why do peole fear death?

[lonley]

why do people fear death, i mean death is our final resting so why do we fear it.when people hear death they all wish to die in their sleep or something like that or that they want to die in their sleep so they dont know that they dont have to go through the pain that every one in the hospital go through and also the emotional pain knowing that they are going to die.so why do we fear it...

[Chez Daja]

I really don't think this is worthy of an intellectual discussion... BUT I will keep it here for now.

I want lengthy responces from people, please.

Anyway... Not everybody fears death. I feel people should embrace death rather than push it away. This doesn't mean I think everyone should committ suicide, because I don't think that. But I feel death is a gift, and those worthy of it get to experience it. I think there must be something beyond the grave, a great treause, a paradise, or even being reborn into the world... (reincarnation.)

I don't think death is something to fear, but those that enjoy life will obviously fear losing an experience they love so much.

I'm not afraid of death, and if it came my way, I would probably feel nervous, but I feel I would accept it given time to think over it. Of course, I'd only get my thinking time if I was struck by further illness.

I don't feel it should be feared.

I think most people fear death because they're afraid of the unknown. They don't know what lies beyond the grave.

[DaGladiator]

I fear it cuz well when i die what am i supposed to do lay in dirt the rest of eternity?

[Crazy Chocobo]

I think most people fear death because they're afraid of the unknown. They don't know what lies beyond the grave.

I would have to agree with that. I do infact fear death, I know many people who fear it.

I guess the thought of possibly never seeing any of your loved ones again is a scary thought. We don't know what happens after we die. It's impossible to know exactly what may happen. It could be nothing, maybe we'll just see nothing for eternity or perhaps we do go to heaven. I wasn't brought up to be religous so I don't have any exact beliefs. I make up my own and believe what I want to believe. My parents were brought up religous and believe in certain things, my mother believes in heaven. I'm not too sure about my Dad though.

I sometimes find the idea of going to heaven to be unrealistic, sure it would be nice to go to a place where you can be with all of your loved ones again but I just don't know. If that is what we end up with after dying, I don't see why people should be scared because you will have eternal happiness. Since nobody really knows what is going to happen, I guess people do have a reason to be scared.

Those are just some ideas. Sorry if I sound silly lol.

[Hildegarde]

...Because of the unknown?
What comes with death?
Nothingness, an empty void, the utter end of your existance, a different kind of existance?, what kind?, does it bring judgement for your actions, or it's just rewards?, do you go on remembering everything that is dear to you or all the baggage of your life is swiped clean and now you don't recognize right from left?
These questions and more are more than enough to make lots of people nervous.

Then of course is the matter of the actual moment of death, people say they want to die in their sleep, not because they are wimps, but because there are a million ways in which your final moments can be very, very unpleasant, the kind that you don't want to experience even for a second, no one wants to die a slow painful death or a violent fearful one, the kind certain cancers bring, or after you get burned badly or if you fall into wrong hands and get tortured beforehand, in a bad accident, in an airplane accident, like my dad; that must have been horrible for everyone in that flight, and not only for psichological reasons, rapid descent does horrible things to your body; some time ago, I heard someone being decapitated in one of those terrorist kidnaping videos (damn them!), the noise that poor soul made when his neck was being cut will assure anyone that that wasn't a good death, poor man.

I fear death because I don't want to depart this world, everything here is too dear to me to want to leave, I don't want to make my loved ones miserable and I don't know what is coming; I hope I'll be reunited with long lost loved ones and I hope that there is reincarnation and that I'm working towards ascending in my karmic wheel, but, I don't know for sure and I don't like uncertainty.

[Govinda]

I think of death in a light way; it's just another story I haven't read, another trip I haven't been on. I look forward to it, in a weird way, as far as that goes.

Saying that, i'm a bit scared of it, simply because it's so big and so final. A lot of people fear it because they don't know what's coming; I try to reverse that, and to think of it as another adventure of sorts. Something unknown and waiting to be discovered. Something nobody can possibly predict.

