What's Wrong with Dying? | Lesley Hazleton | TEDxSeattle

The answer might seem simple, but in the hands of Lesley Hazleton, the question takes us on a surprisingly humorous and thought-provoking journey into what it would actually mean to live forever. And whether we’d truly want to. A frequent TED.com speaker and 'Accidental Theologist,' Hazleton uses wit and wisdom to challenge our ideas not only about death, but about what it is to live well.
Lesley Hazleton has traced the roots of conflict in several books, including compelling 'flesh-and-blood' biographies of Muhammad and Mary, and casts "an agnostic eye on politics, religion, and existence" on her blog, AccidentalTheologist.com. Her newest book, Agnostic: A Spirited Manifesto, celebrates the agnostic stance as "rising above the flat two-dimensional line of belief/unbelief, creating new possibilities for how we think about being in the world." In it, she explores what we mean by the search for meaning, invokes the humbling perspective of infinity and reconsiders what we talk about when we talk about soul.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

[@itsthatsem]

This lady is pure gold. Its so easy to be mesmerized by her and love her in just 11 mins and 40 secs. ❤️

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

The worst thing is losing your memories; and being forgotten over time.

[@ginastyler320]

“ It’s not how long I lived that matters, it’s how I lived and I intend to do it well till the end”

[@Selfemployedmildautisticartist]

amen and i like this lady but shes forgetting the various ways people die that age has nothign to do with t, pet peeve

[@arik9112]

An expert speaker delivering her speech in profound,humorous and graceful manner .Such speakers are rare.

[@rebeccagutierrez1401]

My husband spoke and even preached for many years about how dying was not a big deal until his moment came. He died 2 weeks ago, oh but how he battled because he did not want to die yet. He was 70 years old

[@formerfundienowfree4235]

That's why we have to do the work of realizing who and what we truly are.

[@yuenos3418]

This woman changed my perspective of life and death. Thank you so much!

[@nicholashildenbrand8632]

This may be one of the most important speeches I've ever heard in my life.

[@nunyabiz2854]

Her voice is so soothing

[@joeytheallen]

Right? I could listen to her talk all day.

[@EHanslo]

Yes, her voice is verrrrry soothing, sounded the same before she understood the truth... oh how we find fault in someone when the truth is spoken...

[@gallen2101]

I could listen to her for hours!!

[@gallen2101]

I know!

[@Alexander_Kale]

Agreed. Real "Grandma Voice". If only her message wasn't so horrifying...

[@yingjie1932]

Her voice ist really calming and fascinating.

[@Underhills]

I second that. That's what smoking 40 South State without filter a day does to you. Live life as it was no tomorrow:)

She is the type of person I would like to meet at a cocktail party!

[@deborahjeans7990]

Me, too

[@cherylisley3845]

Luis Mario Lopéz Parada jjjnn

[@randykarnell9980]

Yeah I'd definitely want her to come home with me. I'd tell her an Immortality Freak was visiting me at my home - "Come over and talk some sense into him." Then I get her back to my place - PLY her with Rolaids-laced (powdered) Fiber !! .

[@grassylamp6899]

I'm only on my my late teens and I know there's alot of people similar to my age that fear death and I was that kind of person. For weeks I have lost alot of sleep due to constant fear of death and it really affected on my studies. I remember waking up frantically screaming,shaking and Crying with fear of the thought about it . By this I've also was scared to going to sleep due to me having thoughts of death. I felt alone and by my self and I dint rlly wanna talk about just in case I also brought fear about death to other people. Until I started to do some research of how to cope with death and morality by doing this became understanding why I feared death. I've reach to a conclusion that I'm still young and haven't done much in my life this is my I feared death due to lack of accomplishment on my life,along side with just being afraid of not experiencing or existing. Another thing that help me reduce my fear of death is creating a bucket list and planning to do them. In addition to that I've also read some people's experience and how to deal with death anxiety. This then lead me to talk about it more openly to other people that I know and we sometimes we have a good heart to heart conversation. It'll be a lie if I said I'm no longer afraid of death, I still am but much less about it because it's not under my control it's beyond me. So by having increase advances of life expectancy it'll probably will come to the point that only you get to choose when to end it which for me is far more worst.

