Death

[Turaylon Soulshadow]

Well, I think I'm having a midlife crisis or something because lately all I can think about is death- the inevitability, how short life really is, what happens, how it feels, etc. Is it like when you're sleeping and not dreaming and don't even acknowledge your own existance? Is it like a permanent good dream, or a nightmare? With so many unexplained things with religion, the paranormal, and everything related could there really be something else? Or are we all just worm food? Will technology have gotten so advanced by the time it is any of our times that people can actually be kept alive indefinitely? I haven't actually slept a real night's sleep in oh probably a couple weeks because of this and thought I'd share my thoughts with you guys and see what your opinions are.

[Ddrak]

I don't think about it that much. I miss people when they die, and I don't like the sadness surrounding death but my own death doesn't bother me at all - life's too much fun!

Dd

[Select]

I've never really cared what happens after death. It will happen one way or the other. The me here and now shouldn't worry. I only worry about living as much and as long as I can.

[Ariannda Kusanagi]

I am not a religious person, as I've stated more then once on this board, and I do believe in a soul, however i'm not worried about the life of my immortal soul... in the afterlife. My main concern with death is that it will come prematurely and then what will happen to my kids ? However I have been thinking about how short life really is. All my high school friends have a hard time wrapping their minds around the fact that I have a 12 year old, as they too all remember when she was born. She's 6 years from college, it used to be a lifetime away, now it's a finger snap away and to think anything else would put me in denial. I'm worried about the "what if's" concerning death. If i die my ex would take his kids, but what about my son ? Actually I did ask him if he'd be willing to take in my youngest child as well and he said he would, but only for the sake of the other kids, who love him more then anything. I have no life insurance, no will and nothing to back anything up as far as my kids go. there's my parents but they're in their 60's, my sister and her husband have no kids of their own, at one point my ex and I had thought about asking his sister to take the kids should anything happen and his brother has 4 kids of his own. My ex really got to thinking about death before he deployed and he had to write out a will in no uncertain terms and make sure all his affairs were in order.

In the end your body is nothing more then worm food and people can be kept alive now, but that gets into the difference between life and death. Take for example my friends baby, she's only alive because of the ventilator, but she has full brain function (as much as a fetus that age does) she simply CANT breathe on her own, but thats certainly a different story then someone with no brain function who's being kept alive by a ventilator. To be alive, really alive, you must LIVE ! Have brain function, dreams, nightmares, thoughts, depressions, happiness and all the pain and sorrw and happiness and joy that LIFE brings... otherwise you never really were living to begin with.

[Harlowe]

I try not to think about death at all. It sends me into a funk. It's scary to think about not-being or people you love no longer existing. It's one of the downsides of being sentient. This is when I wish I were a Buddhist. It appeals to me on a lot of levels, but in practice... not so easy to pull off.

With that said, I do believe that trying to be present in the moment (no matter what you are doing) is really important. I think we autodrive through more than half our life otherwise - always looking ahead without being present for what is happening right now.

How does that help with death? No idea, but I think it's more fulfilling if the days you are alive you aren't just passing the time or rushing through something waiting for something else to happen.

[Embar Angylwrath]

Death is inevitable, and worrying about something you can't change is pointless. It just degrades your life. I've also found that people who are concerned about death are people that aren't living their lives. The people that live their lives don't seem to be too concerned about death because they are getting everything they want from each day.

If you were to die this afternoon, would you change anything about how you live your life? My answer to that is "no". If your answer is "yes", then maybe what you're REALLY concerned with is wasting the life you have.

[Harlowe]

Death is inevitable, and worrying about something you can't change is pointless. It just degrades your life. I've also found that people who are concerned about death are people that aren't living their lives. The people that live their lives don't seem to be too concerned about death because they are getting everything they want from each

I don't know, people aren't all wired the same and folks that are living their lives the way they want can still obsess about or worry about death. It's in most mother's genes to "worry" after all. It's not entirely about attitude and philosophy.

[Turaylon Soulshadow]

Death is inevitable, and worrying about something you can't change is pointless. It just degrades your life. I've also found that people who are concerned about death are people that aren't living their lives. The people that live their lives don't seem to be too concerned about death because they are getting everything they want from each day.