I don't want to die, though. I like life too much; I know a lot of people do, and that's another reason to fear it: the end of an experience much enjoyed. The thought of never seeing my loved ones ever again scares me.

For most people, i'd have to agree that the main factor is the uncertainty.

[Chez Daja]

DaGladiator, pre-warned for spam.

Sorry, but I don't accept spam in any form in Intellectual Discussion. Be careful, maybe check out the rules to know the difference between spamming and not spamming?

Thanks.

[Omisace]

People fear death because they cant stop it. So they feel like they're powerless against it. And, well, once you die you're not coming back.
And people grow attatchments on Earth, wether its with a person, an object or whatever. They don't want to leave it behind. They want to stay with them forever.
And then there's the whole matter of what happens to you after you die. Do you lay in the Earth, are you reincarnated, do you spend the rest of your undead life in Heaven or Hell? Some people may be undecided on religion when they die and might fear that they'll be thrown into eternal damnation or whatnot. Others might die peacefully thinking they're gonna spend life with their God.

But, like I said, I think most people fear death simply because its an unknown. People always fear things they don't understand. Death is no exception.

[Casanova[OCAU]]

well i think this is a very personal question more than anything. But generally speaking, I'd say you'd find peopel afraid of death for two reasons. First is that theyre afraid of the unknown. What is beyond that point? Nothingness? Heaven? Hell? Reincarnation? no one is certain. And if they are, they really shouldnt be.

Then comes the attachment to all those that are of this world. Whether it be objects, like thier lifestyle, wealth, posessions or people, liek family, friends, companions, or even thier memories. I mean I cherish my memories the most and I have to say.. Ive learnt many a valuable lesson by going over and playing a memory over and over in my head again.

The unknown brings out the best in me, so if anything, I'd be looking forward to that aspect of death. But that's just me. I acknowledge that I'm far too attached to many of the comforts this material world provides me.

[Master Garland]

Well I believe those who do not fear death are mostly the ones who have had really depressing tough lifes, and just want it to end so that they can rest in eternal peace or go to their own utopia. For the souls who fear death I beleive that they are really attached to this physical existance, where their loved ones are etc, it is basically all they know. These two types apply to the majority of the popution.

There is also a physcologicaly claustrophic few that fear death and at the same time can accept it. I am one that fits in to this catagory. These individuals accept it because they want to be etenaly free, at peace, and see their departed loved ones. But then we get to thinking if our afterlife is eternal then what will we do during our eternal afterlife forever traveling the threads of time. We would probably get bored a scary though feeling that you will be bored for a eternity, you can start to feel that you would want to end your spirits existance as well. Then after that thought you'll feel scared because you do not want to just not exist and never be able come back.

As what I have all just mentioned previously I for one belive in reincarnation but I belive it is optional. So if you reincarnate into every living creature and have experienced all there is to experience, you would at that point in your infinit spiritual evolution know everything and have nothing else to do or learn. So as a result you will just winde up being bored forever and feel trapped in this cloustrophopic existance of existance itself. When you think about it this deeply the question opens up to you about why do we exist, what is the point of existance if that feeling of trapped cloustrophobicness is the final spiritual evolutionary prize or in other words the point of (Nirvana) as it is called in Buddihsm. Though as what I know Buddihsm did not delve this deeply in the concept of eternal consiousness and existance.

Now I'd suggest that you should not think about it this deeply it can be scary, and make you feel trapped in this claustrophobic coil of omni existance itself.

[Haku]

I think I know why people fear death but people make up heaven and stuff not to face the fact ther going to die one day but i say just live life because you have just one life.ya know I bet being dead sucks you just lay ther for eternity but thats how the world is and i don't fear death because you can't stop it from happening 100% and if anybody have a problem wheth my post pm me.(im not shor there is a heaven)

[Chez Daja]

^Warned for spam.

It's bordering irrelevency as well.

