Why do humans fear death?

[Stormscape]

humans fear death because they do not understand it.

[confused]

perhaps, but if people do not understand things they usually are more interested and less feared toward it and look forward to experiencing new things. is that right or am i just totally confused? :wacko:

[Peregrine]

Yes, I believe your name is quite apropriate right now. Sure, death's a new experience, but the problem is, you won't be there to experience it! If you're like me, and don't believe in an afterlife, then death is the end of experiences. Of course if you believe in an afterlife, this may be quite different. But that's a concept I just can't understand, so you'll have to ask someone else about it.

[wesaynothin]

People fear death because they know life. Death is a new expierience, and from what I have seen, most people fear change. I don't know what's after death, because I don't believe in anything that has to do with an afterlife. All I know is that their is no way to stop from dying, and to fear the inevitable is pointless.

 

Remember:

 

The minute you are born you begin to die.

[ohGr]

this is a joke from one of jerry seinfelds shows.

as roughly as i can put it.

 

"a recent survey showed that more than 50% of america fears public speaking while at second was death, death...is number 2 people"

 

at a young age you wont care about death, at a middle age (40's 50's) youll begin to wonder and i reckon at an old age you wont care anymore, when the time comes, youll want it to end.

[Akrid]

Somtimes people want their life to end prematurly. I see not caring about death and not fearing it for any reason as simply suicidal thinking, I can't fathom it any other way. Survival intinct is in just about any life form, because life forms that didn't have that all died out (even tree's have it, but OT) If you don't get scared (even if you show it or not) that is not normal behaver. I would think inorder to be like that you would have to have a deep will to die. I ran away when somone went to pull a gun on me once (Washington state, whole another story, OT again) Well I was afraid for my life and took mesures to evade possible death. I wasn't a coward for running away, it is called surival. What I feared was all the normal reasons but also the principal of the matter, the fact that I could die to some dumb@ss punks.

[Malchik]

Not being afraid of death and wanting to be dead are not connected at all. I'm not afraid of death, though as I said in my earlier post I am concerned about dying (pain, nuisance etc.) This does not mean I want to die. But what is the point of being afraid of what you cannot avoid. This is not the same as being scared of being shot! I can understand people wishing they did not have to die and being really sad about all they have to give up. Perhaps in the end people are less afraid of death than of dying while they have so much they want to do (and are fit enough to do it).

[Akrid]

Sure right now you are not afraid, but when your in the situation where your life is on the line and you could die any second (no pain), and your still not afraid. So if you had nothing to live for and sombody stuck a lethal injection into your blood stream you would not be afraid? Fear of death does have purpose, it prolongs your life. Yes death is inevitable but premature death isn't. Fear is a natural reaction, and it's not about the process of it either. Most sucessful suicides are made by those who want to die so much they over-come the survival instinct with a dark morbid will to die. Survival instinct is in us all so what makes you guys without it? and not wanting to die? Because it dosn't make sense to worry about your life ending perhaps? It does make sense to worry, there simply isn't anything we can do about it aside from immortality, though that will never happen because for some reason few people actually want to live "forever". But because human nature is so diffrent from mother nature we do think about our mortality, and if you choose not to worry about it then fine we remain just like the rest of the animals, (they fear death but because of instinct and fear of pain and unknown) But tofear being dead that is what I fear, because I don't just take the cards delt to me and play this stupid game, I am not subject to any law that says I must die, if I found a way to be immortal I would do it. Perhaps I see more of a vision, I believe that if a intellegent lifeform continues to exist it would eventually become god-like, in a way the human race is immortal in that as we die we multiply, but a single one of us is worthless. When you don't fear being dead you give up on your worth. Say someone holds a gun to your head and says their going to shoot you, well there is noway to avoid it, so no need to worry about it, just let it happen, oh well. I don't think that way.

[ohGr]

yeah, when the situation comes by, you will fear for your own life, and no one elses, and you always get this gut feeling, which i was told, is your Adrenalin Glands kicking in, you know how you get those sudden, cat-like reflexes when your in danger, thats those glands starting.

ive had moments where i was so scared i hid for hours, i remember one time my dad thought i swore, so he told me off, then i mumbled something, he got angrier, then i started to talk back and he started to hit me, from what my mum told me he went downstairs to get something to hit me with, when i found out, i ran to the front door, unlocked the door, locked it, locked the other doors, and ran, my parents were stuck in the house for 2 days while the police found me in resevoir, and i live in bulleen (australia, melbourne) so thats pretty far, but at the time of getting hit, i could tell i was going to end up in hospital, because it has happened before, and now, from that day, i never sleep when my dad is home, but my point is, at the time of running away, and getting hit, you get those feelings, like your in danger, which causes to ignore fatigue, pain, everything else, and run, ive had other moments like falling down stairs and i always manage to land on my side, or my feet, without any damage, except a little carpet burn.

 

so, as acrid said, put in my own words, people may not fear death for now, but when the time comes, youll want to run for your life.

[cmac]

yeah, when the situation comes by, you will fear for your own life, and no one elses, and you always get this gut feeling, which i was told, is your Adrenalin Glands kicking in, you know how you get those sudden, cat-like reflexes when your in danger, thats those glands starting.

 

so, as acrid said, put in my own words, people may not fear death for now, but when the time comes, youll want to run for your life.

Scientific Correction: Adrenaline is an enzyme that increases heart rate, opens the wind passage, dilates the eyes, pumps the lungs faster, and introduces epinephrine into the system. Reflexes have nothing to do with adrenaline, nor are they enhanced by it. Reflexes have to do with the speed of the electrical connection in the nerve cells between the dendrites. It reaches the spinal cord, recieves fight-or-flight instructions, and bounces them back to the area where the sensory stimulation occurred. The muscle in the area will retract towards the body in an attempt to halt the damage to tissue.

 

People may not fear death now, but, without their consent or not, they do. It is hardwired into the primitave brain at birth a tendency toward longevity and perfection. Wether you like it or not, your body will run if your primitave brain deems the threat to be a possibly death-inducing sequence for you.