The Student Room Group

Are you afraid of death? What do you think awaits for you on the other side?

I'm really curious about people's opinions on this. Firstly, how does the idea of death feel to you? Say, you were to die tomorrow and leave everyone you loved and cherished ; as well as drop any previous goals you had for your life.

Second of all, do you believe there to be nothingness or something else? Many people have a difficulty with the idea of there being nothingness, since none of us can imagine how life was before we were born (our consciousness never existed until we were made). It's difficult to comprehend but some people can rest easy with the idea.

What about you? Do you believe in something after? Reincarnation? An afterlife?

Scroll to see replies

well that is the question nobody on TSR can answer !!!

the Swan of Avon put it neatly:

"To be, or not to be, that is the question—
Whether 'tis Nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous Fortune,
Or to take Arms against a Sea of troubles,
And by opposing, end them? To die, to sleep—
No more; and by a sleep, to say we end
The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks
That Flesh is heir to? 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to Dream; Aye, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.
There's the respect
That makes Calamity of so long life:
For who would bear the Whips and Scorns of time,
The Oppressor's wrong, the proud man's Contumely,
The pangs of despised Love, the Law’s delay,
The insolence of Office, and the Spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his Quietus make
With a bare Bodkin? Who would these Fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered Country, from whose bourn
No Traveller returns, Puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of."
lots of insanely hot girls waiting in a hot tub for my arrival
Being told whether I'm spending the next life as a vegetable or an animal
Reply 4
I think this life is all we have so we should make the most of it. I'm not afraid of the idea of dying but I know it will be scary when the time comes.
Well I'm going to Hogwarts after my "death"
I'm not really afraid of death, but I am afraid of getting old. I like to go out walking when I get the chance, and I mean for hours at a time in the countryside. I'm a little afraid that at some point I'll be too old to do that sort of thing (even though I've still got plenty of time left to do all that). I'm also worried about getting old to the point of losing my independence - e.g. not being able to drive anymore.

I'm more afraid of not living life to the full while I still can. But I'm not very good in social situations and don't really have any proper friends, so I'm struggling with that.
(edited 9 years ago)
I don't fear death, I just fear dying a violent/non - peaceful death. I also fear spending my last days in hospital.
I'm afraid of dying a particularly painful/violent death, but not of being dead, in itself.
I have been thinking about this.

Edit: Some things happen that cant be explained.
(edited 9 years ago)
I imagine it will begin with a premature stabbing pain in my left side before a gripping anvil on my back, neck, shoulders and chest, a tingling in my left arm...a sensation of choking, slowly suffocating before losing consciousness, neural connections withering, blood flow slowing, the heart beating beat after slower beat. And then nothing; no God to save my goddamned soul, no afterlife to get a second chance, not even hell or purgatory to pay for my crimes. Just forgotten memories, dust, ashes and a rotting corpse which the creatures and birds come to feed on a cold February evening.

Perhaps this could happen in the next 3 days (a moment I have fearfully anticipated since I was 17, then believing it would happen when I reach 18).
I hope I will reincarnate.
Tbh I don't think about my death. What I can't bare is the thought of my mom dying.
There is nothing after death, you are dead.
Original post by DiddyDec
There is nothing after death, you are dead.


Are you afraid of death?
Original post by High Stakes
Are you afraid of death?


No. The only thing that is certain in life is that you are going to die.
I fear dying a painful, protracted death, possibly accompanied by the knowledge that I have some unfinished business, unpaid debt or unresolved conflict. I would loathe to be a posthumous burden on anyone.

I don't believe in the hereafter or reincarnation and I'm relaxed about the idea of nothingness after death. It seems absurd to me that anyone struggles to imagine a world in which they are not alive. To advance the most obvious argument: all the people on this thread were absent for most of history, human or otherwise. :smile:
Reply 16
When I was young, I suddenly had a realization that we will all die one day. That frightened me immensely because I couldn't stomach the very idea that I will one day stop just breathing and leave this world, a place in which I've found my existence in physical being.

I don't fear death now but my soul would be deeply unsatisfied if I were to leave this world quickly without having the chance to accomplish my life goals or getting to live the different stages of my life. But then, beggars can't be choosers can they?

I think the reason why most people fear death is not knowing about what happens after death. It is like there is one big question mark which can only be revealed when you die. There are many theories or ideas about what happens after death and I do think religions play a major role in influencing how you think about death and afterlife.

I'm a Buddhist and in Buddhism, we believe in reincarnation. Below is a text on the perception of Buddhism on afterlife and reincarnation.

Death and the impermanence of life


In the teaching of the Buddha, all of us will pass away eventually as a part in the natural process of birth, old-age and death and that we should always keep in mind the impermanence of life. The life that we all cherish and wish to hold on.
To Buddhism, however, death is not the end of life, it is merely the end of the body we inhabit in this life, but our spirit will still remain and seek out through the need of attachment, attachment to a new body and new life. Where they will be born is a result of the past and the accumulation of positive and negative action, and the resultant karma (cause and effect) is a result of ones past actions.

This would lead to the person to be reborn in one of 6 realms which are; heaven, human beings, Asura, hungry ghost, animal and hell. Realms, according to the severity of ones karmic actions, Buddhists believe however, none of these places are permanent and one does not remain in any place indefinitely. So we can say that in Buddhism, life does not end, merely goes on in other forms that are the result of accumulated karma. Buddhism is a belief that emphasizes the impermanence of lives, including all those beyond the present life. With this in mind we should not fear death as it will lead to rebirth.

The fear of death stemmed from the fear of cease to be existent and losing ones identity and foothold in the world. We see our death coming long before its arrival, we notice impermanence in the changes we see around us and to us in the arrival of aging and the suffering due to losing our youth. Once we were strong and beautiful and as we age, as we approach our final moments of life we realize how fleeting such a comfortable place actually was.

Source: http://www.urbandharma.org/udharma5/viewdeath.html

I stay up all night sometimes thinking about it. It really terrifies me knowing that one day, I won't be here. I'll just be a memory that only lasts in a few people's minds.

I know a lot of people here say they don't care and It won't be scary, but it really effects me. I think it drives me. I try to work the hardest I can to make this gift of life worthwhile. So that for the short amount of time I had on this planet, I made a difference to some people's lives.
I don't have any reason to believe there's anything after death, and I'm very afraid of mortality. I don't actively think about mortality during the day, but I'm very aware of it all the time. Sometimes I have nightmares about it, which is really annoying.
Another horrible thing is being in a bad shape (health) when you're old, which is not pleasant, but you can't do anything about it.
(edited 9 years ago)
I hope I will see my parents and all the people who love me again in Heaven.

I also hope the people who I love will be there too.

Quick Reply

Latest