Q&A: Why fear death or be sad when someone dies?
Why fear death or be sad when someone dies?
Question
If a person truly believes in the soul and in the continuation of its existence, why do most believers still fear dying and feel sadness when someone close to them dies?
Isn’t that inconsistent?
You once presented a thought experiment about a person who enters a teleportation machine that disassembles and reassembles his atoms, and even though we see people who went through the experience and say, “It works, I feel fine,” a person who believes in the soul still might not agree to enter the machine.
I actually think that proves the opposite—if you’re afraid to enter the machine, maybe you think life is temporary and when it ends, it ends?
Answer
I don’t know. Ask psychologists.
Discussion on Answer
I wasn’t talking about feelings in the emotional sense. If you’re angry at a crime (cognitively), meaning you condemn it, and not if you emotionally feel anger. We’re talking about cognition, not emotions.
You present issues like “if you feel anger toward a criminal, that’s a sign you’re not a determinist”—what’s the difference? If you feel fear of death, maybe you don’t believe in the World to Come? It’s a revealing thought experiment.