<p>@ChaosTheory...no it didn't.</p>
<p>I tried. :p</p>
<p>You could always get cryonically frozen, so even if you do die one day your body will still be preserved. And maybe one day you could be brought back to life. Who knows.</p>
<p>Oh and I said "if you die" because decades from now there could be a way to "escape aging" (InquilineKea got there first :-P). I'm just saying that in this day and age you shouldn't always take things for granted.</p>
<p>I prefer to enjoy what I have in front of me, and if it happens then it happens. Personally the most important thing for me would be leaving something for people to remember.</p>
<p>You know, I really respect atheists for thinking about the universe and for applying logic, and honestly they have done a lot more thinking than most christians have done; most christians just inherit their religion from their parents. However if you think that christianity doesnt have its share of logic and physics in it, then you clearly ARENT thinking it out completely. I encourage you to read C.S. Lewis's books and also this series of books called Systematic Theology. The latter is excellent at showcasing just why christianity makes sense from an intellectual perspective.</p>
<p>MonoTombo, I know EXACTLY the feeling you are talking about. You can't escape from it, there's nothing you can do about it; you want to see the future, to see what will happen; you can't believe that one day the basic freedoms of breathing air and having conscious thoughts will one day be denied to you. And it used to scare the **** out of me. (No, it still does). Out of fear I started searching for faith. Maybe there are some who would call me a coward or a convenient believer or something like that...I decided to challenge my perceptions and have realized that we don't really know everything we think we know. Human civilization is not the almighty, established order that I used to think it was. For all their professionalism, multinational corporations are human entities doomed to die at some point. They may have existed for a while, but they have not existed forever nor will they exist forever. The products they design are far from perfect and don't last forever. We are hanging in a balance just as precarious as people of "backwards" times. Any minute there could be an apocalypse and we'd be brought back down to earth, sans technological marvels. I (unfortunately) have so much faith in what has already been established. I think it's just a part of my personality to accept the status quo; and I've fallen for the world's ideology hook, line and sinker. The ideology goes something like this...we live in enlightened times, and the things that humanity has created work very well and are very superior to things created in the past. Humanity's ideas are also superior to the past; we've pretty much got most things figured out and we know when someone's doing their best to pull one over on us (;)). God obviously can't exist, because we know a lot about the insides of the human body and how the heck could the soul, something supernatural, be connected with something so physical, so real? (Oh yeah, remember, the supernatural is just an illusion). Evidence clearly shows us that the universe could have evolved without a creator, that the fundamentalists are definitely wrong when it comes the age of the Earth, etc. There's just no room for faith anymore, unless you step back and take a look at it. I agree with Fides et Ratio--challenge your atheism and take it apart. Why can't a God exist in the way you have envisioned the universe? If it's something like I mentioned above ("because we know a lot about the insides of the human body and how the heck could the soul, something supernatural, be connected with something so physical, so real"), then maybe there are certain things you've automatically associated with belief in a God holding you back. Maybe instead of disagreeing with the idea of a Creator, you are disagreeing with the idea of an afterlife, of a soul, of spiritual energy. Maybe when you think of the existence of a Creator, you think of tacky "Jesus Saves!" posters, Islamic fundamentalists who blow up buildings, psychics who profess contact with the dead, New Agers who practice witchcraft, multi armed Hindi gods and goddesses, and everything else wacky that comes to mind when you think of religion. And because that stuff's weird and unbelievable well...belief in a Creator is just not believable either. In other words, just make sure you don't mix up your ideas when you analyze them :) I wish I could tell you not to be afraid, but when you're an atheist, yeah, it's scary. I have friends that are atheists or don't necessarily believe in an afterlife, and they're not worried because they say they'll be not conscious of their nonexistence (which didn't help me any). Good luck with your search! I'm just as clueless as everybody else. PM me if you want to chat. (I second ttlyswt, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis is a REALLY REALLY good introduction to Christianity, and the book to pick up by C.S. Lewis).</p>
<p>I know you're scared to death of dying (hah), so just belief in a Creator doesn't solve it for you completely, but it sure is a place to start.</p>
<p>Also a good place to start is to realize that science and God do not have to be separate spheres, are not separate spheres. Science is man's attempt to understand the way God (or whomever) has created the universe. Science does not disprove God. Unfortunately, it takes the mystique out of God, so it's easy to say that something that occurred naturally occurred or precipitated without the help of God. Also, God does not automatically equal strange supernatural phenomena which bend or break the laws of physics or reality.</p>
<p>I am not reading all of that.</p>
<p>To the OP.. I know how you feel. It's scary as heck. I really don't understand what all these jerks who think we can just dismiss the issue think they're talking about.</p>
<p>newchick's post made a lot of sense to me..</p>
<p>I'm just afraid of getting old and losing my memory and deteriorating. It's the process that scares me...</p>
<p>
You're such a poo.</p>
<p>Taxes are not inevitable- they are there for YOU! (Uncle Sam points a finger while Mama Italia garnishes bank accounts:/) </p>
<p>I think it is fantastic that you are thinking about death. Simply accept it, realize that hey- it happens - and get on with your merry-go round of a life. You could work to promote immortality research (my friend believes he will never die- an amazing athlete, smart as heck, an absolute jerk, and...ya) </p>
<p>Nano-technology, microchips, chemical formulas, stem cell research, cancer research, genetics...all are promotional of the idea that science can end death. A nice thought- and pretty cool to envision. </p>
<p>Age is caused by free radicals creating various mutations to the genetic code. Skin sags, weight comes more naturally, eyes droop, various diseases spot up...and death comes along when the wheels are no longer greased enough to maintain efficient movement and thought. Even if the brain and heart aren't dead- if the body is...then no go, buckaroo. Good luck on your deep thoughts. And for future reference..."encase" is spelled "incase"- at least in the grammatical form you intended...encase means to enclose...say...in a case! (not what you mean I don't think) </p>
<p>Ciao.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Well, it doesn't matter to anyone around you, it matters to you. There's no value in anything you do to anyone else but you, unless you help them or do something evil to them, then they'll remember you for it, but that'll die with them, too. It doesn't really matter. Nothing matters. You're here, and you make the best of the fact that you're here. Nothing really has a point, you know.
