I'm Not Afraid of Death - Richard Dawkins
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 27 мар 2024
- Watch the full episode: • Religion Is Still Evil...
To support me on Patreon (thank you): / cosmicskeptic
To donate to my PayPal (thank you): www.paypal.me/cosmicskeptic
- SPECIAL THANKS
A special thanks to Tom Rindell for his support on Patreon.
- CONNECT
My Website/Blog: www.cosmicskeptic.com
SOCIAL LINKS:
Twitter: / cosmicskeptic
Facebook: / cosmicskeptic
Instagram: / cosmicskeptic
Snapchat: cosmicskeptic
The Within Reason Podcast: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...
- CONTACT
Business email: contact@cosmicskeptic.com
Or send me something:
Alex O'Connor
Po Box 1610
OXFORD
OX4 9LL
ENGLAND
------------------------------------------
Mark Twain said, "I was dead for billions and billions of years and found not the slightest inconvenience in it." So was I. What's to worry?
Well, as long as Mark said that 🤡🤣
Let's hope he was just making a joke.
@@omp199nah, he was rather on point
@@archbishoprichardforceginn9338
You've never enjoyed or found comfort in what someone said or wrote before?
Given your name and response, I'd say it looks as if that is objectively untrue, so... way to be a judgmental hypocrite.
@@omp199
Why? Have you been inconvenienced by not having existed for billions of years before now?
Petition for Alex to do after-death/after-life tier list
What is that?!?
Valhalla sounds pretty terrifying and would get boring very quickly, D tier.
RUclipsr Duncan Clarke has a dope afterlife tier list vid
Don't say tier list
This some sort of zoomer nonsense??
I’m afraid of hearing the news that Professor Dawkins is no more. Cheers to good health and I hope there are many more years of speeches and discussions to come!
I'm afraid of having to listen to religious people celebrating his death
@@Johnnyprc a "true believer?" What constitutes that? I mean y'all can't even agree about your own religion in your own churches, much less agree on what a "true believer" is lmao. It's 100% subjective, and the funny part is, every single theist thinks they're a "true believer" and that their take on it is 100% correct. You've never heard a relgious person say they're wrong about their faith. EVER. In fact, the amount of mental gymnastics y'all do just to avoid the truth is astounding.
@@jazcash They’re not though because he’s still alive
@@pnut3844able Can you not be an asshole for one second & like not attack a religious person who, in this case, did nothing wrong to you? And you wonder why you atheists are seen as awful people because, in this case, you are.
@@Johnnyprc A true believer would. If they believed in heaven.
There is no use of being afraid of something that is inevitable, although there are certain ways I would not want to die.
But surely if you were going to die in agonising pain or about to suffer immense pain without necessarily dying for some reason and you knew that was inevitable, there would be no use being afraid of that either? But so what? You're still going to be afraid. The inevitability of death is highly relevant to whether one should be afraid of it. The other factor is your view on being dead itself. If death is a bad thing, its inevitability makes is more scary not less scary. Were it not inevitable, there would be less cause, not more cause, to be afraid.
It's illogical to not be afraid of non-existence. We are biologically, evolutionarily hard wired for it. You either are lying or there's something going on in your brain.
@@flat6crocI'm afraid of pain, not death. Those two are very different things, extremely different, they sometimes come together, but they are by no means equal. Death doesn't feel like anything, pain on the other hand is rather uncomfortable and annoying.
@@axelnova123 None of which has anything to do with inevitability.
Crucifixion?
When people talk of death, they more often than not talk about their own death. I always find it extremely confusing.
Own death is the least important part of the matter to me, I suppose.
I don't care much about my own death, but death of those whom I love is another thing entirely.
"Death can have me when it earns me" -Kratos
You've already PAID to have it, though: Romans six, verse 23.
@@BrotherTris/s
Look up Within Heaven's Gates by Rebecca Springer. Page 64 😇
@@JC-du6sn what does it say
“Don’t fear The Reaper!”
- Blue Oyster Cult
- Ted ‘Theodor’ Logan
- Bill S Preston, Esquire
I "experienced" death for many minutes when I suffered cardiac arrest. It was a dreamless sleep. Dying is an experience, death is not. I now know there is nothing to fear.
You mean there is everything to fear, because there is everything to lose.
@scaryperi3051 depends on what you have to lose. If all there is to lose is desires you will never fulfill then there might not be much of a reason to fear. Though if one is happy or hopeful then i can certainly see a loss.
@@scaryperi3051stop asserting your own beliefs as the only valid belief
@@greatguyboy Logical consistency is the only validity here.
@@spectrepar2458 It is definitely a loss no matter how you look at it.