If you were to die this afternoon, would you change anything about how you live your life? My answer to that is "no". If your answer is "yes", then maybe what you're REALLY concerned with is wasting the life you have.

Hmm, that was really well put Embar.

[Select]

You should have been able to figure that out yourself, Tur. Maybe college would fulfill your life?

[Freecare Spiritwise]

/agree Embar

Not something I really think about myself, though sometimes I'm overprotective with the family.

I'm honestly not scared to die, and my life passes your litmus test. Sure, there's about a million things I would do differently if I had the chance, but that's the whole point. You do your best and live with the choices you've made and hopefully as life goes on you make progressively better choices, and everyone is bettered in the process. But dwelling on shit is wasted time, and we're not given that much to begin with.

So whenever the universe is ready to punch my timecard I'm good to go. No regrets baby.

As far as what's on the other side, I have my beliefs on the subject, but they don't affect my day to day life. We'll all know for sure soon enough, won't we?

Whatever's on the other side, I'm going there with my money where my mouth is, as the old saying goes. If I'm wrong and life is pointless, or if any of what I thought were good deeds turned out to make God angry, then hey, I did my best.

[Klast Brell]

When I die it all ends. If I'm wrong about the afterlife and i find myself face to face with a divine being ready to play judge jury and executioner over my life I can only hope that I will be judged by the way I treated others than by whether or not I loved someone I did not believe existed.

Given that I see no continuation, and no consequences after death why do I stick around? Because I'm having fun and I want to keep on having fun. I love and am loved. I'm excited about the future and can't wait to see what happens next. In my life I have seen the world go from no computers on anybodies desk to computers on everyone's desks. People even have old computers in their closets gathering dust because they got a newer nicer one. We carry tiny telephones in our pockets that can call anywhere in the world. If we spend a little more money we can have a tiny computer in our pocket that has more possessing power than the best 1970 could make. We store our entire music collection in a player the size of a hotel room soap and listen to it on miniature speakers we stick inside our ear canals. We get driving directions in our car from a machine that tels us when to turn and shows us exactly where we are on a map that updates our location in real time. This was science fiction in 1970. We live in the future and every month, every week, every day something amazing comes out. Look at the original Star Trek. Picture Kirk pushing a button on his chair and talking from orbit to someone on the planet. There is the space shuttle and the ISS with astronauts in shirt sleeves video conferencing to earth. Picture McCoy laying the injured crewman on the diagnostic bed in sick bay. There is the CAT scan and the MRI. Communicators? Cell phones. The universal translator? Speech recognition and Google translate. Tricorders? The sensors on the mars rover.

It's fucking cool as hell out there and we are so used to it we take it for granted. I have no idea what will come out in the next 40 years but it will be amazing and I want to see it.

So maybe life is like a book. I could put that novel down at any time and nothing bad would happen. But I keep turning the pages because I want to know what happens next.

[Ariannda Kusanagi]

How prolific Klast ! Very well written !

[Garrdor]

Klast -

You must ACCEPT HIM AS YOUR MASTER OR YOU WILL BURN

[Taxious]

I wouldn't say I'm afraid of death, but the concept of infinity scares me a little.

[Harlowe]

When I die it all ends. If I'm wrong about the afterlife and i find myself face to face with a divine being ready to play judge jury and executioner over my life I can only hope that I will be judged by the way I treated others than by whether or not I loved someone I did not believe existed.

Given that I see no continuation, and no consequences after death why do I stick around? Because I'm having fun and I want to keep on having fun. I love and am loved. I'm excited about the future and can't wait to see what happens next. In my life I have seen the world go from no computers on anybodies desk to computers on everyone's desks. People even have old computers in their closets gathering dust because they got a newer nicer one. We carry tiny telephones in our pockets that can call anywhere in the world. If we spend a little more money we can have a tiny computer in our pocket that has more possessing power than the best 1970 could make. We store our entire music collection in a player the size of a hotel room soap and listen to it on miniature speakers we stick inside our ear canals. We get driving directions in our car from a machine that tels us when to turn and shows us exactly where we are on a map that updates our location in real time. This was science fiction in 1970. We live in the future and every month, every week, every day something amazing comes out. Look at the original Star Trek. Picture Kirk pushing a button on his chair and talking from orbit to someone on the planet. There is the space shuttle and the ISS with astronauts in shirt sleeves video conferencing to earth. Picture McCoy laying the injured crewman on the diagnostic bed in sick bay. There is the CAT scan and the MRI. Communicators? Cell phones. The universal translator? Speech recognition and Google translate. Tricorders? The sensors on the mars rover.

