Published on 12, July, 2020
To be aware of it is the scariest thing in the universe --- If it exists outside our perception. Awareness that we are nothing compared to the size of the universe and our time of existence in this universe is less than the blink of a cosmic eye. Awareness that our senses are drastically limited to perceive the true nature of the universe. Awareness that any amount of scientific knowledge won’t be enough for us to differentiate if the universe is subjective or objective, that we're pre-programmed or we have a free will, that we are created or are we the result of some random events (or experiment). For me this is my broad view. At a more personal level what scares you.
Governments, Society, growing old. The general level of stupidity among the common man and their willingness to be dragged along by groupthink.
Why are you scared by growing old? You’re not alone - I saw something on yahoo yesterday saying that the proportion of people afraid of growing old is increasing.
Solomon puts it this way.
“So remember your Creator while you are still young, before those dismal days and years come when you will say, “I don’t enjoy life.” That is when the light of the sun, the moon, and the stars will grow dim for you, and the rain clouds will never pass away. Then your arms, that have protected you, will tremble, and your legs, now strong, will grow weak. Your teeth will be too few to chew your food, and your eyes too dim to see clearly. Your ears will be deaf to the noise of the street. You will barely be able to hear the mill as it grinds or music as it plays, but even the song of a bird will wake you from sleep. You will be afraid of high places, and walking will be dangerous. Your hair will turn white; you will hardly be able to drag yourself along, and all desire will be gone.”
Well they developed as I was approaching 30 so it feels like aging to me. I before 28 I just didn’t even need glasses. Ageing is a process, it doesn’t only apply to things that happen after you’re 60.
I've had those 3 things (on top of all the rest) for decades too.
Ageing is only a factor with respect to eye problems.
My stepson has your eye condition. His mum is discovering there is very little resolution available apart from getting ripped off by the optician with a new perscription every 6 months for his astigmatism
I'm a long way from my pension but I still have irregular astigmatism that glasses can't fully correct, floaters and dry eye all of which I'm told are 'incurable' and must merely be managed. When I was a teenager my eyesight was perfect and I didn't need glasses.
Taltunes said:She actually has more than enough morphine in her flat to do the job
There are far worse ways to go than by a morphine overdose.
My sister was on intravenous morphine when she died so we know she was in a peaceful place.
It's a drug I think of as being kind.
So sorry about your mum.
My mum would certainly take a pill if she was given one. She actually has more than enough morphine in her flat to do the job but my sister and I aren’t about to tell her that.
Taltunes said:Yes, and no.
Yes and yes, I think, as life for the elderly is really nothing like it was during Biblical times which was the point I was making.
For example, Solomon talks of 'your eyes will be too dim to see clearly' but I've had the benefit of glasses, contact lenses, cataract surgery, other eye surgery and am at present having eye injections for wet macular degeneration.
Solomon didn't have that available.
However, yes, there is still suffering and deterioration but there is at any age.
As I said above, I've lost 3 people close to me in their 50s.
Death and deterioration can haunt us at any age.
I'm sorry about your mum, and I do feel that euthenasia by choice should be allowed (but, my goodness, that's a contentious subject).
Yes, and no. Most pensioners enjoy good health in the early years of their retirement but a lot of pensioners then have to endure years of poor health before they die.
My mum is 92 and has a form of cancer amongst other health conditions. She has got to the stage where she has had enough but is basically being kept alive by modern medicine.
Peter said:Solomon puts it this way.
That was (purportedly) in approximately 970–931 BCE.
Medicine has moved on rather a lot since then, along with life expectancy and quality of life in old age.