2014-12-23 11:04 GMT+01:00 Bruce Kellett <bhkell...@optusnet.com.au>: > > Stathis Papaioannou wrote: > >> On 23 December 2014 at 17:46, Bruce Kellett <bhkell...@optusnet.com.au> >> wrote: >> >>> Stathis Papaioannou wrote: >>> >>>> On 22 December 2014 at 23:04, Bruno Marchal <marc...@ulb.ac.be> wrote: >>>> >>>>> On 22 Dec 2014, at 06:01, Stathis Papaioannou wrote: >>>>> On Monday, December 22, 2014, Samiya Illias <samiyaill...@gmail.com> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> If death leads to oblivion, then there isn't much to worry about. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Atheists worry about death as much as theists. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Atheists might worry about death, but less so than a believer in Hell. >>>>> Some >>>>> atheists believe that death is the end of consciousness and thus of >>>>> worries, >>>>> but if you believe in some after-life, you might fear unknown >>>>> happenings, >>>>> or suffering, etc. >>>>> >>>> >>>> Perhaps, but some may prefer Hell to oblivion, while others try to >>>> kill themselves after a minor setback. It depends on the person. >>>> >>> >>> An odd notion, that: some people might prefer Hell to Oblivion. But that >>> aside, you seem to think that it is only fear of death (and/or Hell) that >>> keeps people from widespread mayhem and self-destruction. I must admit >>> that >>> I have a healthier view of humanity. >>> >> >> I do in fact think that it is the belief that death constitutes a harm >> to the person who dies that keeps people from widespread mayhem and >> self-destruction. I think this is also the case for religious people >> who claim to believe that the deceased will go to Heaven, because deep >> down most of them know it's bullshit. To be fair, there is no logical >> reason why death should be considered this way, it's just the way most >> people think. >> > > You might be right about most people, I can't really comment. But I prefer > to be rational, and encourage others to be so also.
I can't see how fearing or not fearing death can be rational at all, knowing we don't know exactly what death implies... The fact that death is the apparent end of interaction with our reality can lead to have good reasons to avoid it, and so fearing it could be rational... I heard your argument about oblivion and so what ? why because after the fact you wouldn't care would mean you shouldn't care here and now ? So instead of insulting other people about not being rational and you because you're so good is, you should try to be more humble. Quentin > > > Bruce > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. (Roy Batty/Rutger Hauer) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
