Is death an affront to the human ego?

Question

Think about it. Some of the first things that pop into your head when contemplating it are:

Will I be remembered?
Will my children survive and carry my DNA?

So, is death an affront to the human ego?

Enlighten me.

Well, this calls into question what exactly is the human ego? The will to prosper and be well thought of? Isn't that related to death, since your prospering will end and your mark on the world will fade?

I guess peace can be found by accepting the inevitable.

Answer 1

The human ego is essentially a thought structure. You can't actually touch or feel the ego, it only exists in our heads, so to speak. It identifies itself with the physical body, obviously, but its fundamental identity lies in thought. "I think therefore I am" is the essential statement of the ego, because the ego is really nothing but the process of thinking about yourself (where "yourself" is nothing but an idea also, even though it be connected with the physical body). Because the ego exists as a series of thoughts or ideas, ego death is essentially when nothing (no one) thinks about it.

This is why the ego is more concerned about being remembered than it is with physical survival. Because even after one dies physically, their idea can continue on through others. The ego always exists through ideas, and ideas can survive physical death, as long as they last, the ego lasts (at least that is how it percieves the matter). So ego death, the great fear of the ego, is that no one, no thing, will carry the idea of its existence.

The ego fears leading an insignificant life because no one remembers insignificant lives (or that is how it percieves it).

So physical mortality is not the real threat to the ego, because the ego always imagines itself into the future, and therefore imagines itself even after physical death, whether that be in the form of an afterlife, or the form of being remembered. But what is a threat to the ego is insignificance. Insignificance equals ego death, because insignificance means you have no future (will not be remembered), and the ego exists only in the future (and the past). So, religion deals with this problem for some people by telling egos that they are significant because they belong to a particular set of ideas, and for others living a "significant" life addresses the fear of ego death because significant lives are imagined to be more likely to be remembered.

Answer 2

I do not know much about EGO but what I know I shall tell--Death is a reality that every one must face.I started asking these question at the age of 14.And yes today I can say after the search that I did or should I say God was kind enough to revel these realities to me, that today I can stand on the thresh hold and say well I am not afraid of Death!!!Nope.That's y my parents tell me often that I should have been in the Indian Army where there is dearth of such people.Or may be they will call me a traitor because I am Christian!!!Today's scenario is pathetic---when a plane is hijacked have u watched the relatives crying and banging with so much of hopelessness????Yet they never think that in order to defeat terrorism the only thing one can do is let them)terrorist) blow it all.How many will they blow and how many will they kill.????But no out of the fear of dying they all become violent to get their own back and there by a defeat to terrorism.Gone are the days when the people thot that giving life for the nation was counted as martyrs or was it that martyrs are only those who died to set our country free from The BRITISH?????
Sadly the very same people will charge the minorities in this country as traitors!!this word needs to be redefined, I think.
Hate is a word which sell faster and yet to oppose it with love no one dares take a step.Why????Because SELF comes in between I think!!!!
Everybody is free to form an opinion and so am I.

Answer 3

I'm sure there are people who feel that aging as well as dying are an affront to their ego because they want to be remembered or have something that goes beyond their years on earth but perhaps they should consider that being remembered doesn't require being remembered in a good way and children don't always showcase the best of those whose DNA they share. There is probably someone out there that feels that way but hopefully not a lot of people share that view point of death.

Answer 4

I don't agree, when I think of death I think of the afterlife and what is to come. I don't focus much about children carrying my DNA or an of that. I hvae thought about whether I will be remembered but it's not a main concern really.To me, once I leave this world, I really don't care much about what happens to my "self" since I'm not gonna be there anyway so why should I care?

Answer 5

You have life going without spiritual interference. Everything seems to be well taken care of. Wait till you face the wall on your back than post again this. If you have keep quiet and enjoy life and not step on another person foot I believe that you will live a ripe age in peace. But you have to say that we believe because of our ego and that we have abstract thought. It is like opening the gate of hell and challenge the Devil because if you say that there is no God because Man made it up than you have also implicate the Devil to be also made up. The Devil is not please. He will claw you for making Him non existing when He is now the ruler of this world. He will teach you what respect means. You will bow to Him but it is too late to ask forgiveness. He do not give any person a chance. That's when you will face the wall. Who than will you call? your boastfulness? That is the time you will cry to God. He forgives and is the only one that can save you. Remember, when you face the wall, call God, pleading with Satan will only be a waste of time. He loves people to beg Him.

Answer 6

The opposite, I would think..

Quite a lot of famous people achieved greatness after death.

The one we lost is the one we loved the most.

Living forever might surely make you such a bore (just think about aunty Mary who told you 41 times the same story... and she is only 86) that everyone will be more than ready to forget about you.

Death might thus be one of the best thing that can happen to someone's ego...

Answer 7

Sorry to say stranger but that's really not what comes into my head. That sounds more like a 'guy' thing. Their egos r bigger i think. Or maybe its an age thing. I am getting near the end of my life so maybe my thinking has changed since my youth.
U know what i think when i think about me dieing?...........i must sort stuff out so that my kids ain't got that worry.

Answer 8

It depends on which death your talking about.
There is the death of the body and then there is the death of the spirit.
This flesh must die because it is matter and matter decays.
The spirit that is in you does not have to die it can live forever and if you believe in and on Jesus the son of the Living God it will happen. For there are many things man cannot comprehend as of yet and one of them is knowing if there is another existence.

Answer 9

Yes and I think it's a good thing because some people need their egos affronting!

Answer 10

In the terms you explain - it is. You have a lot of fear surrounding death it seems. So, I guess to counteract some of this would be to question the goals/purpose in your life. Such as .......leave an impression of how you will be remembered.