FF:QLD JP's Fellowship to find Nyder *love*

I've also heard that sleep apnea (when you stop breathing in your sleep) is brought on by a fear of death. More to the point it relates to thinking that you don't have enough time to do everything that you want.

My thoughts on death usually come on the train... 1/2 hour trip, what else am I going to think about? ?

 

Reading a book not an option?

 

[SOB]I can't read![SOB] :'(

 

Thanks for sticking up for me, Neech.

Whenever I find myself in a situation I think of all the possible ways I could die in that situation. Some of you might think I am just nuts but if you do it this way at least that if something bad happens to you, you won't be surprised.

When in the Blue Ridge Mountains I thought of all possible scenarios; bears, wolves, being rammed by deer, hit by a car, shot for trespassing, attacked by dogs, freezing to death, falling and breaking my neck, being abducted by aliens (it happened in an episode of the X files you know), fatal ski accident, terrorist attack, being murdered.... All those things and more were possiblities that I thought about.

Then again all that does not take up much thinking time. Say devote less then 1% and it's probably more then enough.

 

Meh, what ever keeps you happy

 

Working out all those scenarios could actually be a way of dealing with your worries. That's something I do as well, because I'm a chronic worrier. Although I focus more on things like: how could I get home? What can I do if my phone runs out of batteries? Things like that.

I realise it's not entirely the same. But when you come up with scenarios and find solutions, addressing your worries as more "What can I do if such and such happens?" it's a much more healthy way to deal with it.

And since you're into logic, why not try working out probabilities. Like "the chances of me getting attacked by a bear in Australia are pretty remote" (closest thing we have are Koalas and they're not bears!).

 

I used to worry about everything but I've been **** on so many times in this life I guess I've just become desensitised to it.
For instance, my car died the other day (because I took terrible care of it) and there was nothing I could do but laugh. Not many things are terribly important in the whole scope of your life besides your own happiness and if you worry about every little thing you'll never be happy.

Laugh at fate, trust me it really pisses it off


(I realise the above statement might make me sound a bit selfish but it's based on the pretence that your own happiness is linked to that of those around you)

 

NeecH: My thoughts on death usually come on the train... 1/2 hour trip, what else am I going to think about?

Hey NeecH, you watched your Unbreakable DVD again, didn't you?

 

Imzadi, I was in Virginia at that time, and there are bears in Virginia (in the USA, not the suburb of Brisbane).

 

Oh, that makes much more sense. I'd probably be worried about that too, given that mice scare me!

Something else I try to live by: Worrying doesn't change anything.

 

Have you given up, JP?

Actually once I met a girl who looked and acted like I did but she was way too creepy so I tried to avoid her.

 

Pretty much the same reason we avoid you really.

 

well, personally, i think the fear of death is an innate condition all of us human beings have to endure. some of us handle this better, ie. looking to religions. my thoughts are that religions were initially created for this reason, to ease the burden of worry about "what's awaiting us in the next world, if in fact it exists".

Humans are too inquisitive and question the paths of our lives too much for our own well-being. if we lived without the pressures of not fulfilling our dreams and goals and just lived for the moment knowing it won't last long and wont ever come back, then we would be much happier and pleasant people.

i try not to think too far ahead in life, that way if something happens (or doesn't) i wont be dissappointed. i also can appreciate all the good things more, too.

i am very afraid of death and sometimes find myself crying when i dwell on it. my dad died when i was 9 and i've never been able to completely come to terms with it. one of my favourite sayings : death is the only thing certain in life.

 

Life and Death is a natural cycle. I do not fear death for to do so from my perspective is to fear life itself. I am happy with the way my life is going eventhough I may not have been able to do all the stuff I wanted to do. It is still all I could have done in the space and time that was provided for me. Where ever life shall leads, I know for sure that it will be very interesting indeed.

 

death is the only thing certain in life.

You can't look at death that way. Death is a problem that needs a solution.

I never want to die. Because if I die, it is the end of the universe. The universe only exists if there is a conscious entity to contemplate it (phenomenologically speaking) and because the only reality that exists is that which I consciously realise (there is no 'collective conscious') - then if I die it is the end of everything.

