Why is death important?

Question

I have been having an argument with myself for quite some time after reading Tuck Everlasting several years ago,on why is death important?
I personally find it to be an important process of life,and needed.
But if we were able to live forever,would we ever find anything we have in life,important,would we have be able to value things like friends and family the same?
Besides it being an important part of life,what would happen if we could live forever,what would YOU do if you could live forever?
As from Tuck Everlasting (a very good book,and easy read,I suggest reading it!) what do you think of the Tucks problem,would you like being able to live forever or would your attitude be the same as theirs?
Oh and if you were given the chance to live forever would you take it or would you go on living with death?
I personally find that death is important and would not want to be able to live forever,because even though death is a scary thing living forever,would give live no meaning,wouldn't it

Oh and for example,in Tuck Everlasting the people are capable of living forever WITHOUT changing.
I'm looking for thorough answers though.

Answer 1

death is important because if it never was then we would have no right punishment for our bad actions and no good reward for our good deeds. If u are evil then fine, stay alive, but if u are good then death is very important.
Personally, i want my reward :)

Answer 2

I do not think that death is important. Death is the one thing that none can escape. It causes fear of all sorts of things and allot of times causes us to not live our lives in a way that we would other wise.
If I could chose to live forever I would. Can you imagine being passionate about some thing and being able to spent as long as you needed exploring it. The incomprehensible knowledge that eternal life would bring is unfathomable to those of us that only use 10% of our brain our entire life.
What would life mean if you didn't have to worry about the short time you were here. I believe that yes probably the first couple of hundred years would be spent with out care or worry and would not mean a lot. There would be a time once you understood fully beyond our current capacity about life and every thing there is to know that ones enlightened self would gain a new awareness.
I truly believe that if I could live forever I would. this life is not long enough to do everything and that is what I want.
It may seem selfish to never want to leave and make room for others but nature would find a balance.
I have have not read Tuck Everlasting but since you posed the question I will defiantly have to pick it up, it sounds like a good read.
Thank you for the enigma and may you, if not eternally, live a long and fulfilling life.

P.S. I also like landwish's reply

Answer 3

I agree with Woody Allen. I'm not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens.

I think death is just an important part of life as birth. I, though, do not believe that the soul dies, only our bodies. I do believe that we are all on a spiral school that forever holds our grades and we hopefully move upward always and not downward.

If, however, I knew I would live forever in this physical body with this particular life I would not find it a good thing. I would probably try to kill myself. Oh yeah, no death, cant kill myself. Wow. now I'm not going to kill myself. I'm just using hypothetical reaction to the thought of "NO DEATH". Chaos

What is hard is and something I question the Creator is why so much inhumanities and pain.

Answer 4

death is inevitable so we are all going there. Some sooner than others.

Nature uses death to keep the environment in balance.

If animals/people didnt die there would not be enough to sustain the living.

Animals will die in vast numbers when the environment is out of whack, the strongest will remain alive sufficiently to repopulate when necessary.

Humans are no different , sub -saharan africans die from starvation as the environment cannot sustain the lives. If we had no death we would have even more people in dire straits.

Nature will always let the strongest survive.

If people lived forever then the impact on the world would be horrendous, more rubbish , kless food , less water more emmisions.

We would not be able to sustain ourselves.

Havent read the book but I think I will.

Answer 5

death is kind of like a deadline or a due date. if death weren't an impending doom over the horizon,there would be a heck of a lot less motivation to get stuff done, because you really *can* do it tomorrow, since tomorrows become a given.

on the other hand, i'd take immortality at the drop of a hat but thats just because i have way too many things i want to do that aren't going to fit in one lifetime.

PS the great misconception of human understanding to life is that it HAS to have a meaning. says who? what one more carbon-based life form's existance in the grand scheme of things? what's a whole species' existance? everything dies and what you do with your life ultimately has no meaning but to you and maybe the people you impact in your life. but it's like a pea under the bed in the end. all the layers of time time round it over and smooth it out until eventually (within a lifetime or so) who you are and what you've done are ultimately wtihout consequence.

and don't try to refute me with examples of legistlation, literature, art, or the holocaust. nothing that is done can't be undone by human forgetfulness and corrosion. we will always remember - sure, you will, but how many generations later are going to even know your name? how many are going to feel the personal connection to you that makes them *understand* who you are instead of just sympathizing with what you were?

Answer 6

i read the book and watched the movie and do think that you are absolutely right . death is a scary yet it must happen but living would have meaning but your missing the point. its how you live your life not how long it may be. freinds and family would be valuable.a very important point is are the worlds and its resorces everlasting. no.humanity would kill more and more animals for land and so many other things that play into it. the point is death is a fundamental thing that plays into everyones mind every day yet it must happen

Answer 7

the only reason things hold importance is because we know they are fleeting. if you could experience the same things over and over for all eternity, there would be no importance to anything. the only thing that make life worth living is death, though i wouldn't mind living to be 2,3 or even 400 years old, i would not want to live forever.

Answer 8

i read that book it was one of my favorite. I felt bad after Winnie Foster died. But what if there is something more to dying? life after death? I personally can't wait to die cause I know I'll go to heaven and am not scared at all =) I think thats the meaning of life is to live forever in eternity with Jesus.

Answer 9

i read the book like ten years ago...i would really hate to live forever watching the ones i loved die...that's hard enough now. i would have made the same choice she did in the book, but if i was a member of tucks family and didn't really have a choice like they did i would try to look on the bright side of things i would have time to do what ever i wanted now thanks for the question

Answer 10

physical death is one thing, but spiritual death is far more important. The only way to have spiritual life is to accept Jesus as your Savior. This is referred to in Scripture as eternal life (zoe). The best concept I understand that unifies the concepts of physical and spiritual death is separation:
physical death = the soul separated from the body
spiritual death = the soul separated from God

Answer 11

Death is important because without it, the world would be a crowded place, lacking in resources, and be filled with helpless old people whose bodies can not function properly.

Unfortunately, that's the sad fact that we have to live with.

Now.. life after death.. that's a different topic.