[ExI] Fear of Death

[Lee Corbin]

Damien writes

> Jef wrote to Lee:
> 
>> Kinda like the following:
>>
>> Mary:  "Mike, it seems as if carrying that handgun helps you
>> compensate for feeling somewhat impotent in a dangerous world."
>>
>> Mike: "No way!", fondling the long, hard barrel of his gun, "On the
>> contrary, I feel more powerful than almost anyone else I know."
> 
> Maybe it's more like this, though:
> 
> Mary:  "Mike, it seems as if denying your natural fear of death helps you
> compensate for feeling somewhat impotent in a dangerous world."
> 
> Mike: "No way! I laugh in the face of death. Since I had my amygdala 
> re-tuned, I couldn't give a shit."
> 
> Lee, however, would never be so coarse.

Gol-durn right. But more to the point, I don't even *need* to have my
amygdala adjusted.  While, yes, I do not laugh in the face of death,
(or even in the face of the IRS), I am "afraid" of death only in the
sense that I am afraid that I'll get a big bill from the IRS, or I'm afraid
that the neighbor's dog will keep me awake tonight, or afraid that
the usual suspects will stop posting to this list, or afraid that the light
will turn red before I get to it (admitting only that there is a lot more
at stake in the case of death than in any of these examples).

Lee