Why do we die?

Question

This question inherently begs the question why do we live, and what happens when we die, so I would appreciate well thought out answers incorporating these other questions.

Answer 1

Choice is not on our side the day we were born. Some would query should I be born knowing the unpleasantness that besieged our lives. Well, choice is not on your side, and this one question is for your parents to answer. Whatever answers, their decisions were right at that time. Likewise your children will be asking the same question. Since the choice is not on us, not to be born, ---- we have to live on as good as possible, meanwhile earning a rightful place in society. The moment of death is knowing, and awareness of the many cherished dreams, before lapsing into nothingness. --- The same moment before you were even born then.

Answer 2

Several others here have made similar points, but it seems to me that it is about getting to the point where we have 'accumulated' too many 'errors' (biologically).

I suspect that within a lifetime or two we will have some solutions to reversing those errors or at least slowing the pace at which they accumulate. We'll then get to the interesting point where some (maybe those that can afford it) will be able to live out lives twice as long as others. Although that is true in a sense today, we tend to ignore the effects because the two sort of people (New Yorkers and Sub Saharan Africans for example) don't live side by side.

Isaac Asimov (The Gods Themselves) and Larry Niven (Ringworld) have speculated what the effects of long life might be on our fundamental natures. Asimov suggested that we'd be less willing to share innovative ideas or work co-operatively, as we'd tend to take the view that we 'had all the time in the world' to develop our ideas and theories (and reap all - rather than share - the rewards that flow from them). Niven suggested a much more fundamental response, and that is that it would alter our risk behavior. If you are going to live for two or three hundred years you are less likely to risk crossing a road without looking twice (or three or four times) in each direction. Same applies to driving fast, or to exploring - or going to war. Then there is the jealousy and resentment of the ones who don't have the money or the genetic advantages (explored by another writer - Robert Heinlein).

My view is that who'd want to live in a world where the social mores, even the music, was alien to you. You'd be suffering culture shock continuously. But you can get used to it, even enjoy it, as travelers will attest. But even they tend to say - sooner or later - "there's no place like home".

Answer 3

Well, I believe, there are five stages in our lives: birth, youth, adulthood, old age, and death. Now for you to achieve complete nirvana you have to go through every process, and that means going thru death. In Catholicism, it is believed that there is life after death, where you will be with the creator to live forever, but for you to experience that you have to die first. Death is defined as an exit point from mortality to immortality.

While living, on the other hand, is a more complex situation. I believe that all of us came from the creator and was born in this world with a purpose. We are all given a certain mission for us to fulfill once we get here. But, thru the process of becoming human we forget what we are sent here for. Hence, the term living. We have to go thru our life journey finding that sole purpose of why we're here. If at the end of the time that is given to us and we still haven't fulfilled our life mission. Then we go back to the creator. Then, the creator gives us another chance by reincarnation. You keep on being reincarnated until such time, when you finish and fulfill your mission.

I hope this covers all your question. :-)

Answer 4

The crux of your question is death. So let's talk about that a bit.

When most people think of death, they focus entirely on bodily death. Perhaps that should be unsurprising in societies as materialistic as most of ours are. I believe, however, that there are other kinds of death - spiritual death, emotional death, deaths of nations and societies, and so on. These all have some things in common.

Death is most of all a readjustment. It is not just a loss of life... in fact, some deaths mark what could best be described as an explosion of new life. And there's a key word in there: new.

So death means an end of one thing, and all the parts of that thing are now consumed by other things or lost altogether. When a nation dies, its territory is usually taken up by hungry neighbors, or made into child-states. When a body dies, instead of fighting off and eating other life it become food instead. And when a personality dies, the memories remain but are usually revalued and re-interpreted by the new personality that takes its place.

People experience this kind of death more than they usually suspect. One of the times I died was when my ex left me. The person who had existed before was a very different one from the person who occupied my body afterward. A lot of people also experience a death and rebirth when they find religion... even to the extent of calling themselves 'born again'.

When the old is inactive, and those things that made it up are gone or taken by others, then that is death. So why does it occur? On the most crass level, it happens because it can.

Almost everything that is alive has its survival improved by eliminating other living things. People that eat other things and kill threatening diseases get to keep living. Theories that become accepted and squash other ideas are likely to persist. Even space is fought over by just about everything, though different things fight over different kinds of space.

Is it reasonable to expect all these living things to simply stop fighting because we happen to not like dying? Not at all. The only choices we have are to craft our own world and withdraw from the struggle, to fight and take part in carving our own world out of other living things, or to surrender and die.

Choose.

Answer 5

We die because our bodies burn themselves out, unable to sustain the regenerative processes, or because the system is just too overloaded with damage to heal itself quick enough. Or, in a few cases, because we simply cease to posses the will to go on.

We live because an amazing series of bio-chemical reactions set into motionone of the most incredible machines ever produced. If we aqre damaged, we regenerate. We can fight off invasive life forms, to varrying degrees of success or failure.

What happens when we die is yet to be determined by any of us, aside from our bodies decomposing. As to the metaphysical aspect of all of this, you need to address your beliefs on faith and spirituality, before attempting to get this answer.

Answer 6

According to history of science,prediction of death,science has no answer. Regarding to our religions books one can get that the truth on our universe is only death.Who has taken birth,one day would have to die. For example, Budhist Philosophy is based on Indian religion tradition.If some one is interested,consult Budhist Philosophy. Truth cannot be changed.Thus death is certain of every one who has taken birth on this earth? According to Indian Holli books, just after the death,soul transfers to any other body(may be from human to any animal also).The research is also going on in some countries about our fore birth,in USA,Canada etc.In conclusion to question,we die as this is truth because who has taken birth on this universe,one day death of birth is certain.The second one why we do live because we have taken birth.These two happening(birth and death) are not in our control nor in our choice.After the death our soul comes out from our body and to enter into another body may be of person or animals etc,that is also not in our control neither our choice. According to Hindu religion these two things Life and Death depend upon on Almighty God nor on us.

Answer 7

We die because our bodies become incapable of sustaining life. They wear out. They deteriorate.
Why do we live? That is up for you to decide for yourself. Your purpose, dreams, goals and life meaning is something of your own creation. I continue to live because I believe there is much to be learned and in turn contributed to the universe in the present and the future.
What happens when we die? Nothing. Our bodies continue their deterioration (albeit much more rapidly). They decay and turn to dust/dirt.

Answer 8

You'll likely have many "because" responses. How do we die is the far more telling story of the human condition.

Answer 9

In Stephen Levine's book "Who Dies" (very good, by the way), he says something like. When we die, we take with us our self image and our capacity to love. I liked this and found it very believable.

We are energy...thoughts are energy....the body, like the fall leaves, will die and turn brown (yech!), but the animated portion...the life...which is energy doesn't die...can't die.

Think of electricity...you can turn it off, but you can't kill it.

Answer 10

We die inorder to give other chance to live. If all of us don't die, how pack is the earth by now?