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?

@archbishoprichardforceginn9338

Ай бұрын

Well, as long as Mark said that 🤡🤣

@omp199

Ай бұрын

Let's hope he was just making a joke.

@RoninTF2011

Ай бұрын

@@omp199nah, he was rather on point

@Richard_Nickerson

Ай бұрын

​@@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.

@Richard_Nickerson

Ай бұрын

​@@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

@nicolab2075

Ай бұрын

What is that?!?

@WhoThisMonkey

Ай бұрын

Valhalla sounds pretty terrifying and would get boring very quickly, D tier.

@SamoaVsEverybody814

Ай бұрын

KZreadr Duncan Clarke has a dope afterlife tier list vid

@skinnflint

Ай бұрын

Don't say tier list

@threestars2164

Ай бұрын

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!

@jazcash

Ай бұрын

I'm afraid of having to listen to religious people celebrating his death

@Johnnyprc

Ай бұрын

@@jazcash A true believer wouldn't celebrate his death. I believe in God and I like listening to Dawkin's position - flawed as it may be.

@pnut3844able

Ай бұрын

​@@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.

@janoycresva276

Ай бұрын

@@jazcash They’re not though because he’s still alive

@janoycresva276

Ай бұрын

@@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.

There is no use of being afraid of something that is inevitable, although there are certain ways I would not want to die.

@lairdinho

Ай бұрын

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.

@NoTerrorManagement

Ай бұрын

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.

@axelnova123

Ай бұрын

​@@lairdinhoI'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.

@lairdinho

Ай бұрын

@@axelnova123 None of which has anything to do with inevitability.

@jacksonelmore6227

Ай бұрын

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.

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

@eladsinger9215

Ай бұрын

Wow---you're moving up to the next level. Amazing.

@unknown9288

Ай бұрын

How come trillion? Can you plz explain?

@dcSENTIENT

16 күн бұрын

excellent post

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 ..

@larryfairbanks1734

Ай бұрын

“They shoot horses don’t they?” Google

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.

@jonharrison9222

Ай бұрын

And the Bible Belt defend that literal belief with violence.

@dd6742

Ай бұрын

The idea of a afterlife made me terrified as a kid. I would prefer to not exist

@TheJoyrunners

Ай бұрын

@@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.

@nutmeg0144

Ай бұрын

@@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

@2l84me8

Ай бұрын

It’s sad to let go of that belief. But we can’t just accept claims with no evidence if we value the truth.

"Death can have me when it earns me" -Kratos

@BrotherTris

Ай бұрын

You've already PAID to have it, though: Romans six, verse 23.

@Sweeti924

Ай бұрын

@@BrotherTris/s

@JC-du6sn

Ай бұрын

Look up Within Heaven's Gates by Rebecca Springer. Page 64 😇

@Zackarius

Ай бұрын

@@JC-du6sn what does it say

@JoeBuck-uc3bl

Ай бұрын

“Don’t fear The Reaper!” - Blue Oyster Cult - Ted ‘Theodor’ Logan - Bill S Preston, Esquire

I love how precise Mr. dawkins is with his words. He’s very nice to listen to

@123prestolee

Ай бұрын

That’s one of the benefits of having a ginormous brain - my old fella was the same.

@user-vd8uq8mx9r

Ай бұрын

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

@ryanashfyre464

Ай бұрын

It would be nice if the actual substance of his words were equally as pleasant.

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.

@scaryperi3051

Ай бұрын

You mean there is everything to fear, because there is everything to lose.

@spectrepar2458

Ай бұрын

​@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.

@greatguyboy

Ай бұрын

@@scaryperi3051stop asserting your own beliefs as the only valid belief

@scaryperi3051

Ай бұрын

@@greatguyboy Logical consistency is the only validity here.

@scaryperi3051

Ай бұрын

@@spectrepar2458 It is definitely a loss no matter how you look at it.

What an amazing interviewer Alex is.

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.

@_S0me__0ne

Ай бұрын

Right. We don't even realize when we go under. I don't recall being aware of when I fell asleep during any surgery.

@stu4umybru777

Ай бұрын

Indeed, "if" is the key word. A lot to wager on an "if" don't you think? What if it's not?

@tinknal6449

Ай бұрын

You, and probably every atheist in the world have missed the utter irony in that statement.

@sapaducy1

Ай бұрын

Same

@daniellamcgee4251

Ай бұрын

​​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.

