New atheist here, gotta say, not loving it

[Edwardo Piet]

I don't understand. How can you fear something that is identical to what it was like before your birth?

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No it's not! It's the LEAST scary thing when you think about it. For starters it's not even a thing! I couldn't think of anything less terrifying than nonexistence! Even happy times are scarier because something might go wrong! After you die there's literally nothing to be afraid of anymore. It's life that's scary. After death there can be nothing scarier for me than before death. I've NEVER feared death. Not even when I was a child. The suffering from dying is bad, but after I'm dead?  I don't care about my absence when I won't even be capable of missing it. I don't get it. If I didn't wake up tomorrow I literally wouldn't and couldn't give a shit. And if I was told by a doctor that I wouldn't wake up tomorrow, I'd be sad that I wouldn't get to experience joy anymore but I wouldn't have anything to be afraid of anymore either. It's only utterly terrifying if you don't actually think about it and you think about something else instead. Nonexistence can't be scary.

I don't find life scary.  Individual events?  Sure.  Mostly those that potentially involve physical pain (having 45 surgeries, and all of the various follow ups and rehab, starting from when you're only a few months old, conditions one to shy away from anything that could land them back in the hospital).  But, overall life ranges between boring to fun for me.

And the difference between the universe prior to my existence and now is that I do exist now.  And, outside of bouts of depression stemming from my guilt of the burden I impose on others due to my medical needs and care, I like existing.  And, most important, I'm aware I exist.  Having that awareness, being a unique individual, are important things for me.  And while death is inevitable, that doesn't mean I have to be content with the idea.  I don't think I'd want to be eternal, but a human lifespan is woefully inadequate for all the things I want to do, experience, and learn.

Finally, I came this close to ripping you a new one.  Your habit of replying to others with "You only think/believe that because you're stupid (implied or explicitly stated)!  You wouldn't feel that way or believe that thing if you actually thought about it!" is wearing incredibly thin.  You're a smart guy, but that doesn't give you license to jump on someone merely for expressing their feelings.

I'm pretty sure that's not how you intended things (which is why I held back), but it's something I think you should be aware of.

Oh dear. If your ego is so big that you take offense at my own opinion that you don't understand something because you take that as an insult to your ego or take that as me calling you "stupid" (when I don't think any such thing), then aren't you the one who should be ripped a new one for such hubris? Who cares if I think you don't understand something? What's wrong with that? What's wrong with not understanding things? I don't understand many things and I am sure there are many things you understand that I don't. And that doesn't make either of us stupid. But if I point out one thing that in my opinion you don't understand then I need ripping a new one? Shouldn't you be ripped one, if anyone should, for having such an oversensitive ego over something unimportant?

But yeah, I still don't think you get it, to be honest (sorry about being honest like that, but my intention was never to piss you off my intention was to participate in a discussion) . . . it makes sense to be sad if your life is going to end because you are going to miss out on life. But why do you think that you can't think of anything scarier than nonexistence when when it comes to nonexistence there's literally nothing to be afraid of if you really are thinking of nonexistence?

And yes, of course, when I say life is scary I mean that life is scary in general because it involves scary experiences. Of course we're not scared by 'life itself' otherwise we'd literally be afraid at every living moment.

Thanks for saying I'm a smart guy, you're a smart guy too, and it's okay for us to not understand things sometimes . . . it doesn't make us stupid and there's no need to get hurt over something that doesn't matter.

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I'm pretty sure that's not how you intended things (which is why I held back), but it's something I think you should be aware of.

I'm glad you recognize that it was not intended. But if you think that I can't point out that I think someone doesn't understand something sometimes without it being me implying that they're "stupid", then I'm offended. Imagine if science worked that way? Imagine if anytime a scientist offers an alternative new theory because they think the other scientist's explanations don't make sense of things fully the other scientists were like "Are you calling us stupid! Are you saying we're missing something! Are you saying maybe we don't understand! Are you saying our theory isn't good enough!" . . . that would be ridiculous of course.

There are many things I don't understand too. It's okay to understand things. And it's okay to think someone is missing the point. It's okay. And, in fact, things are better that way. Things are better when people don't take offence when someone corrects them. No one's perfect . . . that doesn't make us idiots.