One of mt favourite pieces of music called 'The Greatest Show on Earth', inspired by some of Dawkins' writings, contains a wonderful quote narrated by the man himself and summarises quite nicely the view I've taken ever since I lost my faith: "We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here.We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state from which the vast majority have never stirred?"
There were trillions of other combinations of people I could have been. I have too little time to worry about the end of things. I have to live for all of us
Wow---you're moving up to the next level. Amazing.
How come trillion? Can you plz explain?
excellent post
It was hard for me to reconciled that there is no afterlife, after being told all my life that when I die I will live again and meet my loved ones in heaven.
And the Bible Belt defend that literal belief with violence.
The idea of a afterlife made me terrified as a kid.
I would prefer to not exist
@@dd6742 Yeah the prospect of living for eternity is extremely terrifying. Imagine spending time with all of your loved ones, reading every book, watching every movie, mastered every hobby, and then you look at the clock and realize it’s only been 500 years. Imagine how you’d feel after 1,000 years. 100,000 years. 1 million years. After 1 million years you would have already done everything, probably millions of times, and you still have billions of years to go. That sounds like absolute torture.
@@TheJoyrunners Greenland sharks swim around aimlessly for hundreds of years. Do you think they'd give a shit whether they lived a million more? No, they just do what they do because they live in the present. Say a human lives to a trillion years, they've read every book, they've done every little stupid thing humans made up to feel important. You're still gonna enjoy a good shit, you're still going to want to have sex and you're never gonna stop feeling hungry. Your basic instincts will endure
It’s sad to let go of that belief.
But we can’t just accept claims with no evidence if we value the truth.
Exactly like Dawkins I’m not really afraid of death because I cannot imagine not being.. but I do not look to the process of dying..
That’s why I’m for my choice, when I get to old or to sick and have no quality of life, to decide when ..
“They shoot horses don’t they?” Google
I was sedated by the anesthetist and woke up as if no time had passed. If dying is like that I have no fear of "being" non-existence.
Right. We don't even realize when we go under. I don't recall being aware of when I fell asleep during any surgery.
Indeed, "if" is the key word. A lot to wager on an "if" don't you think? What if it's not?
You, and probably every atheist in the world have missed the utter irony in that statement.
Same
I think you are referring to the bit about waking up after general anaesthetic, and that being the irony, because atheists don't believe in life after death. But the O.P. was using the conscious awareness after anaesthetic to state there was no experience during general anaesthetic that was concerning, so if death is like having general anaesthetic, they are fine with that. I am assuming that you believe in life after death, because you focused on that, instead of the point of the comment.
But what do I know? I am obviously stupid like every other atheist in the world, because all atheist are the same, and we are ALL far less clever than you.
I have been on the brink of the abyss several times, including a flash flood that should have taken my life. And it's terrifying when you realize everything you have and everything you are is about to be taken from you in an instant--especially that basic awareness of yourself which will vanish.
how do you know it should have taken your life
You said "basic awareness of self" will vanish. You mean, no consciousness, no self. Right?
@@JuiceTubes because I was beyond fortunate to latch on to a tree just before being taken under a bridge overpass which would have torn me apart in the girders.
@@Perditions indeed
@@Infideles I met a chick who claimed not to fear death. She described what came after death as floating in a void. Ever since, I've been aware of the way people describe that. It creeps me out when people describe it in a way in which their consciousness persists. Some people actually seem to lack the imagination or ability to conceive of that end of consciousness. It's spookier than death.
As the Roman philosopher Lucretius said "life is a passage between two darknesses, the darkness before we enter the world and the darkness after we leave it, the darkness that follows our death causes me no more consternation than the darkness that came before".
A liar. You weren't aware of any before, but you are aware of what may or may not be coming after; therein lies the difference. Yet more mental gymnastics to avoid the reality that death is the only real fear--and for good reason.
@@scaryperi3051except nobody knows what may be after death, and we cannot define what may not be, at all
At least there is a preponderance of evidence that we would come again.
It happened to all of us!
Darkness is an object, which the atman (pure consciousness) is aware of. Consciousness is Sat, it can never NOT exist.
@@dayanidhi9391 your consciousness exists in your biological brain. It does not exist anywhere else. When your brain fails you no longer exist. My grandmother is alive with dementia. She is alive and her consciousness is gone. We are not living in our bodies, we are our bodies. We did not exist before we had a body and we do not exist after our body has died
When I was a Christian pastor I came to conclusion that people became Christians out of fear of death and thus wanted to find solace. Don’t fear death, then less need to be religious.
I think people who don't fear death can be dangerous. If they don't treat their own deaths as a big deal, they might logically be expected not to treat the deaths of _others_ as a big deal, either. And that way leads to the dismantling of the right to life.
