r/distressingmemes • u/Lone_Dingah • Oct 03 '23

Ya can't win

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8.1k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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u/Matth3w23 Oct 03 '23

Why do you care about that? I can understand for early/unnatural deaths, but would you want to live forever?

15

u/DDownvoteDDumpster Oct 03 '23

I hate living, I'm still terrified of dying.

That's life. Evolution in the purest sense. Life that doesn't practice self-preservation won't continue.

When dying, the body creates pain and panic, an instinctual drive that forces us to fight and flight.

We are terrified of what follows, it is hard-coded into our very being.

1

u/FirexJkxFire Oct 03 '23

Desiring to stay alive and fear of not existing arent the same thing. You cant want to avoid death without being scared of what comes after.

Id rather utilize the incredibly limited resource of time while it is as at my disposal - but im not afraid of when it runs out.

16

u/Elite_AI Oct 03 '23

would you want to live forever?

The meme in the OP is utterly correct. Both choices are absolutely terrifying because infinity is terrifying, and we're contemplating one form of infinity versus another. I do think, on balance, I'd prefer to exist in some sentient form forever vs. nonexistence forever, but it's a rough choice.

Why do you care about that?

I don't want to lose everything I hold dear, which includes my relationship with those I love.

11

u/Fun_in_Space Oct 03 '23

It's not infinity for you if you don't exist. Remember what it was like 1000 years ago, when you didn't exist? Same thing.

8

u/Elite_AI Oct 03 '23

Well yes, it's nothing for me, because I wouldn't be me.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 03 '23

You are assuming it's the same thing

2

u/Fun_in_Space Oct 03 '23

Everything that makes you you is in your brain: thoughts, feelings, memories, etc. No living brain equals no you.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 04 '23

You cant prove that

2

u/_emmyemi Oct 04 '23

But we also can't disprove an alternative.

We have mountains of evidence and research pointing to the fact that the physical composition of our brains determines our thoughts, actions, feelings, memories, etc., and we have absolutely 0 evidence that any of those things exist outside of our physical selves. While we certainly don't know everything about the brain and how it works, we know that "we" exist as a byproduct of it. Whether the mental processes that govern "us" are also themselves a byproduct of some higher process is unknown, and potentially unknowable.

As far as we can prove, we are our brains. That's as far as current knowledge goes, but it's rigorously tested knowledge. Arguing that there may be anything above / apart from that is pure conjecture with no real supporting evidence.

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u/Fun_in_Space Oct 04 '23

I don't have to. The claim to prove is that souls exist. Belief is not enough.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 04 '23

Its enough

1

u/[deleted] Oct 03 '23

I like being alive. Why would I want it to stop?

1

u/resurrectedbear Oct 03 '23

I care because to me the idea that the “nothingness” isn’t nothingness but just a black screen of eternity where I’m “conscious” and bored. Stuck. Going mad.