Quote Originally Posted by Jimbo View Post
To me the statement doesn't make sense if you look at it rationally. Take the pilot for example. He or she didn't actually die flying a plane, they died in an out of control, non-flying plane, plummeting to the earth in a death spiral. I doubt that is what they "loved doing". They loved flying, not plummeting - and plummeting was what they were doing when they died.

So I am in the "it makes us feel better" camp, which is basically what living is about, really. Human existence is a one-way on/off switch - once it is off it is off (putting aside spiritual considerations and simply focussing on the biological). So what point is there worrying about death? It happens to us all, we all have to face it at some point. So given it is always there, you ignore it and you give life your undivided attention. Well, that is what I do. I'll worry about death when I am dead. Particularly when something is inevitable, anxiety over it is pointless and a waste of energy.

And so I believe this is why we invent these platitudes. "They died doing what they loved". "They are in a better place now." "God has called them home". These things are perhaps true - I wouldn't know, I am not dead. But the dead certainly don't care about these statements - they are dead. The only thing these platitudes do, and the only reason they exist, is to make those of us left feel better and hopefully not dwell on death. The object of the game, in my book, is to dwell on living.

James.
When you step into the cockpit you never know what will happen. You know the saying "you buy the ticket and you take the ride". To think I'm just gonna fly around and have a good time is something only a fool would think. Anything could happen either beyond your control or because of something you do or don't do. You can't divorce it from the good part of flying. You accept the fact you may never get to go home. So the plummet to earth is all part of flying and I can guarantee while in that death spiral he's not saying gee I'm glad I'm dying this way. His mind is preoccupied with other thoughts for sure.