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what is death why are we so afraid to
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die and what happens after death death
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like the sun cannot be looked at
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steadily claimed the French author and
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philosopher Francois De la Rosa and this
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is a great metaphor for the individual
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attitude towards death like centuries
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ago death is the main mystery of human
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life it seems to be the most common and
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relatable of all philosophical issues
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and everyone faces it throughout their
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lives we process the death of other
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people but try not to think about our
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own death we erase it from our memory
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for most of our lives there are things
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more important like deciding where to go
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on vacation or which iPhone to buy at
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the same time the thought of dying
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scares and paralyzes us
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why do we do something if everything
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comes to an end sooner or later it seems
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that one cannot imagine their death
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because we cannot wrap our heads around
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such an idea as well as the concept of
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infinity or void meanwhile the awareness
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of one's mortality is a rare phenomenon
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that unites all people if thinking about
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death is so hard do we really have to do
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it wouldn't it be better to leave all
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this thinking to philosophers because
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that's what they do it is difficult to
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find at least one thinker who would
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ignore the topic of death today we'll
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try to figure out how philosophers of
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different eras understood death and how
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it can help us if you like our videos on
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in Fado one of the most famous dialogues
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Plato attributes to Socrates the famous
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saying
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other people are likely not to be aware
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that those who pursue philosophy are
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right study nothing but dying and being
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dead according to Plato's Theory the
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whole world consists of ideas and forms
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ideas are Eternal and unchangeable we
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can comprehend them only with our mind
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forms are just Shadows of ideas
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accessible to sensory cognition a
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philosopher shall strive to go beyond
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the world of forms to get closer to the
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truth at the moment of death The
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Immortal soul is so close to the world
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of ideas that death turns not into a
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tragedy but Liberation from the prison
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of the body in ancient times people
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thought that death was illusory it marks
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the transition from one state to another
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and you don't have to be afraid of it in
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late Antiquity several philosophical
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schools asserted that there is no point
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in being afraid of death epicurus
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pointed out the Paradox when we exist
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death is not and when death exists we
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are not
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we Face the death of others but we
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cannot experience our own death so there
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is no point in being afraid another
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philosophical School stoicism had a
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different take on death it is the
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cessation of any Sensations we felt
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nothing before we were born but it
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doesn't bother us
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after death we will return to that state
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and there is nothing frightening about
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it and death itself has nothing to do
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with suffering
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the culture of the Middle Ages had a
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different idea its Essence is revealed
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in the dance Macabre or the dance of
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death this is a well-known literary and
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artistic plot death leads around dance
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to the Grave there are people of
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different ranks and social groups it
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shows that death is inevitable and that
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everyone is equal before it Christianity
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lives on the idea of the Dual nature of
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man we have Immortal Souls and Mortal
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bodies after death the Lord will
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resurrect souls in new Young and perfect
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bodies such an approach to death
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influenced the funeral ceremony if you
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come to Paris you'll see that medieval
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cemeteries and churchyards were located
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in the city center for example Market
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squares and there were not so many
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individual Graves people were mostly
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buried in common Graves the body doesn't
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matter one should think about the
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salvation of the Soul
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after the Reformation the attitude
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towards man and death changed again it
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was the beginning of a new era the
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Heyday of secular Sciences such as
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physics biology and medicine with the
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help of Natural Science people viewed
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death as a part of Nature and a process
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of Decay that every living thing is due
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to experience anatomical theater was
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gaining its popularity as well as the
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process of embalming
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death became a scientific issue and
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scientists again turned to searching for
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the Philosopher's Stone The Elixir of
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immortality take the plot of Harry
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Potter and the Philosopher's Stone there
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was an alchemist who managed to live to
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the end of the 20th century thanks to
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the stone
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as science developed people started to
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notice that a dead body is a source of
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infection since then cemeteries have
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been located outside the city in the
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Modern Age Death was considered both a
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biological and social phenomenon even
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though it was an intimate process many
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people usually witnessed it
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so the art and culture of the Modern Age
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came up with the idea of dignified death
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painless in one's own bed surrounded by
