questions about life and......
Posted: Tue Jan 09, 2024 4:50 pm
there are a few thoughts that cannot be denied..
that, as constituted, we human beings are limited..
we die... there is no forever in death...
but, in religion, we can be saved, achieve salvation and our souls
can live forever...and what exactly is the effect of this little escape
clause in death?
40 years ago, or more, I was temporarily frozen by the fear of death...
I ''discovered"" that death also means my death... and I was terrified...
but being a young lad, I promptly forgot... and lived for decades without
any fear of death or even thinking about death...and then one sunny day,
I woke up and recalled or remember that I too, I too will die...at some point..
and I wasn't frightened like I was 40 years ago... when one hits their
60's, death becomes a rather familiar thought.... when friends, family,
loved ones die.... heroes from our youth, they begin to pass away...
to push the day of death off, we begin to make changes, we eat
healthier, we begin to exercise, we take better care of our bodies...
and all in an effort to live a bit longer...when one is in their 60's,
every day alive is one day closer to that day of death...
and some begin to realize that being born is really a
death sentence... to be born is to die.... and we pretend otherwise
for decades...
but the interesting thing comes in thinking about death is that we
begin to think about our legacy...what legacy will I leave behind?
family, brothers and sisters will remember me for a few years
and loved ones like my wife and daughter will remember me
for a few years and then, I will become some distant memory...
to save my life, I can't remember what my father looked like....
he has been dead for 40 years... nor can I remember what my
grandmother looked like.....and friends long dead, I couldn't
pick them out of a police lineup... time heals all wounds,
and when seeing a scar, I can remember how I got that scar,
the same thing about family and friends long dead...
a scar can bring back memories of that person...but very
vague memories...almost like a dream....
existentialism, in one aspect, death is a powerful part of
existentialism.... the remembrance of death brings us to a place
of fear, ''The death of Ivan Ilyich" is an excellent example of this...
and yet, I oppose this understanding of death... I understand it,
but oppose it...
I oppose it because one of the problems with existentialism,
is its emphasis on the negative, on angst, despair, fear,
existentialism is about the negative parts of life, not
the positive aspects of life, of existence...for me,
there is nothing to fear about death... it is as part of life
as puberty, old age, diseases, pain and suffering,
and going from a baby to adulthood... changes
human beings go through... it is part of existence..
to deny death is to deny the rest of it... to make a long story
short, once I broke my leg, and I didn't even know it..
that is part of the ticket of existence... shit happens...
and we might not even know it...now one might say, that
makes human beings fatalistic, yes and no... yes, death is
coming, but no in the fact that we can still become even in
the face of death.... existentialism makes too much of a big
deal about death...instead of just taking it in stride.. we die,
and so what? what can we do before we die?
or as the Kantian questions ask, ''what am I to do, before I die?''
''what can I hope for, before I die?" ''What can I know, before I die?"
the fear of death shouldn't frighten us into non-action or being
unable to do something..... death should motive us into taking
actions before we are unable to... I write more and more as I grow
older because I fear I will die before I get these thoughts down...
death drives me to write more, study harder and think about things...
I resent every day not engaging in philosophy....and for me,
any day taking me away from my thinking about philosophy,
is a wasted day..
and what about you?
Kropotkin
that, as constituted, we human beings are limited..
we die... there is no forever in death...
but, in religion, we can be saved, achieve salvation and our souls
can live forever...and what exactly is the effect of this little escape
clause in death?
40 years ago, or more, I was temporarily frozen by the fear of death...
I ''discovered"" that death also means my death... and I was terrified...
but being a young lad, I promptly forgot... and lived for decades without
any fear of death or even thinking about death...and then one sunny day,
I woke up and recalled or remember that I too, I too will die...at some point..
and I wasn't frightened like I was 40 years ago... when one hits their
60's, death becomes a rather familiar thought.... when friends, family,
loved ones die.... heroes from our youth, they begin to pass away...
to push the day of death off, we begin to make changes, we eat
healthier, we begin to exercise, we take better care of our bodies...
and all in an effort to live a bit longer...when one is in their 60's,
every day alive is one day closer to that day of death...
and some begin to realize that being born is really a
death sentence... to be born is to die.... and we pretend otherwise
for decades...
but the interesting thing comes in thinking about death is that we
begin to think about our legacy...what legacy will I leave behind?
family, brothers and sisters will remember me for a few years
and loved ones like my wife and daughter will remember me
for a few years and then, I will become some distant memory...
to save my life, I can't remember what my father looked like....
he has been dead for 40 years... nor can I remember what my
grandmother looked like.....and friends long dead, I couldn't
pick them out of a police lineup... time heals all wounds,
and when seeing a scar, I can remember how I got that scar,
the same thing about family and friends long dead...
a scar can bring back memories of that person...but very
vague memories...almost like a dream....
existentialism, in one aspect, death is a powerful part of
existentialism.... the remembrance of death brings us to a place
of fear, ''The death of Ivan Ilyich" is an excellent example of this...
and yet, I oppose this understanding of death... I understand it,
but oppose it...
I oppose it because one of the problems with existentialism,
is its emphasis on the negative, on angst, despair, fear,
existentialism is about the negative parts of life, not
the positive aspects of life, of existence...for me,
there is nothing to fear about death... it is as part of life
as puberty, old age, diseases, pain and suffering,
and going from a baby to adulthood... changes
human beings go through... it is part of existence..
to deny death is to deny the rest of it... to make a long story
short, once I broke my leg, and I didn't even know it..
that is part of the ticket of existence... shit happens...
and we might not even know it...now one might say, that
makes human beings fatalistic, yes and no... yes, death is
coming, but no in the fact that we can still become even in
the face of death.... existentialism makes too much of a big
deal about death...instead of just taking it in stride.. we die,
and so what? what can we do before we die?
or as the Kantian questions ask, ''what am I to do, before I die?''
''what can I hope for, before I die?" ''What can I know, before I die?"
the fear of death shouldn't frighten us into non-action or being
unable to do something..... death should motive us into taking
actions before we are unable to... I write more and more as I grow
older because I fear I will die before I get these thoughts down...
death drives me to write more, study harder and think about things...
I resent every day not engaging in philosophy....and for me,
any day taking me away from my thinking about philosophy,
is a wasted day..
and what about you?
Kropotkin