RE: Literal and Not Literal
September 5, 2019 at 1:13 pm
(This post was last modified: September 5, 2019 at 1:33 pm by Anomalocaris.)
(September 5, 2019 at 1:09 pm)Acrobat Wrote:(September 5, 2019 at 12:56 pm)Anomalocaris Wrote: Your condescension from a position on top of thin ice is touching.
there are all sorts of reasons I can come up with for not wanting to die. But would I be ok with dying if none of these reasons are sound? No.
So reason is just a vanity. If I have no meaning in my life, mere survival as a surfacial layer to underlying urges formed what had hitherto preserved my genetic lineage would most assuredly prove to be meaning enough nonetheless.
If we took away all the things that you keep for wanting to die, you'd probably want to die. If we took all that keeps your feet planted on the platform, you'd probably want to jump in front of the train.
It's what separates a man who wants to live, from a man who wants to take his life, or wishes his life were over.
Take love for instance. If your parents have long since abandoned you, care little about you. If you lack friends, or people who love you, even if you had all the material and financial means to survive a long time, the idea of dying would probably be very welcome. Very little if anything, would keep you from wanting to continue living, other than the fear of doing it yourself.
No. Most people don't want to live. They simply instinctively don't want to die, and don't want to leave no progeny when death nonetheless inevitably comes. They have the neurological circuitry to evaluate all experiences on a scale of different pleasantness which are also given primarily because of its survival value. So they would prefer to make not dying less unpleasant. Affecting to have something to live for makes not dying less unpleasant.
