The fear of immortality

[Golden]

I discussed the fear of immortality with my therapist once when I used to go to therapy. They found the thought interesting and unexpected because "usually immortality is something people seek for". I was like what the f? Why would anyone seek for immortality? Obviously I knew that people like that existed but my therapist's reaction surprised me as they seemed like it was unheard-of to fear immortality. Like hasn't this thought come up with any other patient suffering from depression? And how could any well-educated person think that immortality is something good? They even were a great therapist overall.

The anxiety and fear I get from thinking about never being able to cease to exist is something so horrific I don't even have words for it. And the only reason why I have a small fear of death is for the same reason - what if my consciousness somehow doesn't end? I'd looooove to be 100 percent certain that death is just like eternal nothingness but the universe and consciousness are so incomprehensible concepts for me that unfortunately I'm not certain. Do people here have similar thoughts?

 

[Hollowman]

I asked a believer once what they thought they'd be doing for eternity. They said they hadn't thought adout it. How it's possible not to think about it I have no idea. I really hope for nothingness.

 

[Leopard2023]

Noone is immortal in this life. In heaven you will be immortal, but that will be OK, because you'll be happy.

 

[Smelly_ballz]

I fear it too. For me, it is scarier to live than to die.

 

[Golden]

I asked a believer once what they thought they'd be doing for eternity. They said they hadn't thought adout it. How it's possible not to think about it I have no idea. I really hope for nothingness.

Exactly. Thankfully I'm not a believer at least... having to fear about eternal hell would obviously make the anxiety even many times worse

Noone is immortal in this life. In heaven you will be immortal, but that will be OK, because you'll be happy.

Well, I have zero reason to believe that heaven exists and even if it did, no reason to think I'd qualify to join...

 

[february in alaska]

Immortality sounds awful, but it isn't something I necessarily fear just because it isn't possible. Maybe something like reincarnation as a human, I would be afraid of that possibility. But for me, it's just reassuring to know death is inevitable

 

[user56765567]

Yeah it scares me too to think about it as I feel like at some point I would probably go absolutely insane. My biggest fear though as for what might happen to me is probably rebirth/reincarnation as I would not want that to happen to me if that was a real concept.

 

[FuneralCry]

Such a thing sounds so horrifying but I very strongly believe that once we die we simply just cease existing, once we lose consciousness that is it for us we are gone. It comforts me to think of eternally ceasing to exist where all is forgotten about.

But it really is insane to me to think of how one would actually wish to be immortal in this futile and cruel existence. I will never understand what's supposedly so "good" about existing, existence is just a harmful burden, I'd always prefer to not exist, simply just existing is tiresome.

 

[pthnrdnojvsc]

I recieved no real education. Only recently did I start reading on my own.

You'd think 20 years of school they'd have a class like " what am I? or life 101 how to get things done etc. nothing like that at all.

Isn't it funny that they don't teach you what a human is what you are ? hmmm

There's been hundreds of years of research on what a human is. By reading books on topics like the cell , the brain , evolution , anatomy , etc you can see what a human is . A human is just an animal a machine a brain that can suffer extreme pain, just cells there is no soul, no afterlife no god no reincarnation.

Consciousness is just a weak representation of reality a weak low resolution model the brain creates. for example colors. Colors don't exist in reality . that is an illusion created by the brain.

That dress isn't blue or gold because color doesn't exist

Color scientists already have a word for it: Dressgate. No surprise to those of us whose minds were collectively blown by the dress that’s blue and black to some, and white and gold to others (though frankly kind of ugly in any color.)

www.pbs.org

I read books on the brain , neuroscience , evolution the cell, ai, physics chemistry biology etc.
The more you read an test thing like looking in microscopes, testing thing from brain and psychology and neuroscience books you see a human is just a brain a machine.

All the details become super connected on deeper and deeper levels and details and you for example how the cell and evolution works . it all makes sense.

There are hundreds of machine and molecular processes inside a cell that are identical in all multicelular life.


I asked what am I? what am is i cells. a brain that can suffer extreme pain

 

[Ksmиda]

My worst fear is killing myself and staying alive. I had multiple nightmares where I shot myself in a way that would definitely killed me, but I still stayed alive and conscious. So no, immortality in this life would be horrible for me.