@@omp199 Not fearing death does not mean one does not value life. Life is wonderful and miraculous, I just don’t fear death much.
@@omp199nah, thats only valid for people who do not love life
Thank God that this Judas no longer leads His people.
@@omp199 Religion and god-beliefs can be very dangerous. Irrational beliefs can lead to irrational actions.
I love how precise Mr. dawkins is with his words. He’s very nice to listen to
That’s one of the benefits of having a ginormous brain - my old fella was the same.
Prof Dawkins exposes his ignorance everytime he steps outside of his specialty subject of biology. He's not half so clever as he thinks he is, or for that matter are those who agree with him.@@123prestolee
It would be nice if the actual substance of his words were equally as pleasant.
My similar but shorter answer is that it is a delusion that there is someting to worry about in death because A: it is inevitable and B: as Dawkins said it would be the utter non conciousness of general anesthetic, so won't ever become aware that you’re getting sick of being dead, or any such imaginable negativity whatsoever. It will be the complete absence of any negativity in this state and that is something positive, sadly its an end to further enlightenment, pleasure and love, but it is fortunately also the end of all physical and emotional pain.
Great answer. I share much of the perspective you just uttered.
If you die and have not placed your trust in Christ, then your pain will have just begun. “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,”-Hebrews 9:27
@@ronbusby3335no he won't suffer pain. As the Bible tells us those who don't accept Christ suffer the second death, oblivion. The destruction of the soul. They will be as they were before they were born. Resurrection is the reward, the endless sleep is the punishment.
@@A_Stereotypical_Guy Well that is NOT what The Lord Jesus Himself says in Luke Ch 16 happens when a person dies WITHOUT having their sins forgiven. Now either He is right or you are right! Beware before you hastily answer and hear this well, ETERNITY is a LOOOONG time if you are wrong!
i am not relgious and i am not afraid of death i welcome it i am ready to go now
Is it because your parents named you Scott?
Ahhh, a little levity to lighten the mood. You okay there, buddy?
What an amazing interviewer Alex is.
Thank you for that wonderful video. It has a lot think over about.
There's a very liberating view of saying "I didn't exist for a billion years before my birth, so why should I care about a billion years after my death?" but the question of how to deal with that nihilism that inevitably stems from that is a tough one.
Marcus Aurelius?
I don't accept that nihilism inevitably follows from that. If anything it can be just the opposite. Bunch of other factors involved, and vary infinitely from person to person from experience to experience.
The way I see it, even if consciousness is nothing more than electricity, that energy has existed since the beginning of time, and will exist until the universe ends. So, in a way, you have lived billions of lives before, and you will live billions of lives later, you just won't know about it.
@@outermarker5801 Some weeks ago, Forrest Valkai surprised me by him saying that he is a nihilist.
But he does not mean "Nothing makes any sense", what he means with this term is "There is no prescribed "meaning of life", like "praising the Glory of the Lord in Heaven for all eternity" -
and that leaves you free to define your own PERSONAL meaning of life, one that interests you, that is important for you, that is fun for you, where you set your goals so that striving towards them gives you positive confirmation.
So his type of nihilism can give you drive, enthusiasm positivism as you can see progress.
And whether your goal is to make your garden the most wonderful in the world,
to make your love happy,
to find a vaccination against cancer,
solve the string theory,
develop an interstellar drive,
become president,
educate as many children as possible,
become the richest man in the world,
help people leave this world in peace and dignity -
a Valkaian nihilist can find his fulfilment in any of these activites.
(and a christian has to go into his church again and again, to be told God gave his life meaning, not what the meaning is. Like he is told now that by the Bible the Truth was revealed to him, that he now OWNS the Truth, and gets never told what the truth actually is, just that he owns it)
You already "die" multiple times in your own life. If you could have a conversation with your 5 year old self neither of you would barely recognise each other as the same person, but you are.
I'm not really afraid of death, I'm afraid of never having lived.
You may not fear death, but are you afraid of being crucified?
@@jacksonelmore6227 I'm not a Christian
@@user-jr5vy2bg5q it was a rhetorical, and also secular, question
@@jacksonelmore6227Crucifixion is no longer a common practice, as it was in the Bronze Age Middle East. Not being of that place and time, fearing crucifixion in our life context would be an irrational fear, or phobia.
@@jacksonelmore6227Also, crucifixion is obviously a method of dying. There is a distinct difference between a fear of dying, and a fear of death. The O.P. comment was about not fearing death, so your comment about fearing a very specific form of dying is not pertinent to the topic, and therefore doesn't hold up as a rhetorical question, but more a random question.
When I die, I won’t remember that moment as I’ll cease to exist, so no use in getting worked up over it. I suppose what I will be upset about, is missing out on seeing my family.
