Assignment 8 - Thomas Noll

Fears: Elevators, firearms, death.
Annoyances: Asserting opinions, but refusing rebuttal
Accomplishments: Keeping good friends
Confusions: If moderates are the majority, why do we only hear radical voices?
Sorrows: Bad at showing affection (At least I think...)
Dreams: College, Voluntary Immortality
Idiosyncrasies: Saving random plants on the edge of death
Risks: Auditioning for theater
Beloved Possessions Now and Then: My old notebooks (Now), A blue blanket (Then)
Problems: Poor communication skills (that I "solve" by being excessively eccentric)

I've encountered many people who claim they do not fear their inevitable death. Perhaps they have made peace with the unavoidable terms of life, and are just content to experience what they have. In my eyes, however, this is the most foolish, desperate concept anyone could ever conceive of. Excuse my bluntness, but when disease takes our children and natural disasters take our citizens we go up in arms. We build vaccines, hospitals, weather alert systems, and evacuation routes. Why should the degrading progression of age be treated any different? I hear the argument "But death is natural!" Do you know what else was natural for thousands of years? Smallpox. I don't see anyone missing that.

My intention is not to fear monger or make people insecure, but I feel like the mentality towards aging and "natural death" needs to change. I fear death because I can never know what happens after. Most likely I will cease to exist at all, perhaps there is some afterlife. But what I do know, is that right now I have something. Some sort of existence, that even if its not perfect, it is something. And the safest, most logical option is to hold on to this "something-ness". Yes there will be natural consequences if we managed to stop death, but humans, while always reliant on nature, have never been concerned with following it. Age has a 100% mortality rate, imagine all the incredible things we could do if we stopped that.