Trenton Metcalf

Professor Matey

College Writing I

31 January 2019

The Stigma of Death

We as a society have invented many religions that predate written history. Many of the

earliest religions were based on the Sun and other astronomical bodies. Humans have always

pondered the metaphysical consequences of the universe long before we knew how to write and

express philosophical belief. Deep down our enhanced intelligence has caused us to believe that

there is more to life, and although we know of our own mortality, most still refuse that death is

the end of life. Religion is a byproduct of fear of mortality. Many religions hold some view that

death isn’t the end. Some religions postulate reincarnation or an everlasting soul that travels

elsewhere outside the body after death. It all comes back to being terrified of fleeting life and not

always being around. The fear of death is natural and it has a biological precedent. If you take

evolution as truth, fear is a powerful tactic for survival. Fear has carried humans far, but now I

believe we’re at a time in civilization where death should not be seen as such a dark thing to be

feared. Human intellect and knowledge is far expanded beyond our ancestors who worshipped

the sun. I believe it is now time to accept death as a natural part of life. Even with their beliefs of

everlasting life, people still don’t want to die. Today with modern medicine, humans are living

longer than ever. We’ve spent so much time and money attempting to prevent dying, and myths

of eternal youth are ingrained in stories and legends over the years. Now a life cut short is tragic

and it’s hard to accept that someone’s life was cut short, but personally I don’t want to live that

long. Now that we live so long, neurodegenerative diseases such as alzheimers have appeared. I
do not want to live at such an old age without my mental facilities, therefore I embrace death as a

natural ending to my life. I don’t fear it, for it takes us all sometime. I only hope I get to do what

I wish to do in life. I understand the masses animadversion to dying, but it’s important to

understand that without death, life would not be possible. When an organism dies, typically the

nutrients and remnants of the body are recycled into the earth’s ecosystem. This recycling of

molecules have been keeping earth and its organisms going for nearly 3.5 billion years. Even

long after humans are gone from the earth, which believe it or not will happen, what we

physically were will be around in other organisms and matter. In a way we are reincarnated, just

not directly.