Questions on Mortality

One is certain in this world. We all know at one point in time, we will all die because we are mortals. However, this fact is sometimes avoided or denied as the focus is more given to life itself than the end of it. It is also an inconvenient topic to discuss about death. People are afraid and most often associated with the most painful life experiences one could ever had. Moreover, the way towards death is something left undiscussed, and much controversial is what happens after death. All these things and questions will be tackled on this blogpost.

Is death a time to remember?

What if one dies unnoticed? Does that dimish the essence and worth of dying? These are very complex questions. First, one has to deal of the need of the person to be acknowledged. This is a need for the living, but the problem exists on this need continues to be a need at the time of time, or even after it. Many cultures in the world commemorate dead loved ones by visiting their graves, praying or simply remembering. However, these common practices may not be present in some distinct social groups as how life was lived is given more emphasis than death itself. Another problem exists when people only remember one's importance at death. That itself is comtrary to the perspective of the need to be acknowledged for to be recognized as unique living human is greater than being the greatest man who ever lived. Therefore, one must remember one's presence when one still lives, then to what extent that person will be remembered at death is a question with an answer forever will be unknown to the person.

Is death the end of suffering?

This leads one to a more philosophical question on whether life itself is a form of suffering, such as death is the only kind of relief. Some people would argue that life should not be seen as a suffering, but based on experiences both good and bad. In this perspective, death is a stop to this series of events, putting a halt on the learnings or eventual personal gains the experiences could provide one. The complexity of the question worsens when a person suffers a debilitating and painful disease either most of a person's life years, or at the life terminal phase. If one suffered so long, one could death as the ultimate source of comfort and peace. However, when one was only plagued with a disease at a short last phase of one's life, death could be seen as a permanent break of a life before sickness, and last alleviating cure to one's sickness. Either way, one could understand, death is a solution for a problem or a difficulty no one could ever solve, only death itself.

Should death have meaning?

The meaning of death depends on how the person perceives life and after-life. Religion and social norms teaches us to do good to attain eternal life. This gives death meaning to the grieving loved ones, as death is seen as a departure to another dimension, perhaps heaven to experience genuine peace. However, not all people believe on after-life. So how could one find meaning to death itself? Perhaps nothing. Afterall, a meaningless view of death gives meaning to death itself. Death becomes nothing. It is void and no big deal. So nothing could be done to have a better death, or even be believed on to make death more than nothing. It is a time where nothing is its meaning, and a person exists from someting to nothing. Therefore, meaning is highly subjective from one person to another. One finds meaning on death, while for others, it is good as nothing but death.

I came up with these questions to highlight which perspectives are more common related to death. Recently, I witnessed someone dying. I had very short contact with that person, but somehow the death bothered me in a way. As a health care practitioner, I see death as an occurence that could be hasten, delayed, prevented and respected. It is a personal experience especially to those who are left behind, but for health workers, it is a part of a natural process all individuals will experience. The question is not really why we die, but how are we suppose to die and what are things crucial upon death. Although death is natural, it is still complicated. One could not understand it perhaps not until our own time comes. The only problem is that when that time comes, would answering questions on mortality would even still matter. That is also a question.