- Various words appeared above the faces on screen. Half of the time these were death-related words such as “funeral” or “burial”. The scientists found that if a person’s own face flashed up next to deathly words, their brain shut down its prediction system. It refused to link the self with death and no surprise signals were recorded.
Avi Goldstein, a senior author on the paper, said: “This suggests that we shield ourselves from existential threats, or consciously thinking about the idea that we are going to die, by shutting down predictions about the self
I'm more amazed at the procedure, than the result.. I reject the result entirely, it doesnt apply to myself
This is hardly a scientific thought, but I wonder how actors react to images of their death on-screen? I'd take that to be the most "death-related" portrayal of the self imaginable. I wonder if it's hard to watch? Thanks for the article, I enjoyed learning about how you other suckers struggle to accept death as inevitable. Glad I'll never have to worry about it ;)
Curious, do you have kids? I now have a fear of death I wouldn’t have if I didn’t have children. I have a huge sense of obligation. I need to stick around for them. My two oldest know what I do for a living. They don’t like that I travel so much for Forever Labs. The other night my daughter asked if storing your stem cells could make you not die? I said that I believe it will help people live longer and healthier. She then asked if anyone was trying to figure out how to keep people alive forever? I said that many people are trying and that it will take many approaches, including stem cells. She then said, “daddy, I don’t care if you have to travel. Just fix it.”
I do not have kids, and you're absolutely right. I would be terrified to die if I did. I think what I meant is it isn't the "death" part itself that scares me, it's what would happen as a result. I wouldn't be around for the people that need me most, and I wouldn't have been able to do all the things I wanted to do. The concept of ceasing to exist doesn't scare me on its own. I'm glad to hear your daughter feels good about that. Few friends grew up with parents who traveled a lot for business.