It's been oft said that the only sure things in life are death and taxes. It seems so obvious that few people would argue with the sentiment. After years of contemplation, I'm not altogether sure I believe it anymore.
For one thing, there have been news articles over the years that detail how some wealthy corporations, individuals and families are able to skirt their tax obligations. However, even in these cases, it's hard not to argue that they underwrite some taxes built into the items they purchase. I'll leave discussion for this part of the axiom for another day!
The thing I want to focus on this post is the concept of death. The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning toward the idea that death, in an abstract sense, is a sure thing. In a personal sense, I'm not sure it exists at all.
We can understand the concept in its abstract form by acknowledging and/or witnessing the deaths of others. The abstract meaning of death really hit home for me when I sat next to my terminally-ill mother's hospital bed and watched/heard the heart monitor flatline. When it became painfully obvious that nary a breath filled her lungs and she wasn't going to sit up to say, "Let's get the heck out of dodge," it came crashing down on me that my dear mama was no more.
But when my time comes, I'm not convinced that the certainty of death will hold any meaning. I may understand it as I fight for one last gasp of air, but, at the moment my heart stops beating, I think the chances are great that I won't perceive anything. So, in terms of this one self, death will have eluded me.
In this same vein, most of us would agree that, in an abstract sense, there is a 99.99999% chance the sun will rise tomorrow. With odds that great, most of us would grant it is a certainty. But what if you or I die this evening? Will the sun genuinely rise in the morning?
It all goes back to the question: If a tree falls in the forest, yet no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? In others words, is the sound tied to someone perceiving it? We can take this same tack with the sun. If the sun comes up tomorrow, but no entity perceives it, did it rise after all?
And this is what I'm trying to get at in relation to death. From all the information I've been able to glean thus far, beings can perceive the act of dying, but it seems unlikely that we can perceive death itself. When death strikes, consciousness exits. With no consciousness left to perceive it, it begs the question of will we understand death personally when it happens to us?
My guess is no, we won't. Therefore, if all we can perceive is life, then the underlying meaning of death is nothing more than an abstract notion. It is something we can comprehend externally, but not internally.
For one thing, there have been news articles over the years that detail how some wealthy corporations, individuals and families are able to skirt their tax obligations. However, even in these cases, it's hard not to argue that they underwrite some taxes built into the items they purchase. I'll leave discussion for this part of the axiom for another day!
The thing I want to focus on this post is the concept of death. The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning toward the idea that death, in an abstract sense, is a sure thing. In a personal sense, I'm not sure it exists at all.
We can understand the concept in its abstract form by acknowledging and/or witnessing the deaths of others. The abstract meaning of death really hit home for me when I sat next to my terminally-ill mother's hospital bed and watched/heard the heart monitor flatline. When it became painfully obvious that nary a breath filled her lungs and she wasn't going to sit up to say, "Let's get the heck out of dodge," it came crashing down on me that my dear mama was no more.
But when my time comes, I'm not convinced that the certainty of death will hold any meaning. I may understand it as I fight for one last gasp of air, but, at the moment my heart stops beating, I think the chances are great that I won't perceive anything. So, in terms of this one self, death will have eluded me.
In this same vein, most of us would agree that, in an abstract sense, there is a 99.99999% chance the sun will rise tomorrow. With odds that great, most of us would grant it is a certainty. But what if you or I die this evening? Will the sun genuinely rise in the morning?
It all goes back to the question: If a tree falls in the forest, yet no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? In others words, is the sound tied to someone perceiving it? We can take this same tack with the sun. If the sun comes up tomorrow, but no entity perceives it, did it rise after all?
And this is what I'm trying to get at in relation to death. From all the information I've been able to glean thus far, beings can perceive the act of dying, but it seems unlikely that we can perceive death itself. When death strikes, consciousness exits. With no consciousness left to perceive it, it begs the question of will we understand death personally when it happens to us?
My guess is no, we won't. Therefore, if all we can perceive is life, then the underlying meaning of death is nothing more than an abstract notion. It is something we can comprehend externally, but not internally.
Wow, this is pretty deep man, I never thought of it that way. But I guess it's like how there is nothing "you" can do to bring about ego death, since to bring about that ego death is an activity of that ego, and thus ego-strengthening, rather than -weakening. It's sort of the same vein.
ReplyDeleteAnyways, thanks for giving me something to think about. (as usual)
i agree with brandon, i've never thought about it this way before. i think it's like you said though, that we feel the deaths of others but possibly cannot experience our own death.
ReplyDelete