The Paradox of Death (Episode

[@amirhosseinahmadi3706]

Sam, as an avid follower of yours, I have to tell you I often find your solo podcast episodes more appealing and interesting, and I'm sure many others share my sentiment, I hope you do these more often.

[@wmrajput]

This is like poetry mate

[@serengetilion]

Agree, love to hear Sam talk about what he thinks about.

[@Dazak]

I agree completely. Sam is at his best when pondering these philosophies of death and our relationship to that finality.

[@HelloJamesBond]

Yes I agree. I actually find a lot of the academics boring.

[@MicahBuzanANIMATION]

I agree. Sam has some interesting guests, but it's kinda tough when the host is often much more interesting to listen to.

[@RemnTheteth]

A weird one for me is I learned of Christopher Hitchens upon news of his death, driving home from work listening to NPR. I then proceeded to read most of his books, and listen to his debates and interviews. He was very much alive to me as I followed his work for a few years, telling me about himself and his beliefs. And sometimes I would remember that he had passed before I even knew who he was. A profound experience to feel like you're currently experiencing someone's mind while realizing they're dead. I really loved this talk.

[@starboy1100]

Same here. I didn’t discover Hitchens until after his death. But his thoughts and words live on in our minds.

[@terryreynoldson6698]

I want to die like my grandfather did: quietly in my sleep and NOT screaming in terror like the passengers in his car.

[@andybrown3016]

Good one lol

[@Grimpus1972]

"I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens." ~Woody Allen

[@manujohn99]

Don't worry he won't be there 😁😁🤣

[@luvsuneja]

Fear is a form of aversion.

[@andybrown3016]

“It’s not the being dead, it’s the getting dead” George Carlin

[@PeterGregoryKelly]

Something Woody Allen also said was to the effect of "I don't want to achieve immortality through great works, I want to achieve immortality by not not dying".

[@manujohn99]

@@PeterGregoryKelly Thats what everybody is doing...........lumphead

[@john12152]

I'm a magician/sleight of hand performer & every morning I put a playing card in my wallet with the current date & a message reading "I knew I was going to die today, thanks for being here to witness my last magic trick". I put it right over my driver's license so the medics are sure to find it...

[@robertbentley3589]

That's a good one. Thanks for the laugh.

[@daveyespo]

Perfect!

[@FollowFunk]

Dont know if thats just a joke, but if you die in an ambiguous way, ppl might take it as evidence of suicide.

[@john12152]

@@FollowFunk as long as it's a mystery I will have died happy...if I can still be a magician even shortly after I'm gone I consider it mission accomplished 😉

[@Chris-wm7zt]

That awkward moment if you die in your sleep

[@mguti090]

"It will happen to all of us that one day you'll be tapped on the shoulder and told -- not just that the party's over -- but slightly worse: the party's going on, and you have to leave. That's the reflection, I think, that most upsets people about their demise." - Christopher Hitchens

[@Apjooz]

I hate the cliche about how life goes on after someone's death. It feels too much like abandoning your buddy in a battlefield.

[@ilsedemolder3973]

Party? What party?

[@Danuxsy]

I get upset if ppl don't reply to my comments

[@a.m.7438]

I discovered you when I was in High school, 14 years ago now. I've followed you on and off and consider you an incredibly valuable brain and beautiful human.

[@tobycokes1]

We've never met?

[@pricardo333]

Same here lol. Was a huge fan of his during the time of Christopher Hitchens.

[@nickwerle]

“I consider you a brain”… threw me off, but I get what you’re saying

[@GSDKXV]

Agreed

[@User-bl5cw]

@@nickwerle Referring to Sam as a brain is clearly a deliberate reinforcement of what Sam himself has talked about regarding free will and identity. Relinquishing the tacit belief that one is some inexorable, uniform, 1D individual who 'has' a brain by referring to one AS a brain really helps to make this reality more apparent and visceral. It's an excellent word-choice.

[@stelmosfire11]

I couldn’t imagine my parents passing away until the day came when they finally did. All those years spent with them seemed like a lightning bolt. All gone. Done.

[@anhta9001]

I'm currently in a position like you in the past. I'm scared that one day my parents will die and it feels like I can't do anything to stop it.

[@maydaymemer4660]

@@anhta9001the silver lining is it prepares u to be okay with joining them

[@danielschaeffer1294]

“I was dead for millions of years, and suffered no inconvenience thereby.” - Mark Twain.