I'll forget so many great jokes and memes. 😔 I suppose, as a meager consultation, they will live on without me on the Internet.
@@Perditions Archiving of on-line content is a terribly hit-and-miss affair. So much has been lost. I think you should dedicate the rest of your life to coming up with an indestructible Internet archive.
The feelings I now have of "being at peace" evolved from understanding and accepting my personal mistakes, pains and sufferings experienced in my life. Without them, the quality of these feelings wouldn't be the same.
When I die, I'll return to the universe and that same universe will reorganize its' energy to bring a new life into this world. We're all just waves rising and falling in the same ocean. When that new someone is born, it's just me (and all of us) taking a new form. It doesn't matter that the information will arrange itself differently; your whole life is an ongoing rearrangement of the matter & energy within yourself. 5 year old me isn't the person typing this today.
Return to the universe? You act like you aren't in it already.
And when you say "the new life form that is born is ME" what are "you"? Stop using this energy cope 🤓
@@user-uw8di3hp9swow congrats w troll!1!1!rolf lmao lol hahah wtf you win the internet 😂😂
Give me some of that good drug your are using 😊
I don’t fear nonexistence because it’s an experience I will both experience and not experience because I won’t be aware of myself or anything after I’m dead, my biggest fear is that I won’t be reunited with someone I lost very tragically not from death but from distance and this person is so invested in the idea of our worlds coming together in the afterlife that it breaks my heart because for the longest time I wanted the same thing.
😢😢
أعرف شعورك جيداً
I am more afraid of regret than of death.
"If I am here, than death is not. If death is here...I am not. How should I fear that which cannot exist at the same time as me?"
Socrate have said more than two thousand years ago that dead could be of two possibilities one would be asleep without dreams and the other going to the Olympus.
Death is a risk we all take.
Alex, please do a clips channel so I don't have to get notifications for 10s of clips cut from interviews I've already seen.
This has become a growing annoyance for me, to the point that I'm beginning to question the value that this channel holds for me.
Just turn off notifications for the channel 🤯
@@baazkhinda3471why would we do that ? Then we’ll miss actual full length discussions.
@@baazkhinda3471 He wants people to have notifications on, all creators do and I like having them on for full new interviews. It would do no harm whatsoever to create a clips channel, all other creators do it. It solves problems and causes none.
@@illbet4589 You mean without notifications, it would not be possible for you to visit the channel at an interval of your own choosing?
This was a good talk. my Pagan hubby and I had a partial of this conversation last night.
My consolation is that while I die, humanity will go on. I was a cell in the organism of humanity, I've served my purpose - hopefully having been useful tissue and not a cancerous growth - now I go, content that the organism as a whole continues. Because unlike me, it has the potential to live forever.
From the look of him he has about 10 minutes left so glad he isn't afraid
Yes the reaper is looking over his shoulder, he had a stroke a few years ago , not long for the famous atheist , he is getting scared as he has to face his non belief shortly
@@warrennelson2925 What happens when you get to the gates of heaven and God asks why you did nothing about man-made climate change that threatened the lives of so many? What happens when he asks why you apposed electric vehicles when millions around the world were dying from heart disease, cancer, emphysema and Alzheimer's from air pollution. God may not be happy. Perhaps you are the one who needs to take more care.
@@douglascutler1037 I will be judged for my good / bad deeds and my belief/ non belief in God I suppose!
@@warrennelson2925 Do you believe Jesus was good? Why did Jesus merely heal the Roman slave and not set him free? It's in the New Testament. Maybe Jesus was just a man of the times and just 'went along' with slavery. Yet in the modern world slavery is considered immoral.
You were born, earn it, live a full life! What comes next, comes, all in time... Life also comes from death in the cricle of life!
Do I need to have pre-marital sex for living a full life right?
@@aqualemon6453 Isn't that a bonus?🤣
Earn it? We are already living
@@sandroman_04 Saving private Ryan reference.
The weird thing that puts me at ease when thinking of death is everyone is going to the same place as you so even if its nothingness you arent alone in some sense
I'm not afraid of being dead at all as I once wasn't alive but my mind does struggle to understand the concept of it's own non-existence.
I’m not afraid of death either. But I’m a little nervous about the pain that may occur just before that🤣
Not just "just before". It might be months and even years of terrible suffering.
@@jimj2683 True.
Oh yes ofc you are afraid of it.
Once you are almost going to face it you'll have a tremendous amount of fear for knowing whats going to happen after it, unless you are spiritually prepared for it.
