SpaceGazelle wrote:

adkm1979 wrote:

That won't work unless you believe their praying will help.

Yep, the placebo effect is powerful.

But what if I just believed that the surgeon is really good and he/she won't fuck it up? Just as good a placebo surely?

GooberTheHat wrote:

SpaceGazelle wrote:

adkm1979 wrote:

That won't work unless you believe their praying will help.

Yep, the placebo effect is powerful.

But what if I just believed that the surgeon is really good and he/she won't fuck it up? Just as good a placebo surely?

Evidently not, if we take the earlier assertion to be true.  One is a more rational belief than the other, and the religious person has two positives to focus on rather than just one.

GooberTheHat wrote:

GooberTheHat wrote:

Although seriously, I do wear a St George when deployed, simply for my wife's sake. She gave it to me "to keep me safe" and the though of how she would react if anything happened to me and she found out I wasn't wearing it, well I would rather just wear it.

Just reposting this so it doesn't get lost at the bottom of the page, I think it is telling.

You should. I read it twice anyway.

adkm1979 wrote:

That won't work unless you believe their praying will help.

Yep, the placebo effect is powerful.

But what if I just believed that the surgeon is really good and he/she won't fuck it up? Just as good a placebo surely?

Evidently not, if we take the earlier assertion to be true.  One is a more rational belief than the other, and the religious person has two positives to focus on rather than just one.

Evidently how? Where are the stats to say who believed the surgeon was competent or not?

igorgetmeabrain wrote:

Hmm. I wonder how that might play out as he gets older.

Relax igor. It'll play out like it has done time immemorial. It's only recently, and in mainly affluent countries, that you can hide the most natural thing in the world.

The only thing that really upsets me when i think about dying is how my mum would react.

equinox_code wrote:

The only thing that really upsets me when i think about dying is how my mum would react.

You'd hope she would be dead.

I'm not afraid of dying. I never have been. I've wondered in a drug induced haze if the world that i occupy will simply blink out of existence.
Will i become part of the energy of the universe? Will i continue on as the sunlight? Or as simply thoughts. Will the essence of me start afresh in a newborn's body with all memory of who i was wiped? Or will i just be gone.
I remember seeing my fathers body and wondering what was the difference between him as he was and what he was now. He looked the same. Completely still. For some reason i told him he was going to be a grandfather again. And when i touched his forehead and kissed it, he felt the same to me.
I wondered where the part of him that was him had gone. It was very strange.
I'm not afraid though.

revelthedog wrote:

I'm not afraid of dying. I never have been. I've wondered in a drug induced haze if the world that i occupy will simply blink out of existence.

Can't remember the exact fictional book, but it said when a person dies a whole universe dies with them. Then you study quantum physics and realise that might literally be true. Nature shrugs off such deep losses, as should we.

That's life.

I'd include those in "things".

I'd like to know how it ends. Not for me, but for humanity in general. The biggest catastrophes and world events etc.

I think i have more trouble getting my head around life than death. Death i can understand. I've been dead most of the time up until now and it was totally cool. But life makes my head spin a bit. Quite a few aspects just make so little sense to me. I'd love to know if it existed elsewhere.

I'm pretty terrified about the process of dying. That's probably been negatively informed by watching one of my parents succumb to a debilitating disease and watching them go through the gamut of emotions. Rage at their fate. Joy at the previously decent 50-odd years. Regret at what will never come to pass in their life. Hope that their ordeal might inspire the rest of the family to get busy living. 

The actual physical pain of dying is of greatest concern. Surprising really, as I have a very high pain threshold; broken limbs, huge cuts, impaling my eye on a tree branch were a lot more bearable than most would have expected. Perhaps it's the ambiguity of shuffling away that gets me and the utter lack of control. 

Since I've had kids my biggest worry was what would happen to them if I died. Would it fuck their lives up, would my wife remarry some scumbag, would childhood end more abruptly and adulthood begin? Thought about it for a few years and it really did terrify me. Most people would say that's really out of character as I'm very laidback, rarely get stressed at anything, have very low blood pressure etc. 

But now I'm not so concerned about it. I think it's about coming to terms with the fact that you're replaceable. I've got a great family and I know that they'd step up to the mark. My wife would cope admirably. We've got a life assurance policy, so money would't be a concern. And the boys are great; everything I ever wanted them to be and more. Kids are hardy and most of the time, the fragilities of adulthood are impressed upon children before they fully appreciate them. Their heart-breaking innocence is both a curse and a blessing - when my eldest said 'Where is Pappy now?' in front of my mum I was upset for her but also happy that he felt he could discuss death without being overawed. He was affected by his grand-dad's death but appreciated that it was a natural thing, which happens to us all. 

Ultimately, it comes down to fear of the unknown - what's going to happen when you're not there? I can't be there to impact on life's challenges, so I guess my duty is to make my kids as well-rounded and prepared for life's rich tapestries. 

Christ, only meant to write a sentence and all that came out. 

Cathartic Thread Achievement 50g.

The Holodeck should be out before I die. That would be pleasing.