Are you afraid of death?

  • No but I don’t want to die cuz this is fun.
  • Depends on the means of death.  I welcome the apocalypse but fear terminal illness.
  • Absolutely positively yes.
  • I am afraid of a painful death but not afraid of not existing.  Or more succinctly I am not afraid of death, just dying.
  • You should definitely do these next year as an advent calendar…
  • No, but nor am I welcoming.
  • I hate you, I hate Tina, I hate, Reno, I hate brian, I hate Vanessa, I hate dave k, I hate erin rubin, I hate my new baby, I hate Jesus, I hate marijuana, I hate masterbating, I hate. Chicken.  I hate little steve.  I hate Blinsky, I hate dr. V, I hate vomiting , I hate puppies, I hate we bought a Zoo. I hate my mom. I hate I hate I hate I hAte I hate I hate I hate I hate I hate I hate I hate we bought a zoo (sic throughout).
  • Not particularly. But a bit anxious about the pain part.
  • It’s not that I’m afraid, per se.  I just really don’t want to do it.  I’m more afraid of the suffering leading up to death.  Being aware of my failing faculties would be the pits. Though Jake just corrected me and said that the fact that I don’t want to die is in fact a fear of death.  I guess I’m afraid of the process of dying.
  • I am cool with death as long as it does not involve me being eternally surrounded by religious people.
  • I don’t think I’m scared of dying, but I’m scared about what’s going to happen to me after I’m dead? Is there an afterlife? I think there is, but how do I know? what if there’s nothing, and it’s like I never existed? Woah.
  • Only two words scare me:  “President Palin”.
  • Not death. Just pain.  Hope it happens instantly for me.
  • No. Afraid of not doing what I think my purpose is in life before I die.
  • Only when I think about dying.
  • Only sometimes.
  • I am not afraid of death itself but more the process of dying.
  • Not at all. I find it quite intriguing.
  • I don’t fear being dead so much as I fear the whole process of dying.
  • Mine? I’m more afraid of the death of loved ones than my own.
  • Yes.
  • I’m afraid of other people’s deaths because of the sadness that death brings. I’m not so much afraid of my own death… just hope I don’t suffer.
  • No, but I am terrified of dying.  It isn’t the end of life that scares me.  I simply will not exist.  It is the process of dying and the instinctual, biological, and chemical responses of my body that are terrifying.
  • “hey dave, aren’t you afraid of getting burned in a fire? - nah, it only hurts until you’re dead.”
  • It’s not the death that scares me, it’s the sudden stop…
  • I’m only afraid that it might occur before I’m ready for it.  I still have so much to do!
  • yes, mostly because I don’t want to leave this time and place, not be with my son, and this is all I know.  And no, because I want to shed this mortal skin and be a speck of light floating forever in the universe.
  • Not afraid of death, but I am afraid of not living enough before I die.
  • No.
  • I ride motorcycles.
  • Less now than ever before.
  • Yes! Nonexistence is freaky.
  • Yes. 
  • Not afraid of death, but the thought of dying is a good reminder to not take life for granted.
  • I want to have group sex first (The answers are anonymous, right?)
  • I’m resigned to it.
  • Totally.
  • Not death necessarily.  I struggle sometimes with the darkness but, if there’s nothing but blackness, I’ll never know. It’s the idea that I will lack any being that is most difficult for me to deal with.

“Indeed, the only truly serious questions are ones that even a child can formulate. Only the most naive of questions are truly serious. They are the questions with no answers. A question with no answer is a barrier that cannot be breached. In other words, it is questions with no answers that set the limit of human possibilities, describe the boundaries of human existence.”
Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Do you believe in fate?

  • Of course. 
  • I do.
  • I like the idea of fate… like everything happens for a reason. Gives things a purpose.
  • Definitely. Hands down.
  • Don’t know. If that says anything.
  • Not really.
  • 42.
  • I do. I think everything happens for a reason. Sometimes fate makes something happen and you have to give it a little push to make it happen better.
  • Kinda, God more than fate. But at the same time I think often what God ‘wants’ is essentially unknowable.
  • Only when it pertains to you and I.
  • Huh?
  • No, I think we inadvertently make choices that lead us to our subconscious desires therefore creating an illusion of fate.
  • Yes. But not in the future sense, more like a collection of choices as fate rather than it being written.  Fate is not what will be.
  • Sort of. I believe everything is destined to happen but it’s all based on minute details and events already set in motion.  Life can change drastically, both short and long term, by making simple choices on a daily basis.  The effects may not always be recognizable. As far as fate in relation to meeting people? More or less the same. Although, I consider that to be more coincidence than fate.  Similar choices made by another person leading to the same place, resulting in a higher possibility of meeting someone with like-minded attitudes toward life choices.  After all, you both ended up there.  That’s my long short answer.
  • Love the idea but try not to count on it too much.  Definitely guilty of saying “everything happens for a reason.”  That’s the same, right?
  • Only when it’s on my side.
  • Yes! How else would I have met George?!
  • Some days; yes. Some days; no.
  • Yes!
  • Ish. When it comes to people interactions and connections I think we may have pre-existing connections that cause us to intersect with others in our lives, but I suppose that is more of a predilection rather than “meant to be.”  To the extent that things happen in our lives as a result of those connections I suppose there could be a bit of “fate” as in too strong a force to avoid, but I think that as far as life happenings, I don’t think we are fated to “do” any particular thing, or to endure any particular outcome… In fact I think we control those outcomes much more than we realize…
  • No.  I believe in free will.  Circumstances may be “predetermined” but how we interact with them is up to us.
  • Yes I do, but I do believe you have to see it to make it actually happen.  So you have to keep your eyes open to everything around you.
  • I believe in a general balance to the universe.  Put more good into it, more good comes out.  When bad things happen to good people, it will still somehow lead to a good outcome.  I guess that’s karma, not fate.
  • Yep. A potent mix of timing and self-determination, but it all ends up feeling like fate in the end, and who am I to question fate?
  • Having an existential crisis?
  • No.  Believing in fate is like believing in god.  Both are artificial constructs to make us feel better about decisions we’ve made and absolve us from responsibility.
  • No… I think we have influence and there are greater forces.
  • YES! The universe is crazy!
  • I believe in fate, especially when it’s expedient.
  • Hope existential mass text means that the guy who robbed your apartment was just diagnosed with herpes.  Or else I’m confusing karma with fate.
  • No.
  • I believe in coyotes.
  • I like the idea of fate…
  • I believe in it only when it’s on my side. Otherwise, it’s bad luck. 
  • Existence precedes essence.
  • If there is a fate, and I do not believe in fate, isn’t that fate?
  • Somewhat.  I believe we are mostly in control of our own fate but some things are out of hands. 
  • Yes.
  • Some days more than others.
  • Yes.  And that it works with you to get you where you should be in your life ony if you are listening to your inner voice (i.e. that thing called soul or collective consciousness or life energy etc. etc.).
  • Get a job, you have too much time on your hands. 
  • I believe in coincidence and subconscious decisions that sure do feel like fate!
  • I don’t believe in fate… I believe in crazy.
  • I believe in science.