d3963a No.1440
How do you deal with the fact of death?
94b90d No.1441
>>1440I've just accepted it.
There is nothing I do it about.
People die.
f45932 No.1444
>>1440The fact that my life is occurring now is good enough for me.
187935 No.1445
Before I was conceived, I hadn't existed for the entirety of the history of the universe. It didn't bother me then. It won't bother me after I die.
489a78 No.1447
>>1445I don't find that thought to help much, but I figure since I'm here, I might as well try to stay on this earth as long as possible.
No point in moping over something you can't change.
548f99 No.1454
>parents explain the basic concept of death to me when I'm a toddler, but don't discuss it any further than how much it would upset them if I died
>have existential crisis over mortality between then and puberty
>become an atheist in teens
>realize that nihilism is pretty much true and can't be proven otherwise
>fuck that, I care about other people. I care about myself. I'm lucky enough to have been born and still be alive and not suffer that much. Might as well enjoy what I have and help other people enjoy theirs more and/or suffer less.
>every time I see people, I imagine what it'll be like for me when they're gone and vice versa.
>never get upset anymore that someone died if it wasn't a horrible death and their life was good
>rarely pass up the opportunity to be good to people around me
>less likely to treat people poorly
>supremely comforted by the fact that if life ever gets too bad I always will have the option to end it (for myself and myself alone, assuming nobody depends on me at the time) and escape to the void
>also motivated to accomplish something with my life because I want to feel like I've "earned" the relief death provides
I like my view on death and think the world would be a better place if more people had it. Fear of death is really just what happens when you don't think all the implications through very far and just let your fear response system take the wheel.
775a73 No.1466
>>1441This.
Big fucking deal. When I'm dead, I'm not going to care. Wanna know my secret? Because I'll be fucking dead.
775a73 No.1467
>>1454>Nihilism - Shit tier>Existentialism - NoGod tier 632041 No.1481
Honestly, it does bother me. I do not really believe in god (I'm starting to question that) and I am afraid of hell and always have been. But thinking like
>>1445 helps, also I tend to believe that if there is a god he would forgive me or give me another chance, as I have through the majority of life had "good intentions."
632041 No.1482
Honestly, it does bother me. I do not really believe in god (I'm starting to question that) and I am afraid of hell and always have been. But thinking like
>>1445 helps, also I tend to believe that if there is a god he would forgive me or give me another chance, as I have through the majority of life had "good intentions."
632041 No.1483
>>1481>>1482Sorry for the double post
d2497e No.1484
>>1454Pretty much this, except I'm an easily irritated, apathetic jerk.
94b90d No.1485
>>1482This may comfort you in you doubts, anon.
The stoics believed that if the gods were just they would reward you not for paying them homage but for being decent or maybe not.
"Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."
Of course lot of religious folks would say the stoics are wrong.
or maybe Cuthulu is waiting on the other side to devour us…
8e9a3c No.1487
>>1454That's pretty much how I think. Life's only got meaning if I give it meaning and I can't get friends/clientele if I'm a huge asshole.
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2e98f3 No.12342
Wow, these servers are bad.
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2e98f3 No.12344
>>12340
>>12340
Hi spee.
Jim, please let me post.
9e236a No.12345
2e98f3 No.12346
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9e236a No.12350
GOD FUCKING DAMN IT
THIS IS YOUR FUCKING FAULT DUDWHEELS
2e98f3 No.12351
>>12350
You mean Jim.
Also, sorry spee. I ruined your GET.
5d31b3 No.12352
>>12351
Both of them are responsible for this.
I don't know who needs to go in the oven first
2e98f3 No.12353
>>12352
The genetic dud first, because he's ugly (uglier than Jim, anyway).
e08e97 No.12358
>>1485
>Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones."
Pretty much this. The most reasonable way to live your life is in a way that makes your life and the lifes of other more enjoyable and less miserable. If there is no afterlife, than at least you you had a nice life and helped those around you enjoy life as well. If there is an afterlife than any decent God/Gods should let you in. If he/they don't then fuck them and there so called morals, they are assholes and no different from any other human tyrant who rewards loyalty and doesn't give a damn about the well being of those who live under their rule.
