Essay talk:Fear of Death

Jesus friggin Christ, what a horrible argument! I would think that the existence of God and an afterlife would negate fear of death. YEC! er..i mean YUCK!--PalMD-רפאל ליפשון 10:42, 27 May 2007 (CDT)
 * Heh. Honestly, that's the very first article I looked at on the site, which made these grand claims of supporting divinity with science.  Who knows what wonders I'll find when I dive in further? --Kels 11:07, 27 May 2007 (CDT)
 * I would think that fear of death would be in the same category as fear of the dark and fear of change. The unknown has always been a source of fear for many humans.  Prof0705 17:33, 27 May 2007 (CDT)
 * The way I read it, fear of death is an outgrowth of natural self-preservation, along with the existential dread you mention. So it's a little bit more primal than a fear of the dark, say. --Kels 17:39, 27 May 2007 (CDT)
 * I don't know, fear of the dark seems pretty primal to me. Could be a holdover instinct from back in the days when we were just little primates that were usually hunted at night.  I read a pretty good article about that once, where an evolutionary psychologist thought that fear of falling/heights stemmed from when we were tree-dwellers and falling meant death by impact or exposure to predators.  He also looked at dragon and monter stories from different cultures, and figured that talons, big teeth, and glowing eyes scare us because of the similarity to our past predators.  Of course, it is evolutionary psychology, so you never really know.Prof0705 17:58, 27 May 2007 (CDT)
 * As far as I am aware, falling from height is still a potential cause of death or serious injury. No real mystery as to why we might fear it.  --Horace 21:14, 27 May 2007 (CDT)
 * Fear of the dark, fear of heights - why do we fear these things? In the case of heights it's obvious - they kill us. Fear of the dark is equally obvious - it might hide something which could kill us.  The cause of both is fear of death.  Why do we avoid (fear)death? In our evolutionary past those who didn't die went on to reproduce, so it's a useful (in fact, blindingly obvious) evolutionary strategy for all animals - including ourselves. --Bob_M (talk) 00:55, 28 May 2007 (CDT)

I see you mentioned Buddhists--invoking Muslim suicide bombers and the Heaven's Gate cultists would be in dubious taste, but they're two prominent (and more recent, unless the Buddhists are still at it) examples of people who let religious fervor override their self-preservation instinct. --Gulik 20:45, 27 May 2007 (CDT)
 * Another angle you might use is the case of parents rushing into burning buildings to save their children, or soldiers on the battlefield putting themselves at risk to recover a fallen comrade.Prof0705 20:50, 27 May 2007 (CDT)
 * I'm inclined to leave the example I have, since it's as good as any of the examples, and a very deliberate act, not motivated by religious concerns specifically. And as you say, Gulik, a lot less button-pushing, which wasn't my intent in this case. --Kels 20:57, 27 May 2007 (CDT)

Essay?
Should this be an essay? Heart ♥  Gold tx 10:44, 27 May 2007 (CDT)


 * Damned if I know. I've put the question out on the Guidelines page, but so far I haven't gotten anything firm.  If it was based on something from Conservapedia, it could be put in that namespace, but it isn't, leaving me a bit confused.  It can always be moved later as appropriate. --Kels 10:51, 27 May 2007 (CDT)

Good work
The only thing this needs to be perfect is a reference to Psalms 23:4. *nods* --AKjeldsen 18:00, 27 May 2007 (CDT)

Feel free to add it, I'm not too conversant on Bible verses. --Kels 18:03, 27 May 2007 (CDT)
 * As you wish, so it be done. --AKjeldsen 18:39, 27 May 2007 (CDT)
 * Nice work, thank you. --Kels 18:40, 27 May 2007 (CDT)