How Would Undead Percieve Life

[ShadeZ]

I have a race that are by all accounts dead. When they sleep their hearts, lungs, and brain function cease. On a command they can cease breathing and their heart can cease pulsating and they will be fine. Their souls are anchored to their bodies cursing them to unearth. However, what would they think of the living? They were once alive. And they knows souls exist in their world so they see killing someone as like banishing their soul from their world. But how else would this affect their outlook on the living?

 

[Chasejxyz]

What do you mean they were once alive? Someone who is freshly turned into an undead (like Bella Swan) would probably feel the same way about the living as before. Someone who was turned in a very traumatic way (like Sylvanas Windrunner) would have a less rosy outlook. Someone who believes in their racial superiority (like the elder vampires in The Strain) would see the living like we do our cattle. There's a lot of factors here.

 

[Mad Swede]

I guess that the answer depends on how they see their own souls. If they see their souls as anchored to the world, and if they see this anchor as important, then presumably they will see all forms of killing as wrong, simply because you're banishing a oul from the world. Indeed, they might actively work to prevent souls being lost ot the world through any form of death, so they might want to turn the living in order to keep their souls in the world.

 

[WooHooMan]

If they have a mind, soul and body - I’d say they’re alive in the same way a human is alive - obviously there are life forms that have neither a mind or soul or brain/heart functions (plants, microscopic organism, etc.).
I don’t see how an ability to switch-off their brains or hearts temporarily qualifies them as undead. I’d assume their existence would be better understood as alternating between life and death rather than being undead. Especially if there soul never leave their bodies even when their mind and body are switched off.

I think most people see undead as being a soul outside the bodies. So, maybe go in that direction. It might be kind of cool if these “zombies” exist alongside their own ghosts.

Also, quick question: if their minds and body shut off, how do they switch back on?

 

[Queshire]

I think most people see undead as being a soul outside the bodies. So, maybe go in that direction. It might be kind of cool if these “zombies” exist alongside their own ghosts.

Wut? Most of the more famous undead have bodies. You got, what? Zombies, Skeletons, Liches, Vampires and Mummies vs... Ghosts? Banshees and Shades too, but it's a bit borderline to consider them common.

 

[ShadeZ]

I’d assume their existence would be better understood as alternating between life and death rather than being undead.

Best word I have for that is Undead lol. Their bodies are piloted by their souls. Their soul can shut off and on their breathing ect. They can make themselves a corpse technically that is still functionally alive. With 1 exception, if they are stabbed in the heart an the weapon isnt removed they cant move and appear like a corpse (they won't decay or age) until the weapon is removed. For the stronger ones they only body lock for a few hours before they can remove the weapon themselves. It is said the magic that made them is why they freeze up like that.

 

[ShadeZ]

What do you mean they were once alive? Someone who is freshly turned into an undead (like Bella Swan) would probably feel the same way about the living as before. Someone who was turned in a very traumatic way (like Sylvanas Windrunner) would have a less rosy outlook. Someone who believes in their racial superiority (like the elder vampires in The Strain) would see the living like we do our cattle. There's a lot of factors here.

It is chosen but tramatic.

 

[WooHooMan]

Best word I have for that is Undead lol. Their bodies are piloted by their souls. Their soul can shut off and on their breathing ect. They can make themselves a corpse technically that is still functionally alive. With 1 exception, if they are stabbed in the heart an the weapon isnt removed they cant move and appear like a corpse (they won't decay or age) until the weapon is removed. For the stronger ones they only body lock for a few hours before they can remove the weapon themselves. It is said the magic that made them is why they freeze up like that.

Alright, that clears up the mind-soul dualism thing.
In that case, I don’t see a functional difference between your undead and the living outside of one can temporarily appear to be dead but unless the soul leaves the body, I wouldn’t really consider it dead. So, I don’t think your guys would really perceive life as any different from how the living perceive it.

If any thing, I think their existence would change how the living normal perceive death as they would see the departure of the soul as the main difference between living/undead and a corpse as these not-zombies prove that one can “be dead” without actually being dead.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Like WooHooMan I think being undead has little influence on how they percieve the living.