[@azeemqurbanali3281]

Read Quran and think about life

[@michellenguyen3244]

I know this was one year ago but this perfectly describes how i am currently feeling so accurately

[@altinezmtz5222]

Oh my god this has been exactly me for more than a week and I'm 16 turning 17 thank you so much it just feels good to know that I'm not alone.

[@altinezmtz5222]

@@michellenguyen3244 you're not alone read the most recent reply

[@sergioherrera1441]

I feel the same way but every time I go to sleep I try to think that since my body was made by such great power the same power that moves planets 🪐 and the same energy that grows the grass the trees then I think my heart beat functions with such a great energy too !!!🙌🏼🙌🏼

[@waterbender19]

The reason death is so scary is because your brain can't wrap itself around you ceasing to exist. How can things happen without us seeing and perceiving them? Our subconscious asks. On the other hand, in Tuck Everlasting, the driving quote was: "death is not scary. What's scary is living forever." I haven't watched that movie since I was a very young child, but the quote has stuck with me

[@maximkazhenkov11]

That's a logical fallacy. Living forever implies having infinite memory space in your brain/afterlife-soul, otherwise you would be able to remember an infinitely long life, and you're effectively just deleting and re-writing your memory. If you do assume infinite memory space, your complexity scales accordingly and you wouldn't necessarily "get bored" ever.

[@raynarks]

The idea of living forever makes me feel very tired.

[@crystalwiser5980]

Forever is forever of amazing tired is weakness leaving your mental state.

[@randykarnell9980]

The idea of living until next Thursday - makes ME feel very tired. .

[@Xarkom89]

Hit the gym. :P

[@freeunderratedmusic4273]

The idea of taking a break from life sometimes sounds really relieving. I believe there will be a possibility to live life that in the future, as many don't want to live continuously, and some want to be gone forever.

[@marka112]

raynarks the idea of living past 20 makes me tired

[@slangster233]

even a fly struggles not to die fights for her freedom she's glad to be alive even as a fly

[@amandagill577]

This is so true. I find that when I try and discuss dying with my friends and family, the exception being my sister, people will always attempt to change the subject. Why is everyone so afraid, I would hate to think of living forever!

[@mahadlife]

“This place is a dream . Only a sleeper considers it real . Then death comes like dawn , and you wake up laughing at what you thought was your grief “ . Rumi

[@ginastyler320]

Nice one! “It’s not how long I live that matters, it’s how I lived, and I intend to do it well”

[@sukkeri]

Dying is not that bad. Aging is.

[@Mekratrig]

Dying slowly is the horror. Because it sneaks up on you as you continue to get acclimated to progressive lost capabilities. If I had been asked 10 years ago if I would be willing to continue living under the current circumstances I am experiencing, I would have scoffed and said “Of course not. I’ll off myself long before I reach such a state.” And yet here I am, still alive. One of my greatest fears is I’ll continue accepting the downhill slide until I’m bed-bound and incapable of terminating my existence.

[@onemercilessming1342]

pentti k--Absolutely. Aging sucks. It's a slow, slalom and somewhat painful run to the bedfast ward of the long-term nursing facility. Pehaps DEATH is God's/nature's way of saying, "Tired of all this? Well, here's your ticket out."

[@CountryRefuge]

@@Mekratrig You so well express my sentiments. Thanks!

[@minde28383]

@@Mekratrig i'm sure lots of people agree with such view. Especially when one is in its prime and says oh i would never accept living that way in that condition... but when things goes downhill you see that life is the only thing which is tangible, and beyond is unknown, so let us stay here for little a bit longer. What's coming will come anyways so why to rush.

[@venusdanridge9599]

pentti k Gospel playlist my gospel play list

[@azaramoon4027]

These TED talks keep me sane while im dying!

