
Brain 'Shields' Itself from the Existential Threat of Death - jaytaylor
https://www.livescience.com/brain-shields-idea-death.html
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defterGoose
Weed is something that often makes me acutely aware of my mortality, and to an
extent that is quite uncomfortable. I remember once in college, soon after my
grandpa died, doing some edibles and kind of freaking out ruminating about the
inescapability of mortality.

However, I think this strong gut feeling of finiteness is something that you
can use to cultivate gratefulness and empathy. I attribute my staunch
environmentalism and sometimes-dim view of human nature to this. We as humans
love to congratulate ourselves on our cleverness and 'elevated' position in
the world, yet we are singularly incapable of escaping suffering and death.

Often, when confronted with an instance of someone's hubris I wish I could say
to them: "You know you're going to die, right? No really, you _will_ die."

~~~
benji_is_me
I've personally experienced this. I believe that I am somehow predisposed to
recurrent feelings of death anxiety; panic episodes have plagued me since
early high school.

Around that time, I first experienced a cannabis high. It was horrible. For
whatever reason, I felt like time was skipping and my existential fear of
death grew to never-before-seen levels. I vividly remember spending over an
hour shaking, spilling my fear onto my dad. Even the thought makes me
dissociate and feel panicky.

(Yes, I've seen a psychiatrist and become more able to control my response. My
incompatible mindset, however, remains.)

I believe other people in my life are better at ignoring or denying these
feelings. I'm curious if anyone shares my experience.

------
ksaj
Yngwie Malmsteen's "As Above, So Below" sings "I will never die, 'cos I will
fly to the other side."

The Scorpion's song "We'll Burn The Sky" seems to have similar sentiments. It
was written by Jimi Hendrix' girlfriend after his death. It doesn't really
deny death, but sees it as a way to be back together with the deceased, in a
way that resembles life.

The more I think of it, the more songs along these lines come to mind.