@JuiceTubes

Ай бұрын

how do you know it should have taken your life

@Perditions

Ай бұрын

You said "basic awareness of self" will vanish. You mean, no consciousness, no self. Right?

@Infideles

Ай бұрын

@@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.

@Infideles

Ай бұрын

@@Perditions indeed

@Perditions

Ай бұрын

@@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.

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.

@mr.goldenproductions_0143

Ай бұрын

Great answer. I share much of the perspective you just uttered.

@ronbusby3335

Ай бұрын

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

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.

@omp199

Ай бұрын

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.

@danstewart9362

Ай бұрын

@@omp199 Not fearing death does not mean one does not value life. Life is wonderful and miraculous, I just don’t fear death much.

@RoninTF2011

Ай бұрын

@@omp199nah, thats only valid for people who do not love life

@BrotherTris

Ай бұрын

Thank God that this Judas no longer leads His people.

@ga6589

Ай бұрын

@@omp199 Religion and god-beliefs can be very dangerous. Irrational beliefs can lead to irrational actions.

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.

@MartinVeneroso

Ай бұрын

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.

@baazkhinda3471

Ай бұрын

Just turn off notifications for the channel 🤯

@illbet4589

Ай бұрын

@@baazkhinda3471why would we do that ? Then we’ll miss actual full length discussions.

@damarcuscolfer1485

Ай бұрын

@@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.

@lairdinho

Ай бұрын

@@illbet4589 You mean without notifications, it would not be possible for you to visit the channel at an interval of your own choosing?

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".

@scaryperi3051

Ай бұрын

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.

@ansmerek

Ай бұрын

​@@scaryperi3051except nobody knows what may be after death, and we cannot define what may not be, at all

@ananda_miaoyin

Ай бұрын

At least there is a preponderance of evidence that we would come again. It happened to all of us!

@dayanidhi9391

Ай бұрын

Darkness is an object, which the atman (pure consciousness) is aware of. Consciousness is Sat, it can never NOT exist.

@ansmerek

Ай бұрын

@@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

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.

This was a good talk. my Pagan hubby and I had a partial of this conversation last night.

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.

@Imnot-fj1yx

Ай бұрын

😢😢 أعرف شعورك جيداً

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.

@wmpx34

Ай бұрын

Marcus Aurelius?

@outermarker5801

Ай бұрын

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.

@johnpaulsylvester3727

Ай бұрын

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.

@feedingravens

Ай бұрын

@@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)

@OhManTFE

Ай бұрын

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.

Thank you for that wonderful video. It has a lot think over about.

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.

@Perditions

Ай бұрын

I'll forget so many great jokes and memes. 😔 I suppose, as a meager consultation, they will live on without me on the Internet.

@omp199

Ай бұрын

@@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.

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.

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

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.

@user-uw8di3hp9s

Ай бұрын

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 🤓

@greatguyboy

Ай бұрын

@@user-uw8di3hp9swow congrats w troll!1!1!rolf lmao lol hahah wtf you win the internet 😂😂

@johnpanagiotopoulos8539

Ай бұрын

Give me some of that good drug your are using 😊

I'm not really afraid of death, I'm afraid of never having lived.

@jacksonelmore6227

Ай бұрын

You may not fear death, but are you afraid of being crucified?

@user-jr5vy2bg5q

Ай бұрын

@@jacksonelmore6227 I'm not a Christian

@jacksonelmore6227

Ай бұрын

@@user-jr5vy2bg5q it was a rhetorical, and also secular, question

@daniellamcgee4251

Ай бұрын

​@@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.

@daniellamcgee4251

Ай бұрын

​​@@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.

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.

@bilbobaggins9893

Ай бұрын

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!

@NoTerrorManagement

Ай бұрын

​@@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.

@alibabaschultz352

Ай бұрын

@@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.

@bilbobaggins9893

Ай бұрын

@@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.

@nicolab2075

Ай бұрын

​@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.

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.

He's in his 80's.. you can hear it in his voice.. it will be a sad world without him.

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!

@aqualemon6453

Ай бұрын

Do I need to have pre-marital sex for living a full life right?

@konsul2006

Ай бұрын

@@aqualemon6453 Isn't that a bonus?🤣

@sandroman_04

23 күн бұрын

Earn it? We are already living

@konsul2006

23 күн бұрын

@@sandroman_04 Saving private Ryan reference.

Death is a risk we all take.

"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?"

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.

I am more afraid of regret than of death.

