Most Americans believe their soul, mind or some kind of sentience continuous with their “self” survives the death of the body. If you are a believer in an afterlife, why do you mourn death?
I don’t beleive in an afterlife, but I think the reasons that people mourn death are mostly selfish ones.
I totally agree. =D>
Mourning in general is not only the act of feeling sorry for the death of the person. It also entails the pain over the loss of a connection you had with that person. I not only feel bad for Billy for dying (cuz he is no longer able to live the good life he had), but I also feel bad because the relationship i had with him is no more.
Sure it might be selfish but doesn’t mourning to get over the pain fall under the category of “rational self interest”? Mourning is healthy, especially if the relationship was particularly strong. Its not like mourning can accomplish some sort of goal or ulterior motive.
I believe that I in some form or another will continue. I mourn death for selfish reasons. I miss those that die. It hurts to not have them around you. Death removes a part of your world here, so of course you mourn.
If you lost part of your finger it would hurt, and you would probably mourn the loss of it. Friends and family are no different.
I can be happy for them for what ever reason but, for me I am sad and in pain.
Watch this-
Sorry Murex dial up loves to take at least 30 minutes to download vids… I have not the time for that, and this phone line gets buzzed constantly by our clients, so even if I do think I might have the time, I will just get interrupted and have to start over again, LOL try waiting an hour only to have to go through it all over again, You end up just saying F it. and tabboo all vids. 
I live in the backwoods, the newest parts civilization have not reached us yet (anything that has occurred within the past decade) We lose phones and electricity at least 4 times a year for lengthy periods. Its a different way of life for a city girl but, I love it.
me too, except I do believe in the afterlife
I do as well.
Do you believe in an afterlife in which you will once again be with the people who you have known in this life?
If so, it’s a bit unclear to me why you would mourn the death of those close to you in this life. That would seem to be a little bit like mourning the loss of someone who doesn’t die but who only gets up off your couch to go to the refrigerator to get a beer.
I don’t know or really care if I reunite with people from this life. Sounds cold, but that’s how I feel. I believe most of my past will be remembered when I’m dead (the time before I was here). I probably have more caring souls from my past than from my present.
I don’t mourn the death of others, I just remember them. I’m sure athiests mourn the death of others though.
Do you believe this because you have tiniest shred of evidence for it or do you believe it only because it makes you feel good to believe it or for some other reason?
i have a shread of evidence. I have aquired knowledge from exploring my subconchious mind.
If nothing exists beyond this life, then what does anything matter? It would be a plesent suprise if there was something after. Perhaps it’s better to expect the worse senerio- I usually do.
I have no reason to suspect that it would be a “worse” scenario. I don’t remember being either happy or unhappy before I was born. I see no reason to believe that I’ll be either happy or unhappy after my death. Happiness and unhappiness seem to be qualities associated with the living, not with the non-living.
=D>
But what if you wanted life after death? Would the one who sees things that way percieve nothing after death ‘worse’?
Perhaps you don’t remember anything before you were born because those memories aren’t in your brain.
Sure, but only while such a person is alive.
In my view, I don’t see that it’s likely that any of us will ‘perceive’ anything after our deaths.
I believe that ‘wanting’ is a state that is associated with a functioning nervous system. Once my brain is gone, I doubt that I will continue to be happy, unhappy, wanting, desiring, or have any other thought or emotion.
It’s always possible that this is wrong and that I will continue to ‘want’ even after my brain returns to dust, but it is far from clear how this might be the case and is certainly no reason to believe that it is in the least bit probable.
I agree. What is not in my brain is not known by me.
I give you ‘props’ …whatever those are, for your reasonable thought process. I may disagree with your view of nothing after death, but I see your reasoning for it. A totally rational approach for your belief.
People who profess to believe in an afterlife and then mourn death as final, do not in fact truly believe in the afterlife. If they did they would not be bereaved by their loved one’s passing, the separation being only temporary. So bereavement at death exposes the spuriousness of the professed belief in afterlife.
Its not just the person that is missed, its the fact that that person will never see you in this life, the next life is shrouded in mystery, its not exactly clear what if anything will happen to us, wether or not we will be reunited or not. It is the uncirtainty that is feared. Like when a friend goes away to university, the life you used to live together is mourned, and even if you do see each other again, it will not be in the same context. Death takes this to the next level