[@skyking228]

I just hope and pray that I won't be a burden to others. I've seen to many family Caregivers destroy their lives while taking care of loved ones that refuse to take responsibility for their final years.

[@suzishealthyhome8678]

So make sure you take responsibility and prepare for yours. My Mum tried to give all us kids money and I refused. I'm glad I did as she needed it for a care home - I visited every day until she passed, but there's no way I could have cared for her. Way past my abilities

[@danseabreeze1404]

Leaving your body permanently (physical death) might not be that bad. The BAD part is not knowing HOW you will die and how long you will be in pain and/or discomfort. Some people die in their sleep while for others it takes years of debilitating diseases including pain, discomfort, surgeries and loss of independence before they die. Huge difference!

[@2012evolution]

One of my favorite tedtalks

[@qo2825]

She has the speech of a Professor that we all need and deserve in University.

[@ammarmalhas-gmail8226]

I love this lady. I love her calmness, her wisdom and the simple radiating hidden soothing energy she emits! She has talked real sense in this video and said it all with what defines our humanity is our ability to die. However, I refuse to accept that such sophisticated beings as us, spring out of nothing for no reason and then disappear back into nothing!! As EINSTEIN put it matter does not end, it transforms into energy and energy into matter and so on! I do not believe that my soul, that thing inside my body looking out at you and writing you these words which is not just some neurons firing into a piece of meat/cholesterol, I do not believe it will one day vanish into oblivion! My body will rot away and transform back into dirt or fertilizer or whatever, but not my soul, which no one was ever able to define. My soul will not vanish and will move into something else somewhere in some time or space which our minds do not comprehend yet ... I choose to believe this ... If anyone can prove me wrong, please ...... don't!

[@bwill8311]

People are afraid to talk about death, therefore as a society, we lack the understanding. As if we wont experience death in one way or another. People will lose their parents, children, spouse and a majority of people are not ready. They will sit in grief and in awe of how the world just keeps on keeping on, while yours comes crashing down,

[@sednafloating7027]

what an enchanting voice.

[@ginotentori9493]

Once you realize you are an immortal being, experimenting a human life experience, everything becomes easier, and your life purpose comes into focus.

[@RubyNeumann]

Thank you!!!! This means the world to me to hear what Lesley shared. I needed this today... on Easter Sunday of all days... Thank you!!!

[@ECA2]

Life is risky; You're not going to get out of it alive.

[@randykarnell9980]

3 of my friends found a small crack in the Universe - escaped. Literally. GOT OUT ALIVE .

[@sullconstruct]

How did your 3 friends do this randy?

[@kellyalonzi2917]

Wow. Her voice is so calming. I could listen to her for hours.

[@lilithlevaykjeldahl5257]

What a wonderful lecture. We do not hear such truths often, as many people are so uncomfortable with the notion of death. I truly believe that if we were encouraged to talk about death from an early age, we would come to the realisations and understandings so beautifully expressed in this video. Thank you, Lesley Hazleton.

[@gislainelee3181]

She just delivered an astonishing point about human existence. And i am astonished if all you can gather is her soothing voice

[@mininglife07]

Excellent Me Lady! I would like to watch your smile and speech ten times before I happily die! Thank You

[@yosrfetah923]

I totally agree, people always make you feel like it's cursing to talk about death!!

[@wildmarks5266]

Yosr Fetah you are still in young age....be save and happy

[@humilityisaformofdeception8523]

Death is the door to the truth .

[@karstdeviz3858]

We couldn't know if it is though. If we're forever unconscious after dying, how can we realize what happens to us.

[@afifnasseredine4334]

@@karstdeviz3858 this is what terrifies me

[@manava13skplayer50]

a little too late tho

[@parttime_kpopstan8061]

@@karstdeviz3858 I kind of can't imagine there just being nothing, something that exist can't graps the idea of not existing...but humans, like all living things are alive because of energy, right? Where does that energy go? Does it just disappear into thin air??

[@MM-me8xh]

This soothes me of the death of my mom. Indeed the years she lived made my life different and us to remember her so long as we live.