However, I think being functionally immortal very much changes how you view the world. Fear of death and a knowledge that your time is finite are a great motivator to get things done. When you have all the time in the world you tend to take it. This can be both a positive and a negative. You can simply get nothing done at all. On the other hand, it could also be that you make very long term plans. After all, does it matter if a goal takes 10 years to achieve. As a mortal, that's 10+% of your life, that's a lot. As an immortal, that's a negligible amount of time.

Same with behavior. As kids we learn that actions can have painful consequences. If you fall it hurts. As we grow older we learn that some of those consequences are more serious than others. If you can't die or be permanently hurt, then you can stop caring about all those consequences. It would take a while to overcome it (like you can overcome a fear of heights). But you would probably start being more reckless since there's no downside to it.

 

[WooHooMan]

I’m not really sure I’d agree 100% with you, Prince of Spires.

There are people who live long and accomplish very little versus very young people who manage to be very accomplished. I imagine there would be some immortals who accomplish a lot in their long lives and others who would do next to nothing of note in 1000+ years. Just kind of depends on the individual’s personality.

And with the recklessness angle: the most statistically dangerous thing I do in an average day is driving. Even if I could guarantee that I’d survive a crash, I’d still be a very cautious driver because of the stress and potential financial burden of being in a crash.
Children are reckless because they don’t understand that broken toys need to be repaired or replaced - they don’t have that kind of long term thinking. I imagine an immortal would be more cautious than a mortal because they’d need to consider the long term consequences of everything. Like, there wouldn’t be a YOLO or a “live fast, die young” mentality when you’re immortal. They might not have that “live in the moment” way of thinking when they have all the time in the world.

Though again: it depends on the individual.

 

[ShadeZ]

I imagine an immortal would be more cautious than a mortal because they’d need to consider the long term consequences of everything.

Well it is also worth note. They are immortals BUT their friends family ect aren't necessarily and certainly aren't.

 

[WooHooMan]

Well it is also worth note. They are immortals BUT their friends family ect aren't necessarily and certainly aren't.

And that's really, like, a whole other dimension to the psychology of immortals. In fact, probably the main thing.

I guess the real question isn't how the undead view life but rather how they view death.

 

[ShadeZ]

but rather how they view death

Death for mortals=soul being forcibly banished from the physical world.
Death for them= soul being violently ripped away from their body and force to the afterlife.

 

[FifthView]

I don't know, but were it me, I'd possibly view the living in one of two ways.

1. They are weaker. Why? They are chained to the needs of breathing, sleeping, eating, etc. It's like the comparison between having my consciousness transferred to a robot body vs a cloned organic body...The oddness of losing that sensation of breathing, the loss of the potential for sexual pleasure (assuming a standard robot body and not a close facsimile of an organic body), etc., would seem odd to me, but on the other hand I'm curious what being able to walk on the sea floor for hours at a time might feel like. Not having those living, organic needs would seem freeing, perhaps, and the living might seem like unfortunate slaves to those needs.

2. On the other hand, the living get to experience this connection to the world around them. Breathing in a lungful of air is a kind of connection to the world. The throbbing pulse of a heart beat is a reminder of this connection. Are they slaves to their physical needs, or is this a symbiotic relationship that points toward a fullness that the undead cannot quite experience?

So there are these dual possibilities. Of course, if your undead can turn breathing and heart beats on, then perhaps they get to experience the benefits of those—the "connection" to the physical world—and #2 might be less of a consideration.

Edit: In the end, your question comes down to this. What does your life—your actual living—mean to you? How do you experience it? What would the absence of that do to your perception of your own existence and the existence of those who have not lost it?

 

[WooHooMan]

Death for mortals=soul being forcibly banished from the physical world.
Death for them= soul being violently ripped away from their body and force to the afterlife.

Maybe I’m missing something but that sounds like the same thing to me.

Also, I was talking about death, not the act of dying. And that was meant to include how they view the death of others and the concept of death, in general.

 

[ShadeZ]

Maybe I’m missing something but that sounds like the same thing to me.

Also, I was talking about death, not the act of dying. And that was meant to include how they view the death of others and the concept of death, in general.

The runnabout point was a mortal can die peacefully these guys can't and frankly are quite "to Valhalla!" Dying while showing cowardice or dying peacefully is seen as dying a weaker creatures death. So they wouldn't choose too. They view death as highly temporary. They view it as a method to remove a threat from the physical world. They often refer to deceased loved ones as if they are in another country or are travelling not dead.