Chaitanya Jongra
Death
November 5, 2025
I was on a walk yesterday and suddenly, out of nowhere, my brain stumbled onto the topic of death — and why it scares everybody. What’s the main reason other than the thought that “everything will be over”?
Main idea: We fear death not itself, but our lack of control over it.
(By control, I mean influence over how or when we die — and more critically, whether external forces act upon us without our consent or agency.)
If someone shoots me, murders me, or if I’m hit by a bus, the fact that somebody’s influence has played a huge role in my death scares me more than if I die by my own actions — for example, biological problems (diseases).
The feeling of powerlessness — of having no control — scares people even more than the act of dying itself.
In a more holistic way, the universe doesn’t understand the difference between a rich man and a poor man, a person walking on the left side of the road or a kid riding a bicycle on the right side of the road. To it, it’s basically the same thing — which means errors will always be a constant way for the universe to present death to you.
Accepting that we might die and have no control over it should make us feel more comfortable than miserable.