Why do people fear death

People live in this world, and no life is eternal. All life will eventually die. This is an inevitable law of the evolution of nature. However, most people are afraid of death. They are afraid of dying suddenly. This is a very common phenomenon. Death is a process that humans must inevitably go through, so why is almost everyone afraid of death?

There are several theories about people’s fear of death:

One theory is that nature endowed humans with this nature when they created them. The fear of death is the driving force for the continued existence of the human species. If humans did not have this innate fear of death, then the human species would have ceased to exist long ago. Why doesn't it exist? There are many reasons. If people are not afraid of death, they will inevitably be killed by predators that are more powerful than humans. If people are not afraid of death, they will choose death when faced with various difficulties and pains in life.

The second theory is that it is ultimately related to culture. For example, let's refer to the views on life and death of Indians and Nepalese. At the crematorium in Nepal, the relatives of the deceased will never cry before the cremation of the deceased. Their expressions are very calm because they believe that death and life are equal. Death is only the entrance of the soul to another world. Even children will play and frolic on the crematorium or even next to the deceased without fear, and they never worry about being contaminated by bad luck. The same scene can be seen on the banks of the Ganges River in India, which is almost unimaginable in China. Both India and Nepal have many self-torturing ascetics, but the Chinese believe that "the body and hair are given by parents and should not be damaged." Different cultures naturally lead to different views on life and death. Therefore, we believe that not all humans will be sad and afraid at the thought of death. Those who are sad and afraid must have not done enough “preparation”.

The third theory is that people feel uneasy because of the fear of the unknown. Death may not be as terrible as we imagine. What we fear is the uncertainty of the future, because too many deaths have proved the bitter loneliness of separation. Death will take away all seemingly fresh, warm and vibrant life, and make all the things we pursue lose their meaning. It makes life worthless and it will take away people's faith, and people must rely on faith to feel at ease and meaningful.

1. People are afraid of the unknown

From the perspective of human evolution, being afraid of unknown things is not a shortcoming, but a means of protecting ourselves. When a person dies, sensory activities naturally stop, so no one knows what it is like after death. The unknown about death is also one of the reasons why people fear death. For the elderly, death is much closer than for the young, so they naturally have more fear of the "other world" that they know nothing about than young people.

2. Death will separate you from your family

Death means farewell to one's partner and children. If the family relationships are harmonious and they miss each other very much, they will naturally fear that death will separate them. Therefore, for the elderly, the loneliness brought by death is also the reason why people fear death. Some elderly people are afraid of death because death will immediately make them leave their family and friends. They are also afraid of death because they care too much about their children and family members.

3. People’s survival instinct makes them afraid of death

The meaning of human existence is to continue, to prolong life. Therefore, people have many means of survival, such as food chain, mating, etc., which are all manifestations of human survival instinct. This survival instinct makes people resist disease, pain, and death, just like the struggle of a person who falls into water and suffocates. Death is the biggest threat to life, so people's survival instinct makes them fear death.

4. People’s unwillingness makes them afraid of death

As a popular joke goes, what people fear most is dying without spending all their money. The purpose of making money is to survive better, but if even the chance to survive is deprived, then the remaining money loses its meaning. The reason why some people are afraid of death is because of some unwillingness, fearing that their death will not be meaningful enough. Just as many emperors were afraid of death, they were unwilling to give up the power in their hands, and therefore they were afraid of death.