What are some of the best things in life to you. For example, what will you miss when you're gone? I'll miss music.[DOUBLEPOST=1403129458][/DOUBLEPOST]It's one of the best things about life. And kind of scary to imagine a world without music.
Honestly, at this young an age, it's too early to think about that. Also, you can't miss something if you're dead.
fair enough, but i mean speaking as if you could imagine you're no longer on earth, not dead, but elsewhere, just u in a room with nothing for eternity, what would u miss?[DOUBLEPOST=1403143998][/DOUBLEPOST]I'd miss food. I mean, food is great.
I think it's the small things, the excitement for things to come even if it's just treating yourself to your favourite meal. I also love hearing people talking about their passions because it makes them happy and how important that thing is to them and not to me, it's interesting to think about but, I suppose, just happiness in general is one of the best things and that encompasses a lot. Pretty things make me happy, like I just got back from Prague which is just such a gorgeous city and it just made me so happy wondering around and feeling like this world is still beautiful no matter what the pessimists say. People, people make me happy because everyone is so different and we spend our lives learning and studying people. Every job in the world has that one thing in common: People and due to the diversity and massive difference in cultures, no two people are the same and everyone has a story to tell. Sometimes I forget that helping people is a good thing I get too caught up in my emotions or other things when really I should tattoo it to my eyelids xD. I like to spend time with people but I do also like to spend time by myself or in the company of a good book which kind of feels like it's opening up the mind of a human to me, I just love it, it's so fascinating. The human mind is what I wish I understood and learning about it makes me feel good because not only has my knowledge grown but I also feel a sense of achievement which has become increasingly important to me over the years.
I won't miss anything unless I become a ghost. If I become a ghost, I will miss direct interaction with people.
What a sad topic. I mean, why am I going to lament about what I'll miss tomorrow when I can get out there and enjoy it today? You kids are far too young yet to worry about mortality.
I really don't think it's necessary to infantilize people in this way. Maturity =/= age, and an awareness of mortality can have an overwhelming presence in even the youngest child's life. What if a child loses family members at a young age? Are they still "too young" to consider these questions? If anything, I think we should encourage children to value and cherish what they have in their lives, rather than inculcate them with this "you don't know what you have until it's gone" mindset that's so prevalent. The question of course is steeped in spirituality/religion. As an agnostic-atheist, I don't believe that, after death, I'll have any kind of conscious awareness, so I won't be able to "miss" anything. That said, I grew up without much money, so I have always had that awareness & appreciation of basic things like food, shelter, etc. I definitely wouldn't want to live without music or books or the internet... which I realize, basic as those may seem to so many of us, there is an overwhelming number of people without those things.
Of course. I agree. At the same time, though, rather than thinking "What if I died tomorrow?" people should just live life day by day, and, as you say, cherish what they are currently able to do in life.
I agree with this but for completely different reasons. Maturity has nothing to do with considering mortality. You can consider or not consider mortality at any age or level of maturity because it is relevant at all times. It isn't depressing unless considered from certain perspectives. Therefore it is possible for someone to consider their mortality without fear or depression at any age. Here is one such perspective. To no one in particular: Think about what would happen if you could not die. For a while, you create memories that you will cherish for a very long time, always seeking something new. Eventually you will run out of new things to do and will seek to relive past experiences to bring that enjoyment back into your life. That will last a while, but how times can you go through them before you lose interest? There are many movies you can watch a 100 times over, but what about 1,000,000,000,000 times over? Everything that you cherished would become repetitious, insipid and banal. Eventually you would lose any concept of enjoyment you might have had. Even your memories of what you enjoyed will be dulled by the prospect of repetition. We need death so that we never lose our ability to cherish the memories we have. Death is a preservation of life's meaning. On a side note, I am what you might call a true agnostic, not an atheist (though I lean that way because of pragmatism). Meaning I do not believe I can know and it is a true 50/50 toss with regards to death. I would say you are an atheist with agnostic leanings by comparison. I define death as a true end to my conscious existence. When I say 'die' I usually mean truly ceasing to exist instead of my body ceasing to function. I am not sure that when my body dies, "I" will die with it. I did use death as in death of the body in my first post to fit the context of the thread. Keep in mind these definitions are not the same. The bearing that distinction has is that I am not so sure that it is possible to die. I hope so, but I can't prove it so. How do you feel about this distinction? Do you go the materialist route or are you unsure, like me?
I choose to identify as agnostic-atheist despite it perhaps not being wholly accurate just because it appeals to my commitment-phobe tendencies -- as in, for all intents and purposes, I am an atheist, but I also don't feel comfortable with the absolute nature of atheism. I try to remain open to the possibility of spiritual forces or beings, or at least, open to the idea that I could be completely wrong in saying that there are none. That's not to say that all atheists are 100% certain and definite that there is no God, but I feel "agnostic-atheist" is sort of... soft atheism, haha. Metaphysically, while I have similar reservations about accepting one clean & absolute label, I am a materialist, yes. I do believe there is quite a lot to personhood, but its overall essence is biological. While it is perhaps a frightening viewpoint (no hope for afterlife/reincarnation), I also find its benefit is that it encourages one to live in the present, physical reality rather than worrying about what comes after (which is my primary issue with spiritualism).