[@mohammedfazalurrahman9975]

she is just awesome . May God bless her .

[@Ka9radio_Mobile9]

She does not believe in god.

[@Noorkauthar22]

@@Ka9radio_Mobile9 but God believe in her

[@gardenbun]

What a brilliant, eloquent, and imaginative woman!

[@mahmudasheikh8664]

such a mesmerizing voice Heard her for the first time and already heard four of her speeches awesome oration and beautiful content !

[@KuraiDansa]

this is probably the most calming thing i have ever watched

[@annoyedworm5664]

Her voice is so so soothing! Epic speech!

[@yaibanoutsukushii]

Great speech! I’m working on accepting my mortality and this helps so much!

[@Newday1187]

If immortality within reach, humans will reach new frontiers beyond our current imagination. think of individuals being able to acquire hundred of years of experience and multidisciplinary knowledge. speaking of how tedious and boring immirtal life will be is an act of narrow minded people. the beauty, excitement and amusement in the ever changing scientific challenges are endless.

[@Anonymous_Man]

I agree with you. And it's not just science. Art and culture as well as society in general will benefit. Not just the individual. The arguments against living indefinitely are always narrow sighted and opponents of indefinite lifespans like to focus on people's fears - rich people, overpopulation, etc. I've never understood why they even need an argument against living indefinitely. If you don't want to live beyond a certain age you are free to terminate your existence. No one is going to force this lady to live any longer than she wants to. In contrast her opposition to longer or indeed indefinite lives could hurt the people who do want to live longer.

[@Newday1187]

Anonymous Man Yes, she is sending a wrong message about life extension enthusiasts with her "man on supplements example!" ignoring the real work on tolmeres, senescent cells, genetics and free radicals "just to name a few". it's a disgrace to find such video on TED it ought to be nothing but comic hogwash.

[@coldmow]

And it will never be worth it... Experience is just an illusion fated to be undone by understanding...

[@DrStark-pe8pt]

Can you understanding all of this infinite universe some day?

[@sandrapierce4718]

Even if humanity reached immortality on Earth the Universe is doomed to die itself so either way unless we find another universe or artificially save the sun from dying out we will also perish.

[@leonbotes3225]

Wonderful!! Thank you so much.

[@Dionyzos]

I wouldn't want to live forever, but I would love to try more things that I normally wouldn't because I'm getting too old for them.

[@wildmarks5266]

Dionyzos there are so many songs in me that won't be song...the time has come for me to pay for yesterday ...when I was young

[@MaartenvanRossemLezingen]

I wouldn't want to live forever, but I would like to stay young and healthy for as long as I'd like, probably a couple of hundred years.

[@suzishealthyhome8678]

Do them!!!! No regrets.

[@delbertwalsh9146]

Stupendous, one of the most healthy view points on the subject I have ever heard.

[@waheedahmad4710]

This lady is amazing, her voice is fabulous.

[@deniseoneil2887]

For most of us life is mostly a hamsters wheel . . On and on and on with intermittent moments of happiness.

[@persephones_favorite]

Is there truly something wrong with that? What is the best way to live in your opinion?

[@cigarcompulsion1763]

What an amazing talk! It’s not how long, but how well!

[@thechad7803]

Love this lady. Bunch of scared cowards we are. Being afraid of death is akin to fearing the sun rising because my friends that shit is coming for us all. Take it like a man you whimpering simpletons

[@MaartenvanRossemLezingen]

Being scared of death is completely normal, it's just as natural as the sun rising, or death itself . Fearing death is the strongest instinct in all animals, even people with severe alzheimer's disease fear death. To mold your mind so that you stop fearing death, that is just as unnatural as ending aging, or going into space, or sleeping in a bed, or using the Internet, or wearing clothes, etc.

[@magicisreal111]

Beautiful! Standing ovation!

[@jonpadrejuan5357]

I love love this lady!!!

[@bobmarshall3700]

Spot on Lesley! Well done for the excellent lateral thinking and inquiring mind!

