Atheists.. how do you view death?

[deadwinter]

My deepest fear is ceasing to exist after death.. my soul dying with my body. How does one come to terms with this idea?

 

[Mocon33]

Think about what life was like before you were born.Was not existing a problem for you? Probably not. The same situation will exist after you die.

 

[deadwinter]

Think about what life was like before you were born.Was not existing a problem for you? Probably not. The same situation will exist after you die.

Hmm.. logically I know you're right, but it's unnerving still.. I guess it doesn't matter because I won't be able to worry about it once I'm dead.

 

[Mocon33]

Hmm.. logically I know you're right, but it's unnerving still.. I guess it doesn't matter because I won't be able to worry about it once I'm dead.

Yes, death is the great equalizer. I don't actually have any intention of indulging in death any sooner than necessary, but it doesn't matter, 100 years from now (actually 30 in my case, I'm old) we will all be there, regardless of our feelings about the matter.

 

[FuneralCry]

I see so much beauty in the thought of ceasing to exist, to be unable to suffer for all eternity is certainly what I wish for and instead this existence is exactly what I fear, it's horrible to feel trapped in such a hellish world where there's unlimited potential for torture, existence is so harmful and to die removes what the true problem is which is existence in itself. Non-existence could never be anything to fear as we simply won't be aware of anything, everything will finally be forgotten about and to me that's the best thing possible, I despise existence and it disgusts me, there's no value in meaningless suffering.

 

[Azno]

My deepest fear is ceasing to exist after death.. my soul dying with my body. How does one come to terms with this idea?

That's my dream, my deepest fear is existing again, also I am not really atheist, more like agnostic.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I'm more in the aetheist but not entirely sure camp. Still- I hope it will just be a long and dreamless sleep without the waking up bit.

I guess it's kind of weird thinking about not existing- seeing as it's what we've become familiar with. Sometimes, I wonder if it's just that fear of the unknown though. Even scary things in life haven't always been as bad as I thought they would be. Perhaps, when our time comes- or rather- just before- while we are still conscious- maybe we'll just accept what's happening and go with it peacefully- no point in resisting it afterall- we're all going to have to go through it sooner or later.

 

[grendel4578]

Depending on how you died, I've heard you could have 6-10 minutes of continued brain activity after death (which is how people talk about how they saw things after being declared clinically dead before being revived). This is probably the closest thing to an afterlife I can think of. After that you will cease to exist and it would be like before you were born. No more worries or anything anymore. That sounds wonderful to me. You wouldn't see a void or black or something like that in the end, you just would no longer exist as your consciousness is gone.

 

[The anhedonic one]

I don't think about it anymore because it used to drive me nuts.
I don't see the point in worrying.

Personally, I think we are all just a big bag of chemical reactions. When the brain dies, there is no more consciousness left.

 

[thethatsitboy]

Death is essentially the absence of life for me. Consequently, there is nothing left to live for, nothing to experience anymore. In my perspective, true living, feeling, and engaging with the world can only occur while we are alive.

My mom holds the belief that if I were to choose suicide, I would endure immense suffering afterwards. Having someone close to me who shares such a perspective brings mixed emotions. Nevertheless, I consistently find myself reaffirming my own viewpoint on death.

 

[unrest]

i'm not really aethiest, not really religious, but i wanted to place my perspective on this. i'd like to think of it as, no matter what our soul will always be transferred into another being. whether that be an ant, the soil, the flowers that grow, etc. it saves me the worry and guilt when i think about ctb. or it can be looked as your soul just going to sleep and resting before it's ready to experience life again. i think the narrative that's been place in certain religions where your next life will be worse if you ctb, is just another way to place fear and plant authority.

 

[Readytogo246]

I think about a blank slate......no more pain.....and no more fear.....no more feeling bad....no more history....it seems awesome to me!

 

[SirCalvinXIV]

It's not quite complete darkness, but completely ceasing to exist. You won't be sent to a void, because there is no you left. The problem with the human mind is that you cannot imagine nothing. You can indeed imagine a black void, but that still is a place, with a color, depth, etc. and your soul in the middle. Simply put, nothing.