How Do You Get Over Death?

[robvalue]

The thought has never bothered me as far as I can remember.

I think this is a problem that is created by people being programmed with the idea that life doesn't actually end. Then, if/when they come to realise this is bollocks, they have to readjust.

I guess it's a case of "You can't miss something you never had".

I've heard also that afterlife beliefs can stifle the grieving process when someone close to you dies. You're stuck with them still kind of being alive in your head, and so can't properly process it and move on.

I think the difficulty in thinking about death is how hard it is to remove yourself from the frame of reference. It's sort of like, "It will be all black! No wait, I won't be able to see it. I won't be able to do anything! No wait, I won't be there to do anything anyway. I'll be dead forever! Yes, but I won't notice..."

My advice, for those coming out of religion/afterlife beliefs is to look at it positively. You've realized you were being conned, and have time to do something about it. Now you know you need to make the most of this one and only life, instead of coasting through it assuming the real life is yet to come.

[Mudhammam]

You die every day. Does it bother you that you will never get yesterday back? As Seneca the Younger wrote to his friend Lucilius, "What man can you show me who places any value on his time, who reckons the worth of each day, who understands that he is dying daily? For we are mistaken when we look forward to death; the major portion of death has already passed, Whatever years be behind us are in death's hands."

If it is a dilemma you personally feel troubled by, I highly recommend the excellent book "Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death" by existential psychologist (and atheist) Irvin Yalom.

[brewer]

I usually hop over it with both feet together. Some times I have to walk around.

Seriously (and this will sound trite), by living life.

[Aoi Magi]

Since I am not an atheist, not sure if I should answer this, but I deal with death in the same as I deal with sleep on a friday night, that is, not freakin bothering about next morning.

[TubbyTubby]

I'm really pissed about it. How annoying that I'm going to miss out on so many things.

I agree. Not being able to see the advancement of science, technology, space travel and decline of religious cults etc. does piss me off a bit as well although we should be grateful that we've all seen more than anyone that has previously lived I suppose.

[Mudhammam]

I'm really pissed about it. How annoying that I'm going to miss out on so many things.

I agree. Not being able to see the advancement of science, technology, space travel and decline of religious cults etc. does piss me off a bit as well although we should be grateful that we've all seen more than anyone that has previously lived I suppose.

On the plus side, you'll miss the inevitable demise of our species via nuclear/chemical war, economic/environmental disaster, or the takeover by A.I.

[Faith No More]

Depression is a great cure for the fear of death. Even when you're not feeling suicidal, you're still looking forward to the whole charade ending at some point.

The thought of an afterlife then becomes terrifying.

[Pyrrho]

You might want to search for old threads, as this gets brought up over and over.

 Like I have said before, I always search before I start a thread, however I can never find what I am looking for. Do you have any tips for searching, because it has never worked for me.

In the case of this topic, it is simplicity itself.  Just do a search for "death" (without the quotation marks).  You will find several threads that way.

Now, people here don't like it when someone revives very old threads, so if you are wanting to discuss things, then you may need to start a new thread as you have done.  But if you just wanted to read some opinions on the topic, the search would get the job done.

[hilary]

Just as many other people have said, I don't really think about death very much. It simply doesn't scare me.
As a child (from about 4-16 years of age) it would haunt me whenever I thought about it. Back then I was a christian who was taught that hell was a thing. That I could be sent to this fiery place after I had died (By a god who "loved" me, mind you). But it simply doesn't disturb me anymore. Before I die, I will make sure that I have lived.

“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.” - Mark Twain

Stephen fry put it very well:

[abaris]

Again, a question too frequently asked to count.

As far as I am concerned, I don't have to get over death, since - well - I'll be dead when concern could kick in. The process of dying is a different matter entirely.