The continuity of self is also an illusion if you think about it. We aren't who we were when nine years old. Maybe we share some memories and DNA with that kid, but he's gone now, or at least exponentially decayed. We've died many times in one lifetime.

Speaking of bees. The average worker bee lives about 1 month. Workers will sting and sacrifice themselves because it is the hive that matters, not the individual. They don't live that long anyway.

Who we are is defined by those who raised us and the rest of humanity. We are a reflection of it, not distinct. We owe everything to our collective existence and should cherish each other more, past and present. It is the only thing that persists.

> We've died many times in one lifetime

In fact we die and are reborn in nearly every moment.

i wouldn't call that experiencing death. you passed out and lost consciousness for a while. i've done that too, and also been under general anesthesia. i'm not convinced that either one is equal to death, simply because life re-continues after you regain consciousness. you're still alive. death is not reversible. ipso facto you did not die.

also, general anesthesia usually involves memory blocking chemicals, so it's not even clear that it's truly an unconscious experience. what if you're conscious the entire time, but just don't remember it?

It doesn’t matter because a response is not there in a form of a heart rate, adrenaline, etc. There’s no sign of the whole chain of imminent reactions that pain creates. And when an anesthesiologist sees it, they stop the procedure and act immediately. If there’s no psychological trauma after you wake up, you felt nothing. But it may be if a team was negligent.

i'm not convinced that either one is equal to death

I can’t see why. Imagine you’re unconscious: anesthesia, fainting, dream, coma, knockout. Is there something else that must happens to your consciousness that will make you dead? To me it’s like turning off the main switch when lights are already out. You just can’t Alexa turn them back on, that’s it.

> Is there something else that must happens to your consciousness that will make you dead?

Death is a thing that you don’t come back from[1], so it’s impossible for anyone living to tell us what it’s like after dying. Being knocked out, is not death. If you don’t dream at night, you don’t die every night.

1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_death

This implies it is like something when you never return from knockout, opposed to when you eventually do. Which is why I’m asking the question above.

If you don’t dream at night, you don’t die every night

Of course you do not. We talk about states, not their finality.