Are There Any Reasons to Fear Death - Research Paper Example

Are there any reasons to fear death? Why (not)? Even after huge advancements in science and technology, the secrets behind life and death are beyond the grasping power of the human being. Nobody comes to this world knowingly and nobody leaves this world happily. In other words, life and death are two distinctive processes in which human has little role to play. Because of the mysteries surrounding life and death, a lot of myths, superstitions and beliefs are prevailing among humans. Religions believe that the God, The Almighty is responsible for creating this world. In their opinion, God knows all the things happening in this world and he has as plan about humanly life in this world. Religions argue that God has sent human to this world with a mission and those who complete the mission successfully would get salvation or eternal life whereas the failed people would get hell or punishment after death. As the same time, Science does not believe in these arguments put forward by the religions. According to scientific principles, God is only a creation rather than a creator. Science argues that there is no evidence to suggest the existence of God and religions are the major contributors towards the concept of God. Science never believes in beliefs and the concept of God is only a belief to it. In short, science and religions have different perceptions about the God and hence both have different opinions about the life after death. Science believes that life starts and ends in this world and there is no life after death. Therefore, Science argues that there is nothing to worry about death or life after death. On the other hand, religions believe that the current life is only a temporary one and the eternal life would take place only after the death of a person, based on the activities of the person in this life. In other words, religions argue that there is something to worry about death and life after death. Some people accept death without any fear whereas most of the people accept death with lot of concerns. For example, British celebrity Jay Goody embraced death with lot of courage. She was ready to celebrate his death and earned a lot of money by selling the rights of photographing her last moments to a channel. At the same time, it would be difficult for majority of the people in this world to accept death with both hands because of their concerns about the life after death. This paper analyses these claims of science and religions and argues that there is something to worry about death and life after death. Scientists are discovering how objective reality is more of an illusion than a reality. At deeper levels, everything - atoms, cells, molecules, plants, animals, and people participate in a connected flowing web of information. At the quantum level, the observer becomes a part of the observed and the distinction between observer and object disappears. Space and time are concepts we bring with us to the quantum level but they do not seem to exist there. Time flows both forward and backward symmetrically according to relativity - a concept making time travel a possibility. And because all matter, including our brains and bodies, are mostly composed of empty space because of the structure of atoms held together by atomic energy, a metaphysical case can be made that we are mostly composed of non-physical "spirit." At the quantum level, location becomes nonlocal and everything can be thought of as being in no particular place at no particular time. What we "see" out there has more to do with our own consciousness and subjective experience than anything that might be "out there". In light of these findings, we must conclude the notion of objective reality is in error. Physicists are discovering laws of physics are the laws of our own minds (Science and the Near-Death Experience). Science is capable of providing meaningful information about the material world. It formulates theories and principles based on experimental evidences. Science never believes in anything which cannot be proved experimentally. For example, electricity is an energy form and its existence can be proved with the help of a light or fan. Even though electricity is invisible to human, its effects are visible to him. At the same time, science rejects the idea of God since God is invisible to us. It should be noted that believers usually claim that they are feeling the presence of God on many occasions in their lives. They claim that they are receiving many favors from God through prayers. It is impossible for science to reject all these claims fully since it has no clue at all about the soul or mind which drives human body. On the other hand, religions say that God the superpower is responsible for all the creations in this universe. According to Christian beliefs, God has created human body from the material world and hence it will go to the material world after death. On the other hand, soul came from God and it will go back to God after the death of a person. The arguments of religions seem to be more logical compared to the arguments of science since science failed to give an answer to the future of soul or energy after the death of a person. Creations can never be better than the creator. For example, human is capable of creating robots with artificial intelligence. However, the control of these robots is in the hands of humans. Same way, God has created the humans and the control of humans in in the hands of God. If robots try to dictate humans, humans would definitely destroy them. Same way, if humans try to disobey the instructions of God, God