I am scared to sleep. Are you?

Question

Every time I lay down to sleep, I wonder if I will wake up. It feels like death to me. I don't have any mental problems, but it is odd falling asleep and then waking up. Just like when you faint... are you dead? Who knows.

Is death just like sleep? Is the only difference to me is knowing you were just sleeping when you arise in the morning? Until that moment, is it not like death? Why are people so scared of death but not of sleep... they seem so similar to me.

Answer 1

No

Death and sleep are not anyway similar, look you can turn off your computer to cool it down but you can always start it later as long as its in good condition, its kinda similar with us too, our brain and body needs rest so we sleep...

Answer 2

you should watch waking life.  it's a great film that somewhat answers the question.

oh and, one thing i'll always remember from the movie is the thought that the entire purpose of life is just building up to the acceptance of death and ultimately becoming one with the universe.  so i mean, i don't think death's something you should fear.  we spend our whole lives just hoping to prolong it, always denying it whenever we can.  but when it comes, it'll come, and just enjoy a great life until then.

Answer 3

This is one of the more interesting paradoxes of personal identity theory. The most satisfying candidate for such a theory is Derek Parfit's continuity of consciousness theory from Reasons and Persons (1984). Parfit uses a variety of thought experiments (most famously the dividing amoeba) to demolish the notions of personal identity through physical identity or psychological identity (identity of character). Instead, he shows, what we care about is the continuity of our conscious awareness of the world.

Your question, then, can be effectively reduced to whether sleep constitutes an interruption in consciousness. This has troubled me, as well, for some time. However, I have tentatively concluded that it is *not* the case. Consider that, during sleep, our brainwaves continue to be quite active, albeit in a different qualitative form than when we are awake. However, we dream, and there is a constant level of substantial activity throughout our sleep (that helps build memories, for example). Thus, it seems to me, while it may be on the border of loss of consciousness, sleep is ultimately not equivalent to death, since we retain some degree of awareness and function throughout.

What is a far more interesting question, though, is whether being under general anesthesia constitutes death. After all, there is an unquestionable cessation of conscious activity (of almost all activity, I believe). If this is the case, then we ought to never submit to surgery requiring general anesthesia, even if it is required to 'save' our life.

Answer 4

I'm not scared to sleep at all because I'm most excited about the dreams I may have and the thought that I may fly out of my body and away to my paradise and never return to earth.  Mostly because I think my journey through the universe would be most interesting.

Answer 5

There's no brain activity when your dead so no it's wouldn't be like sleeping at all.  Even in sleep your body is somewhat conscious of the outside world, you can wake up if there's a loud noise or a light turned on.  No one can come back to life with the sound of a car horn as far as I know.

Answer 6

To me, the concept of "dead-or-alive" seems complicated, although many people perceive it simply as "black-and-white".

It is natural to fear death, since initially we are programmed to survive to preserve our genes, it is natual to feel that way. But i was never afraid of sleeping and not waking up.

I personally think death is like sleep. But this time, you are sleeping forever. When you sleep, few long hours might seem like an "instant". In death, billions of years will pass by, but you will not be aware of it, you will not be aware of the sensation of time at the first place.