What does it mean to die?

[God ~blogs admin ~]

Now, if you tell yourself "Huh, I've never thought about that... this blog seems kinda depressing..." Have no fear! It ain't like that. Also, if you said "I've never really thought about it" I envy you, also you might be an animal. So.... without the usual "umms.... ermms"

What does it mean to die? Well, the easiest answer to the question "It's when you kick the bucket for the last time". Which leads me onto the next question, can we really, truly die? And I don't mean in a physical way, all things end but their not forgotten. People will remember you, the way you touch their life's have helped shape who they are. Thus that kinda answers the question "Am I important?" Yes, because without you're touch on other people, they just wouldn't be the same. If someone knew a crippled person in one reality, they would (hopefully) know pity and want to help people like that. Whilst in another reality, the said someone didn't know said disabled person, would he know pity? Not in the way he did before.

Back to the second question though. Can we truly die? If we die physically but the way we lived our life, the way we touched people for the better or worse will have long lasting affects. Which leads me to my answer, no.

We never truly die because we never truly leave this world, but we are awarded eternal rest, and quite frankly I thank whatever god for that part.

[Kenny (TOK)]

I know people say that while we are remembered we "live on," but I think that is a euphemism, not to be construed as being alive. When people die we tend to feel loss, and personally, I know it is not for the person who died, but myself and those who were left in this labyrinth to trudge on without their company. So to comfort ourselves we say they are still affecting the world, which they are, and since we mourn our loss of their influence, rather than them being dead per se, this is enough to comfort us.

Things I own and food I eat cause ripples on my life, so if we say ripples are a sufficient condition for life, it seems like we are using a definition of "life" quite removed from any popularly recognizable one.

[God ~blogs admin ~]

Well, would the ability to affect other peoples way of thinking, how they see the world and in essence, change their person be a sense of living? Sure, I couldn't know how I'm affecting the person but I still am, thus in essence I'm still alive.

Yes, we all die physically, and yes we don't change after that point. But the ripples you cause, and the people you influence will carry you're influence onto all the people they know, and that influence will affect all those people in different ways forming yet another ripple affect on a greater scale.

[Kenny (TOK)]

I would be more inclined to say modern atoms were named in honor to the philosophy of Democritus, but that is irrelevant to my main point, moving on. Truly, unless they take part in an atomic reaction, the elements our bodies are made of do continue to exist. However, that sidesteps the question, as being alive means much more, I think, than simply having a physical existence. For example, if I suddenly fall dead of a stroke, materially almost nothing has changed about me, but the processes that we call life suddenly cease, and I die.

Anyway, my point wasn't so much that, "everyone will die then we'll cease existing in their memories," it was more that, "everyone will die and we won't notice, because we already died and it won't change a whit about our situation."

[God ~blogs admin ~]

Ahh I knew that formula would come up. The old "Somethings gonna kill everyone at some point or another" annoyance.

Well, I'll take it for granted that you know about Democritus. He was the one who 'discovered' Atoms. He theorized that when we die, our Atom's just separate and go to mold something else. Now, how can we truly die if our Atoms just go on to recreate something, or help build something else? Due to Atom's being everywhere, meaning in space/the-universe, nothing limt's our Atom's in this spot in space.

Now, I'll try and go further into this tomorrow, being late and all I'll most likely say something in the wrong way.

[Kenny (TOK)]

I'm sorry, but I'm going to go the depressing route of yes, we die. Not just because, as John mentions, there will almost certainly come a time when we are not in anyone's memory, but because there comes a point when we stop experiencing the world forever, so we are dead. Consider, if I stopped living in 12 years, then an asteroid slams into the planet in 20 years causing humanity to go extinct, would I care? If I live in the memories of others it seems that I should, because a lot of where I live just got wiped out. But probably I do not, because I am unaware of this, because I am dead. Of course, we are not sure what we will be aware of after death, which leaves the possibility of life (or existence) after death.

[Hangla]

I agree that we never really die because we live on in the memories of others. For some reason it made me think of this time when I was little and I was getting ready to walk out the door. I was running away and my little brother grabbed my arm and begged me to stay which I did. I highly doubt he remembers that, but I think it is memories like that is how we keep on living.