Witch is another reason why "christian morality" is meaningless. It doesn't matter how you actually lived your life and treated others, all the matters is if you loved the supreme leader. If you did you are by default a good citizen, if you didn't you are by default a bad one. Its good by name alone and was no relation to what we actually use morality to mean here on earth.
a006e6 No.12360
>>1440
I don't. Can't. It's literally the end of my existence. I can't deal with that. I know it's not something we can prevent forever, inevitably we will all die. But since our lives are it for each of us. I'm not just going to throw away my existence.
The attitude to be content with death is strange now that it does matter. Of course a conscious being cannot matter to itself before it exists. But that doesn't mean once it does exist that its death doesn't matter while its alive. A permanent loss of consciousness when you are alive isn't a good thing for survival even though it will eventually happen.
At the very least seeing as we have no other option we may as well focus on developing medicine and biotechnologies see how far it can help us live long enough to figure out if life matters or not.
tldr is-ought prob guise and lets focus on medicine
a83f3f No.12367
I see life from a thermodynamic view as I read of a new theory a couple years ago to explain life and evolution. It's a rather sober and deterministic view but that's how I also viewed life before. And to extend that theory for myself, I view anything that has energy as having a conscious, a reaction potential; humans having a more complex reaction potential to mentally simulate reactions, to think and so on.
I probably differ from some atheists here but I see the universe as a conscious entity in itself, just as we're a conscious entity with bacteria, more simple conscious entities which are infused with a bigger one. You could almost say I view the universe almost analogous to a god but its characteristic is too far removed that I hesitate to use that word. We'll die and we'll be converted into a different type of reaction potential; a different material, organic of course until likely the sun swallows us up and we'll be converted into a different type of reaction potential and play a different part in the universe. It's not the brightest outlook but such is life. Sometimes it's better to view things as you think it is rather than how you wish it to be; living in fantasy sometimes doesn't bode well for living a life aware of "life". Good news is like candy, everybody wants to hear it but everyone doesn't need it all the time. I don't fear death so much, mostly the pain of the conversion. But by now I've realized a lot of how or why the universe does what it does and I think it's more intelligent than we are. It may be as aware of us as we are of individual quarks and whatnot, meaning practically non-existent but knowing "something" might be there. Or like virtual particles, in our timeframe they pop in and out of existence, in their timeframe, it's their own lifetime as life like us may be very rare in time and space, but admittedly in an infinite universe rarity means little. The universe has its ways of functioning and even when you analyze the travesties you realize why things are the way they are if you look deeply. So I trust the universe that whatever roller coaster it puts "me", the material that I am, on, it won't go higher or lower than I can handle but it can still be a scary ride sometimes.
But basically I believe that "goodness" is its own reward. As I didn't believe in a god of mistakes when I was a believer, I still don't and that even with "evil", there's good reasons people do what they do, though probably not ones we should condone if we want to keep the goodness in humanity alive. It seems people want to believe in a hell as a mental place for their wrath, a place to make things fair to them for the ones that've enjoyed too much at others' expense. But tormented people do tormented things, life is its own hell and heaven and in the end I believe all's fair. Don't let theists tell you atheists see life as empty or don't view it as such. There's lots of enjoyment to be had in life and to give. Part of it, for me anyway, is the joy of discovery, learning, as cheesy as that sounds. This life is what we have and balancing that tight-rope of giving and getting can be a chore but do as you do, you give as you get so try to give positively if that's what you want. Sorry, I've had way too much coffee this morning. But I was a christian for twenty years of my life, atheist for ten and spent much of it trying to learn about who we are and why we're here so just giving my two cents if anyone's interested in reading this wall of text.
Here's a link to the theory, though it's not in laymans terms but if that's what you want, I think I gave you a jist of it. https://www.quantamagazine.org/20140122-a-new-physics-theory-of-life/
fe02bf No.12373
>>1440
I rebel against the absurd
c04f7a No.12460
>>12360
i can't cope with it either which is why I came to this board and thread I guess. Lately since a friend of mine died in a car accident I have been wondering why I should even bother getting out of bed in the morning. I work from home so some days I just sleep until 3 or 4 pm, microwave something, get the bare minimum done, and go back to sleep after reading some shit online.
