Death

[Minnow]

I think I have a skewed perception of death. Either that or the rest of the world has one. I don’t know, it just always seems to me that whenever there are reports of deaths from some disaster or battle the numbers always seem so small. ‘EARTHQUAKE HITS L.A., 30 DEAD, 95 INJURED’ I mean, sure, individually you could say those are large numbers. If you lost everyone in your family, which probably amounts to less than a dozen people, then it would be devastating. But this isn’t like that.

They’re major disasters. How can those numbers seem big? I always expect some large figure, but then they say a few score people at most, usually. I can never help thinking: Those numbers aren’t that big. What’s all the fuss about? Yeah, people died, but it’s still only thirty people. Thirty people.

It’s hard for me to even begin to consider something a tragedy unless the death count rises above 500 or so, and even then, it doesn’t really seem that much. 500 people is nothing. There are more than 500 people at my school. New York has around 20,000,000 people. Nobody would miss a measly 500 citizens except for their friends and family.

What’s even worse is when some huge disaster happens, like a hurricane, in which you expect thousands have died. But then the toll comes in: two dead, six injured. Part of you is relieved, but then the other part starts shouting. Only two people died from the hurricane which destroyed whole cities? It just seems so unbelievable. And you start thinking humans are much harder to kill than they seem.

But then you remember, you could kill yourself by hitting your head in the right spot with a hockey stick.

So, what? Are people resilient? Are they vulnerable?

Or is this just more of a “One death is a tragedy, 5,000,000 is a statistic.” thing?

 

[Storm Earth and Fire]

I was thinking this way too. But then I figured, if anybody dies, much less, say 30, somebody is going to flabble.

I think one thing to consider maybe just how often these disasters claim 500 or more lives.

And at our age, it's pretty easy to take death lightly.

By the way, the quote is One death is a statistic, a million deaths is a statistic.

 

[Zuu]

By the way, the quote is One death is a statistic tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.

fix'd

 

[Gardevoir Girl]

Death is an odd thing when you think about it. It's always waiting there at the end of the path, yet people like to imagine that they're invincible and look anywhere but at death. They act like they'll be young forever, and most of them have an incredible instinct for survival, just like most animals. That's probably why humans seem so resilient.

And yet death comes for everyone in the end. No matter how long or short their path is, it's always waiting there at the end. It could come in the form of a car crash, an overdose, a food allergy, an illness... almost anything can cause death if handled in the wrong way. Funny thing about life; no one gets out of it alive.

You hear about car crashes on the news all the time. Someone hit a motorcyclist and killed him, and you think about his family and friends, all the people mourning for him... and then there's news of a hurricane or terrorist attack, where five people were killed and many more injured, and you're relieved that so few people were killed. Five people killed in a hurricane is more than the one who died in the car crash, yet you don't think of their families and the people mourning for them...

 

[Storm Earth and Fire]

fix'd

Spaseba. =)

 

[Dannichu]

I think it's kind of a human defence mechanism. If we could actually concieve what 1000 people dying is really like, we'd never be able to be happy; after losing someone close to us, it can take years before we're out of a mourning period, and if we acted in that way towards everyone who died, we'd just be unable to cope.

People around me seem to die a lot. I've been to about 15 funerals in my time. Although I know that I cope with death a lot better than some other people.

 

[Music Dragon]

You're only 14 years old, and I'm willing to bet that it feels - to you - like you've lived for a long time. And just think about all the things that have happened during that life...! Wipe out thirty people whose lives have probably been much longer than yours, and quite a lot will be lost.

 

[Valor]

People have different ways with coping with the inescapable fate of all of mankind. There's religion, jokes of dying, and then there's demeaning it. For example, I could say so what if I die tomorrow for any reason? The grass will continue to grow and birds will continue to fly, so why bother making a big deal out of it? People tend to just look around death and look more towards what they want to do when they're alive, not when they're dead. If they want to believe they'll live after death, so be it. If not, oh well.

Just keep living life at the moment, I say. When a person dies, it doesn't matter to them because they're gone from this plane.

 

[Fireworks]

Also, while the truth is cruel, but generally, when someone close to us passes away, we'd be sad not due to that person's loss, but due to our own loss.

 

[Teh Ebil Snorlax]

Apart from it happening to people I know or respect, I am totally unaffected by death. :/ Numbed emotions ftw.

 

[Storm Earth and Fire]

Also, while the truth is cruel, but generally, when someone close to us passes away, we'd be sad not due to that person's loss, but due to our own loss.

Hmm... Is that really a cruel truth? I don't know anybody who has not acknowledged it as such. Mind you, this isn't exactly an ideal dinner conversation topic. :P

 

[Doctor Jimmy]

“One death is a tragedy, 5,000,000 is a statistic.” thing?

I can agree on that somewhat. However, imagine if 5,000,000 family members died. That would be really bad, since it would be five million times worse than losing just one family member. If one person dies, their whole life is gone; their families are one person short, their careers are gone, their hopes and dreams die. And if five million die, that's just terrible. I think that although a single life is very important, and everyone's life is just as important, that death is natural. Yes, people get hurt, and lives are gone. But, the world moves on; it's like a starfish: if it loses an arm, it feels pain, but it grows back another arm, and continues to live. Does the starfish forget about its lost arm? Probably not. But, it can move on. People have to live onward after a death. They take the memories they have of their loved ones, and what they've left behind, and move on. That's how I think about death.

 

[Dannichu]

Also, while the truth is cruel, but generally, when someone close to us passes away, we'd be sad not due to that person's loss, but due to our own loss.

I don't know. If I hear someone talking about a five-year-old girl who died of cancer, I'd be very sad, even though I'd never met her and my life is technically no worse off without her.
Surely the same thing would be true - only much worse - if it was your brother or sister who died? Thinking of all the things they never got to do and things?
Obviously, we hurt terribly because we're never going to see them again (even if you believe in an afterlife, you have to wait till you die, wich for people our age should be a very long time), but some of the pain is feeling terrible for the individual who has died.

Unless we're talking about someone who has been suffering for a very long time and wants to die, in which case our own sadness at our own loss is numbed slightly by knowing that the person we love isn't suffering anymore.