[This is probably getting a bit deep in the thread for HN; happy to continue via private mail.  See my profile.]<p>&gt; I think we agree that the axiomatic disagreement is about whether non-existence itself is something to fear (at least, I think we agree on what we&#x27;re disagreeing about).<p>While that&#x27;s something we disagree on, I don&#x27;t think that&#x27;s the root of the axiomatic difference; that&#x27;s why I&#x27;m curious.  Earlier in the thread, you said:<p>&gt; I can understand the concept of ceasing to exist. I have not had anyone be able to explain to me why that makes that person so afraid, other than the fact that it just does.<p>That&#x27;s one step removed from any underlying difference in values or axioms.  Axiomatically, we clearly disagree on <i>whether</i> death equates to non-existence, but your statement above seems to suggest you&#x27;re interested in understanding where other people are coming from despite that: why, assuming that premise, someone might find such non-existence horrifying.  To which I&#x27;d provided an answer in the form of an analogy to degenerative mental diseases, and never got a response to that.<p>That&#x27;s the part I&#x27;m curious about: I don&#x27;t understand a mindset that can find a degenerative mental disorder horrifying (which I&#x27;m assuming you agree with) without finding the end result horrifying as well.  I&#x27;m genuinely curious to understand that.<p>&gt; Let me be clear. I have given up on humanity&#x27;s ability to fix itself. I have not given up on a higher power&#x27;s ability to change individual humans into people who can make this world a better place. [...]<p>Sounds like we&#x27;re talking about similar things but fundamentally disagreeing over attribution, then.  Or possibly definition of terms, because I have no idea what you mean by &quot;humanity&quot; if you don&#x27;t mean &quot;humans&quot;, since you&#x27;re subsequently talking about &quot;individual humans&quot; &#x2F; &quot;individual people&quot; making the world a better place.