Last time I thought I was dying, I looked an my Gwynnies and smiled. Was actually upset when the pain stopped.
But yeah, we're not taking about any kind of representative sample here, sixty percent... but in contrast, here is where I can speak of death...
Real people in the real world, well, they want to mourn their loss. Their prerogative; but I have moved so far beyond "fear of death" that I am not fit for human consumption in those matters... another area I'd have to contend the reality of faith. It is not so much what I say among them that they cannot abide, but the manner of my saying, the uncomfortable reminder of just how animal we humans still are. People, in general, fear death with a mindless terror. They do not reconcile that "I" is essentially beyond animal. There's like two of us in here, ellen and animal; and while we parse information differently, we both have access to the same data. So, make no mistake - you find yourself contemplating non-existence, and drowning in mindless fear - that's your animal talking, and that's your animal's anxieties stimulating chemical production in your brain.
Cause there ain't no you and I with animal; there's only the three f's - fight, flee, and the other one. Animals die, big whip. For you and I, it is not to die - we never even lived - when the biology no longer supports the simulation, back to waveform with us. How many trillions of tons is held in a cubic centimeter of nothingness? You're gonna tell me that the universe is not set up to run these eternal simulations? Bah humbug. I got way more interesting things to fear.
Like my Gwynnies. But fearing pain? I can understand that; fear associated with death - well, the animal is not your enemy. This is another reason why I'm like - understanding, yea; repentance of sin, nay - because if you handle the big D, your animal can handle all the little D along the way. One thing animals do know, is how to die. They just get confused about what to do when they get there. Use the force, Luke; and you and your pokemon will have no problems in transition.
The only thing I know about fearing death is fearing the loss of complexity. Think about it; do you really want all this complexity?