Why Death Isn’t A Bad Thing

The unknown terrifies us. We fear that which we do not know. Human nature and our survival has been built upon knowledge, it’s granted us the privilege of ruling over this vast land. We’ve built cities, probes, and planes, we can eradicate deadly viruses and look at things down to the atom, but what happens once we die?

The short answer is, we simply do not know. It’s an excruciatingly painful answer, but like with most things, the truth is an awful reality that we try to hide from. 

I do not believe that death is a bad thing. I don’t believe death should be something that we fear because it’s an inescapable fate that we’re all bound to experience at the end of our journey. 

How can death be evil for the person dying if it’s simply a part of the cycle of living? In fact, evil is a harsh word people use to describe death, I feel as though they’re mistaken because evil is truthfully subjective, as with morality. How can something be inherently evil if it treats all people indifferent? 

I am not saying the act of dying is not painful or a bad thing, dying a slow death is awful, however, being dead in and of itself cannot be inherently bad or good because when we are dead, we’ll be exactly where we were before being conceived. This leads me to my next point: was existence prior to conception bad? No, it was not, simply because we had no conscience and no frame of reference whatsoever. How can you judge death when your consciousness simply is not there to judge it in the first place?

When we die we also have no concept of pleasure or pain, no concept of good and bad, and no consciousness to be aware of what is happening. And thus, why should we fear something that is no different from our time preconception?

Although this article was short, I feel as though people often neglect the thought of death because it is something they find frightening, which is justifiable. I do not want to die anytime soon, but if I continue to negate the fact that one day I will die, how will I enjoy my life to the fullest? I appreciate every day I wake up because I’m aware that death is a possibility. I do not fear it, I fear the act of dying, yes, but I do not fear death because, in death, you are unaware of anything that is happening, so you cannot be fearful.

There is no solace in death, and there is no anguish in death, you have no frame of mind whatsoever, so what is there to fear?