You need to post more than a few lines around here, and if you can't do that, you get warned. I'm only giving you a pre-warning for now, but if I see you spam again, I'll have to officially warn you.

If any replies are made to this post, further warnings shall be issues. Get back on-topic now, please.

Thanks.

[Lord Storm Bryce]

I think that people fear death because they do not know what to expect once they die. Most people fear the unknown and no matter how much faith you have in any religion there is most likely going to be some kind of doubt or questioning. Sincethere is pretty much no way to prove what happens after you die then people are afraid to see if it is worth living a good life for or not.

[Walter Sobchak]

You fear death because it is the end. Unless you have a firm belief in a set of spiritual beliefs, you dont know what to expect. I like living above ground a whole lot. I like doing the things I do during the day, and I even like to do the tasks I like to do, like work, do homework, and sleep. When I die I will not get to do any of this ever again. I will either sit in a box until parasites eat me, or be burned into a bunch of ashes and put in the house of some family who inherited my estate due to blood relations. Or I might be spread across something stupid, like an ocean.

[Kratos]

This is a confusing and complicated question is some aspects. People fear death because they fear the unknown. They don't know what will happen after death. Mystery puts fear in people. When I die, I want to die peacefully, but I'm fearful of the unknown, but I will accept death.

[1WingedDevil]

This is my own opinion...

People do not fear death...they fear losing what they love...what they own and the unknown.

In a sense...people feel that they can just die...but this is not the case as many religions,cults and groups all over the world have changed peoples views on this and so we feel that...or rather say to ourselves..."Well...what will happen to me?"... and i feel that this is the fear of people when they are dying not actually being shot or stabbed or whatever the case may be...!!

[Equinox]

Fear death? You'd have to define fear...if you define it as merely a natural biological response, then we fear it because that's how we're built. If you define fear as a logical response to uncertainty, then the only reason to fear it is uncertainty. The religious might fear death if they were uncertain about the life that they'd led, but otherwise, I see no reason. Many people don't fear death in the least, welcoming, instead, what comes after. Depending on what you believe I guess there are really only two reasons to fear death, one being that it might be a painful experience, and the other being that you might not end up where you want to be.

Josh

[TomStrife]

I think I know why people fear death but people make up heaven and stuff not to face the fact ther going to die one day but i say just live life because you have just one life.ya know I bet being dead sucks you just lay ther for eternity but thats how the world is and i don't fear death because you can't stop it from happening 100% and if anybody have a problem wheth my post pm me.(im not shor there is a heaven)

Oh, Heaven is real. It's just about as real as grammer which aparantly you don't believe in either.

All joking aside let's backtrack a little.

You mean you THINK people make up Heaven. But then again, you aren't "shor" there is one, yet you can state it as fact.

I do believe Heaven by faith alone. I can't prove it to you physically and show you on a map where it is. Seeing as how the opening statement was a joke, I'm not trying to force my beliefs on you either.

I fear death regardless of the fact I'm going to Heaven or not. For some reason I just fear dying. Sure, there have been times I have TRIED to kill myself, but it wasn't really me wanting to die. It was me seeing how people would react. Problem is, I wouldn't be there for it.

Death is scary thing people usually don't liketo think about. Regardless it happens.

We are all part of the ultimate statistic. 100% of us die.

[Lady Cid]

The only reason I fear death is that I'll leave this world not accomplishing what I've set out to do and leaving things unsaid to the people I care about...I'd hate to suddenly die knowing I needed to do something. Probably why I could probably get shot 30 times and survive...my will to live is very strong. Death will take me kicking and biting.

[Dimi]

Apart from my beliefs and all that, death is something we as humans do not know about. We do not know whats beyond death and it does bring a thought to our heads like "Hmm.....", but at the same time it does cause fear to people because if you think about it, and no offense to any religious people out there, but there's nirvana, heaven & hell, limbo, and other beliefs what people belive in and it tends to confuse certain people about what death actually is and where we go beyond the final resting. I mean, if we die, is it over? Are we just in the ground forever till our body becomes bones, then dust? Is this reality that we are in a dream, and we wake up in a weird place? Who knows, but at the same time its a part of life and eventually people do come to terms with it. You only have one shot to live and life's too short to worry.