[@bxnewyork5074]

The fear of death is nature but not rational. Death is nothing to me. Because when I am here death is not and when death is here I am gone.

[@connorp2402]

But when you are here you can enjoy being here but when you are gone you can no long enjoy anything at all forever

[@poknari]

No he is just re-quoting mark twain, if im not mistaken.

[@SajidAli-je1sd]

so we should try to collect all the happiness and love cause life is a journey!!! - its sounds amazing man

[@AlbertCloete]

Look, if you want to die that's fine. If you think people who don't want to die are silly, that's fine too. But if you even hint at trying to force those beliefs onto others, there will be big problems. Also, "One must imagine Sisyphus happy." -- Albert Camus

[@tonideveraux8484]

Albert Cloete how so? What problems? She is saying we all die, accept and live your life.

[@OptimisticCynic715]

Toni Deveraux - As long as technology continues to advance, death and disease will become rare and possibly 100% optional at some point. That's probably the mindset of the guy taking the supplements. There will always be new challenges for those with the will to face them. But you can lay down and accept failure any time you choose.

[@roseannerainwatersmith12]

Wow! Great talk. Thank you ever so much.

[@UsenameTakenWasTaken]

Ends are nothing but new beginnings, and I am not who I was yesterday. Who I was yesterday is now who I was ten years ago. If you can't find or make something to interest you in that vast expanse of experience, then you're doing something wrong. Chronic depression is not an argument against a potential eternal life, but an argument that some people don't want to live.

[@mobk9774]

Bravo! So eloquently put. You are a marvel and legend.

[@TVPDX]

Best talk of the entire conference!

[@ScaeanGate]

What a lovely lady, such calm wisdom

[@dearman1954]

The only thing I am afraid of is living a pointless life. The lady speaker is asking the right question. What's wrong with dying? I think a person's life is their own. And if someone wants to end theirs then that is their business.

[@JoeD60]

This just now lifted sadness of the loss of a favorite celebrity I didn't know I was carrying.

[@Ronakalin70]

Just GREAT as always :)

[@dondressel452]

I could listen to her for eternity

[@HarDiMonPetit]

We rightfully crave for eternity rather than immortality. And we have it - if we just take the time to feel it. Like Spinoza said: "We feel that we are eternal."

[@domais68]

Excellent talk. Thank you!

[@lyndagauthier1670]

So wonderful, omg I love you 💕😘 thank you

[@kpzcbttp]

What a lovely lady with a fabulous voice.

[@humabutt5414]

I am a Muslim.. and heard you first time.. and liked your perception about life ... in other videos about islam and Muhammad and amazed ..you are Muslim or not but I can sense that Allah is some where with you because He has blessed with you with an open heart .. May Allah bless you with His reward THE LIFE HERE AFTER which is more imp in islam..

[@edwardrussell7168]

She does not want life of the hereafter... you have missed the whole crux of her talk... dont make her what she is not...

[@nicholasjames1101]

Glorious, wonderful outlook too life. Enjoyable, funny and worry free.

[@reiverdaemon]

Beautiful.

[@waleed8405]

Wise, clever and witty she seems always are!

[@abbasmoosvi9508]

What a beautiful talk.

[@gimpynogo2726]

I don’t have to get up i the morning and I love it.

[@JossieMimo]

Can we take a moment to appreciate that starting quote?

[@loveverse-xx5vu]

I am not scared to die I am ready anytime to die I feel better if I left this world

[@littlemrpinkness295]

I love her voice.

[@amitpinchas3077]

Amazing, I have a death anxity and you helped me fear less

[@Tao33316]

Lesley, you're captivatingly articulate and charmingly funny!

[@jamesgregory2197]

Thank you

[@davidsweeney111]

Nothing wrong with it, perfectly natural, bring it on!

[@user-xv5hk3vn7l]

you see death alone can make you a believer in God's existence let alone everything else in the world.

[@susan137]

If you want to die it's not hard to obtain. So why haven't you just grabbed for your desire?

