But wait! A survey like this doesn’t get at some of the (potentially gender based) issues that came up in our conversation – i.e. I was talking about the fact that I *am* afraid of death, but for very different reasons than the ones you mentioned – for me, it’s all about the pain it would cause the people I am close to, and the pain I feel at the thought of being permanently separated from them.
(Actually the differences between your reasons and mine remind me of what I thought was a fairly insightful question in one of those silly on-line surveys I was recently forwarded. It was one that was supposed to guess your gender, and one of the questions was “What is the most important role of the internet – information or communication?” Interesting that in reflecting on our fears of death, your fear is based on a loss of information, wheras mine is based in a loss of relationships / communication.)
Heheh. The poll is broad and imperfect, and meant to force a direct answer — but interpretation of terms is intentionally left ambiguous! If a person identifies as neither male nor female (however they choose to make that identification), then this is not a question for that person.
And the reason isn’t so much what I’m interested in, either…so I’d say go ahead and put yourself down as a yes. I should add, however, that when I’ve asked the question to various people, I have generally gotten a straight yes or no answer. If a person doesn’t feel comfortable with that, then this is not a question for that person, either!
I dunno if I fear death. I have until very recently, but then I did some thinking about it, and I’m not sure if I do anymore. I could see myself, by the time I get to be a really old dude, being ready to pass the world on to other people. I wouldn’t want to stay around mucking it up forever.
I DO fear premature death. It almost seems ridiculous not to. There are certain things I want to contribute and experience, and I’m assuming a certain time frame for these things to happen. If suddenly it turns out I have much less time than I thought, well, that would suck big time.
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But wait! A survey like this doesn’t get at some of the (potentially gender based) issues that came up in our conversation – i.e. I was talking about the fact that I *am* afraid of death, but for very different reasons than the ones you mentioned – for me, it’s all about the pain it would cause the people I am close to, and the pain I feel at the thought of being permanently separated from them.
(Actually the differences between your reasons and mine remind me of what I thought was a fairly insightful question in one of those silly on-line surveys I was recently forwarded. It was one that was supposed to guess your gender, and one of the questions was “What is the most important role of the internet – information or communication?” Interesting that in reflecting on our fears of death, your fear is based on a loss of information, wheras mine is based in a loss of relationships / communication.)
Heheh. The poll is broad and imperfect, and meant to force a direct answer — but interpretation of terms is intentionally left ambiguous! If a person identifies as neither male nor female (however they choose to make that identification), then this is not a question for that person.
And the reason isn’t so much what I’m interested in, either…so I’d say go ahead and put yourself down as a yes. I should add, however, that when I’ve asked the question to various people, I have generally gotten a straight yes or no answer. If a person doesn’t feel comfortable with that, then this is not a question for that person, either!
Also, awesome observation on that random online survey!
Brilliant idea…
I can see the scientist growing in you!
Ha! There’ll be a blog post in the near future on that very topic…
I dunno if I fear death. I have until very recently, but then I did some thinking about it, and I’m not sure if I do anymore. I could see myself, by the time I get to be a really old dude, being ready to pass the world on to other people. I wouldn’t want to stay around mucking it up forever.
I DO fear premature death. It almost seems ridiculous not to. There are certain things I want to contribute and experience, and I’m assuming a certain time frame for these things to happen. If suddenly it turns out I have much less time than I thought, well, that would suck big time.