Is There Any Reason Why We Should Fear Death?

What do humans fear most? Death. Since eventually everyone does die, what's the point of fearing something that's inevitable? Do people fear death because they don't know if it really is the end? Are they terrified of what lies "on the other side"/the afterlife? Why should we fear death?

 

Death is scary when you think that it is the end of your consciousness. That is why people are scared of it because it is a scary thought for your existence to be ended and that you cannot do anything about it. When religion was invented, it was intended to give hope to people that when you die, you can continue to be living at least in the form of spirit. And in heaven, life continues like being in paradise. And even with no evidence of the claim, people just fall for the claims of the religious preachers simply because it is scary to die a real death.

 

Death is inevitable, but people fear it because they don't know what will happen. In life we try to plan most things; get a job, home and settle down. Not all things go according to plan, and death is part of the plan. I don't like to see people suffer in pain, but not all deaths are painful. Often I feel people are sad because they didn't make time for the person or say what they wanted to say, because they were caught up with other material things. I have faced death before, and now I don't fear it.

 

I'm not sure that people fear death itself, I think it's more of a fear of the unknown that people are afraid of.

It's not like a feeling of nervousness like going for a job interview. Death is something we can't avoid and simply the fact we don't know what's going to happen, or what does happen is irreversible is what's feared the most.

 

Many religions don't actually believe in an "afterlife" - Judaism, for example - therefore the old canard that people only follow religion because they're scared of death really does have to go.

For a lot of materialists however, which nowadays means the majority of people alive, the notion of death means the end of their existence as themselves. Many folks are happy to go into that dark night so long as they feel they have accomplished something in their time on earth. Some might think this a shallow concept, but I'm not so sure myself.

 

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Moreover, a lot of time people are suffering from a long time disease before actually passing away. It's normal to be afraid, not only for yourself, but also for your relatives, because you don't to suffer and you don't want to see your friends or relatives suffer either.

Moreover, people fear death because they don't want it to come too soon. This is why a lot of the people who fear death are young ones, while the older people not only don't fear it, but even welcome it.

 

I don't think people fear death as much as it is that they don't want to leave their loved ones behind. We are all going to die but when we do we have to leave those we love for the unknown. It is the end. I know I don't fear death but it would hurt knowing on would never see my family again.

 

I think the fer of death is down to not the death itself, but the results that come from it - nothing. Try to imagine a situation of nothing and it boggles the mind, you cannot do it, and I think that is why a lot of people fear it because they cannot fathom the idea of non-existence. I could be totally wrong but that's the gist I get from it.

The idea of death does worry me a little and if I think about it too much it does scare me, but it is inevitable and it will happen to all of us so I don't really know why I worry about it. A good phrase to live by is something along the lines of "enjoy the journey that leads to the destination."

Something that made me actually feel a little comfort in the idea of death is when I discussed immortality with someone. I thought about it and the idea of living for eternity just seems really boring and sad to me. You would see countless people you care about fade off into the afterlife while you continue on, alone.

 

Death IMHO is freedom. There are lots of things which people can't change. Things that will always make you unhappy. Heartache which no remedy or drugs can drive the pain away. Death ends it all. I think if it were possible for some people to be immortal in this world, they'd be the most miserable people on the planet.

 

Many 'enlightened' people don't fear death, but living because as much as we do try to plan our lives, we can't plan our death. We may have planned out potential death before an incarnation, but that can still change subject to external factors. People still suffer internally as well as physically, even if they are not dying, and I think suffering is worse than death because in death you have a resolution.