[@PopTap]

Many have died before us. Historically speaking, it’s natural and everyone faces it. We repopulate, or not, and everything goes on until there is nothing left. Death is part of life, you can live forever until your not, your loved ones would be gone, or maybe the planet, universe, etc. Can it still be called being “alive” then..?

[@dav220]

love you lady!

[@daceliepins9108]

I love her!!!

[@Tazzypoo821]

wow thats deep. She said we NEED an ending. Great speech overall. yes HOW you live

[@somebody401]

You're absolutely right, no matter how long we live but what is matters is how do we live.... So if I don't live as I want to live as I planed once to live, yes I'll be living, but in hill while I'm thinking that I'm still alive.

[@lazygamerz]

People kinda romanticize "the golden years", but the truth is, retirement is disease and frailty, boredom and bodily fluids. I can't do anything of what I want to do, if I'm old and frail. Its all too dangerous for a frail elderly body and brain.

[@abidpeer4472]

Amazing.

[@ilaizahanse7555]

What a poet.

[@PR-yw4jt]

I think the car crash death would have been rather cool. When the alternative is dribbling into your incontinence pants hooked up to tubes in a nursing home I would definitely rather go out on a racetrack.

[@thedoggedexplorer]

I wish I could upvote twice. I literally have a tattoo on my body that embodies (to me) all of these ideas.

[@markartist7014]

Thank you .. :,)

[@acohen3951]

Great lecture. Brings everything into focus as life is finite. No question about that, and it is natural to die. We may not know when that will occur, and for that reason at least to me, I enjoy each day, the best that I can, knowing I may not see another sunrise or sunset, so that I stop and enjoy it !

[@volkerschmitz6623]

thats the ONLY right answer , aging is a disease and we should stop it , so ppl can decide weither they want to spend more time with their loved ones or not .

[@prlfr]

If the advancements in technology would enable a healthy and potentially infinite life, it just means that when it ends is an individual choice.

[@muffinn1337]

But it would be pritty hard to choose death

[@romanempire8705]

muffinn reminds me to the movie "In Time"

[@muffinn1337]

Kevin D. Najera havent seen it

[@romanempire8705]

muffinn it's a cool movie to watch at least once, it's a about time being the new currency of the future, the rich living forever basically while the poor die in great numbers.

[@yeah9071]

people would choose death only if they wanted to die at which point it would be the opposite of hard to make the choice. Your comment is illogical.

[@ToneyCrimson]

Everything..everything is wrong with dying. If nothing was wrong with it we would not try so hard to survive.

[@carinm.bonifacino]

Well, well said! Death is not to be feared!

[@NicholasEngerer]

Interesting to see the watershed before us - those who choose rejuvenation, and those who reject it. What a schism this will be in society!

[@h2bizzle]

Love her humor

[@arabspring5103]

What is wrong with medicine/technology that would allow us to live as long or as briefly as we desire?

[@davenelson7236]

DUH?

[@gibbygibson6680]

The fact that the world will become overpopulated. We will die one way or another. We would run out of food if we all lived forever and kept repopulating. It’s a nice idea, but eternal life has so many flaws.

[@shanenelson3863]

@@gibbygibson6680 not if we get so technologically advanced that we can upload our brain to an Android body.

[@yassingbreel7854]

Arab Spring soul it's belongs to God and no one Else...

[@0xszander0]

Old comment but I had to respond. You are answering your own question. It is NEVER one and the other. People do not get to choose euthanasia right now. What makes you think this would be different in a world where we live forever?

[@egodust11]

If you study life carefully enough, you'll realize the cyclical nature of things and events...everything that vibrates, especially if it's endowed with any semblance of awareness, operates within a breathing process. Breath itself, the heartbeat, waking/sleeping, day/night, work/play, pleasure/pain, life/death. *Life/death is a cycle* ... which means it will repeat itself, like any other cyclical dynamic. Moreover, science now supports the continuum of the animus (soul). Sciences such as remote viewing, hypnotherapy, and to some reliably repeatable and therefore verifiable extent, psychism itself.