Why do people have fear of death?

I once said that people's fear of death is only the fear of infinite pain before death. If the process of death is as peaceful as sleeping, no one is afraid of death.

But then my own opinion was untenable. My first thought is Sima Qian. The pain of castration is more than that before death, but he didn't choose to die because he had unfinished business, so I add that the fear of death also comes from his unfinished business. Let me give an example to support my point of view: sometimes mothers live for their children. She is afraid that no one will take care of her children after her death. Taking care of children is her unfinished business, so she doesn't choose to die.

But then my point of view was flawed: some people's fear of death comes from the vast unknown after death. They may think that people have so-called souls after death and will go to another world after death. They are neither afraid of physical pain before death nor of unfinished business. They are still afraid of death because they think they will still exist in a form after death, and they are afraid of this form of uncertainty. For example, some religious people practice asceticism, so that they forget everything about themselves and no longer have any ideas about life. However, when it comes to death, they are still full of fear. They are afraid that they will not reach their paradise. Another example: Sister Xianglin, before she died, she asked me, is there a so-called heaven and hell after death? It can be seen that she has thought about death many times, and the only thing that hinders her is the uncertainty about the form of existence after death.

So it is concluded that there are three reasons why people are afraid of death: fear of the pain before death, unfinished business and ignorance after death.

However, I was a little masochistic myself, so I decided to turn off my cell phone, cut off all contact, lie quietly in bed and stay in a daze until I went to sleep. I don't know when I will really fall asleep, except that I am very tired the next morning.

Then I suddenly realized that "want to die" and "fear of death" are two concepts. People who don't want to die may not be afraid of death. The example of Sima Qian that I think of is an example. Sima Qian doesn't want to die, because he has unfinished business. This is a desire, but he is not afraid of death. He is very open-minded about life and death: "People always die, either heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather." So we also found that many people ended their lives after fulfilling their long-cherished wishes. They didn't die because they were not afraid of death but didn't want to die yet. Therefore, the theory of desire is also untenable. Desire can only make people not want to die, but can't make people not afraid of death. It can be seen that people have unfinished business to support people to live, which is the infiltration of power rather than the delay of fear. Those greedy people just don't want to die. They are greedy for the comfort of life, and their greed for the known comfort actually reflects their fear of the unknown pain.

I have to give myself an answer to this question, or I'm really entangled, and it's time for the next conclusion.

Bottom line: People's fear of death comes from their weakness for unknown pain.