BF2S Forums Death

SEREVENT wrote:

I guess because killing is the most un natural thing to do?

Hurricane2k9 wrote:

Why is death such a difficult concept for humans to grasp? People fear death, I assume, because they are not fully certain of what lies on the other side. The idea of simply ceasing to exist, as if one falls into a sleep without dreams, is rattling.

And what about the taking of lives? Many soldiers, police officers and even people who have had to defend their home often say that one of the worst feelings in the world is what one feels after taking a man's life. Primitive beasts like dogs and lions obviously don't have such reservations, because they do not have any humanity. But why does even the idea of killing a person rattle us? We're taught from birth that we "shalt not kill." But in some situations, you must either kill or be killed. So why is it so mind-warping to commit such an act? I'm not even necessarily looking for the philosophical answers but the psychological ones. What exactly does it do to our minds?

JohnG@lt wrote:

Take it up with the books and movies and tv shows that have been telling people how they should feel in certain situations for the last few hundred years. Go back to the middle ages and you wouldn't find any symptoms of battle fatigue or shell shock even though the fighting was much more personal.

JohnG@lt wrote:

Hurricane2k9 wrote:

Why is death such a difficult concept for humans to grasp? People fear death, I assume, because they are not fully certain of what lies on the other side. The idea of simply ceasing to exist, as if one falls into a sleep without dreams, is rattling.

And what about the taking of lives? Many soldiers, police officers and even people who have had to defend their home often say that one of the worst feelings in the world is what one feels after taking a man's life. Primitive beasts like dogs and lions obviously don't have such reservations, because they do not have any humanity. But why does even the idea of killing a person rattle us? We're taught from birth that we "shalt not kill." But in some situations, you must either kill or be killed. So why is it so mind-warping to commit such an act? I'm not even necessarily looking for the philosophical answers but the psychological ones. What exactly does it do to our minds?

People are programmed by their society to react a certain way emotionally to stimulus. If you get a sad letter, you're supposed to cry. If your friend dies, you're supposed to cry. You're supposed to feel bad if you kill an animal. You're supposed to feel happy if you see Santa Claus in a mall. These are all programmed into us by societal norms. We've been taught that the reaction to taking a human life should be: remorse, sadness, despair, and depression. A normal reaction to killing a bad person, to me, would be happiness, but that has been programmed out. Take it up with the books and movies and tv shows that have been telling people how they should feel in certain situations for the last few hundred years. Go back to the middle ages and you wouldn't find any symptoms of battle fatigue or shell shock even though the fighting was much more personal.

Hurricane2k9 wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

Take it up with the books and movies and tv shows that have been telling people how they should feel in certain situations for the last few hundred years. Go back to the middle ages and you wouldn't find any symptoms of battle fatigue or shell shock even though the fighting was much more personal.

That's something I've always been curious about. There really wasn't any sort of PTSD or whatever you want to call it during those days? Even though Christianity was already prevalent by then and taught us "we shalt not kill"?

Hurricane2k9 wrote:

Why is death such a difficult concept for humans to grasp? People fear death, I assume, because they are not fully certain of what lies on the other side. The idea of simply ceasing to exist, as if one falls into a sleep without dreams, is rattling.

And what about the taking of lives? Many soldiers, police officers and even people who have had to defend their home often say that one of the worst feelings in the world is what one feels after taking a man's life. Primitive beasts like dogs and lions obviously don't have such reservations, because they do not have any humanity. But why does even the idea of killing a person rattle us? We're taught from birth that we "shalt not kill." But in some situations, you must either kill or be killed. So why is it so mind-warping to commit such an act? I'm not even necessarily looking for the philosophical answers but the psychological ones. What exactly does it do to our minds?

mafia996630 wrote:

I think it boilz down to the simple fear of the unknown. A lot of religious people who believe doing good in this life with allow them to enter heaven, often are not afraid of death. This however can only be applied to a person of a particular mind frame, if the situation differs; if a person is in a war zone then instincts take over.

Hurricane2k9 wrote:

SEREVENT wrote:

I guess because killing is the most un natural thing to do?

But wasn't it almost a facet of society at certain points? Look at all the turmoil in the middle ages, the prehistoric era. Is it because we've become more enlightened since those days?