Death

[dong]

A simple question: what is your attitude to it?

I may explain why I'm asking eventually

 

[mtatum4496]

Simply put, I have some specific views on the afterlife that bring me comfort in the here and now. If my beliefs turn out to be a load of hooey, that will be okay, since (a) I will not know it and (b) my particular set of beliefs are not fear based in any way, so they do not prevent me from doing anything that I want to do.

 

[mamab]

Well, that's a BROAD topic for such little information, Dong! How is someone supposed to respond? What exactly are you looking for?!

Death, we're all going to deal with it, sooner or later.

 

[FourBear]

I think Blanchot said something to the effect of death being the absence of experience. So, death is the one thing you will never experience, since it is the absence...yeah, haha.

I really hope you explain your question eventually.

 

[berlinlife06]

I like the concept of death being the absence of experience! To me, Death is just the graduation of Life. You just need to be alive to die. I am somehow comfortable thinking of my own mortality. I was faced with it when 2 of my best friends died the same year when I was 20. It made a great impact on me, and therefore I live my life as if today was the last day I would live: I enjoy every minute!

 

[tater03]

I would have to say that my faith comforts me when it comes to death. It just helps me to know that this is not the end and that there is something better to come. This is just my take on it though.

 

[mtatum4496]

Perhaps my only gripe that is death related has to do with folks that take it upon themselves to decide who will be spending eternity where. Those types of folks used to anger me a good bit, now it is more of a mild irritation somewhere just below the small of my back...

 

[tater03]

I agree with you on that 100%. The sad thing is you always seem to run into someone that thinks that they have all the answers. Almost like they know where you are going to go.

 

[FourBear]

Nobody knows where you're going to go, or even if there is a place to go to. The types of people that insist you're going to this place or another never cease to annoy me, too.

 

[mtatum4496]

I had the good luck early in life to belong to a faith that taught there was always more to learn that would broaden our perception of truth. This helped me to step back from the concept of any one faith knowing all truth - simply because all truth was not yet discovered and absorbed by humanity. With that mindset, it struck me as rather silly to waste my time trying to determine who was bound for what type of existence in the afterlife. With insufficient data, there was no point in even trying. Probably wouldn't work anyway, since one would need infinite wisdom to apply infinite data and while I have quite a few opinions,I have a long long way to go before I reach that level.

 

[vicki2]

Dong? Are you talking about death for oneself or death to others? Something of a difference ...lol.

 

[dong]

I meant death in general. I wanted to see what initial reactions I elicited before revealing my agenda, but here it finally is!

Quite a while ago, I attended a lecture about societal attitudes to death. It's been a theme that I revisit over and over again, not least due to the field I'm studying in (separate article on this to come in a few months), but one of the most salient comments I remembered was the fact that broadly speaking, our society tends to be that of a "death denying" one.

I may have said it on this forum before, but it's increasingly evident on many levels, and is quite pervasive in our behavior and outlook. In particular, I notice many people expressing an almost contrived aversion to the notion of death.

I'm of the opinion that adjusting our attitudes to death- towards a more wholistic conception and appreciation of its place in terms of a broader existence, whether it be spiritual or otherwise, is an increasingly urgent, deep-seated issue that, ironically, may never face the public eye dead on, because it is so broad and surfaces in many manifestations in many areas already.

 

[Guaner]

To answer your question, my view on death is that it happens to all living things. It is the common denominator between the species. Some feel the pains of it and others don't as their deaths are instant.

 

[kida]

Talking about death is sort of a social no-no; it usually ends with someone saying, "Can we talk about something else?" For most people, it's just awkward and macabre. I think it's ironic, then, that some of the most popular movies and TV shows deal with death so directly. Maybe that's due to people being interested in it but unwilling to discuss it openly.

On the other hand, the violence/death seen on TV is pretty far-removed from the real thing. A serious car crash in a movie is usually met with a response like "oh! did you see that?!" Watching a serious car crash take place right in front of you can be traumatizing (source: experience). So, it makes me wonder what really makes it different -- why TV violence is entertainment but real violence is something no one wants to talk about.

 

[xboxundone]

I think as more media generations we are becoming desensitized to death and violence as no matter what channel u are on it is there.
As far as death in general only time i ever talk about it is for planning if something should ahppen to me or my wife what plans etc.. we have in place.