@@rocksteady2198 🤣🤣🤣
Interesting timing for the video, this past 2 days i've been struggling with constant death anxiety. Even when im doing something it's there at the back of my mind. Truth is i don't think anything is going to make it go away, it might dissipate for a certain period of time but it will always be here. I just don't want to not exist. I don't think that's something that one can or should overcome.
Perhaps you have the option to avoid death? Are you familiar with the Easter story? You are a follower of Alex so I’m sure you are an atheist. But theism, namely Christianity is a very sturdy intellectual option. Maybe spend sometime this weekend learning about Easter from actual Christians, even if you think it’s dumb. Just give it a shot and see what happens, perhaps you’ll find something there. God bless!
@@bilbobaggins9893I've been raised and still live in an Orthodox Christian country, i grew up with the idea of a God and heaven all my life. I really don't buy it anymore, none of it makes sense. I really really wish it was true don't get me wrong but there's no chance of Christianity or any other religion being correct, based on the things we have discovered these past few centuries.
@@NoTerrorManagement Thank you for sharing. I relate to a lot of what you wrote. What has helped me a ton in recent years is meditation, mindfulness, and Buddhism.
You dont have to go all the way into Buddhism, but mindfulness as a practice helps an unbelievable amount. 90% of everything is mental, and mindfulness really makes one understand that. When you can learn to separate your consciousness from your thoughts, you can learn to be at ease. And when you are at ease, you can appreciate the moment you're living in... every moment.
@@NoTerrorManagement could you elaborate on that a bit more? What are the reasons that you think Christianity is false? Maybe just give me your two main concerns.
@santanoschsantosch3016 In what way do you think atheists are being dishonest? I've been atheist all my life. I don't know if it's coincidental, but I've never had any fear of death at all.
Seems like a permanent sleep to me, which is fine. A happier ending than the varieties of heaven and hell I've heard of.
He's in his 80's.. you can hear it in his voice.. it will be a sad world without him.
He's a miserable bastard. "I'm under no obligation to offer comfort." No one is! But we do because we're not miserable bastards, Richard!
At least Hitchens had a sense of humour ffs.
I've heard Dawkins say before that death is the antidote to the curse of living for eternity. I share his anxiety about the concept of a life that goes on and on with no end. It would be maddening.
I think a lifespan of 1,000 years would be nice. Our 80-year lifespan is just too brief. It's difficult to have a sense of being truly relaxed, truly content with our current place along the path. There's always a quiet hum of anxiety, an urgency to move on to the next thing, and the next thing, and the next, trying to get in everything we want out of life before the clock runs out.
A longer lifespan would allow us to be more at ease, and indulge in a greater depth and a wider variety of experiences. We could become fluent in many languages, travel to every country and explore every corner of the earth. We could master a wide variety of artforms, from painting and drawing to sculpting and pottery. Become experts in countless instruments. Read so many more novels, see so many more films. Develop a greater understanding and appreciation of science, math, and philosophy.
Imagine developing many more relationships, and reconnecting with these people again and again as the centuries rolled along.
A longer lifespan would dramatically change the way we think about our relationship to each moment of each day, and I think there would be more of a felt sense that by the time we reached the end of our lives, our curiosities and appetites will have been satisfied.
No one is afraid until it’s that time to actually go.
Au contraire. Plenty of people are afraid long before that time!
Exactly. Those who act all stoic either don't think about enough or think that they're going to live forever.
....not true, where do you get that idea from ? The greatest fear of human beings is fear of death, the imagination can be a torturous thing for many.
this quote I posted means you can act fearless but when you’re actually in a situation where the odds aren’t looking so favorable, that fearlessness goes out the window 🪟 real quick.
@@NoTerrorManagement
That is a huge assumption and actually easy to disprove. Suicides. While this can be attributed to mental disorders, those with mental disorders are still people.
Everybody says that until they're on their death bed
I am more optimistic than Dawkins about the possibility of living many lives. As Voltaire said: "It is not more surprising to be born twice than once; everything in nature is resurrection."
The analogy I tend to use when considering life and death is a bubble of existence which applies to every living thing it forms open conception and bursts upon death no before or after for that individual but trillions of bubbles are being formed and bursting every second and life carries on
I'm not afraid of being dead, but I'm afraid of dying. There's a difference. Also, I think it's more commendable for those who fear death without the safety net of belief in an afterlife. Anticipating eternal nothingness is terrifying
No, it’s not, didn’t you listen to prof. Dawkins?
It's very commendable for the ones who face reality about no afterlife. It's much braver than holding onto a safety net and forcing yourself to believe in an afterlife.
@@augusthome9860just because it's not terrifying for the great Mr. Dawkins or other people doesn't mean that it's not terrifying for others. No matter what Mr. Dawkins says, which I do appreciate his help in trying to reconcile the sad truth.