[/quote]
Kalam-i Mir Samjhey, aur Zubaan-i Ghalib Samjhey
par inka kaha, ye samjhey ya Kudha Samjhey</p>
<p>We follow the poetry of Mir, and the language of Ghalibh
But of her- only she could understand, or maybe God can.</p>
<p>OP - yeah i thougth about that like 3 years ago (like 7th grade)</p>
<p>but just don't think about it and concentrate on your next ap test lol (sarcasm)</p>
<p>just look forward to things and set goals</p>
<p>
[quote]
just look forward to things and set goals
[/quote]
</p>
<p>There is a lot in that one sentence. I think one only has time to think a/b death when they aren't active. Make plans, meet people, enjoy life. Death will come, but don't wait for it.</p>
<p>I went through this phase last summer.
But when school started and I had something to occupy my brain, it kind of went away.
I hope it doesn't come back. That wasn't fun.</p>
<p>god I want to read so much</p>
<p>it's also pathetic how I'm reading so much, but all I'm learning about is about arbitrary social conventions that are useless for the vast majority of particles. social conventions that are useless for the vast majority of parallel universes as well. it hurts. history is such social convention. as with a lot of other things. like models and programming, and the names and symbols you give to mathematical formulations</p>
<p>and it's all going to end up like this</p>
<p>death</p>
<p>it's pathetic.
eternal
darkness
no return
<em>cry</em></p>
<p>when you're 15, you're halfway to 30, which is in turn halfway to 60, halfway to 120
when you're 20, you're halfway to 40, which is in turn halfway to 80, halfway to 160</p>
<p>and i compulsively check the wikipedia recent deaths article. a lot of people who were born OMG in 1918/1919 are now nearing 90 years of age. When I was born they were only nearing 70 years of age. blahh</p>
<p>and it's pathetic too, i'm at the peak of my mental and physical performance now and it could be all squandered.</p>
<p>bahhh</p>
<p>of course it wouldn't be squandered if there was actually an INTERESTING computer game that didn't make so many oversimplifications. a computer game that's actually complex. maybe it could be run on parallel processing, and then you would log onto the world and be a small character. yes massively multiplayer. but NOT those stupid mmorpgd</p>
<p>I thought about death, then I thought about how useless that was and how many more useful things I could've done.</p>
<p>Just focus on living life with no regrets. I am apathetic to what happens after death or whatnot -- I don't know for sure, and I won't know for sure, so why bother?</p>
<p>I know exactly what happens after death.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm gonna die. I'm really going to die.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>aren't we all? o_O</p>
<p>
[quote]
But why must we go through the pain at all? Might the pain be an indication that we are not meant to be thinking this way about life (atheism)? Whether God or a Higher Power exists or not, I do not think that the human mind is built for atheism. Show me the past year's suicide rates and I'll show you a bunch of atheists.</p>
<p>There are many different worldviews, and atheism is just one of them. Life is too short to be suffering needlessly; choose one that doesn't cause pain, but rather makes you happy.
[/quote]
I agree with you, I don't think we were meant to be atheists and that our mind isn't really built for it.</p>
<p>I think what you fail to realize though is that we're (speaking more for myself) not looking for happiness in religion. Obviously, that's religion's purpose, but it's not a very interesting one. I think what we're looking for is the truth, and the Christian God, heaven, and hell don't seem all too likely. The fact is that the truth isn't all that comforting and that we will die at some point. I personally don't have the ability to believe in something because it makes me happy.</p>
<p>As for the death thing though, just don't think about it. Make meaning for yourself, don't let someone else take care of that.</p>
<p>The whole thing reminds me of a Bad Religion song:</p>
<p>I've got this one big problem
will I live forever?
I've got just a short time to see</p>
<p>Haha, I love that...</p>
<p>Didn't read the whole thread...</p>
<p>The stuff they do to prepare you for burial is much worse than the lying in the dark coffin part :)</p>