Consciousness (in the way that we define it or rather, usually fail to define it), that is, what you think is 'you,' is a quality that neural brains create by their function. It's not a big deal but the only one we have, and so we animals experience it intensely. You can watch Sam Harris videos if you want to try and understand the phenomenon better, and go nuts in arguments around over whether it is 'an illusion' or not, but the gist is simply that once your nerve cells die, then that's the end of it as the memories and functionalities that were genetically hardwired, epigenetically influenced and partially overlearned in your lifetime, the stuff that MADE YOU, disintegrates into relatively unorganized molecular slime whose only chance at being 'reborn' is in the form of a blowfly. This should cool you down. Buzz off.
What's bad about that ? Well, you may have see things other neural entities wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. Watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... now that is a shame really, admit it - but it is what it is.
This is what being dead means, a temporary physical construct that generated a consciousness, has now come apart and is no more, and there's nothing more that need be said about it.
Of course, conscious entities have built-in reflexes to negate the thought of such non-existence, let's simplify these tendencies into the 'hope principle.' They will fantasize about an 'after-life' and others will be happy to listen to 'near-death-experiences' which were however never death-experiences, just near-death. Matter of definition, no ? Yes. So that's that. You can die without fearing life after death, just mobilize the rational part that's hidden in the brains of all of us irrational, delusional meat animals who only exist to duplicate their genes. If you did not succeed in doing this before you die, you have every reason to be frustrated.
Did I piss you off ? Sorry ;))) I seem to have a talent for that, but then again I'm suicidal.
Humans have a VERY hard time thinking rationally. Isn't it a miracle that primates like us ever won through to discover this TRUE, genius level INTELLIGENCE we obviously own, the high level of which is proven by the fact that even almighty GODS somehow think exactly like us ?
(Yeah, yeah. I'll shut up now ;)) Have to fix lunch.
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