[@evynstratman1414]

Billions it would seem :)

[@puppetmaster2560]

Still scares me bro

[@k-3402]

@@puppetmaster2560 Same tbh. The state of pre-birth non-existence isn't proceeded by an awareness of impending non-existence

[@puppetmaster2560]

@@k-3402 i agree, they are very different as we cannot reflect on our non-existence while we await it. Hope we can come to terms with it sometime in our lives.

[@danielschaeffer1294]

@@Andrea-r1o3h You’re missing the point. After we die our consciousness will simply cease to exist.

[@Roswithakima]

Thinking about death is a function of age. As you get older you start to prepare yourself.

[@_xiper]

There is nothing to prepare for.

[@Danuxsy]

yea unless you die when you're like a teen or a child or before you are even birthed

[@fulfillmenttheory]

Although I appreciate Sam's interviews, and his political takes, I think the thing which makes him really shine is his philosophical reflections. I'd love to see more content like this, he's got a great mind for it.

[@acraze2287]

its also because the way he articulates topics is so unique and interesting

[@lejlanuhanovic5700]

Exactly this. I enjoy his interviews, especially when he has guests who fascinate him so he picks their brains. But the way he articulates his thoughts when in "solo mode" is amazing. I always finish his podcasts learning something new or just reflecting. He is truly a role model.

[@LesterBrunt]

Today I had en epiphany. My grandfather is getting really old and I was just wondering how it would be to meet him in his 20’s, what kind of person would he be? And then I realized kids growing up today who stream everything to twitch and whatnot maybe their grandkids 70 years in the future might be able to look back at thousands of hours of archives of them. That would give such an amazing insight into the development of life. You first grow up knowing your grandparent as nothing else than an old person and then you can not only watch a video of them when they were young, you can watch an 4+ hour stream of him and really see what kind of person they were back then and what they turned into. That was not possible before. We already have pictures and they say a lot but it says nothing like spending hours with an unedited video. Imagine how much would change in 70 years. All the memes would probably be forgotten and seem alien. The language would have probably changed a bit. Our tech will probably be pretty hilarious to the 70 years in the future kids. Would give so much insight in the stages of life, how it changes over time and what might be in store for you.

[@homewall744]

They'll laugh that a car only cost $50,000 and homes were $800,000. So cheap! And then wonder at your moral failings.

[@CanariasCanariass]

I had a similiar thought the other day. I am 35 and while I have pictures of me being a child, imagine what footage today's born will have in the future of themselves and their parents. Crystal clear full HD family videos and pictures, pretty crazy to think about it.

[@wickedlee664]

Norm Macdonald has a great joke about people in the future asking “You wanna see 10,000 pictures of my grandfather?”. Something like that. Funny.

[@Footie4ever]

You. I like you.

[@Gullahjack12]

great and introspective thought. i wish i could have spoken with my grandparents (since passed with dementia) with the mind of an adult when their minds were still sound. they were immigrants and lived such difficult lives, drafted, etc. such valuable experience lost to time and lack of technology in my youth. be well.

[@jjuniper274]

When you're a widow with young children, it's always in the back of your mind, but it won't stop me from life.

[@thehemi69]

Same as a widower

[@christiananderson4909]

@@thehemi69 Are you a widower?

[@synsynsy]

@@christiananderson4909 does it matter? human experience is almost the same.

[@christiananderson4909]

@@synsynsy The only universal human experience is suffering, and that qualification of "almost" in your statement masks quite a lot of difference. It seems obvious to me that the initial comment was made upon reflection of personal experience, and I'm curious whether or not Tim came here to say what he did in good faith, or to just be tacky.

[@kknichols8067]

I lost my husband last month and I have a 14 year old. I’m trying very hard not to obsess on my mortality but I become terrified by the thought of him as parentless. I wish for the day when those thoughts are only at the back of my mind. And I’m so very sorry for what you’ve been through. 💜

[@moonmissy]

“I don’t fear death, I fear dying.” Thich Nhat Hanh I think of death all the time before as a Zen practitioner. It inspired me to live fully in the moment with authenticity and love. Life is too fragile and short to pretend to be someone else or give in to fears. Who cares what others think about your life. Do what you think is important for your life. Appreciate life and carpe diem!

[@sarahtonin4649]

I've faced the reality of death since I was 12, when my grandpa died. I haven't been obsessed with it, but I've made a point of not avoiding the subject, in conversation, or in thought. I have consciously avoided falling into religious beliefs, because they seem like a desperate attempt to relieve the fear of death. In fact, it seems to me that religion evolved from the fear of dying and death. I don't see how human beings' ancient stories about afterlife can comfort anyone, since no one really knows what, if anything, happens to a consciousness when the body dies. I don't like the idea of my life coming to an end, but I find no comfort in pretending there is an afterlife. I've always tried to make the most of the only life I know I have.

