View Single Post
Old 03-23-2012, 03:05 AM   #46
ledwix
Giant Pi Operator
FFR Simfile AuthorFFR Veteran
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: California
Age: 33
Posts: 2,878
Send a message via AIM to ledwix Send a message via Yahoo to ledwix
Default Re: How do you live with death?

Life having no set or objective value doesn't necessarily mean that suicide is a preferred option. In fact, in a meaningless universe, there is neither any reason to live nor any reason to die. The default position is to sit around and find out what exists and prioritize certain things and try to do those things. If, for example, killing yourself is the conclusion you come to, then so be it, but of course since all of us in existence are right now in the side of the living, most of us will find the idea repulsive. But some do not. Most people feel motivation to accomplish something, interestingly enough to me. If you do not feel motivated to act in any way at all, you will of course just sit around and die of starvation/thirst.

Overall, your priorities aren't even under your control. I will get hungry tomorrow whether or not I want to. I will want to be in the company of friends tomorrow whether or not I find friendships meaningful to the ultimate fate of the universe. Reality for us beings can be incredibly solipsistic in that manner. We live as if our values and priorities are objective, but many of them are simply programmed into us, and the rest are learned over the years.

As far as death, though...it's whatever. My own death doesn't scare me as much as the deaths of people I love. When I die, I won't have anything to worry about at all, just as the 13.7 billion years before I was born didn't feel so bad at all. But those who loved me during my life will be the ones who will suffer from that.

Last edited by ledwix; 03-23-2012 at 03:08 AM..
ledwix is offline   Reply With Quote