Why do we die?

Question

Not how, but why?

Answer 1

It's a real bummer isn't it.

Answer 2

A lot of different answers have been forwarded, but of course the only correct answer, in a philosophical sense, is that we don't know why we live or die. There may well be no answer because the question itself may be at fault, ie. there doesn't exist a 'why?' in this case. Our psychological make-up demands questions and reasons, here pertaining to our fear of death, for our mental well-being.
Logically, something that has a beginning also has an end, whether it is a straight line - or physical life. We can accept the 'soul' only as a human invention.

Answer 3

Because that's the way life is set up. Those of us who believe in God say because He set it up that way. The total purpose is beyond us in this life (just like the debate on determinism vs. free will).

But a few things: Death undoubtedly lends a solemnity and seriousness to life. Without death, life would be pretty much a cakewalk. A carefree party, much of the time. But with death, things get serious. The prospect is an opportunity to think seriously.

Also, death is apparently a necessary part of the process, that includes the next life, a conditioning or transforming part. Though many will not believe this. Many believe that death ends it all. The miracle that is a person, an individual identity, just fades away, perhaps to feed the trees! I cannot believe this; it would make all of life a tragic joke or farce. So,. if you believe in life after death, death is a transformative and necessary transition.

Answer 4

We don't.

Only our bodies die. They are born and die because they are part of the physical world & can't last forever. That is the life cycle. This world is finite. Everything has a beginning & an ending.

Our soul however, our very being, the part of us that thinks & feels and asks or answers these questions, never dies. It will live forever. In the afterlife there is no beginning or ending.

Don't ask why your body dies, ask how much you can enjoy this life while you have it. It's a beautiful though transient world. Make the most of it!

Answer 5

Because we think we do.

Our individual genetic code is set at the moment of conception. From that moment any cell from our 'body' can, theoretically, be used to recreate the entire body in a cloning process.

We change all the cells in our bodies periodically, some such as blood cells can be changed over a matter of days, some such as the long bones, like the femur ( thigh bone ) may take as long as seven years to fully replace.

Thus if you stand in front of your spouse and/or best friend today not one cell of the body in front of you was there when you looked at them seven years ago, and in seven years time they will have changed completely again.

If this isn true, then the question "Why do we die" takes on deeper significance.

We 'die' because that is what we are programmed to do, from birth in these 'monkey suits' we told that we will grow old and die..............and thus that;s exactly what we do.

We could change our minds about that..if we chose to.

Answer 6

Well all good things must come to an end. But look at it like this; would you really appreciate life if it never ended, if you could spend every single day sleeping and watching t.v knowing that there would be billions of more days to come just like this one? Life would loose its purpose, no one would feel the need to do anything productive because they would have an infinate time to do so. But because our time is limited, we feel the great need to educate ourselves and to be the best people we can be and make something of our lives. Also, everything must have an opposite, happy and sad, love and hate...but without the 2nd, the 1st can't reallu exist. For example, if there was no sadness, how would we know what happiness was if we had nothing to compare it to? It's the same with life. For all light there must be dark; for all life there must be death.

Answer 7

Stuff wears out, to end our suffering, because we are done here, freak accidents, because the meat puppet our souls are stuffed into just can't take anymore, or maybe because it's just our time. Why do we die is very similar to another question, "Why do we live?" and you either find meaning in it for yourself, or you don't.

We die because the complicated and miraculous system that makes up our human bodies, ceases to function. It may be because of age, accident, or something more intentional, but eventually we come to terms with the fact that there is an end to everything, good and bad, and that includes us!

Why we live and die isn't as important as how we live and die of course. We either make a difference in the world, a difference in ourselves, or our legacy becomes that of "Wasters of Oxygen!" In the end, no answer I give you is going to be as complete and satisfying as the one you will eventually come up with for yourself. Come up with as many answers as you can, make as many mistakes as you can, find as much joy as you can, and leave a benchmark for the next person who comes along and wonders if they are really going the right way. Hope this helps.

Answer 8

We die because of the ever changing nature of the being, dear Antoan. Because everything that is has to move, has to change and death is just a movement into an other. If we don't die, we don't live because then we do not move towards the change - not as individuals, but as species.

Answer 9

This question is a little like that other imponderable question, "what is the meaning of life"? The problem lies with the question. Only human beings, with their self awareness, their intellectual separateness from the world, require explanations to the ultimate questions. Animals interact instinctively with the world and each other, so they simply accept the fact of life and its ending, without requiring an explanation, as though it were part of a grand plan.

Why can't life be its own explanation, and the ending of life not require a 'WHY'? Scientists beaver away trying to explain the universe in other terms, mathematical formulae etc. Why can't it simply be its own explanation, just as the best map of Europe, is Europe itself.

When our physical lives end, whatever will be will be, we will then find that the question itself is irrelevant, and what we were previously looking for in asking the question was factual assurance in place of faith.

Answer 10

There two possible routes for answers to this question, the religious spiritual, that I reject, as I am an Atheist. That leaves the biological evolutionary. Evolution is in simplistic terms a selective process, as made famous by Darwin. Basically those organisms best suited to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on their "better" survival characteristics. An organism needs to live long enough to pass these on, but having done so and ensured their continuation, e.g. looking after their offspring long enough for them to be well placed enough to pass on their characteristics, they do not "need" to live on. I think New Scientist had an article on this a while back, but I can't remember what issue.

Answer 11

Because we are not as important as some of us think. We are so unimportant, its unbelievable.
We are not entitled to live ANY longer that the tiniest, the largest, the most innocent or most unimportant life forms in the universe.
Can you imagine being part of a world where nobody died?.
You would be standing straight up (like you were in crowd) next to a caveman who could be standing next to Hitler or Elizabeth the 1st, or Attilla The Hun, or your next door neighbour. There would be no room. There would be no food. There would be trillions trying to survive on nothing.
Just hope for a peaceful and quiet life life.... and a quick end. Thats all we should look forward to.