[@drts6955]

Listening to this now. RIP Sam. You will always be remembered

[@randallanderson1632]

I think about death probably a couple of times a day. My thoughts of death trigger two emotions that seem far apart psychologically. The emotions are anxiety, and gratefulness, although not a gratefulness directed to anyone or anything specifically.

[@WhtetstoneFlunky]

Much the same. I find the concept of nothingness scary but I'm thankful for my existence, whatever exactly a human existence actually is.

[@Hjkkgg6788]

I always think of death man. Why the fuck am i not in hospital. Seriously

[@DusanPavlicek78]

I have a weird habit, when I read about someone on wikipedia, the first thing I check is if they're already dead or not and if they are, I scroll down to find out how they died 🤷‍♂️

[@TheTrevelyansway]

I do the same. I don't know why I'm so interested because like Sam says it really is the least important thing about a life.

[@pdcdesign9632]

@@TheTrevelyansway all we can do is ENJOY THE RIDE while it lasts.

[@davidadams2395]

@@TheTrevelyansway I do it as well. It satisfies the morbid curiosity we have to know how one met one's end. One thing that's haunted me since seeing the filmed death of magician-comedian Tommy Cooper while performing on stage. I think it illuminated my utter dread of the inevitable, the banal and seeming indignity of death.

[@TDSisahelluvadrug]

That's exactly what I do. It pisses me off. Not good for my mental health. I need to make a strong effort to stop doing that so much moving forward.

[@DusanPavlicek78]

@@TDSisahelluvadrug In my case I don't fight it... I just observe it as it happens 😄If you want to get rid of the habit, I'm sure you can do it if you focus on something else instead. It's just the morbid curiosity that is present in everybody to some extent 😉 And I'm sure it can be overridden with something else.

[@sharonsue441]

I also think of death several times during the day,,however it is usually of another life....When I see a beautiful butterfly, the thought of this creature having 2 weeks of life then it dies,,or seeing a dead raccoon that is small laying in the roadway,,I am saddened that this little creature wasn’t able to live a full life..Death is all around us daily so yes I think of it often...Evan beautiful flowers that die after giving us such a visual pleasure is sad to me..Im 77 and yes think of death of myself on the horizon with the hope of not suffering an agonizing death,,but feel it’s senseless to dwell on the unknown...

[@HelloJamesBond]

beautiful ladybug

[@intorpere]

I think about death a lot. I'm all too acutely aware of it, and yet it's still shocking. I lost my father recently. I kept thinking about how crazy it was that this awful trauma is just a normal experience.

[@domc2909]

I lost my mother at 17, my best friend at 24 and recently my oldest childhood friend at 41, whom I've known since I was a baby and thought would always be a part of my life. These experiences don't get any easier. I think about how I will feel when my father inevitably passes away (he's 74 now) and it fills me with dread. I'm very close to him. Sorry for your loss.

[@andrewduffy1425]

This is the Sam Harris content I crave.

[@naturalisted1714]

Same. If you'd like to go further down this rabbit hole: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpqXe5dpr7BroLs

[@richarddawkinsatheist9289]

Whenever you upload any video about free will or death, I always watch it. No matter how similar the contents are to the previous ones.

[@nicksapp6543]

Just yesterday I was driving to an event early and thought this could be my last day. Later on at the event gazing at the beautiful hills in Chillicothe Ohio, I just took it in. I’m 60 and think about death daily. When the sparks go out in my brain I will never know or experience anything.ever again.

[@maydaymemer4660]

Well you dont know that for sure. Look at it this way, if you were immortal but made to fall asleep forever or given a potion that made you three years old again you wouldnt be experiencing everything in both instances. However are you scared of those ideas? If not then why be scared of death? In both instances you lose consciousness

[@DrWeird-zw5dc]

I've been a 'death is always lingering in my thoughts every day' person, since about the age of 15.... since i was a young boy, maybe around 8 or 9 i was infinitely mind blown at looking into the reflection of a mirror with other mirrors around it, where it has a wormhole effect, kind of like when your camera is hooked up to the tv and you point the camera at the tv, it's just an endless hole of the image getting smaller and smaller. Those things always blew my mind but the event when i was 15, i was looking into a single mirror and had that 'when you stare into the abyss the abyss stares back' feeling before i had ever heard of that saying.... at the time i didn't know if anyone had ever had that feeling before, so was pretty intense.