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relatives or the Glorious death in the
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name of Honor Duty or love at the same
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time the philosophers of the Modern Age
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became obsessed with the idea of social
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or symbolic immortality which has
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nothing to do with Resurrection your
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life continues in your descendants
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students Good Deeds art and memory the
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philosophy of the Modern Age proclaimed
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the unconditional value of human life it
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was the turning point in the development
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of European thought
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the philosophy of that time is the
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reason why we can talk about social
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injustice inequality human rights and
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the right to live or die if you want to
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know more about the most impressive
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existential questions that change the
00:05:49
world check out our professional course
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become a philosopher
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at the beginning of the 20th century the
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Soviet psychoanalyst Sabina spielrein
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described the phenomena of Death Drive
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according to spielerine a person
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unconsciously seeks to destroy their own
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self
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to dissolve into a common we later Freud
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used this idea as a basis for his
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concept of two main driving forces in
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human life the sexual drive and the
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Death Drive According to Freud we
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understand the value of things when we
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realize they don't last we know this
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Theory as Eros and Thanatos although
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Freud didn't refer to death as Thanatos
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that term was coined later on by the
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Austrian psychoanalyst William steckel
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modern researchers of Soviet culture
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describe a special attitude towards
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death which was called red Thanatos it
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is used to refer to the desire for
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Heroic death in the name of a common
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goal the horrors of the world wars the
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atomic bombings of Hiroshima and
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Nagasaki the Holocaust all these events
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radically changed the idea of death in
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World philosophy existentialists were
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the philosophers who paid the most
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attention to death in 1945 Jean-Paul
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Sartre delivered a lecture
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existentialism is a humanism and claimed
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that when an individual faces Despair
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and death they find true freedom and
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understand what really matters that's
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why existentialists teach us to think
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about death more
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today death is becoming more of a
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medical mystery transhumanism
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philosophers think that it is not an
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essential part of our lives or an
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existential category but a problem that
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science is about to solve
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first what is death
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what criteria tell us that a person is
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dead this seemingly simple question is
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the cause of active discussions within
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the framework of bioethics today
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technology helps to sustain life it's
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possible for a person to spend a lot of
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time in a coma or a vegetative state
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we can artificially keep the heart and
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lungs working but what about the brain
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If one's brain does not work are they
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still alive this is where we find the
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main Criterion of death the cessation of
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Consciousness does this mean we can
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fight death by preserving Consciousness
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there are two basic Solutions the first
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is to improve the body making it
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Immortal that is to become a cyborg
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replace the heart with a constantly
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working mechanism legs and arms with
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perfect bionic limbs today an artificial
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lens or a 3D printed knee joint cannot
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surprise anyone what if science fiction
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is not as Far From Reality as it seems
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the second option appears due to another
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essential feature of social life which
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is participation in communication as a
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result famous people can make statements
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after their death and we begin to worry
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if a friend does not go online for a
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long time that's how scientists came up
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with the idea of digital immortality or
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the transfer of Consciousness to an
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external storage device there are two
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ways to achieve digital immortality the
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first one is related to strong Ai and
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true transfer of Consciousness today
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scientists from all over the world try
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to tackle this issue the second option
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is to continue communication after the
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physical death has occurred machine
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learning Technologies help to attach
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special software to one's Messenger to
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record their lexical features after
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death this software will answer for them
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and no one will notice that something is
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off it is technically possible but we
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are yet to figure out the ethical issues
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related to this
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who is the next victim of the Grim
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Reaper and what does it take away as
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history shows the idea of death changes
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whenever people reconsider human nature
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but why do we even think about death the
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fear of death unlike other feelings and
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emotions is unique for everyone it is
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one of a kind it's death that helps us
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understand our uniqueness the death of
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others is tragic and sad but our own
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death means the death of the whole world
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well we can deny death and live like we
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have eternity
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but it's the awareness of our mortality
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that makes us feel alive and gives our
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life meaning
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which of these concepts of death is
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closer to you
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share in the comments
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[Music]