"more commendable" without the safety net of an afterlife.
My dad had a stroke three weeks ago. He's pooping himself daily I expect. This allows me to be slightly more keenly aware of the innate dignity of human life. I'm reverent of it passively, even when I'm calling someone an idiot online. But, in the face of mortality, and the eternal void, whether someone fears death with an afterlife, or without, seems a distinction without a substantive difference, while their butts are pooping their diapers. Moralizing starts to look absurd. There better be dignity in human life while popping yourself, or dignity may be a really hollow concept in reality. Or just a relative thing. That could make sense.
I'm not as brave as Dawkins. Not fearing death always seemed like such a disingenuous, or a genuinely foolish flex. So, I Guess I wouldn't find bravery commendable any way you shake it. 🤷♂️ I dunno. I don't have a point really; In this context or in general 😁
@@Perditions There's nothing more dignified than a man who can maintain his pride whilst filling his underwear with faeces.
Death is nothing to us; for that which is dissolved, is without sensation, and that which lacks sensation is nothing to us. - Epicurus
I refuse to be afraid of death because that would mean I can not die on my own terms. Lots of people have advanced directives. If there is no reincarnation, like energy can not be destroyed, that’s a weird waste of soul growth. One go with life seems very unfair.
I don't believe in any religion but I'll admit that the thought of not being conscious forever is just as scary as death. Quite hard to imagine in fact.
If eternity exists then you have the eternal possibility of returning to exactly how you are right now.
Eternal recurrence is a terrifying concept in its own right
@@quitmarck Both terrifying and thrilling at the same time.
But I ask myself is infinity required to repeat itself exactly. Could infinity as infinite variation? Perhaps we may return to endless analogues of this moment.
I'm scientific-minded, so I don't believe in a soul per se or heaven etc. That said, I do think that since we do not yet understand the mystery of consciousness, it is possible for there to be more in a sense (e.g. our lives looping in an endless subjective time loop). That said, since I don't know, it's best to enjoy life as best as possible. When things aren't going well despite your best efforts, that's when it really sucks. But I stay hopeful still. I also don't know if we'll figure out the meaning of consciousness even this century but only time will really tell.
...interesting comment. It's as if you are grappling with many ideas whilst having touched on various truths. What I would suggest is that it's irrelevant what we know and what we can learn and understand about consciousness as it is all on the 'level of the mind'. Try as it may, the human mind quite simply cannot go there. It's not until we go beyond the mind, let go of 'knowledge', even beyond experience and realise that we are what we might be searching for.
Faith, belief in God or not believeing in God are all cop-outs, they are the easy way to go about it. Just a thought.
Woody Allen: I'm not afraid of dying; I just don't want to be there when it happens.
Woody Allen also about death: it's just so final 😂
im a gamer...im afraid of the respawn
Just the spawn campers.
Most people believe they are not afraid of death until they are actually dying.
As we cross that dark river our bravado and self assurance will be stripped away. Just the truth remains. In our human condition we normally live in a kind of dissociative disorder. Time will tell who has made the better choices. 😉
Nonsense. It's irrational to fear death. But as Dawkins says, the dying part is the issue. It can somewhat be compared to a medical operation. Nobody looks forward to the operation itself, but what comes after.
By chance, I just heard a program about this on radio. According to the doctors on the program, people tend to be very calm and content when it's time to die. The ones with family and friends are calmer. They have people who have "gone before them."
Your argument sounds like a variation on no atheists in a foxhole.
I'm not afraid of the process of dying but I find it hard to grapple with not seeing/reuniting with loved ones that are already gone. Or that will go in my lifetime. I dread losing people I love for that reason because I truly believe I'll never see them again.
Dying itself doesn't scare me as much as loss. I had a near death experience when I was hospitalized as a child for two months. I remember reaching a point where I was in a lot of pain and nothing was helping. I was only nine but I thought, I want to go now, I'm just so tired. I didn't feel scared and it felt more like a process. I think a lot of people reach that point where its exhausting and therefore not terrifying but more like letting go. My sister almost died after giving birth and she said similar. She said her body felt overwhelmed by calm and that she knew she was going but that it was easy for her to accept.
The solution to the fear of death is daily death meditation and contemplation, the way the old greek and roman philosophers did, a tradition that goes back to Socrates. It is psychological training to face what is inevitable
I think on your death bed aged 200,youd be begging for another 200.
You'd be begging for another day.
No, I think not. My grandmother recently died at 90 and she seemed very much ready to go.
@@john.premose Some people lose the will to live, but it is not to be recommended. There is so much potential in the world: so much that can, in principle, be done, and yet not enough time to do much of it.