[@krish2nasa]

"The transiency of everything that magnifies the beauty of everything." -Sam Harris

[@imafiretruck7454]

I always tell people in the grief of mourning that death only has an influence on the living; sometimes survival is the worst feeling ever.

[@joebikeguy6669]

I was a grief counselor at a Hospice for a number of years and found that many of the family members I interacted with thought the death of their loved one, (even loved ones who had lived a long life and died from some disease process), was some kind of an anomaly, a mistake if you will, and not a natural part of life.

[@juliezimmerman8709]

This podcast is the reason I fell in love with your podcasts a few years ago. I have listened to it twice and am going to go back to listen again, almost sentence by sentence, so that I can digest what you are saying. It is so thought provoking. Each comment requires a few minutes of thinking. Thank you, Sam. You, with your intelligent way of speaking, would have words to describe this podcast, I, however, do not.

[@thivyaprasad1414]

I clicked this video thumbnail faster than I pulled my hands from a hot pan.

[@Hollisworld]

Thank you Sam , I also think of it many times a day.

[@GenX4ever]

I used to seriously be afraid of dying. Maybe just sad actually. Then one day I saw a home video of my family and my sister playing and they were all laughing and swimming in a brand new pool. I wasn't born yet. And I thought well, I wasn't sad not to be there. In fact, I didn't even know about the fun I wasn't sharing with them. So I realized, oh, that's what it's like to be dead. It's not too bad.

[@maydaymemer4660]

You could still long to have been there to be with them longer

[@Stierenkloot]

Death is great. Suffering sucks.

[@naturalisted1714]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJKrZ4qrfr9rfMk

[@PluckySmurf]

I take tremendous comfort in Sam's thoughts about death.

[@TheTrevelyansway]

Yes agree, when he talks about how you didn't mind not being alive before you were born, why would you after you die?

[@christiananderson4909]

It's strange for me to hear Sam mention death denial, and never mention Ernest Becker's work.

[@edenonsale]

Why is that so strange?

[@christiananderson4909]

@@edenonsale It's kind of a small joke. Ernest Becker won the Pulitzer Prize in 1975 for his book The Denial of Death. That's what I'm referencing.

[@noTH9IK]

Pretty good book. Kudos to Lex Fridman

[@Sirjohnfootball]

Ernest Beckers work is a load of Freudian mumbo-jumbo that belongs back in the 70s, when it was written.

[@christiananderson4909]

@@Sirjohnfootball Fair sentiment, but he's still applicable.

[@walkitoff.]

My dad died when I was 4 years old. I have had a weird relationship with it my whole life because of it, kind of a peace of sorts but also a sharp imperative to get things done. It's made me appreciate my relationships more I think.

[@SebastianLundh1988]

_The Idealist View of Consciousness After Death_ by Bernardo Kastrup presents a great alternative to the materialist take on death.

[@naturalisted1714]

*If you're not a subscriber to the Making Sense podcast you can search 'Sam Harris Generic Subjective Continuity' and you'll find the rest of the episode* Sam discusses Tom Clark's essay "Death, Nothingness and Subjectivity". Well worth the read. It's where Tom Clark coined the term "Generic Subjective Continuity"... If you haven't heard the second part of this episode, then you haven't really heard this episode, because that part is why it's titled "The Paradox Of Death"...

[@stevemiller1345]

Wish i could hear the whole pod. My mother died of cancer at 66 almost exactly a year ago and i think about her death every day, i was the only one there when she died as my dad and sister abandoned her in her final hours, and, at first, i was so at peace with dying, because i thought i would see my mother again, but as the year went by that peaceful feeling has changed back to being fearful of death again

[@yoyoyoyo-qv5hu]

Thanks Sam that was great. The natural thought conclusion to all of this really is compassion for your fellow man, but also all living things

[@OfficialGOD]

Finality of death doesn't render life meaningless, it is what gives it meaning.

[@chrismathis4162]

Paraphrasing the Greek philosopher, I do not fear death for when I exist death does not, and when death exists, I do not.

[@naturalisted1714]

If you like that quote, you'd love this full episode. One of Sam's best.

[@crazy1gadgets1]

I just finished Steppenwolf by Hesse, so yes I have been thinking a lot about death recently. A famous line that keeps gnawing at me: "I long for the sufferings that make me ready and willing to die." Jane Goodall just said in a podcast I just heard that death is her next great adventure. Paraphrased - "Either there is nothing after death, in which case...fine. Or, there is something after death, in which case...what an adventure." Much for reflection and rumination. Thanks, Sam for all you do!

