicative of a curious mindset, if you stare into your own emotional blindspot, to find out what you are made of. Of course, it can become a self-destructive behaviour, destroying ones ability to function, which suppressing the fear in the end is.
    - colordrops 5y ago
      Is life simply a movie to be enjoyed, or is there value in contemplating the ephemeral nature of our existence, and investigating the nature of death?
- taneq 5y ago
  There's a bit to unpack here: - The suggestion that meditation can reduce your fear of death - The suggestion that if it can do so, that's a good thing - The implication that things which are natural are not to be feared
  - fsloth 5y ago
    I meant meditating in the "thinking about it" sense. I generally consider not being anxious about future events you cannot avoid a good thing. The lack of anxiety does not mean that death would feel like a good thing, nor does lack of anxiety invoke irrational behavior. "Natural" was maybe a too loaded word. Maybe "unavoidable" would be better.
- GeorgeWBasic 5y ago
  Does that work for you? Meditating? Do you have any more specific advice you'd want to give someone who would like to be at peace with the thought of it?
  - fsloth 5y ago
    I meant meditating not in the "sitting on the floor, breathing" sense but in the sense of ruminating and thinking. I'm not an expert on death anxiety. There is the "normal" kind, and then there are conditions that probably require a therapist. I am not suggesting life should not be cherished, nor that one should not consider each death a loss. Lots of people have written about getting rid of it. You just probably need to skim through self-helpy books until you find some rationale to appease you. Three points that helped me: It is a huge privilege to be born in the first place. The number of living people is infinitesimally smaller than the number of people who will ever exist (I'm referring to the fact that there is about 70B ways fathers and mothers genome can combine and you are only one of those options - as is any human of their parents genomes who has lived). Being dead is just like being before you were born. Renaissance doesn't cause anxiety in me so I don't know why a future centuries from now on without me would frighten me. There is the "imagine you are dead" visualization. Imagine you are dead, buried to the ground and worms are eating your corpse. Really vividly, focus for a few minutes. Then stop and continue your day. Notice the thought of being dead does not seem so frightening now you've imagined it. Some mythologies purport an afterlife, if you prefer in believing the continuity of consciousness go ahead and do that - I have nothing against it. I think everybody agrees patterns that are related to of us will remain in the world like ripples in the pond after we are gone. But beyond that I have no reason to believe in any sort of continuity.
  - pps 5y ago
    Stoicism. Other than old works from Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, you can also find modern stoic practitioners, Massimo Pigliucci and Donald Robertson (there are others, but these are the best at teaching IMO). Robertsons book has additional chapter you can find somewhere online on exercises for meditation on death. But it's better to read it after https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stoicism-Art-Happiness-Teach-Yourself/dp/1444187104/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stoicism-Art-Happiness-Teach-Yourse... Edit. Here it is https://learn.donaldrobertson.name/p/the-stoic-contemplation-of-death https://learn.donaldrobertson.name/p/the-stoic-contemplation...