# Death **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 15, 2013, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546 "2013-07-15T11:18:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/21 "2013-07-15T21:29:52Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > I believe that upon death we reach total consciousness and come to a great truth and understanding that “u” is okay in texting but is annoying in everyday prose. > > We learn to transcend u and to truly rely on writing out the complete word you. We also learn proper punctuation and cease writing run-on sentences. > [@BubbaDog](#): > > Okay, my first reply came off more snarky than funny. Well, **I** appreciated it! > [@Chefguy](#): > > Ashes to ashes; dust to dust. We return to atoms, some of which will eventually become part of another living organism. That’s it. The rest of it is wishful thinking and the human need to believe that there is some higher purpose to our existence. Also, it pays for a very nice lifestyle for people who have no other skills. Yup. And I’m really okay with that. If you think about it, we _are_ reunited with our loved ones in this way. And everyone else’s loved ones. And everything else. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/22 "2013-07-15T22:38:21Z")
Well, it depends if I die in battle or not and even then it’s a coin flip between Valhalla and Folkvangr. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/23 "2013-07-15T22:45:01Z")
> [@Small\_Clanger](#): > > 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished. > To die. > To sleep. > To sleep, perchance to dream > Aye, there’s the rub > For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, > When we have shuffled off this mortal coil > Must give us pause… > > … something about _Contumely, Bodkins and Fardels_… > > But that the dread of something after death. > The undiscovered Country, from whose bourn no traveller returns > Puzzles the will, and makes us rather bear those ills we have > Than fly to others that we know not of. Wow, such beautiful and insightful words. You could almost be another Shakespeare. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/24 "2013-07-16T01:39:28Z")
I don’t believe in an afterlife. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/25 "2013-07-16T02:34:07Z")
I have relatives who, when they were alive, I tried to avoid if at all possible. Why would I want to hang out in the afterlife with them? ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/26 "2013-07-16T04:02:32Z")
I have no clue and don’t believe anyone who tries to tell me. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/27 "2013-07-16T04:33:13Z")
> [@Caneknife](#): > > What do u believe happens when u die, I do believe in God and Heaven but do we meet up with our loved ones ever again after we all pass, I hope so. Ain’t gonna happen, no way, so best just to get over it. Do you personally remember what it was like 100 years ago? 1000 years ago? A million? It will be like that. ---
**Author:** ![panaccione](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@panaccione](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panaccione)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/28 "2013-07-16T05:52:28Z")
Sometimes, I think there’s a Big Crunch and you get to relive your life over and over endlessly. Other times, I think we are just reincarnated into some other being, for better or worse, depending on how we live our lives. Still other times, I feel like my soul lives on in others with whom I have made an impact. I realize that all of that is mostly wishful thinking or otherwise innocuous. Death is a very scary thing to think about. I don’t want to die. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/29 "2013-07-16T06:20:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Why would scientists bother to find out where the soul goes? Shouldn’t finding out if the soul even exists come first? To find out if souls exists, it would make good sense to investigate where they go at the same time. Who knows, it may turn out easier to answer that question first. Then, to see if souls exist, just go there and look around to see if there are souls there. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/30 "2013-07-16T10:59:32Z")
We cease to exist, but our transporter clones continue on in the greater matrix. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/31 "2013-07-16T13:49:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > That was incredible! Have you considered taking up writing? The grave’s a fine and private place But none, I think, do there embrace. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/32 "2013-07-16T15:31:13Z")
> [@Caneknife](#): > > What do u believe happens when u die, The universe continues to exist without you. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/33 "2013-07-16T15:37:07Z")
The good news is there’s no Hell. The bad news is there’s no Heaven either. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/34 "2013-07-16T15:49:54Z")
I would like to believe there is, but there is no way to prove it until it’s too late. At best, I would hope that as I die my brain begins hallucinating some kind of pleasantries to give the last few moments of conscious “me” hope to distract me from the fact that I won’t exist much longer - I’ve heard that’s one theory of what might actually be happening, and account for “near death experiences”. My fervent desire for some type of afterlife is totally selfish - I want to know how things (anything from the current football season I happen to be dying during to the end of the Universe) turn out, and not knowing would and does drive me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2013, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/35 "2013-07-16T15:50:56Z")
[QUOTE=Czarcasm] That was incredible! Have you considered taking up writing? [/QUOTE] I own up. I didn’t actually write that, I just translated it from Klingon. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/36 "2013-07-19T12:26:31Z")
> [@Werekoala](#): > > I would like to believe there is, but there is no way to prove it until it’s too late. At best, I would hope that as I die my brain begins hallucinating some kind of pleasantries to give the last few moments of conscious “me” hope to distract me from the fact that I won’t exist much longer - I’ve heard that’s one theory of what might actually be happening, and account for “near death experiences”. I’m inclined to believe the theory that it’s a last-ditch survival mechanism, trying to find something in your memories that might help you live a little longer. The last thing (heh) your brain would want to do is to distract you from your death; it makes sense that it would be trying to prevent it. ---
**Author:** ![DeepLiquid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deepliquid/32/14893_2.png) [@DeepLiquid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeepLiquid)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/37 "2013-07-19T12:56:57Z")
My mom is a “believer” and is terrified to die. I think we just cease to be, and I’m not frightened in the least. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/38 "2013-07-19T13:05:19Z")
> [@DeepLiquid](#): > > My mom is a “believer” and is terrified to die. I think we just cease to be, and I’m not frightened in the least. Weird. Yeah, I’ll bring it in to this thread…if you get to meet Jeezus and all your dead relatives when you die, and heaven is so frikking great, why do believers even bother going to the doctor after age 50? Why do chemo? Why get treated for anything? You’re going to HEAVEN, bro!! ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/39 "2013-07-19T14:17:57Z")
Where does the flame go when you blow out a candle? I think that is what happens to us. No afterlife that I know of. ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546/40 "2013-07-19T15:18:44Z")
Our _Karmas_(actions\deeds) carry forward to next births in the form of sub-conscious mind. We get to \*Nirvana \*(state of self-realization) when we are devoid of _karma_, we get out of the cycle of birth n death at this point. I like this theory. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death/663546.md?page=3)