[@serengetilion]

I didn't participate b your poll however I do think about my death every single day. I'm 57 yrs of age. I always remember what you say about death, "death isn't the problem, life is the problem"

[@AlexReyn888]

Time is like a flame, the house will burn down by morning and there will be no difference what happened in this house while it was burning. This is not only human life, but also the whole reality. It takes special effort or mystical experience to convince yourself of something else.

[@pacosamo]

I also think about death every single day and I am so glad Sam is addressing this topic in such a profound way. I must admit that many times I have wished how he would talk about more philosophical topics instead of political issues. This being said, I am afraid I couldn´t follow the thoughts expressed this episode and most of Sam´s comments on how consciousness can persist after the death of the body escaped me. I guess this is my agnostic limit, but I would be more thank happy to change my mind on this. Please further elaborate on this topic Sam and also do more solo episodes! Greetings from a Mexican Making Sense fan.

[@challo8067]

RE: This talk on the Waking Up app- When Sam mentioned the ‘swapping out of our dna’, it reminded me of patients who undergo an organ transplant, and many suddenly ‘acquire a desire’ for something (like peanut butter or playing piano) that they never had before! 🌀❤️

[@m123g]

Geeze..these unpaid versions are getting shorter and shorter. It sucks because despite Sam 110% deserving $ for his work, the world is actually losing out on a really smart mind behind a paywall. I much prefer the other method of reading ads and having the podcast sponsored so that the info in the pod is free to listen for all.

[@mendelovitch]

There is a door in the paywall. You can just ask to get through. The wall is there as a reminder that if one listens to the show and is also able to support it, one should support it.

[@MentalHealthMMA]

If you send him an email saying you can’t afford to pay then he gives you a free membership.

[@christiananderson4909]

@@MentalHealthMMA I've sent him three, and haven't heard back from him, yet.

[@kadourimdou43]

It’s only a 34min episode btw.

[@m123g]

@@MentalHealthMMA I can afford it. I just don't want to pay for something that is generally free. The thing that makes podcasts great is the fact that listeners can support just by listening, and advertisers will compensate the speaker for their audience.

[@musicbymark]

SAM Re: transiency & people thinking something that doesn't last was a waste - I frequently make that point in psychotherapy with patients dealing with breakup or divorce - "If your partner DIED (after xx years), would the relationship suddenly be deemed a "waste of time? When your $20 or $100 steak dinner has been consumed along with the last drop of cabernet, do you look at the empty plate and glass and regard the experience as a WASTE?" The time you DID have together/indulging/etc. was hopefully well-worth it.

[@duosythe]

“I notice more and more that many of the people that I admire, people who I read or listen to with pleasure, actors who I enjoy watching in films, Ben Affleck, people whose thoughts and personalities I can summon in an instant by picking up a book or typing their names into KZbin, I notice more and more than many of these people are dead.” @4:21

[@personalresponsibility3879]

I really enjoy these solo reflections of Sam! Would be interesting to see you talk about money and happiness also!

[@norocosul33]

please do not die Sam, at least not too soon. I just installed your meditation app, and we need you!

[@ErnestRamaj]

I wish Sam's podcasts had videos. More people would watch them, I believe.

[@LesterBrunt]

I don’t fear or bemoan death. It is such a certainty that I find it not that hard to accept. Everybody knows it will happen there is no escaping that knowledge or event. What I find excruciating is the idea of not having lived enough. I really don’t want to die now. I am 32, I am planning for at least a couple of decades if I don’t get some illness or something. I lost one of my best friends in 2019 and that was unbearable because it was sudden and he had so much to live for. The loss is sad and I still sometimes come up with something to tell him only to remember that it isn’t possible but I find that far easier to accept than the sheer unfairness of his death, that he was supposed to live longer. That is excruciating. That I find terrifying.

[@jabster58]

Death is not the end

[@mitchelltaylor5540]

This podcast preview was the one that got me to subscribe. Full version was definitely worth it.

[@christinadeshaies4465]

I'm 39 and Im pretty certain I've already lived longer than I'm going to. And I can feel the tunnel of my timeline. It goes too fast to take all that seriously. Really.

[@TDSisahelluvadrug]

Sam forgot to mention the importance of memory. If everytime you went to a beautiful play, your brain erased all memory of it by the time you got home, how could you possibly argue that watching that play had meaning? The only reason that a play ending didn't ruin it for him so far was because his memory didn't actually let it end in the strongest sense of the word. When you die, all memory is wiped away for good of all things.