[Rasler+]

To me, death has always been some sort of mystery since you'll never know when it'll happen and how. But in the man books I've read, most of them shared one concept about death:

"Death is not the end of you, but only the end of your life on earth. It is merely the beginning of eternity and your life in the Promised Land."

With that in mind, I suppose I can't be afraid of death, now can I?

[Sinister]

There are plenty of reasons. Everyone fears what they don't understand. But really it breaks down to because they do not comprehend it and they do not want to comprehend it.

It's like Barret says in the holy scriptures: "Or maybe because they love their land, no matter how polluted it gets."

[Hjortkayre]

First of all, you have to look at Death itself, as in, what is it? Without taking a religious or spiritual viewpoint, death is the end of biological function. In other words, you die and... nothing. Your mind, as far as I know, stops, so you think nothing, and feel nothing.

Now... most human beings have a fear of the unknown. Not everyone, but I'd estimate a good 95+% do, and degrees of fear vary. Why do we fear the dark? Because we don't know what's out their waiting for us.

Why do we fear death? Well, what happens after we die? Once again taking a non-religious view here, after death there is nothing. Just try to imagine it, no afterlife, no AFTER. Just nothing. It's impossible to comprehend. Picture it, do you see darkness? That won't exist. See what I mean about it being impossible to comprehend. Then again, one of the many religions could be right. But we won't know until we die, which is what scares most people.

There is, also, the fact that it's an END. After it, there is nothing. That's not nice to think about. I mean, you live for 90 years, make two million dollars, and die. Your relatives inherit everything, woop-do-doo. That won't matter to you, you'll be dead. Nothing will matter, because nothing will exist.

But also, there's the thought of losing your loved ones. What if someone you love dearly dies? You would be sad. Will you ever see them again? No-one knows. People believe, but no-one knows for sure, except maybe the dead if they can still know.

So it mostly boils down to the fact that it's the unknown we're afraid of, not death itself. I fear death, I fear a great many things. But I'm not going to list my fears here, as that would be pointless and bore anyone who reads it. Unless I have a stalker, then they'd lap it up. I hope I don't have a stalker... how did I get from talking to death to talking about stalkers?

[Furore]

The logic I use is this.

Say there is something after this life (which I personally believe to be true). Then what do you have to lose through death? Nothing. Unless you were an unrepenting evil git and believe in Hell. Then I can see a need for fear.

On the other hand, if you believe there's nothing after death, why be afraid? You'll simply cease to exist. You'll still have a peace of sorts. The peace of never having to worry or feel pain. While it might suck compared to living where you can do a whole lot more, what's there to be scared of?

A painful death might be scary to some in that it would hurt a good deal, but that's a fear of pain rather than death. I repeat my question. What's there to fear?

[Joe]

What's there to fear?

One possibility for people fearing death, is the act of dying itself. What does it feel like when your body shuts down? Is it painful? Do you not feel anything? No one knows, so there's a stigma attached to it, that it's a horrible thing to die. Personally, I'm a bit apprehensive about death myself, since I don't know what it will feel like to die, and therefore have no idea what to expect.


Another reason for the fear of death is that no one is really positive what happens to your soul when you die. some believe it goes to heaven or hell, some purgatory, some believe it is reborn. some still believe that it just dissolves into nothingness. To an extent, nearly everyone has doubts about what will happen after death, and those doubts plant the seeds which sprout and can grow into fear.

[Lilium]

There are two reasons why people fear death: the unknown and the pain that comes right before death.

With the unknown, there are many beliefs of a God or afterlife. No one really knows how those work, though, and are afraid to find out, because, with all of the beliefs out there, who knows which one is right, right? Also, if you are unsure about an afterlife, then you might as well just be being wiped out of existence. How does that work? How do you not exist? It's a very complicated idea, and just the explanation is very difficult to put into words.