I’m not afraid of death either. But I’m a little nervous about the pain that may occur just before that🤣

@jimj2683

Ай бұрын

Not just "just before". It might be months and even years of terrible suffering.

@RaggedyHobo

Ай бұрын

@@jimj2683 True.

@rocksteady2198

Ай бұрын

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.

@RaggedyHobo

Ай бұрын

@@rocksteady2198 🤣🤣🤣

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.

From the look of him he has about 10 minutes left so glad he isn't afraid

@warrennelson2925

Ай бұрын

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

@douglascutler1037

Ай бұрын

@@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.

@warrennelson2925

Ай бұрын

@@douglascutler1037 I will be judged for my good / bad deeds and my belief/ non belief in God I suppose!

@douglascutler1037

Ай бұрын

@@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.

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

@augusthome9860

Ай бұрын

No, it’s not, didn’t you listen to prof. Dawkins?

@Jerseyboondocks

Ай бұрын

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.

@Jerseyboondocks

Ай бұрын

​@@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.

@Perditions

Ай бұрын

"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 😁

@omp199

Ай бұрын

@@Perditions There's nothing more dignified than a man who can maintain his pride whilst filling his underwear with faeces.

Just want to know.. is it painful? If it's in a hospital, do they give you something to take away the pain?

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.

Most people believe they are not afraid of death until they are actually dying.

@douggief1367

Ай бұрын

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. 😉

@grisflyt

Ай бұрын

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.

Everybody says that until they're on their death bed

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.

i am not relgious and i am not afraid of death i welcome it i am ready to go now

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.

@cspace1234nz

Ай бұрын

...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.

If eternity exists then you have the eternal possibility of returning to exactly how you are right now.

@quitmarck

Ай бұрын

Eternal recurrence is a terrifying concept in its own right

@douglascutler1037

Ай бұрын

@@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 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.

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.

No one is afraid until it’s that time to actually go.

@lairdinho

Ай бұрын

Au contraire. Plenty of people are afraid long before that time!

@NoTerrorManagement

Ай бұрын

Exactly. Those who act all stoic either don't think about enough or think that they're going to live forever.

@cspace1234nz

Ай бұрын

....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.

@illbet4589

Ай бұрын

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.

@brianharper1611

Ай бұрын

@@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.

I think on your death bed aged 200,youd be begging for another 200.

@garibaldi54

Ай бұрын

You'd be begging for another day.

@john.premose

Ай бұрын

No, I think not. My grandmother recently died at 90 and she seemed very much ready to go.

@omp199

Ай бұрын

@@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.

@user-wl3ns4no6e

Ай бұрын

Exactly John. The persons you reply to are probably young, most older people have not this anxiety. @@john.premose

@heavymetalzombiepilot4049

Ай бұрын

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 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."

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.

Death is nothing to us; for that which is dissolved, is without sensation, and that which lacks sensation is nothing to us. - Epicurus

I did not exist before I became an atom.

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.

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'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.

@warrennelson2925

Ай бұрын

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!

When people say they don't want to live for eternity, I ask them to imagine a day (without sickness or problems) saying they want to die right then. Won't happen.

@cloudhigh6582

Ай бұрын

That's one day feeling good. Imagine watching your favourite movie every day forever.

@alibabaschultz352

Ай бұрын

Thats not a great answer, because its more complex than that. Imagine 24 hours without access to your phone or the internet. Most people would hate that. And yet we know for a fact, most people would be happier and healthier without constant access to the internet. Its almost like being alive is an addiction.

@dannyslag

Ай бұрын

That's because they haven't lived for eternity yet.

@outermarker5801

Ай бұрын

Neither will a day when there is no sickness or problems.

@nicolab2075

Ай бұрын

Not sure about that. I think a lot of meaning and purpose in life would vanish if it became eternal.

“Enjoy your life while you’ve got it” ❤️

Should call him Richard Darkens: he darkens souls

@Jonas-gl9ke

20 күн бұрын

What is a soul?

im a gamer...im afraid of the respawn

@Perditions

Ай бұрын

Just the spawn campers.

Death is like being born, but in reverse.

@steveenglish9363

Ай бұрын

@alexj9111 mum's not gonna be happy

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.

“Life is short. Drive fast and leave a sexy corpse” - Stanley Hudson

@pauls7803

Ай бұрын

and do crosswords looking bored during staff meetings

Here is another bit of advice regarding afterlife: grow up.

@Infideles

Ай бұрын

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.