[@azaquihelify]

38 years old , thinking about dead on the daily , since i was 8 years old. sometimes i crave the experience , fear the helplessness and wastefulness of it , fear the pain i can provide to my love ones just by..... not be me ever again. it shapes everything i am ,and do....in a very powerful and mostly positive way, but i no longer fit society very well .

[@celisachoo7900]

I don’t put off anything I can do today to tomorrow because I may not wake up tomorrow, tomorrow is not promised to anyone. I live by day by day be thankful for waking up every day.

[@josephgordon1269]

Sam, ty for helping think through big ideas. You have helped me more than you could know! 👍

[@rustyvworld]

Sam Harris is the Alan Watts of our time

[@rp8164]

A thought occurred to me recently: Our life, to ourselves, is eternal. It's eternal because our consciousness only knows existence. From the moment our consciousness arose to the moment it ends will in effect be eternal because our consciousness has no way of knowing time outside of its existence. The billions of years prior to our consciousness forming is meaningless to our consciousness itself, all that matters is the moment that time started for us, and we won't even know when it ends - therefore, our consciousness effectively (to itself) existed for eternity, for it can only truly gauge time based on its own existence. We cannot truly know non-existence for it is something our consciousness has never existed in.

[@maggiedu1032]

I made my subscription today just because i want to listen to rest of the conversation. Amazing thinker he is !

[@Pllayer064]

📧🅰️⬆️ 🅰️💲💲

[@benmcguire4014]

The more you think about I think it means you appreciate life and enjoy it..

[@serengetilion]

That's not the only reason at all

[@benmcguire4014]

@@serengetilion of course not

[@annasulinska620]

"And if death is truly the end of experience, you won't experience your absence after you die." It's healthy to think so much about death only if you believe that it's not the end of experience. Otherwise you'll be "boiled to death with melancholy" (Fabian in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night").

[@DebateCentrals]

If you take this seriously, then I hope it inspires you to treat other creatures with as much kindness as possible. Your consciousness is much more likely to find itself in a chicken on a factory farm than it is in another human.

[@naturalisted1714]

Indeed kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJKrZ4qrfr9rfMk

[@dankrauz1036]

Thinking of death daily gives me a day I appreciate.

[@rogerroger5649]

The question is "what kind of world do you want to live in?" or "what kind of world would you want to live in?" On a selfish side note, I, like many others I'm sure, would love to just sit and talk with Sam. Kind of like if you just happened to be on a long trip together and were just chatting about, well, stuff. Because, in the vain of this podcast, we are basically a random set of molecules that have come together to form a living, breathing, thinking being and those molecules will never exists again in the exact same way so I would like the chance just to sit and talk with the set of molecules that is Sam Harris while he and I still exists together. Is that asking so much? lol...

[@challo8067]

Energetically speaking, you are doing this already, are you not?! 🌀❤️

[@bastianbarx1509]

@Sam Harris As a subscriber of the Waking up app, I feel that a conversation like this should be made available in full length on the app since it's really relevant. And I'd really like to hear it.

[@Ph4t3]

It is, it's in the Theory section in Mysteries & Paradoxes all the way on the bottom. Cheers

[@naturalisted1714]

I think he should have this full episode on KZbin.

[@zzzzzz69]

I think about death fairly often, though not multiple times each day and not in a morbid sense either. Here are some thoughts I've reflected on. There's nothing to do or think about death, because you can do nothing after you're dead, so there's no point. The only thing you can do anything about is what's left of life, so whenever the prospect of death throws you off, just focus your attention on remaining life because that's the only thing that's relevant. I (we all) have already experienced death before. That's the 13 billion years plus before I was born. Nothing going on but nothing to worry about either. Even past versions of myself are already dead; my body and my mind at age 10, age 20, age 25, and countless versions of me in between are no longer here. Actually, some version of me is dying this very moment with every breath I take. The pieces of me that make me who I am have always been here in various other forms from inside of stars and what have you. So after I die, the pieces that are left of me will just morph and become pieces of something else and on and on. The thing that takes life away is also the very thing that allows life to arise: TIME and CHANGE. Funny how life and death always circle each other. Tangent: I suspect that life might be a byproduct of energy imbalance in the universe. But that's another conversation.

[@nathanwood5977]

Interesting subject. I find now that I am 46 that life seems to be whistling by at an incredible speed but life during my 20's and 30's seemed never-ending. I am not afraid of death but afraid of not fulfilling my life and not spending enough time with the people I love or pastimes that I enjoy.