Exactly John. The persons you reply to are probably young, most older people have not this anxiety. @@john.premose
I think we always would be wanting more time, eternity is not something that the human mind can comprehend whether it’s an afterlife or nothingness I don’t think we can grasp the full meaning behind the idea, I think that in some aspects the Christian version of an afterlife is the same as nothingness because you can’t be your conscious or sentient self in heaven because you would be compelled to “sin” and that can’t exist in heaven according to Christians, so you aren’t even your own person in heaven either you’re just an automaton.
I'm not afraid of death. I'm concerned about the moments I may experience just before my death. Will it be painful? Will I be scared? Will I be alone or surrounded by friends? I've been told there's an afterlife but when I research and investigate the idea, I see no sufficient evidence supporting this presumption. I don't recall life before birth, so I don't anticipate a life after death. I had a coma last year and woke up in a hospital pleasantly surprised that I wasn't dead. Since then I've had a long dark stare into the abyss and smiled at it. My life as I knew it before is gone. Every day I have now is bonus time. I think I'm okay with that.
Thatsca stupid statement " I don't recall life before brth ! " you have no memory of when you were a baby or an infant for years when you were alive!
“Life is short. Drive fast and leave a sexy corpse” - Stanley Hudson
and do crosswords looking bored during staff meetings
If Mr Dawkins does not repent of all the evil he has committed and beg The Lord Jesus to forgive him, then YES he should ABSOLUTELY by all means be VERY afraid to die. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” -Hebrews 10:31
I did not exist before I became an atom.
Death is like being born, but in reverse.
@alexj9111 mum's not gonna be happy
I find it interesting that when life ever gets really bad my brain will start to rationalize the s word and going out before my time, and death starts to become very appealing in comparison to day-to-day life, which tells me that whatever's waiting on the other side is better then here.
His intelligence has been stolen by Maya. He hasn't worked out that what he is in truth is eternal, and it cannot die.
Here is another bit of advice regarding afterlife: grow up.
I was a convinced atheist for many decades, and there's one thing I'm quite convinced doesn't work in influencing believers: Arrogant condescension.
@@InfidelesFair enough. Some atheists do get into that nasty habit. But I also see where OP is coming from; there is no direct evidence of an afterlife.
Your very reaction seems to indicate to me that you haven't followed your own advice much.
@@mr.goldenproductions_0143 having seen myriads of interactions between atheists and believers, I was making a simple observation.
Yes, I'm the bad one who calls out absurdities and atrocities performed by adults.
Stop being so soft and pliant.
Consciousness continues outside the brain. This evidence comes from documented and well researched events. For example some people have seen people during their near death experience, that they hadn't even known had died at that time. People born blind can see during their near death experience. People can also accurately see and hear real events occurring outside the room to where their body is. So death is just the continuity of consciousness
Near death experiences say nothing about death.
@@stefanheinzmann7319 ok then
I saw Maria bathing nude down by the river! Right there and then I died and went to heaven 😊
Hebrews 9:27-28
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
I think the mechanism of mind is more complex in its operations than is allowed for here. We sometimes like to imagine ourselves as that component of conscious thought which is rational, but that's only part of us, we are composite in nature. Whilst we might be able to phlegmatically regard our death, our non being, in a phlegmatic sort of way our subconscious might not be so complacent - there are good evolutionary reasons why a fear of death may be deeply embedded in us.
hello???
Is it me your looking for?
@@sovietonion1917I can see it in your eyes. I can see it in your smile.
Tell me how to win your heart,
For I haven't got a clue,
But let me start by saying, I love you
@@sovietonion1917 yes
hi :)
the irony of an evolutionary biologist claiming hes not afraid of death is hilariously stupid.
I think you may be confusing fear of death with fear of dying. Those are not synonyms.
What?
I don't think the analogy to general anesthesia is a comforting one, though that seems to be the way he intends it. Of course, the big difference with general anesthesia, and sort of the worrisome point concerning death, is that with general anesthesia, you're supposed to come out of it at some point, a return to self. That's a key and salient aspect missing from death.
Watching these recent interviews... man he's getting old. I'm that used to seeing him in videos from 10-15 years or so back.
Fear of death is a survival mechanism
Death can't be that bad. - I have never heard anyone come back and complain about it.
We have an instinct which keeps us alive, without that instinct life would be impossible. How hard is that to understand? You could also say that we are dead persons on vacation, this vacation will soon be over and you will go back to your usual status.
Once you have realized that you do not have any anxiety regarding death. Its just like falling asleep.
“Are you afraid of Death?” Yoda Voice: “You will be; You will be”.
“Enjoy your life while you’ve got it” ❤️
When the flickering flame of consciousness is about to extinguish itself, in those moments if you still have some sensation left in you, you ARE afraid. If you're sedated, like mr Dawkins wants to be, then you are not.
