The whisper of death speaks no lies.
According to the voice of a rotted corpse, death is the end.
You are only a mortal. You do not know what is beyond death.
But again, the rotted corpse does not speak, and does not move, except the maggots within.
New life emerges from the corpse, in the form of worms and dirt, which a plant can grow from, which an animal can eat. The circle of life does seem to exist. Unless you are put into a coffin.
But your soul? I don't play games with supernatural ghosts.
I take life very seriously, and cannot begin to think there is something otherworldly beyond death.
It is a position that screams fear of the dark, or cult-like brainwashing, for it is only religions that seem to speak of immortality after death, and religions so often offer themselves to those who are desperate or afraid.
While it is harshest, coldest, hardest truth that speaks of death being the end.
I speak to animals when I want truth, for animals have no words; no lies. Only actions and authenticity.
It is humans that lie to each other, to control each other, "Obey my god's law, and become immortal in a nice place as a reward."
Or out of fear, "I am terrified of what can only be pain as my body stops working, and my brain malfunctions to such a point that it cannot return to a functional state. Death is the ultimate loss of life, liberty, and happiness. There must be something more after death."
Or ignorance, not on a chosen level, but upon the very conceptualization of your brain, "I cannot possibly comprehend death, for my genetic code has always been passed onwards before my ancestor died. Not one ancestor has ever met with death before breeding, therefore, my mind cannot instinctively comprehend death."
The only hint is this: Why do living beings fear death, and seek life?
Why does the plant grow deep roots, and always stretch towards the sunny sky?
Why does the rabbit flee without thinking if there is even a hint of a threat?
Why do humans, without evidence or reason, try so hard to believe that death is not the end, when it is very clearly the end?
The truth is the truth, and the truth does not seem compatible with immortality.
This is a harsh world, most certainly. Is it a justification?
"I don't mind farming animals and mutating them into forms that cannot exist without humans, because cows don't actually mind being slaughtered en masse. They just keep living afterwards, in a parallel reality. What happy cows. Their fear and screams mean nothing, because they will be happy elsewhere soon."
What lies. What obvious lies.
The human speaks, "I don't mind dying, because I'll just end up in a parallel reality where I can just keep having a good time. Oh, I bet I can see other people who died."
Am I aware that I just made that up? I certainly am, but are you?
It sounds like a lie because it is a lie. The truth is dark.
"I do not wish to die, so I will try to be healthy, so I can live a long time, as well as avoid accidents and harm. I will try my hardest to not die, for I have a feeling deep within my heart, deeper than my conscious mind, which understands that death is incredibly unfavorable to my existence."
The truth is the truth.
Who here can lie to a child?
Who here can lie to themselves?
Who here will lie to others? And why?
To comfort them from the truth?
Damn you all. Damn you lying humans.
Damn you for telling me my dead cat might be waiting for me.
Damn you for telling me my loved ones are waiting.
What filthy lies. I can handle the truth. I deserve to cry.
Must I suppress my natural tears? When a person I love dies, it is normal to cry.
It is a hideous, depraved thing to pretend like they have simply gone elsewhere, when my heart knows the truth. Is it only to suppress my tears? To rid myself of what is quite clearly a horrifyingly negative emotion? Do my screams of rage and sadness disturb you? Does the truth of my pain disturb you more than what I see as lies disturbs me? It is only natural to fear death, and to sob upon another person dying. This natural feeling belongs to not only my mind, but my heart.
That is why I cry upon death, and look both ways twice when I cross the street.
~Kitten
Brilliant post. People and religions have spent so much time and so many dead trees on trying unprove what they all know to be true: death is the end. No gods, no ghosts, only gulls.
There is no end. Only new beginnings.
If you want to escape death, write down your philosophies, record your tales. Have a family, and allow your child to be a continuation of you. A separate being, but bound by just one thing: An immortal strand of genetic code, just enough to continue the quest that began upon the existence of a self-replicating chemical.