With the pain, it's probably extreme. With a heart attack, it's not like in Hollywood. You don't grasp your chest and fall to the floor. As Jack Nicholson has shown us, it comes with nausea, weakness, impaired vision, and many more symptoms. When the heart stops, the brain stops working, and it is probably a little painful. Along with natural deaths, you could die from a disease, and depending on the disease, it could be pretty painful. If you die from non-natural means, then it will probably be pretty painful. People overall don't like pain, and because death comes with pain (which can be pretty painful, depending on the means of death), then people will naturally be afraid of it. At least, that's what I think.

Now, there are many other reasons that people fear death, such as the losing of loved ones, issues left unresolved, etc., but I think that the pain and unknown of death is probably what scares people the most about it. That's just my opinion, though.

[Mr Spike]

There are two reasons why people fear death: the unknown and the pain that comes right before death.

Precisely what i was going to say.

If someone dosn't understand something (within reason) then the liklihood (sp) is that they will fear it or aviod it.

Because we don't understand or know (to a certain extent) death, then we cannot say with absolue certainty what happens when we die. Some beleive you will go to hell where you (may) suffer in pain for all eternity (but let's not open that can of worms). Some beleive you go to heaven and some beleive otherwise. Are some people scared of death because you may go to hell? Possibly.

[Confession]

Why do people fear death.

I believe it is an intolerance to change, majority of people want to live their life as if it was a book you have read before, or a movie you have seen over and over again. They want to be in control of their being, they want to know what happens next. But with death, they don't know what is going to happen next, so people fear it as it is undefined what will happen, people rely on scientific experiments and other such findings to lead their life, our species must have knowledge on everything around them before making a rational decision about what to do, think of it as a behaviour trait, we think about a thing through and through before taking action, even if it is in the spur of the moment, it would have past your thoughts at sometime.

With death people don't know what will happen when the action takes place, which send our minds tingling with fear.
"Will I go to heaven?"
"Will I go to hell?"
"Will I be reincarnated?"
"Will I rot in the ground?"
Because we are so curious it plagues our minds.

We fear death because we simply do not know what is going to happen, we don't like to rely on chance.

[Pete]

Spiral does a great job at summing up how I feel.

People don't fear death, they fear the unknown. As living beings, we don't want to see the party end, no matter how shitty it might be. We always feel that we have so much on our plates, so many things we wish we could have said, felt or experienced. With death, there's a finality. We can't go back and tie up all of those loose ends that we wanted to do, at least as our current selves. Even in the possibility of reincarnation, we wont be our current self, and will never again be able to visit that life. There's a sadness to that, and a fear of that as well.

Also, nobody knows what happens after death. Granted, you get buried or cremated, if you're fortunate. What happens to the soul though is another story. Nobody's come back from a prolonged death to write about it or provide any real substantial proof. Religion goes so far to provide an answer, and for many people, that works. I'd like to believe that there's some sort of an afterlife; maybe not clouds and winged angels but something more along the lines of a personal Heaven. But that's a whole other topic right there.

Personally, I do not fear death. If I die, then I die. I don't want to die now, not by any means, but if I do die, I'd just like it to be peaceful. I don't know when exactly I got over this fear, or just stopped caring about it, but I feel that so many people go about avoiding death and things that they're afraid of, that they spend more time not doing anything than actually living. Ideally, I'd like to grow old seeing my kids and grandkids grow up, just chillin with old friends. When my time comes, it comes.

[some guy]

I don't see the reason why anyone should fear death, it's just and eternal rest, (I guess). But I think people just fear the unknown. Who can seriously say if we have a soul, that carries onto another life? This may be off topic but clairvoyants are just bulls**t artists, and I think they just make stuff up.
I seriously can't give an opinion for the entire world population thinks or feels about one subject, but I think the main case is fear of the unknown.