Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lillie on August 13, 2012 at 5:48pm

Beautifully written, Asa.

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Permalink Reply by Edward Teach on August 14, 2012 at 1:45pm

Well said, Asa!

Hang tough, Bill. Death will take care of itself. No need to help it along. This is your one and only opportunity to appreciate (notice I didn't say, "enjoy") the full range of the human experience. The experience includes everything you love, everything you hate, and everything in between. 

It is interesting that we appreciate the full range of emotions when we watch movies. We laugh at comedies, cry at tragedies, get excited by action flix, etc., but we have a lot more trouble appreciating the same emotions when they are provided in three dimensions  ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Ruth Anthony-Gardner on August 21, 2012 at 12:22am

I remember making that argument to a guy I was dating as we drove home from a party. I'd had nausea, and he mocked, "You'll never convince me that throwing up is a peak experience." I've forgotten his name and face, 45 years later, but the moment was insightful for me. It helped me to realize that even nausea was an interesting and worthwhile life experience in the right context. Ah-Ha!

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Permalink Reply by Edward Teach on May 5, 2013 at 4:39pm

Nod and a wink to Ruth!

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Permalink Reply by Lillie on August 12, 2012 at 10:32pm

Of course, you have these questions if you have just come through a personal tragedy.  I agree with Dr. Clark.  You need time to heal and postpone such threatening questions for a time when you are much stronger mentally and physically.  Most of us here have dealt with our own personal tragedies to get us here.  We have come out on the other side but it did not happen over night.  Lean on those who will give you positive comfort and support.  They are out there as are those on A/N who only wish you well.  Stay strong.

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Permalink Reply by Ted Foureagles on August 14, 2012 at 10:36am

Bill:

Dealing with overwhelming personal tragedy does make belief in an afterlife attractive -- perhaps even temporarily useful, but it does not make it true.  That's not an indictment of whether or not it is true -- just that our hopes don't make it so.  My favorite analogy is that life, and thus consciousness, is like a wave in an ocean or a musical note.  It's an emergent property of matter & energy -- an amusing pattern within the larger field that runs its course and then collapses back into the field or onto the shore of the next note.  Nothing is gained or lost except the perception of pattern within the experience of those perceiving it.  This could be taken as an idea that the pattern itself is something that is conserved, which is an interesting thought that I see no reason beyond wishful thinking to believe.

 I hope that your troubles abate, by whatever means.  My personal hope is that we human beans can figure out how to deal with life as it is without resort to philosophies that diminish the one life we know we have in favor of an unknown we hope to have.

 

}}}}

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Permalink Reply by Lillie on August 14, 2012 at 12:52pm

Well written, Ted, especially the last paragraph.

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