I think you are right. Science can help, but since it works from the bottom-up, it cannot validly provide ultimate conclusions. I don't think we can square death because we are not in touch with life and existence. We largely live abstractly but must face actual reality when we die. It's shocking, as actual reality* always is. Maybe future humans will be more philosophical? Or they might be even more neurotically attached.Danny wrote:Our main problem with death is our lack of understanding this phenomenon fully - we only understand what we see which leads to a confrontation of the rational with the irrational. The result? Absurdity. Therefore I want to maintain that death is in its essence a mystery to us, because we suffer from "cognitive closure" with regard to it. The toughest part of this is to acknowledge that we can never know while alive. I must admit that I've struggled with this intensely and that my struggle is still continuing. Can't imagine that this is a problem which can be solved by "scientific progress". Or do you think I'm wrong?
I have an eccentric notion that the moments of death could be an utterly ecstatic experience. Even discounting NDE accounts, we tend to be happiest when in the flow, completely focused on what we are doing without a care about outside influences. Immersive experiences are the most transcendent experiences. I figure that nothing will focus the old mind quite like impending doom :) After all, by that point it's not as though we'll have bigger fish to fry. That will be IT. The Big One. We will be focused as never before. I expect that, if we're not completely zoned out by illness or drugs, we will experience reality in the now as rarely or never before. After that, of course, is anyone's guess.
* or close to actual reality