would definitely take some actions against human. Religions argue that these actions could be received in the form of hell after the death of a person. It is impossible to analyze the concept of life and death or life after death without a merger between science and religious beliefs. According to Albert Einstein, “science without religion is lame and religion without science is blind” (Science and the Near-Death Experience). In other words a holistic merger of science and religion is necessary for human to understand the complex realities of this world. According to the theory of relativity constructed by Einstein, everything in this universe is relative and nothing is absolute. For example, one can say that human has superior intelligence compared to animals. It is not necessary that human is the most intelligent creation in this universe. It should be noted that this universe consists of crores of galaxies and sun is one star among the billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Moreover, earth is only one planet among the many planets of Sun. It is quite possible that stars in other galaxies may have planets like earth and it is impossible to rule out the possibilities of life forms in such planets. These life forms could be more intelligent than humans. Under such circumstances, Einstein’s arguments or theory of relativity are correct. Another important aspect of this scientific theory is that this theory holds good only for the material world. It has limitations in explaining the things in extraterrestrial world. It should be noted that science has limitations in knowing more about the things in the outer universe. Under such circumstances, Einstein’s theories and all the other scientific theories hold good only in this earth. Universe is much bigger than the earth. Human intelligence has limitations in explaining phenomena in the outer universe. In other words, none of the scientific theories are absolute. It should be noted that scientific theories are changing day by day because of its lack of absolute nature. For example, earlier, scientific theories argued that light is the fastest moving object in this world. However, modern studies have predicted the existence of an imaginary particle called Tachyons which can move much rapidly than light. In short, many of the scientific theories are unstable and therefore, over reliance on scientific theories for explaining death may not help human under any circumstances. For example, science believes that soul dies along with body even though this argument is contrary to the principles of energy conservation. If the soul dies when the body dies there is no reason whatsoever to fear death, because we simply will not exist to experience it. When people die they no longer have locomotion, they decay and the warmth leaves their bodies. The material soul must scatter with death and leave the body cold and no longer hold it together. All the elements, atoms, of the body are simply dispersed back into the world – including the soul. This eliminates the possibility of sense-perception, since the soul only has access to sense perceptions while it is within the body and through the body has access to the sense organs. Emotional response is impossible for the disembodied soul for the same reasons, so death is not a pain in either capacity (Qunicy). The question of fear of death would be meaningless, if soul faces death at the time of death of the body. However, Science does believe that energy is driving human body. Believers call it as soul or spirit whereas psychologists refer it as mind. In any case, it is a fact that a mind or soul or energy rests on all humans even though it is invisible to us. According to scientific principles, energy can neither be created and nor be destroyed, but can be transformed from one form to another (The Law of Conservation of Energy). If this principle is true, science should answer what happens to human soul or energy after death before ridiculing the idea of life after death. If science argues that soul dies along with body, it is contrary to the Law of Conservation of Energy. If science does not argue like this, it should explain what happens to soul after death. Religions on the other hand argue that the real life begins only after the death of a person. The life in this world is only a temporary one and it helps God to decide who are capable of leading a successful life in His Kingdom. In other words, this world is only a laboratory for God. He does many experiments with human in this laboratory to make some useful products. Happiness and sufferings are given to human life by God as a measure to prepare him to undertake bigger challenges later. Those who become useful products in this laboratory would get a chance to lead an eternal life with God after death whereas the failed people would suffer total destruction. According to Becki Hawkins, a Registered Nurse, primarily in Hospice, and later as Hospice Chaplain, there is nothing to worry about death. She has put forward her arguments after watching the last moments of hundreds of people (Pryor). It should be noted that Becki Hawkins never faced death and she cannot argue like this. The opinions of the people who are approaching their end of life situations should be considered while analyzing the difficulties of facing death. What is important is leading a life in accordance with the perceptions of mind. Believers can lead a moral life, since they have belief in life after death. On the other hand, atheists can lead a life of their own since they do not have worries about life after death. However, there are plenty of incidents in