I am not religious but the yearning for eternity is there. Why should it be "a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing?"
In the core teaching of many Dharmic religions such as Buddhism, eternal "existence" in terms of repeated birth and death or rebirth is something full of suffering and to be stopped and transcended.
I am the only person in history who actually KNOWS what happens after you die: You get to sit in a recliner with a remote in your hand and you can review your life and at any moment you can hit a button on the remote and change any decision you made into a different decision and see where it goes.
Always look on the bright side of life
I think most people are not scared of the "state" of death but rather the path (ie a horrible disease or painful condition) in arriving there.
I think he should be scared death is unlike anything you ve seen before, cus anything beyond the materialistic will be eternal
Why would you fear death if you’re not attached to anything? Death is unconditional love
What is it to be truly alive? Biological functioning? Sentience? Purpose? Whose? Not dead?
I was dead for almost two millennia. Passed like I was under sedation for appendectomy. No recollection of past family, friends, enemies. If there’s additional info I can lay my hand on in future I’ll share it.
I once overheard a conversation between two people. The first person asked, "Do you believe in a life after this one?" The second person replied, "Well. I got THIS one."
Today's Meditation
“Once, while I was wondering why Our Lord so dearly loves the virtue of humility, the thought suddenly struck me, without previous reflection, that it is because God is the supreme Truth and humility is the truth, for it is the most true that we have nothing good of ourselves but only misery and nothingness: whoever ignores this, lives a life of falsehood. they that realize this fact most deeply are the most pleasing to God, the supreme Truth, for they walk in the truth.”
-St. Teresa of Avila, p. 175-176
Hey Alex, When will you do an episode on Emanuel Swedenborg?
When you die the concept of time or feelings doesn't exist. There is no you or anything. When you diez probably trillions of years will have passed or the Earth wouldn't be there anymore. So nothing really matters after you die.
Good luck and keep fueling your ego in the world people.
The philosophy of belief is always being approached the wrong way.
I feel like a monster in human form trying to be human; imitating human behaviour but never being human.
To die, i am already dead… i am the living dead.
Should call him Richard Darkens: he darkens souls
What is a soul?
@@Jonas-gl9ke It's the part of you that asked that question.
@@ryananon779 Be more specific. Give me a definition of a “soul”. You can do it.
@@Jonas-gl9ke If you insist. It's the amalgamation of various parts of your brain which make you the person that you are. Your conscious awareness 'feels' this amalgamation and perceives it to be real, because for all intents and purposes, it _is real._ You can call it whatever you like in your efforts to be a smug twat on the internet, but the rest of us call it a soul.
You see how you didn't like me suggesting you're a smug twat? That's your soul speaking. And yes, before you ask, it disappears when your brain dies.
Anything else you need me to clear up for you? 🥰
@@ryananon779 1. Every property you mention is a property of the brain. What properties does the “soul” have that the brain does not?
2. “The rest of us call it a soul”. No, they do not. The scientific community does not recognize a “soul” as you have described. You are confused.
3. If you think I am being a smug twat, you are clearly projecting! Lol. 🥰
I must admit it scares me. Although it is inevitable it does concern me. It's the thought of eternal oblivion.
Now that I approach life with the logic of a skeptic I can no longer logically reason that there is an Easter Bunny yet life is still something to look forward to. This same skeptical nature dictates that for me that I reason that death is no more than nothing. One positive side though, is that in the midst of experiencing nothing I will not be yearning for eternity.
At 4 years old, i realized that once you're dead, it's forever and that for billions of years, we are here less than 100 😢
Yep.
Dawkins comment about finding comfort in, or liking of a statement, does not mean that it is true, is very important. We can all subject our thoughts to that test, every day. It is a very powerful technique of psychotherapy.
"I am not afraid of death" - Every man who is afraid of death
Yes, Dawkins, because of human experience, eternity seems like hell to many, even when life is embraced. What if you have endless choices in eternity but not as your personality or limitations now? How can you be sure you don’t IF indeed eternity is real? Would that change your mind at all?
It's not about living forever. it's about becoming another type of being, which just happens to live forever. those beings do not reside here. Here is inside there.
And why should you care about that another being? It is not you anymore. Just someone with the copy of your memory at best.
@@dmitriy9053 absolutely correct - but the join is seemless. The individuals just thinks they have become Enlightened. They experience ego death, and assume what's in its place is theirs.
Just remember what it was like before you were born.
billions of humans and animals all over the world have come and gone before me, and so too shall i join the vast masses that once were, where ever they shall be or not. make the most of your life, fight the good fight and then too what or where who knows.