Story I watched someone Win at life, only to vanish forever. Does it really matter in the end?

[happysunnydayy]

I watched my uncle live a great Life, have the biggest cars, money, freedom etc and ofc good mental health to enjoy being alive, basically living the life I want. However he did suffer the last years of his death just like old people but he was happy. He's dead now and forgotten, no longer experiencing happiness or joy.

So my point is, What's even the big deal in dying young when at some point you'll cease to exist anyways, and without the brain you'll have no memories of the life you've lived so it'd be as if you were never born at all. Its all meaningless. CTbing is just hurrying the inevitable, I don't know why people make a big deal out of it.

 

[Holu]

I think it has to do with the desire to contribute socially. When my two best friends took their lives, it was hard to stomach talking to their families, and even harder when people would talk about their potential(what they could have been and such) rather than who they were. With old people, their legacy and social value has already passed, so it seems like their lives have been more fulfilled in a sense.

 

[DTA]

That's exactly right: it's all meaningless. None of your uncle's wealth went with him when he died. And like you said, he's forgotten. Very few people make a lasting impact. And even then their impact rarely survives a couple generations. Look at Martin Luther King Jr. Few of any of his teachings are adhered to today.

We all leave this world the same way we came into it - with nothing (and possibly naked, screaming, and covered in blood).

The positive side is that you're free to make your own meaning. It won't carry any weight beyond yourself, but who cares?

 

[whywere]

In the grand scheme of everything including life, one is NEVER EVER "forgotten". They are gone physically from Earth, however, their spirit and some of their teachings are always around, always.

I can remember growing up in the 1960's and having farmers neighbors who were so kind and helpful and yes, they are long gone, BUT some of what I saw in them and the way that they did things and treated folks has stuck with me all these years later. So, gone? Physically, yes. Gone? In the way that they helped others and help shape things, never.

We are ALL together in this, in the here and now and forever. Traits that I picked up, I have given to others at work, and it continually keeps getting pasted down

Walter

 

[SpinandPainr]

So that's the thing. Have you ever heard about the two boys with an alcoholic father? One grew up to be a drunk, the other very successful. When they both were asked why, the cited their fathers drunkeness.

I oscillate myself back and forth between opinions. Nobody will remember me past a couple generations if I am so lucky (I doubt I'll will be able to have kids) so does anything really matter if I am a grain of sand in the sea?

No, not really. Sometimes it's terrifying the depth of my nothingness. Other times I find it illuminates me with the freedom of being untethered.

 

[TheVanishingPoint]

You said it well: "Without a brain, you won't have memories. It's like never having been born."
And that is the great truth everyone runs from: existence leaves no trace in the one who lived it.
Consciousness, that illusion of continuity, is merely a chemical flicker, a neural flash in borrowed flesh.

People speak of "experiences," of "living fully," but for whom? For what?
You can own cars, loves, houses, trophies… but once the biological support shuts down, nothing remains.
No preserved joy, no stored memory.
Even having been happy means nothing if there is no one left to have truly experienced it.

Dying young or old, living well or poorly—these are just variations of the same fading.
Those who hasten the end are no less "sane" than those who delay it. They simply embrace the annihilation we all must face. And perhaps with more honesty.

Society builds a taboo around CTB because it cannot accept the uselessness of existence—it survives through self-deception.
And yet, if you look closely, those who die by choice are not weak, but lucid anarchists of being, ones who have broken the pact with the fiction of hope.

 

[happysunnydayy]

You said it well: "Without a brain, you won't have memories. It's like never having been born."
And that is the great truth everyone runs from: existence leaves no trace in the one who lived it.
Consciousness, that illusion of continuity, is merely a chemical flicker, a neural flash in borrowed flesh.

People speak of "experiences," of "living fully," but for whom? For what?
You can own cars, loves, houses, trophies… but once the biological support shuts down, nothing remains.
No preserved joy, no stored memory.
Even having been happy means nothing if there is no one left to have truly experienced it.

Dying young or old, living well or poorly—these are just variations of the same fading.
Those who hasten the end are no less "sane" than those who delay it. They simply embrace the annihilation we all must face. And perhaps with more honesty.

Society builds a taboo around TBC because it cannot accept the uselessness of existence—it survives through self-deception.
And yet, if you look closely, those who die by choice are not weak, but lucid anarchists of being, ones who have broken the pact with the fiction of hope.

Thank you you're so wise

That's exactly right: it's all meaningless. None of your uncle's wealth went with him when he died. And like you said, he's forgotten. Very few people make a lasting impact. And even then their impact rarely survives a couple generations. Look at Martin Luther King Jr. Few of any of his teachings are adhered to today.

We all leave this world the same way we came into it - with nothing (and possibly naked, screaming, and covered in blood).

The positive side is that you're free to make your own meaning. It won't carry any weight beyond yourself, but who cares?

For those young life seems unbearably long :(

 

[Forever Sleep]

I think it has to do with the desire to contribute socially. When my two best friends took their lives, it was hard to stomach talking to their families, and even harder when people would talk about their potential(what they could have been and such) rather than who they were. With old people, their legacy and social value has already passed, so it seems like their lives have been more fulfilled in a sense.

Potential is an odd one though- isn't it? How many people do live up to their potential? How many people who are severely struggling- to the point of being suicidal, have the strength and motivation and even the desire to follow their ambitions? Do they even have ambitions still? I'm guessing- not quite so much if they are more keen on ending things.

There's also the assumption that if they follow and succeed in their dreams, it will make them happy. I've been lucky to be able to follow my dreams. I guess it worked for a while. But, it's kind of odd when we decide what should make another person happy. Like you say- I think people see what they think that person is and has the potential to be. Rather than what and where they are.

As to why people would still likely be against suicide OP- I imagine it's because they still believe a person can recover and live the life your uncle did. I think they like to believe that we could become like them- effectively. Especially if we were more like them at one point.

 

[Dante_]

if you look closely, those who die by choice are not weak, but lucid anarchists of being, ones who have broken the pact with the fiction of hope.

I think if one there's man made delusion I cannot stand the most, its hope, I truly cannot contend with its fiction and how much it still drives others to keep going so pointlessly.

 

[SmilingNoMore]

I think it's about living while we can, before the mind/body reaches expiry or before we decide to ctb. Your uncle lived well before he passed, and so does many others. Their lives matter to them, the dying part is not important then if they experienced meaning in their lives, especially in the simple things. When we decide to die before our time, it's usually because we don't see the point anymore in existing, and living has become meaningless. For each of us it matters while we are here, life and death, but in a different way. Even if we believe there is ultimately no point (and it's all random) some find meaning, and some don't, before we leave, whichever way that may be. And for us, while to ctb makes most sense, others could never understand this.

 

[Holu]

Potential is an odd one though- isn't it? How many people do live up to their potential? How many people who are severely struggling- to the point of being suicidal, have the strength and motivation and even the desire to follow their ambitions? Do they even have ambitions still? I'm guessing- not quite so much if they are more keen on ending things.

There's also the assumption that if they follow and succeed in their dreams, it will make them happy. I've been lucky to be able to follow my dreams. I guess it worked for a while. But, it's kind of odd when we decide what should make another person happy. Like you say- I think people see what they think that person is and has the potential to be. Rather than what and where they are.

To clarify, I wasn't really referring to someone successfully accomplishing their dreams, but more their potential to contribute. It's more so just something I noticed from my personal interactions with the families of my dead friends. Loved ones mean a lot to us, and it's hard to convey their worth to others, so people convey it in deeds. Again though, this is more just my own observations and frustrations from my experiences.