@bidenator9760

Ай бұрын

@@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.

@mr.goldenproductions_0143

Ай бұрын

Your very reaction seems to indicate to me that you haven't followed your own advice much.

@Infideles

Ай бұрын

@@mr.goldenproductions_0143 having seen myriads of interactions between atheists and believers, I was making a simple observation.

@naiyang888

Ай бұрын

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

@stefanheinzmann7319

Ай бұрын

Near death experiences say nothing about death.

@elliottfireice4394

Ай бұрын

@@stefanheinzmann7319 ok then

@johnpanagiotopoulos8539

Ай бұрын

I saw Maria bathing nude down by the river! Right there and then I died and went to heaven 😊

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?"

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.

hello???

@sovietonion1917

Ай бұрын

Is it me your looking for?

@BrysonConnor-tb3wp

Ай бұрын

@@sovietonion1917I can see it in your eyes. I can see it in your smile.

@paulojorge3704

Ай бұрын

Tell me how to win your heart, For I haven't got a clue, But let me start by saying, I love you

@alexcollins4

Ай бұрын

@@sovietonion1917 yes

@TastelessTrees

Ай бұрын

hi :)

the irony of an evolutionary biologist claiming hes not afraid of death is hilariously stupid.

@Griexxt

Ай бұрын

I think you may be confusing fear of death with fear of dying. Those are not synonyms.

@user-fu5tg7vi2z

Ай бұрын

What?

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

His intelligence has been stolen by Maya. He hasn't worked out that what he is in truth is eternal, and it cannot die.

Woody Allen: I'm not afraid of dying; I just don't want to be there when it happens.

@thomaswillans4085

Ай бұрын

Woody Allen also about death: it's just so final 😂

Why is it humans invent elaborate after- lives through religion for themselves, but the majority don't create them for every other living creature? If humans, in their imaginations are consigned to living forever, why not all living creatures?

Always look on the bright side of life

Hey Alex, When will you do an episode on Emanuel Swedenborg?

i have a fear of death and i have death anxiety is their any other way to deal with it without believing in a god ?

I must admit it scares me. Although it is inevitable it does concern me. It's the thought of eternal oblivion.

Death can't be that bad. - I have never heard anyone come back and complain about it.

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'd say I'm an agnostic-theist, I think there's something higher but so far most claims seem to be off so I don't plant my flag in any theist camp yet. I don't believe in a "creator" because I'm afraid of death, the manner in which I go maybe I'm afraidn of but I think that's rational. It's more the mechanics of the universe that makes me think there must be something. I don't really care all that much for what comes after either.

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.

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.

You're not alone Alex, I'm terrified of death. I've somewhat been able to conceptualize the concept of non-existence and it's horrific.

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?

“Are you afraid of Death?” Yoda Voice: “You will be; You will be”.

Fear of death is a survival mechanism

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.

What is it to be truly alive? Biological functioning? Sentience? Purpose? Whose? Not dead?

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.

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.

In my opinion, we don’t really know what happens after we die. There are phenomena happening, currently not explainable by science. Who knows? However, this can’t be used for evidence of religious heaven or hell.

I grew up religious and I think a lot of folks see an afterlife as the end of the road, what happens next never really comes up. You get the messaging that the afterlife will be perfect and you'll spend it with friends and family or whatever, but what's the fun in that after a hundred, a thousand, hundreds of thousands of years? Are people really ready to spend a billion billion years doing whatever they imagine the afterlife is like? The same goes for living forever too. At some point you will have done everything you ever wanted to do a dozen times over and then what?

Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, so you cannot escape infinity Mr. Dawkins.

@ga6589

Ай бұрын

Energy can be transferred from one form to another. The chemical potential energy stored in the dead body eventually will be decomposed by bacterial activity, thus recycling energy into the environment as heat and other chemical potential forms of energy. This does not mean that Dawkins will be aware of or experience anything after he dies.

With all due reverence, it seems inconceivable that anyone - save for rare exceptions - would contest the desire for eternal existence. While admittedly daunting from certain vantage points, the notion of transcending mortality holds an undeniable allure. I, for one, harbor an earnest yearning for perpetual life, despite my stance as an agnostic atheist. Among the myriad unsettling prospects, the idea of my absence when the cosmos reveals its scientific enigmas ranks among the most disheartening. I would love to hear your thoughts about it too :)

The process of dying is terrifying but why should the state of being dead be any different from not being born? What's to fear in that?