If the technology to become immortal is not realised in my lifetime then I will undergo cryonic suspension.

And I'm sorry about your father.

 

Because much of our brain is water and water expands when it is frozen, it is impossible to preserve a brain cryogenicly. If we could invent a stasis field then we could be 'frozen' in time but without such advanced knowledge of time manipulation cryogenics will never ever work.

 

That will not be a problem, because ice never forms because of vitrification.

From Alcor.org:

Q: Doesn't ice burst cells like water freezing in a bottle?

A: During freezing, water expands by only 9% in volume, and 3% in length. That is biologically insignificant. Cells are bags, not bottles. More importantly, unless tissue is cooled extremely rapidly, ice doesn't even form inside cells. Cells are damaged by the opposite effect: they are dehydrated and compressed by the ice that forms around cells. Freezing damages cells, but not by volume expansion.

It must also be noted that freezing damage is irrelevant when tissue is preserved by vitrification. Ice does not form during vitrification.

Q: What is vitrification?

A: During ordinary freezing, the cryoprotectant concentration between ice crystals becomes so high that ice growth eventually stops. What if you start with a cryoprotectant concentration that is so high to begin with that ice never forms at all? That is vitrification. The combination of rapid cooling and high cryoprotectant concentration to completely avoid ice formation was first suggested in the paper, "Vitrification as an Approach to Cryopreservation" (Cryobiology 21, 407-426 (1984)). Embryos, ova, skin, pancreatic islets, blood cells, blood vessels, and other tissues have since been successfully vitrified. Whole kidneys have been reversibly cooled to -50°C (-58°F) with full recovery when protected by vitrification solutions. Vitrification is now widely regarded as the most promising approach for long-term banking of large organs.

 

Isn't never dying kinda like hanging on to your beer tickets after the big day out?

Sure, they was worth something at one stage, and might seem perfectly good to you, but now they're not doing anything for anyone.

Use them (it) while you can and go home happy.

 

I still think they'res plenty left to see but forever was a long time.

 

I wouldn't mind living for about 500 years, or 200 at least. Imagine the All-Ords by then!

Of course you would have to undertake dialect and culture training every 100 years or so, and it might get a bit lonely, but imagine all the cool things you would see! (Assuming the continuation of Western civilisation, which I am doubtful about at present.)

 

Of course you would have to undertake dialect and culture training every 100 years or so

Why? Wouldn't you just learn as you go? I could see that being the case if you somehow 'jumped' 100 years into the future.

 

Yeah I thought that too.

And Kahli, I am not up for your abstract analogies. The bottom line is:

1. You can accept death and wait for the 'inevitable'
2. Believe in some sort of afterlife which deep down you know could be false because there is not one shred of reliable evidence
3. OR use technology to prolong your lifespan

If you choose 1 you will live in the knowledge that no matter what happens you will one day be totally non-existent and that the only time you have is limited to a certain set life span. Choose 2 and you are simply delusional, but you're not alone, so why not live your life in a fantasy world? Or choose 3 and actually have realistic hopes for the future.

I don't know about you guys but I choose 3.

 

Choosing 3 can be as delusional as 2 at this stage because it has not been proven (at least to my knowledge) that an entire human body can be frozen and then revived successfully. There has been success with individual organs yes, but the human body taken as a whole is a different kettle of fish all together. Alas those who have under gone the process of freezing already may have made a mistake as it is unlikely that they ever will be revived considering the freezing process they went through.

Needless to say, till there is undeniable evidence with a proven track record the whole freeze me now revive me later notion is just fooling your self for it is no more reliable now than those who think they will be reborn in some sort of afterlife.

Personally I just don't think about death for the most part. Or at the least I don't worry about it, after all to worry over something achieves nothing. Do what you feel is right just make sure you don't drag the rest of us with you if we don't wish it. That's all you really can do because as of now, there are no certainties.

 

They just freeze the head most of the time (in the hopes that in the future they can be given a new body).

 

They won't just thaw you out they will use nanotechnology to reconstruct the damaged tissue at a molecular level.