It's fucking cool as hell out there and we are so used to it we take it for granted. I have no idea what will come out in the next 40 years but it will be amazing and I want to see it.

So maybe life is like a book. I could put that novel down at any time and nothing bad would happen. But I keep turning the pages because I want to know what happens next.

Well said Klast. That's a great outlook, I really enjoyed reading that.

[Alluveal]

I believe in an afterlife, but I can't tell you what that afterlife is. I've read a lot of material about reincarnation, about near-death-experiences, about the afterlife beliefs of various religions. I think there is something to it, especially given that energy doesn't "die" so much as it transforms into something else.

May I ask if something has happened recently that's caused you to start pondering this? Someone close to you pass away? Something you've read or seen in movies/television? Or did it just start up slowly?

I find that I start contemplating my mortality a lot when someone dies, or even when a child is born (birth being the beginning/death being the end.)

I don't obsess, but I do go through "waves" of contemplation. But, if you think about it, it's human nature. It's the great mystery that we cannot prove (either way.) We don't know for certain that there isn't an afterlife and we don't know that there IS. I think that tantalizes the folks who tend to be a bit more curious about the unknown (instead of trying to rationalize it through science, etc.)

My belief in an afterlife (whatever that is,) is based on what I've read, sure, even though I know it's all subjective. There is some amount of faith mingled in. It's not there because I NEED to have it. It's there because I have come to accept these ideas as what makes the most sense.

If I had to choose one afterlife that I see as more probable, it would be reincarnation at this point. If you're interested in that, read up on Dr. Ian Stevenson. Some pretty amazing work there.

[Minute]

I don't know, care, or think about what happens when I die.

[Turaylon Soulshadow]

My main fear that almost gave me a heart attack last night is that there is no afterlife and after yo die it's just a void, like when you're in a really deep sleep and not dreaming.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

Either way there's no paying taxes or arguing with the cable company. Re-incarnation is scarier. What if we're fated to argue with the cable company for the next 10,000 years. What if we alternate lives between working for the cable company and arguing with it. I think there's possibly much scarier things than just an abrupt ending, like there's an afterlife and Jesus is pissed at your or something.

[Ariannda Kusanagi]

A lady died this past January, and Citibank billed her for February and March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and added late fees and interest on the monthly charge. The balance had been $0.00 when she died, but now somewhere around $60.00. A family member placed a call to Citibank.

Here is the exchange :

Family Member: 'I am calling to tell you she died back in January.'

Citibank: 'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member: 'Maybe, you should turn it over to collections.'

Citibank: 'Since it is two months past due, it already has been.'

Family Member: So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?'

Citibank: 'Either report her account to frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!'

Family Member: 'Do you think God will be mad at her?'

Citibank: 'Excuse me?'

Family Member: 'Did you just get what I was telling you - the part about her being dead?'

Citibank: 'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor.'


Supervisor gets on the phone:

Family Member: 'I'm calling to tell you, she died back in January with a $0 balance.'

Citibank: 'The account was never closed and late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member: 'You mean you want to collect from her estate?'

Citibank: (Stammer) 'Are you her lawyer?'

Family Member: 'No, I'm her great nephew.' (Lawyer info was given)

Citibank: 'Could you fax us a certificate of death?'

Family Member: 'Sure.' (Fax number was given )


After they get the fax :

Citibank: 'Our system just isn't setup for death. I don't know what more I can do to help.'

Family Member: 'Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. She won't care.'

Citibank: 'Well, the late fees and charges will still apply.'

(What is wrong with these people?!?)

Family Member: 'Would you like her new billing address?'

Citibank: 'That might help...'

Family Member: 'Odessa Memorial Cemetery, Highway 129, Plot Number 69.'

Citibank: 'Sir, that's a cemetery!'

Family Member: 'And what do you do with dead people on your planet???'