[@oyster0]

The worst part about dying is knowing you will never live again.

[@nathanwood5977]

I try and flip it by trying to leave a legacy of good, no matter how small it may seem. Your positivity can live on and on, through others.

[@jabster58]

Like you have an real evidence of that

[@nathanwood5977]

​@@jabster58 Its hard to quantify but I have made positive change by talking to people about race and fears etc and in turn, their children are free of these issues.

[@arbez101]

Can anyone explain to me what it feels like to be dead? If no one can, then I suppose there's nothing that it's like to be dead.

[@naugordon]

Sam, I just listened to the podcast and I am confused. Are you suggesting that in some form conciousness (subjective consciousness) continues to exist after death? I personally am agnostic to that question but I wanted to be clear in what you were saying. I think this is topic you should dive deeper in. The 25 minute podcast doesn't do it justice.

[@ronholfly]

I haven't got time to think about it, there is to much to do to waste time about it.

[@PooperScooperTrooper]

Life is meaningless. Same as death. Just try and enjoy it without hurting anyone else.

[@templecreations2351]

I think about death in memento mori fashion often, at least once a day. I find that it keeps things in perspective of what's important and makes you live life in the "now". It helps me let up on those things I'm hung up on.

[@savin99]

Why think about it ? It’s going to happen, it’s the only thing that’s guaranteed 100%. If you think it’s their is an heaven or a hell or good then you better make sure you should do good, even if it’s like nothingness like before you was born. My consciousness will always be “present”and to enjoy the moment right now because as soon as you start looking into the future your mind starts wondering away fear takes over. “Existential crisis” and why even question what happens after ? It would take away the mystery of life and what makes its so special.

[@homewall744]

Indeed, you cannot save life, just extend it some unknown amount.

[@insanezombieman753]

The problem with trying to answer these types of what is the meaning of life or what happens to consciousness/experience/identity after death is the terms in the question are not properly defined, and certainly not in a way that everyone can agree on.

[@TheSaltyAdmiral]

I don't fear my own death, at least not yet. But I have struggled at bit with accepting that my parents are getting old, seeing the first signs of decline, and knowing that it's the type of decline that wont get better, only worse, until they cease to exist at all. Knowing that they have started on the last chapter in a book I don't wan't to end.

[@maydaymemer4660]

They wont cease to exist in your mind

[@1x93cm]

If I am, then death is not. If Death is, then I am not. Long time men lay oppressed with slavish fear. We fear suffering and the process of dying, not death itself.

[@frederickgramcko5758]

Hey Sensei, how about something original or bring something new to the discussion.

[@jerryhall5709]

A concept like "being dead" is problematic. Like it was some state to be in. The person who dies is not dead because something that doesn't exist can't be anything. We wouldn't talk about an unborn baby before there was even a pregnancy. But since the dead lived once there is a memory and we think of the person who is not with us anymore as dead though he really isn't. There is only life. The rest is an illusion created by our fears and emotions.

[@SeriousMcnegative]

"One way communication with the past" seems like a rather defeatist mindset to me. If your life and ideas are inspiring enough, they will reach the future too. But I understand Harris's point.

[@spectrepar2458]

I think about it several times a day as sort of a memento mori. Im about to be an EMT. And while some may pray to calm themselves i will occasionally will recite Dylan Thomas’s “Do not go gentle” in my head.

[@franksmith417]

I think about death often. I actually think Zoloft made this worse. Before I took Zoloft when I was thinking of death I could make myself not think about it anymore and the feelings I had about it would go away. While I Zoloft when I thought of death it wasn’t like before, it was like a pit of despair. I feel this sickening existential dread. I know I will die and yet knowing I could stop existing at any point is just destroying me. I feel like I should be enjoying the moment because life is short and that sort of thing, but instead I just feel more depressed. I feel like I am wasting my life. I have no idea how I will cope when I get older or if I become ill.

[@jackoconnor00]

Hi Edward, I totally understand what you mean by the “pit of despair”. I went through a traumatic experience which made me hyper aware of the inevitability of my own demise. I also took an ssri called sertraline which may have contributed to this overwhelming concern with dying. I might add that I also feel as though I have a particularly acute sense for the finitude of my own existence. I just turned 21 and instead of perceiving it in the positive fashion most 21 year olds do, I saw it as another step towards what I fear most. I go to psychotherapy, I’d highly recommend going to a psychoanalyst/psychotherapist. I haven’t received any radical information that changed my perspective on death, but it’s nice to have someone to speak to about it I suppose. Talking definitely helps, so does living (you might say distracting). I’ll leave you with this quote my Charles Bukowski “you can beat death in life, sometimes. and the more often you learn to do it, the more light there will be.”

