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Interesting take on death from a non-religious perspective. I found it both reassuring and disturbing...

http://www.naturalism.org/philosophy/de ... bjectivity

''This paper critiques the widespread secular misunderstanding of death as a plunge into oblivion...By degrees, the reader is supposed to see that the notion of a blank or emptiness following death is incoherent, and that therefore we should not anticipate the end of experience when we die. This conclusion has a bit of a mystical feel to it, even though the premises are naturalistic.''

most humans who ever lived are now dead. they're fine.

Death is only the end if you assume the story is about you.™

why are endings assumed to be bad? no good ending, no good story.

"When I am, death is not, and when death is, I am not"

sky wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 11, 2017 3:34 pm

"When I am, death is not, and when death is, I am not"

You are not, but the sense/illusion of self continues...

brute is become Death, the destroyer of worlds.

If you want to learn about death, go sit with people who are dying. (I did not get the sense that the author had done that.) The rest is speculation.

It was a lot of speculation. I wonder why the author wants to believe what he does.

I think being dead is just not existing, just like I was before I was born (or conceived, if you prefer.) It didn't bother me then, but I have better things to do than be dead.

Dragline wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 11, 2017 10:55 pm

If you want to learn about death, go sit with people who are dying. (I did not get the sense that the author had done that.) The rest is speculation.

how would those humans have any non-speculatory insights? they haven't died.

"There is only one god, and His name is Death. And there is only one thing we say to Death: 'not today'." - the great Syrio Forel

BRUTE wrote: ↑

Sun Jun 11, 2017 9:53 pm

brute is become Death, the destroyer of worlds.

Even without your (effort/help), all of this will cease to exist.*

Example, after you quit your job, aren't you for all practical purpose, dead to your co-workers?
Rarely remembered, even less often mentioned... Life goes on as if you never existed in the first place.

Alternatively, one way of guaging if you've 'truly' died is the last time someone mentions or remembers you after you have actually died.

*That's the second half of the verse brute mentioned, which seems more relevant here.

fiby41 wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 13, 2017 2:21 pm

Even without your (effort/help), all of this will cease to exist.*

wow. not as cool-sounding as the first half, but actually way more meaningful. brute loves this philosophy, although he only learned it indirectly through westerners who've been in more direct contact (Schopenhauer, Blake, various modern games/movies/books). the DEATH quote brute got from the video game Braid, which deals with the idea of time and memories like no other game, story, or movie brute has ever experienced. definitely recommended.

another one brute loves:

nothing lasts, but nothing is lost.

which pertains somewhat to the memory bit fiby41 mentioned.

fiby41 wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 13, 2017 2:21 pm

Alternatively, one way of guaging if you've 'truly' died is the last time someone mentions or remembers you after you have actually died.

one way. but then how is brute different from a character in a legend or movie? in this sense, Mickey Mouse is far more alive than any actual living human being.

Other ways: pledging to posthumously donate organs/body, children, inhereticance, trust fund

still just vanity projects. brute thinks there is no way to survive death, and he thinks this is a good thing.

Every day that I am still alive, the likelihood that I will live forever increases.

brute would suggest the likelihood is approximately 0

For the consciousness that is BRUTE, the likelihood of the non-death of 7Wannabe 5 approximates 0, but for the consciousness that is 7Wannabe5, the likelihood of the non-death of 7Wannabe5 approaches 1/0.

what makes 7Wannabe5 assume brute is a consciousness?

I do not always assume that BRUTE is ever a consciousness. I do assume that BRUTE is often not a consciousness. However, I will concede that I might better have typed "For the IF(conscious) Ness that is BRUTE..."