Upvoted & Followed you.
Please give same on my post.
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there is a big faulty premise in your essay: you are confusing "human condition/ning" with the "true human nature" . But most philosophers do the same mistake... divide and rule. Kids at school do not learn how to think for themselves but conform. And it has been this way since eons.
So until people realize this, we'll get much of the same, what will make nihilists and atheists endlessly write about it. Circular thinking in other words
I am not religious, but because of experiences I've had with dreams, out of body experiences and psychidelics, I am sure that death is not the end. I am also sure that I will not succeed in convinincing you today. However I do enjoy the conversation.
The problem with your philosophy is that it removes any reason to live. It negates all purpose of life. Does one cherish what they have? How can anyone appreciate anything that means nothing to an existence that isn't even a blink of an eye on any scale greater than our own? What incentive is there to continue struggling through the pain and misery of this world, if the end simply means that none of it mattered?
There is so much beauty and wonder in this world to experience and explore, what would be the point of it all if we simply went out like a burnt light bulb at the end?
I believe there is a life after this one, and I live my life as if that were the case. If it turns out I'm wrong, I won't know the difference. If it turns out you're wrong, you'll have an eternity to think about it. That isn't the reasoning behind my beliefs, but simply an observation of possible outcomes.
The truth isn't what you decide it is. You said it yourself, the truth is the truth. We all simply decide while we're alive what we think the truth is and wait for the answer.
What is the point of a lightbulb if it burns out at the end?
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it.
John 1:1-5
The lightbulb isn't alive. It's an inanimate object. We are not. I believe we have souls, and that we're more than the sum of the chemical reactions that create electrical signals that in turn make our bodies function.
Yes life is full of sadness and pain, but sadly, without sadness and pain, how could we experience joy and comfort? All of those experiences (good and bad) are what is molding the creature that is ourselves. The sum of those experiences is what I believe we carry with us into the next life, to become what we will be in that place, whatever and wherever it is.
Shortly before he died, my wife told her cousin that he was like a caterpillar shedding his skin and becoming the butterfly that he was pupating into while he was on this earth. I thought that was a beautiful analogy of what life was.
Simply because the bad is so difficult to bear, you can't ignore the good. And just because the good is so beautiful, you can't ignore the bad. You need to see them both for either to have value. No one likes to hurt, but without it, we can't grow as a person.
Most certainly, I tell you, if a person keeps my word, he will never see death.”
JOHN 51-58
Interesting, both your article and mine get resteemed at the same time.
The answer to your question is somewhat like the "one hand clapping" koan - the answer is not in words but in a revelation.
Very interesting read. You certainly have a unique style of writing. Overall the message (or parts of it) reminds me of something that Neil deGrasse Tyson said on the subject of death. To paraphrase:
"I know exactly what happens when we die. Our heart stops pumping blood. The electrical signals in our brain stop firing. Our body turns cold."
Everything else is just belief, guess work, or speculation. Such things are are probably best thought of as an indulgence in a self-created illusion.
I kind of already said this in my previous post to you but its interesting how people desperately want to believe that they will see their loved ones when they die. Like you being told that you will see your dead cat again. However, we should consider the fact that our loved ones exist as memories in our brain and when our brain dies, the memories will no longer exist. If we wish to speculate that something like a soul does in fact live on, we should at least realize that not only will we not remember who our loved ones are, but we will not care that we don't remember them.
Anyway, great post.
The existence of another being is certainly to be respected, both in their living foundation upon the Earth, and of their memory, which shall be forever precious to those still living.
The unbroken chain of the genetic code is our closest link to immortality, for on the level of our genes, never once has the code met with death.
In all honesty, I'm not sure exactly what you are saying here lol. It sounds like you are saying "through reproduction (passing on our genes), we live on (immortality)."
The gene itself is what lives on.
The body produced by the gene will die, but the gene itself has not died, unless the body it produces can't adapt to the real-world environment.