which hardcore atheists turned out to be believers when they face end of life situations. This is because of the fact that end of life situation is a situation in which both body and mind gets exhausted. It would be impossible for a person to think rationally when he approaches the end of life situations. While living in good physical health people would not think much about death even though they know that the death would come at some stages in their life. A child or teenager would never think about death when he travels in a bus or plane. An accident would take his life; however, he may not get an opportunity think about death. On the other hand, a patient with a chronic disease would always think about death since he/she knows that the end is nearing. In some cases, when the pain becomes intolerable, a patient may welcome death. However, nobody would think about death when they are leading healthy life. There is conflicting research about fear of death in young people versus the elderly. While most researchers will argue that young people fear death more than the elderly, one study done with dying people in Taiwan and published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management showed that the fear of death actually didn't lessen with increased age. Interestingly, the same study showed that patient's fear of death decreased after they were admitted to hospice care - likely a result of the education and emotional/spiritual support patients receive from the hospice team (Morrow). From the above facts, it is evident that religions and religious beliefs play important role in preventing fear at the time of death. It should be noted that religion is the only entity which provides hope to human even after death. Science never gives such hopes. Under such circumstances, it would be logical to obey the laws of religion so that one can accept death with both hands in anticipation of a better life after death. It should be noted that hope is what providing the necessary motivation for human life. Even a beggar may have hope towards his future life. He might think about winning a lottery prize to become a rich person one day. In other words, the hope for becoming a rich person is motivating the beggar to continue his life. On the other hand, beggars or poor people who do not have such hopes may commit suicide at some stages on their life. In short, the hope about a better future life always motivates humans. Religions provide such motivations. Religions teach that a prosperous life is awaiting human after death if he holds ethical or moral values in his present life. Therefore, believers or those who leads an ethical present life would accept death without any fears. On the other hand, people who are having crazy life styles would definitely accept death with lot of concerns and agonies. It would be interesting to know what Epicurus, the renowned Greek philosopher says about fear of death; "Get used to believing that death is nothing to us. For all good and bad consists in sense experience, and death is the privation of sense experience. Hence a correct knowledge of the fact that death is nothing to us makes the mortality of life a matter for contentment, not by adding a limitless time [to life] but by removing the longing for immortality. For there is nothing fearful in life for one who has grasped that there is nothing fearful in the absence of life. Thus, he is a fool who says that he fears death not because it will be painful when present but because it is painful when it is still to come. For that which while present causes no distress causes unnecessary pain when merely anticipated. So death, the most frightening of bad things, is nothing to us; since when we exist death is not yet present, and when death is present, we do not exist. Therefore it is relevant neither to the living nor the dead, since it does not affect the former, and the latter do not exist (Wolf). To conclude, death is a reality for all living things. If birth exists, then death also should exist. It is nature’s law. Nobody can rewrite it. Under such circumstances, fear of death seems to be an unnecessary feeling. It is illogical to worry about what is going to happen tomorrow while plenty of things needed to be done today. In other words, worry about death seems to be an unnecessary feeling. Humans are living in the earthly world and hence it is logical for him to think only about the things happening in this world. Since human came to this world without giving consent to anybody, he will go back one day knowingly or unknowingly. Death is as simple as that. Nobody can change the destiny of a person. Wealth, education or knowledge would never help a person while he faces the reality of death. Death is a reality to all and it should be considered in that way. There is no point in worrying about death since such worries would spoil the present life. Moreover, such worries would never guarantee anything better after the death of a person. Works Cited Morrow, Angela. “Scared to Death - of Death”. Web. 15 December 2013. “Science and the Near-Death Experience”. Web. 15 December 2013. Quincy. “Why We Should Not Fear Death”. 2007. Web. 15 December 2013. http://unfspb.wordpress.com/2007/05/21/why-we-should-not-fear-death/ Pryor, Oklahoma. “Hospice Expert Says there is No Reason to Fear Death”. Web. 15 December 2013. “The Law of Conservation of Energy”. Web. 15 December 2013. http://library.thinkquest.org/2745/data/lawce1.htm Wolf, Clark. “Epicurus on the Fear of Death”. Web. 15 December 2013. http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jwcwolf/ReadingsIntrF07/Writing%20Assignment%20F07.htm Read More