[@xMorogothx]

There's no paradox. Death is just the end.

[@techdeth]

I am squarely in the death obsessed camp. Think about it every single day. I hope that you live a long long life Sam, we all had enough after losing Hitchens so young and tragically.

[@naturalisted1714]

I highly suggest reading the essay by Tom Clark Sam mentioned "Death, Nothingness and Subjectivity".

[@whatiswrongwiththeworld8451]

So, what is your opinion on Generic Subjective Continuity then?

[@celisachoo7900]

Why is it that life has to have a meaning…? Being alive itself it life.

[@tobyn1658]

You will only ever experience being alive. After having died, it will be as if time passes at infinite speed. If the universe is cyclical, even if at the grandest of scales, then you will live again, forever.

[@gking407]

You will only experience satiety after starving to death. You will only know peace during war and chaos. You will only ever know truth by lying all the time.

[@pjanardhan6070]

Nothing of us remains after death.Consciousness,soul,atman all these things are inventions of tricky human brain to avoid suffering of death.

[@j.t.7068]

"The stars are matter, we're matter, it doesn't matter". Don Van Vliet

[@rodacampos]

Given tha nobody ACTUALLY knows what happens after we die, it takes a stunning lack of imagination to not be afraid of death.

[@frederickgramcko5758]

More like when you're not afraid of death, than you can actually start to live.

[@D-me-dream-smp]

I sometimes feel like an odd one out in that at this time I am not personally disturbed or bothered by the idea of my own death. I have many fears in life but not existing isn’t one of them. I have had serious medical incidents so it’s not like it seems inconceivable. I have lost loved ones and really understand the grief of permanently losing someone and how painful it can be.

[@robinblick9375]

Yes...it is the very finitude of life that makes it infinitely precious.

[@ricardosantos6721]

No, that's what makes it fucking depressing. Please when they offer to you the treatment to live indefinitely then you donate the option to me, then we will see if your fucking mouth where your action is

[@robinblick9375]

@@ricardosantos6721 There is no miracle cure for death. Just like the rest of us, you are going to die. Instead of swearing at me, accept it, and make the most of the life that has been gifted to you.

[@ricardosantos6721]

@@robinblick9375 it is coming and every single one of you will be engulfed in sorrow for a practical eternity when you understand that you basically murdered everyone who could have also gotten the treatment if you took this seriously and helped in any way to usher it forward just by one day earlier, perhaps a parent or a relative, but definitely millions worldwide, you will understand viscerally that you murdered each of them personally and you will be conscious of that for a practical eternity. Just think about that for a few days then apologize when you realize the significance of the consequences that I'm trying to spare you of.

[@joshlasky8138]

I think about death all the time and it does get me very upset. But I'm trying not to be upset by it and learn to live better because of it

[@TheShikerWolf]

What about the paradox that we CANNOT experience the cessation of consciousness, and therefore we actually live forever in a sense? If I cannot experience my own death, and I can only experience being alive, then our lives should logically trudge on, no matter how battered and ill we become? Why do I never hear anyone talk about this? It's very unsettling. Edit: just finished the video and it seems he was just getting into this until it cut 😭

[@mohammadshoghi357]

I never imagined Sam to be this obsessed about death and its concept. I was blown away by it. Great episode though.

[@luvsuneja]

He does have solid Buddhist practice under his belt.

[@SherKhan0122]

Sam, I wonder if you can start creating versions of this podcast that include video of the interaction. That really is the point of KZbin.

[@smoozerish]

"Bury the hatchet"........ but what if you were severely physically and mentally abused by your own mother day in day out as a child and when you bring it up with now as an adult, in order to resolve the past, she still denies she did anything wrong. Oh, if only life were as simple as you say. I do believe our consciousness melts back into the consciousness of the universe. Hopefully, next time I get a better Mother if we are somehow reborn.

[@martinh4982]

I certainly don't bother reflecting about death. It's an inevitability. Instead: live.

[@gf2915]

I always remember the scene in an episode of I'm Alan Partridge, with Alan doing a phone in on death: "What happens after we die? Frederick emails to say he has four children. He is the proud father of a new baby boy, Joshua, and his daughter, Susan, five, has just started school. And he thinks after death, there is nothing"

[@stevenconnolly6096]

I'd rather be dead than be seen driving a Mini Metro

[@Sirjohnfootball]

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