Why are we afraid of dying?

Question

Why are we afraid of becoming old and dying of natural causes?

(Not looking at the fact that it will hurt a lot) What do you think>?

Answer 1

Because, we are afraid of the unknowness of it, I would say.

Answer 2

because nobody knows what happens next. and eternity is a long *** time... what if you spend it in h**l?

endless torment?

Answer 3

most of us are afraid of dying because they feel like it's the end to everything and they haven't done what they're suppose to do yet.

Answer 4

We're afraid of becoming old because we look at ourselves now, and compare ourselves to elders.  Now, we see look at ourselves and we're good looking, we don't have wrinkles, we have all of our hair, we can get drunk and party without worrying about breaking our hips, etc.  Old people just look so...helpless and fragile. They've already gone through their 20s and remember how much fun they had, or how they wish they had more fun.  We're afraid that when we get old, we didn't accomplish all of the things we wanted to accomplish.

And people are afraid to die for the same reason. Dying without having accomplished all your goals in life would make life seem insignificant and pointless. Also, people don't know what happens after death..

Honestly, don't worry about it.  Why think of aging and dying when you can be out enjoying your youth?  That's why I'm happy!

Answer 5

A journey I can't wait to experience.

Oh Lord, bring about my death when death is good for me and keep me alive as long as life is good for me.

For those whom have done good deeds more than sins there is a generous reward and a most incredible journey awaiting. Beyond your wildest imagination!

Answer 6

Forty some years ago as a Marine Rifleman in Vietnam I lost many things that were me before I went overseas, one of them was a fear of death.   Oh yeah, when the Sierra hit the fan I did my share of quick prayers but I learned to function in that strange state of confusion without a lot of fear.   I lived my life hard and fast when I returned and only in the last few years did I learn that it wasn't death I was afraid of but the act of living that scared the heck out of me.   Connecting with other people, trust, not always watching my back.   I'm almost 60 and finally finding a few of the acts of living that I took for granted as a young man, glad I've had this chance before my time is up.   Gotta keep working on living, death still don't have no hold on me

Answer 7

honestly, h**l scares the **** outta me

Answer 8

the human mind cannot fathom such a thing so unintentionally, we fear it.

Answer 9

Those who haven't lived are most afraid to die. I am terrified of senility, fear, and pain. The rest is just the rest.

Answer 10

it is in human nature to be afraid of what it does not know. that is also why people say they are afraid of the dark. they only say it is the dark because they dont have a name for what might possibly reside in the darkness. we know about life, and we know about the things we can do with our lives, but nothing is documented about how a person feels while dying, or after they are dead. we dont know what (i am avoiding religion on such a subject, no offense to anyone of any religion) will happen after we die, where we will go, what will happen afterward. it is those insecurities that make us afraid of dying, and, no matter what anyone says, we always have a fear of what may or may not happen, and because no one can prove anything for certain, we are concerned, and not knowing amplifies that fear.

Have a wonderful day!

-Angel-

Answer 11

Fear of the unknown.  Regret at leaving the movie before we see how it turns out.  Disappointment at not doing all that we wanted to do.  Afraid of finding out there really is a God, and that you don't measure up.  Afraid of finding out there really isn't a God and there really isn't anything after death.

Answer 12

Nature instinct is to live for one. Naturally, you want to stay alive. On a more conscience level, fearing what will happen next is a big issue and leaving people behind is another.

Answer 13

DIEING is not nessesary a good thing i want to still live and feel and see things around ans h**l is not a good place to go to ...

Answer 14

We are afraid of the unknown. On the first day of school you always get really nervous, the reason is  because you don't know what is going to happen to you.  If people will like you. Who you hang out with.  If you have good teachers. That sort of thing.

It's the same thing with dying.  Nobody knows what it is like.  How it feels, where you will go.  What if it is horrible, but it might also be absolutly wonderful.  That is why we are scared.

Answer 15

maybe we are so afraid of dying because we dont know how that will feel like. it is something very unknown and we dont know what will happen to us after we are dead.

Answer 16

Perhaps because we all know that that might not be the way we pass on.  Facing our own immortality is pretty scary, most people don't want to think of how they might die or when they might do it.  Some of us won't make it to tomorrow, some of us will make it another 50 years, but thinking about it is depressing and scary so we just don't do it.

Answer 17

The reason my friend, is that, the "end" of anything is looked at as bad.

As I have promoted before, there is no end, all ends start a new beginning.

The reason why we are afraid of death is, we cant ever KNOW what will happen after it. The only people that can tell us are the people who have already died, and they cant communicate with us.

Answer 18

I'd like to know why so many people are so afraid of LIVING.  Look at all the pessimists out there.  And whenever someone asks a question about immortality, the good majority of people say that is something they would never want.

I think it's important though to distinguish between dying and being dead.  A person can be afraid of either one or the other, or both.  Look out for the person who is afraid of neither.

Personally, I am somewhat afraid of dying.  It is seldom a pleasant event, quick & painless.  The good majority of people experience more than a little suffering in the process of dying.  You worry about your loved ones that you'll be leaving behind, about the afterlife (if you believe in one), about the medical bills, about all the things you wished you'd done differently in life, about all the things you wished you'd said to people, about your loved ones having to go through making your arrangements.  All the while, final oblivion is creeping up on you, and you know this is it--the end.  Maybe you think about all the billions of others who have died, whose names and lives are no longer remembered by any living human, and you ponder that you will be among them, your entire existence forgotten in a few decades.  And as the end draws near you are torn between life and death; you want the suffering to end, but not the living.  You want things to be like they used to, when you were healthy, but you know that all that is about to end.  The hardships and bad times in your life fade away and you grasp at the good memories, not just of your life but of living.  And you don't want it to end...but it will.  And it is.

For what it's worth, I'm somewhat afraid of dying, but mostly I just really love living.  I know that odds are slim (at best) that we'll ever develop immortality, especially in my lifetime.  Still, I'm hoping to sign up for cryonics one of these days.  I figure once I'm dead, I don't have anything to lose by trying.  I'm actually pretty confident that _eventually_ we'll find the cures for what ails us (like aging).  We now know enough about biology to know that there is nothing magical or supernatural about living; aging and disease are essentially just engineering problems (albeit very complicated ones) to be solved.

Answer 19

(edited)

Freud indentifies two opposing instinctual drives  - death (violence, etc) and lust (life, etc) - which remain in a conflicting equilibrium that obsesses us, more or less consciously. However, there are more intuitive explanations for our relationship with the idea of death.

We see people around us die before us, which causes in us feelings of sadness and anxiety. This conditions us to be afraid of death and seek to avoid it. Indeed people who haven't seen or heard about death - e g yound children - tend not to fear it.

This fear is also partly a natural instinct. Those who are fascinated with death have a higher chance to get killed - eg by engaging in overly dangerous activities - hence a smaller chance to pass on their genes, which are likely to carry some of the same fascination.

Finally, some people fear death because of what they believe follows it. This is irrational and unjustified so I won't delve into it.

Answer 20

The fundamental truth on our universe is death. Most of us are afriading from death because we do not want truth or we  have no such capacity to face truth. However,there can be/have such very few persons on our universe who do/did not afriad of dying.Such persons always are immortal even after their physical death but their names are being called as ever our universe would exist. Thanks