It's only been about 6 months since my friend died but already everyone seemingly forgot about him. Nobody talks about his life anymore outside his immediate family, and he was a great and well liked guy.
I used to have goals for owning a home, having a child, learning several languages and visiting several countries but now I feel like why the fuck should I bother? I'll just grow old and decrepit and watch my potential child suffer the same fate and realize their existence doesn't mean a fucking thing either.
It doesn't matter what I do or see it's all just just pointless visual stimuli, I can achieve the same level of stimulation walking around the corner and eating cheap chinese takeout and never leaving my hometown.
when I'm dead I won't give a single fuck if I accomplished anything so why strive to accomplish a thing? the only reason I feel like I should stick around is I'm far too chickenshit to end it.
If I'm never going to see my dead family or my friend again I don't know what the fuck there is to really look forward to. Guess I just hope I go in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping so I don't have to contemplate the horror of everything I ever gave a fuck about being wiped away.
147f4e No.12461
>>12460
Since you work at home can't you move somewhere more inspiring, just to have different distractions? I know the feeling, my best friend died when I was 15, we were sparring with bamboo poles, and I chased him into the street when a car killed him. I spent a lot of time searching for a higher meaning in that wasted life, and his parents never fully got over it, even a decade later.
I am glad that I knew him though, because the memory of his pure smile is like sunshine.
c04f7a No.12465
>>12461
I'm truly sorry to hear about your friend, can't imagine the feelings that follow a situation like that and I'm happy to hear you take some comfort in his memory.
I guess I just feel like an asshole. I live in a rather beautiful place, safe community with lots of nice parks, shops, theaters, and rich history all out my back door. There's lots to do and see if I had the motivation for it.
I used to love going to the arcade and hanging out with the friends I have here, the weather is almost always perfect, my partner has an excellent job and I pay my bills doing what I love doing which is freelance artwork. All things considered I have a great life. I just feel like an asshole for taking pleasure in anything anymore, like a fool.
I nearly broke down going to the arcade a few weeks ago not only because my friend who passed loved those games but because "how can I possibly enjoy this knowing when I die I won't give a single solitary fuck about any of it?" It almost feels like every little thing is exceedingly cynical. "You sure liked listening to that song huh? Guess what, that singer's been dead for 20 years and the spark of genius that wrote that song no longer exists" and so on. I don't see a point in getting better and better distractions when the very act of seeking distractions makes me feel like a fucking idiot.
I guess when I had faith I had this stupid idea that I would be able to share with my dead family all that I had accomplished and share memories from earth and help cheer on the next generation from afar and enjoy their company again. It gave me the goal of having great memories to be proud of to share with them. But knowing the reality of just… ceasing to exist? Why bother accumulating good memories? I get the same outcome whether I travel the world or rot in a hospital. It seems completely irrelevant to me. It's all just stimulating our senses to kill time until we die. Why does it matter if it's in front of a computer or a physical place? it's all equivalent.
The crash and burn after losing faith is something no atheist forum seems to have a good answer to, it's always either "lol kill yourself then faggot" or "you just need to embrace the now, man" like some dipshit hippie. I take no peace in any of this and feel like that guy in the matrix who just wanted to go back to eating fake steak and forgetting about the truth. I just want a single reason to get out of bed in the morning and give a fuck about anything. I'll stop blogging on an 8chan post though.
Peace.
e7aaf9 No.12469
>>12465
You're looking at solving philosophically what seems to be a mental issue for you. Even as an atheist it's not normal to feel that way. I've had that feeling as both a christian and atheist as well as a feeling of motive to change things for the good. I changed my diet and started exercising more which helps some people. You may have a mental issue, low hormone levels or other physiological issue.