I wish I could be as simplistic as you about it. Given my perspective on death, it is going to suck big time if I cannot die. Worst fate imaginable, actually.
Given the inherent weight of topics like mortality and metaphysics, my viewpoints are pretty -- maybe overly -- simplistic. The discussion of them of course interests me, and I love to see them explored (particularly through literature), but for my own life & philosophy, it's a pragmatic decision. There's really no way that we can ever learn an answer about whether God exists or not, about what happens after we die, so I really don't see purpose in wasting my time thinking too much about it. Of course, one can't always help it -- there have been times in my life when I'm absolutely overcome with the idea of mortality -- but sometimes choosing a standpoint that is most comfortable for you allows you to spend time on other things. Which again, it is definitely a simplistic way of living, and I don't approach all topics like this, but in this case it hasn't really failed me yet.
I didn't mean to infantilize anyone with my post and if that's the message that came across I do greatly apologize. I guess the point I was trying to make is that by focusing only on the things one could miss, they're going to miss out on getting to enjoy them. I mean, I'm guilty of this myself, I'm constantly going "What if, what if, what if." And by doing so I ruin whatever I'm trying to enjoy. So I guess it's fine to miss things (like man do I miss stuff I had growing up, I do get quite nostalgic) but don't let that get in the way of the now.
Ironically, I am probably more simplistic than you when it comes to actually thinking about my own death. I tend to believe that I will not die in any given situation. As silly as it sounds, I believe that I am immortal until proven otherwise. I will live or die trying. My reason? Because I do not have a present desire to die. If I happen to be wrong that I am not going to die, I will be dead and won't be there to care that I was wrong. If I am right, then I get to continue living without dealing with the stress of my inevitable death weighing down my decisions. It's a win either way. I think I will stay happy this way although I still hope to be able to die once and for all in the far future.
Spoiler Would you like me to do it now ? Or would you like a few moments to compose an epitaph ? Sorry, couldn' t help it. xD Okay, Sirius time now. I don' t think there' ll be a me to miss anything. If I was to make a hole in someone' s brain or make him drink alcohol his personality would be affected. So what would happen if his brain outright died, gee I wonder. I' ve been knocked out before, and those few instants spent being a "soul" haven' t exactly left me with sparkling memories. Nor did my pre-birth existence. I wouldn' t claim any certainty on the matter, but the odds don' t look that good to me. Not that it' s that saddening a thought to me, the prospect of immortality frightens me more (though I sure wouldn' t mind us having a longer life expectancy). At the end of the day I' m like Misty and try to be pragmatic about it. I can' t help the occasional speculations, but they don' t keep me up at night. I' m an epicurian, I' ll take whatever I can get. Not necessarily in a selfish kind of way. What would I miss the most right now ? Money enough to sustain myself, friends and family aside, probably the internet.
I do believe in heaven and a life after death and that makes me happy because either I am right and will enjoy heaven for eternity or I am wrong and won't be aware of it. Heaven just comforts me because I don't want to die, I am happy in this world and enjoy it's merits and the thought of dying before I can experience everything I want to is terrifying. Heaven allows me to continue living in a spiritual form or however it may work. Also, the thought of this world being all there is is equally terrifying and I don't want to think about that. I am also incredibly materialistic and I wish I wasn't, some of my biggest worries when flying is my luggage being lost and I don't like spending money especially now that I work and earn it myself plus I form a lot of attachments to my possessions like my iPod and DVD collection.
I've pondered morality for a long time now. I started thinking about it in depth around 15 and it was the leading cause of most of my depression throughout my high school career. One day I woke up and realized life is too short to focus on the semantics and the eventualities and decided to just live for the moment. It is scary to know that one day you're going to pass on but that's why we should live as much as possible until then. Given your isolated room theory, I suppose I'd miss ... well, honestly I don't think I'd miss much. My favorite thing to do is to think and so long as I was still coherent in this isolated room and not just an entity without thought, which would make the idea of missing anything a moot point anyhow, then I'd be perfectly fine. Considering I'd no longer have the need to eat, sleep, and other pesky things that mortals do, I'd have eternity to think. Eventually I'd have to assume that I'd think myself crazy and then sane again after some time. I don't really have a strong attachment to anything, I suppose. Now that I've read that back to myself ... that's a little bit sad. If I had to pick one thing that I might be slightly disheartened about losing ... it'd probably cold bottled water. There's nothing like a nice cold bottle of water. I'm no Buddhist monk but I really don't care that much for my possessions, for the most part. There are some things in which I've placed sentimental value that I'd be bothered losing, a key necklace of mine that I've had for years for instance, but most things don't bother me. I often find myself giving things away to people because I feel they need them more, or I end up spending money on others just because I have it. I never expect anything in return, I just hold no value towards these things. It's not that I don't appreciate what I have, it's just that what I have might be appreciated by someone else even more. I'm just weird like that though >.< -Nights
agreed we don't have snow in Louisiana accept those off years, it's snowed here like 2 times in my life time
