Into the Light: Sentiments on Death

A while ago, a friend of mine expressed their sentiments on death. I think the Peter Pan quote summed it up quite nicely: “Death would be an awfully big adventure.” At the time I couldn’t quite understand their logic. How could death be a big adventure? What could one possibly attain from an infinite period of non-existence?

I think the reason for my lack of understanding was my narrow-minded approach. I’d considered death to be something we could scientifically quantify. I guess it was the cynic in me coming out. Just because non-existence is the most probable, rational, logical and realistic result of death, doesn’t mean that’s the way it will be. Who can prove what happens after we die? An obvious question isn’t it. 

So while non-existence seems the most likely, it might not be the case. That, to me is awfully exciting. One’s imagination could spend hours contemplating the many possible outcomes of death, all more fantastic or horrible than the last. In expressing my excitement, don’t mistake this for suicidal tendencies. Just because I welcome the adventure death brings, doesn’t mean I want to go and top myself. I have a lot of things left to do and accomplish while my body still sends electrical signals. Not to mention, life is a pretty big adventure already. Look at it this way; would you start playing Assassin’s Creed 2 before you finish with Assassin’s Creed?

The religious types out there believe that through death, they can achieve paradise. I myself am not religious, but lets just pretend for a second that this is true. If through death, one can get to their interpretation of paradise, then what is there to be afraid of? Now the obvious answer is that religious buffs feel they have more to achieve in the material world before they venture into the spiritual one. It could also be the fear of leaving those they love behind. This is cause to be sad, but hardly fear. It would be disappointing not to do all those things, but compared to the alternative, I'd be absolutely excited!

Regardless, I don't think Heaven and Hell are all they're cracked up to be. Irrespective of what mono-theistic religion you follow (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), they all have some kind of after-life in which you can spend an eternity in happiness. Provided of course, you follow the stringent code of your chosen religion. Heaven and Hell are the same thing. Initially, the experience would be quite different, I'll grant. In Heaven, one would be free to do what they wished, while in Hell, you'd be a slave to the devil, doing his bidding as he wished. While these two realms seem quite different from one another, bear in mind, you're spending an eternity here. Would it be safe to say that in life, if you're exposed to the same thing for an extended period of time, it becomes a normality, and a sense of apathy develops? Just think about when you buy a new car. At first, it's an extremely exciting proposition, and you have an increased amount of endorphins released in your brain. However, as time goes on, these endorphins decrease, and your 'new' car becomes a normality. I believe Heaven and Hell would be exactly like this. An eternity of the same thing over and over again would be utterly mundane. I bet the people in Heaven and praying for a day trip to the hot spas of Hell.

All in all, death isn’t something to be afraid of. It seems most young adults fear leaving this world, but they shouldn’t. Death is easy, it’s hard for those you leave behind.

From the desk of 11214374: A brief insight into the human psyche

It is very interesting to observe how humans behave in the wild. Not “in the wild” in the bush/nature setting, but out in the open, in public. As much as we all consider ourselves unique, we seem to be the only ones who can differentiate ourselves from the rest of the population. If indeed we were all individuals, then tell me, how faces, of the numerous strangers you passed today, do you remember? Surely your eyes must have passed over dozens, if not hundreds of unknown faces, yet you can remember hardly any of them. The ones that you do remember would be connected to some event, or perhaps they had something uncanny about their appearance. The fact of the matter, to you the individual (ironic, isn’t it), everyone may as well have been the same person (although that would be a cause for memory, seeing hundreds of the exact same face).

Back to behaving in the wild. Take the train for example. In Australia, train seats are manufactured so that they can be turned around. They can either face forwards or backwards. The rational advantages/disadvantages of forwards vs. backwards are fairly even but when humans enter the train carriage there seems to not be a second thought about their preference of orientation. One time, I was on my way to university, and I entered an empty carriage. Upon entering this carriage, I observed that all the seats were facing backwards. Personally preferring facing backwards due to it’s many advantages, I took a seat. I proceeded to notice as the train progressed through it’s stops and the carriage filled to the point that no seats were vacant, that all the seats in the carriage had been turned to face the front, except my own. I smiled knowingly and went back to my book. The point is, this wasn’t an isolated incident. This sort of thing happens all the time. What is it that predisposes people to sit facing the front? Some would claim they feel ill when traveling “in reverse”. Call me naive, but it seems highly unlikely that a whole carriage-full of people suffer from train-sickness. I believe that this train example is a more meaningful as a metaphor for the human condition. People sit facing the front because they believe it’s the “normal” thing to do. Once a few people do this, everyone feels obligated to follow suit. Such is the reason you don’t remember the majority of those faces on your walk down the street. An interesting example of this is the Asch Experiment:

No one knows what they’re doing. No one knows why they’re doing it. Half the time they’re not even aware how they’re doing it. People just think it’s the “right” or “normal” thing to do and they keep walking. Blindly. Obediently. Ignorantly. Life is like a spotlight being shone upon you. You feel as if you’re the centre of the universe and spend your whole life only seeing what’s immediately around you, and what directly affects you. Someone should turn on the house lights.