Religion was only a band-aid to fix you just like believing in Santa Claus or other things that make you feel special. You might've felt you're the one that's blessed to be gifted material, life, health or faith more than the other naughty people and that feeling of being special is hard to resist or wash away for the weak willed. I'd seek a doctor and/or psychiatrist or possibly volunteer for something you'd enjoy. But ultimately, no, there's no one to tell you what the meaning of your life is if that's what you're looking for. But keep in mind that you give as you get, generally. Give others help, happiness and health and you often get that.
e7aaf9 No.12470
>>12465
You're looking at solving philosophically what seems to be a mental issue for you. Even as an atheist it's not normal to feel that way. I've had that feeling as both a christian and atheist as well as a feeling of motive to change things for the good. I changed my diet and started exercising more which helps some people. You may have a mental issue, low hormone levels or other physiological issue.
Religion was only a band-aid to fix you just like believing in Santa Claus or other things that make you feel special. You might've felt you're the one that's blessed to be gifted material, life, health or faith more than the other naughty people and that feeling of being special is hard to resist or wash away for the weak willed. I'd seek a doctor and/or psychiatrist or possibly volunteer for something you'd enjoy. But ultimately, no, there's no one to tell you what the meaning of your life is if that's what you're looking for. But keep in mind that you give as you get, generally. Give others help, happiness and health and you often get that.
c04f7a No.12471
>>12470
I never felt particularly special, just felt that my actions would matter in a way that I would be able to appreciate after death. Having death wipe away everything kind of takes the motivation away.
I was naive and really wanted to be proud of my little life to show my grandparents and uncles later. Just doing it for myself to "make my own meaning" feels incredibly self centered, foolish, and empty.
Life is just organisms pleasure seeking and avoiding pain until death. Why bother achieving 'greatness'? What's wrong with being a shut in until I die? There's literally no rational reason to care about anything.
I won't go out of my way to be mean to people or anything but I certainly won't waste my energy trying to create a legacy, do something "meaningful" or have a child like I always dreamed of. it's too much work for no gain.
I already eat well and exercise out of fear of getting horrible diseases later on, but will try to see a professional if this carries on much longer. though I doubt anything will settle this uneasiness. thanks for responding, though.
e7aaf9 No.12472
>>12471
>greatness
Life is great when you do great. Even when I don't feel great I try to do great and usually it comes back around. I'm not unlike you as I've had the same feelings at some point but rationality can only take you so far. In as much as a lot of us like to think we're rational, but just like anything in life such as strength, intelligence, beauty, etc, there's a limit and one needs to approach life and find greatness or content using those tools and more, not just expecting rationality to be the end-all be-all tool for survival. If you ask me, religion and science both are manifested from a need to survive. Science to study, to be aware of our universe and religion as a means to manipulate yourself and others into doing what you feel you should do for survival, a bios, sort of, a primal core of our code to give us motive.
You seemed to have gotten the post-religion depression as some get, just like waking up from a dream that made you feel good and you wake up and find out it's all fantasy. But you're a big boy now who's outgrown fairy tales and even if it's the absence of a belief, you still have a brotherhood here and elsewhere where people know what you've been through and can give advice. At least you can feel free that you do as you think you ought to, not as something you're not sure you believe in tells you to do. A lot of theists wind up worse than atheists in trying to adhere to their beliefs they wind up getting frustrated and irritable, thereby making things worse for themselves and others when things don't go their way. They want to find peace like everyone and have such constitution that it's supposed to be a certain kind of peace and to certain extent, they wind up making war. You can now go on to show others a more rational and moderated mode of thinking to hopefully help perpetuate this small grain of happiness and humanity for succeeding generations. I guess we all want a purpose to live for and maybe you'll find what you think is your purpose, perhaps one of many. Like I said, I can't tell you exactly how to find meaning for yourself, only do my part to help pacify your apathy as it's something many go through in changing religions or dropping them altogether.
c04f7a No.12473
>>12472
i hope to overcome apathy with something besides further delusion - at this point in time it just seems silly to exchange my former religious fantasies with other materialistic fantasies of my actions having any form of worth.
In any event, thanks for the kind words and thoughtful response.
29a2ec No.12497