Life Without Death

How do you think life would be without death? Aside from the biological implications? What would happen to planning, hoping, setting goals?

This is not about being in heaven (or hell, or any "afterlife"😉. This is about coming into existence on earth and not leaving.

It is based on:

The Vitality of Death by Peter Koestenbaum

http://books.google.com/books?id=-tctAAAAMAAJ&q=vitality#search_anchor

I can't seem to cut and paste from that link, so will type in a little excerpt:

"The thought of death urges one to assume a total plan for life. The vitality of death leads one to adopt an ideal or goal, an ideal life, or a major achievement as the purpose of existence. Through the vitality of death, one is able to see all events in life from the perspect..."

and there the link ends the quote. There is more to the idea than this excerpt covers.

Gman replied as follows:

"Why can't a person do any of these things without death in view? If anything if I knew I was not going to die I think my plans of things to do would sky rocket knowing I don't have to rush and that I have all the time in the world to complete them knowing it will eventually get done and in a way I think it was perfect. If not I know I could start over and keep retrying until it was perfect."

Originally posted by JS357
How do you think life would be without death? Aside from the biological implications? What would happen to planning, hoping, setting goals?

This is not about being in heaven (or hell, or any "afterlife"😉. This is about coming into existence on earth and not leaving.

It is based on:

The Vitality of Death by Peter Koestenbaum

http://books.google.com/ ...[text shortened]... was perfect. If not I know I could start over and keep retrying until it was perfect."

i have to agree with gman. that line of questioning is similar to the absurd question of asking what purpose would there be without god?

people make their own purpose and set their own goals. death only stops them short.

but it makes room for the next sucker to try his luck.

Originally posted by VoidSpirit
i have to agree with gman. that line of questioning is similar to the absurd question of asking what purpose would there be without god?

people make their own purpose and set their own goals. death only stops them short.

but it makes room for the next sucker to try his luck.

As you say, "What purpose would there be without god?" is similar to "What purpose would there be without death?" Some people point to god as the answer to the apparent absurdity of life that for all our purposes and goals, only ends in death. Others say that the concept of god is an attempt to confront and defeat the prospect of death.

Originally posted by JS357
As you say, "What purpose would there be without god?" is similar to "What purpose would there be without death?" Some people point to god as the answer to the apparent absurdity of life that for all our purposes and goals, only ends in death. Others say that the concept of god is an attempt to confront and defeat the prospect of death.

I think the knights confession from Bergmans existentialist masterpiece, the
Seventh seal is insightful,

DEATH
Yes, I hear you.

KNIGHT
I want knowledge, not faith, not suppositions,
but knowledge. I want God to stretch out His
hand towards me, reveal Himself and speak to
me.

DEATH
But He remains silent.

KNIGHT
I call out to Him in the dark but no one seems
to be there.

DEATH
Perhaps no one is there.

KNIGHT
Then life is an outrageous horror. No one can
live in the face of death, knowing that all is
nothingness.

DEATH
Most people never reflect about either death or
the futility of life.

KNIGHT
But one day they will have to stand at that
last moment of life and look towards the
darkness.

DEATH
When that day comes ...

KNIGHT
In our fear, we make an image, and that image
we call God.

DEATH
You are worrying ...

KNIGHT
Death visited me this morning. We are playing
chess together. This reprieve gives me the
chance to arrange an urgent matter.

DEATH
What matter is that?

KNIGHT
My life has been a futile pursuit, a wandering,
a great deal of talk without meaning. I feel no
bitterness or self-reproach because the lives
of most people are very much like this. But I
will use my reprieve for one meaningful deed.

DEATH
Is that why you are playing chess with Death?

KNIGHT
He is a clever opponent, but up to now I
haven't lost a single man.

DEATH
How will you outwit Death in your game?

KNIGHT
I use a combination of the bishop and the
knight which he hasn't yet discovered. In the
next move I'll shatter one of his flanks.

DEATH
I'll remember that.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
I think the knights confession from Bergmans existentialist masterpiece, the
Seventh seal is insightful,

DEATH
Yes, I hear you.

KNIGHT
I want knowledge, not faith, not suppositions,
but knowledge. I want God to stretch out His
hand towards me, reveal Himself and speak to
me.

DEATH
But He remains silent.

KNIGHT
I call out to Him ...[text shortened]... discovered. In the
next move I'll shatter one of his flanks.

DEATH
I'll remember that.

I'm guessing death uses a chess engine of some sort. 😛

Originally posted by whodey
I'm guessing death uses a chess engine of some sort. 😛

sigh i try to elevate the conversation and it ends up a comic strip! is there no justice 😛

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
sigh i try to elevate the conversation and it ends up a comic strip! is there no justice 😛

Great post, rc.

Meaning can still be taken from the dialogue when the idea of Death using a chess engine is introduced. In fact, Death's final line suggests he has the game under control one way or another, and will be ready for the promised flank shattering.

The universe is not only stupendously immense but also largely quite simple (it can be accounted for with relatively limited scientific and mathematical laws) and quite meaningless in and of itself.

In all that wilderness, here we are, alive and conscious and able to describe the universe and able to experience it on many levels. We can add to that a powerful aura of emotion and hence of aesthetic appreciation.

The point (if one is required) is not that we die, nor for that matter that in the past we had yet to be born. It is that we live.

Originally posted by JS357
How do you think life would be without death? Aside from the biological implications? What would happen to planning, hoping, setting goals?

Although death has some impact on my planning, hoping, goal setting, I nevertheless try to ignore it. I don't know how different life would be without death. I guess one could live a more risky life - or is that the 'biological implications'?

Originally posted by twhitehead
Although death has some impact on my planning, hoping, goal setting, I nevertheless try to ignore it. I don't know how different life would be without death. I guess one could live a more risky life - or is that the 'biological implications'?

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