# For those who don't believe in God, what happens after we die, then? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 22, 2005, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459 "2005-10-22T22:23:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/21 "2005-10-23T03:10:15Z")
Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms. ---
**Author:** ![uglybeech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/82dd89/32.png) [@uglybeech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/uglybeech)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/22 "2005-10-23T03:11:34Z")
There is no after you die (for you), so it’s a moot question. (not even an unconscious dark void). I’m not sure about the last moment though. Is that moment in a way endless because it’s not followed by another? That’s my pet (nutty) theory. I think you have the same (or analogous) boundary problem at the end of consciousness as you do at the end of time. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/23 "2005-10-23T03:24:06Z")
I think it’s sort of like that scene in _Cool Hand Luke_: > [@](#): > > \*\*Dragline: \*\* Where’d the road go? > **Luke** : That’s it. That’s the end of it. > **Convict** : Man, there’s still daylight. > **Dragline** : About two hours left. > **Convict** : What do we do now? > **Luke** : Nothin’. > **Dragline** : Oh Luke, you wild, beautiful thing. You crazy handful of nothin’. You work real hard, then you do nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/24 "2005-10-23T03:36:10Z")
For the record: I am an atheist. I believe that after I die nothing happens to me. I no longer exist, so nothing can affect me whatsoever. There will be no more “me”. Where does the shade go when a tree falls? It doesn’t “go” anywhere; it simply stops being. Like **treis** said, it’s like going to sleep and never waking up. (Unfortunately, depending on the method of death, it may not be as peaceful as falling asleep.) ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/25 "2005-10-23T04:17:45Z")
> [@Idle Thoughts](#): > > … what do you believe and think happens after we die? Do you think that’s just it then? Yes, that’s all folks. We are alive and conscious as long as there is electrical activity in our brain. When that’s gone we are gone forever, except possibly as an electrical activity (memory) in someone else’s brain. > [@](#): > > That it’s just one unconcious, dark void No it can’t be called unconscious within the ordinary meaning of the term. While we are unconscious, there is still electrical activity in our brain. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/26 "2005-10-23T08:41:30Z")
I think having a general anesthetic is as close as we can come to being dead without being dead. They shoot you up and out you go. No thoughts, no memories, no dreams. Just a whole lot of nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/27 "2005-10-23T11:12:46Z")
I think the analogy “same as before you were born” is maybe not even strong enough. Asking “where do you go when you die?” is, IMO, like asking “what happened **before the big bang**?” – in that, like the question about the big bang, this question is actually **meaningless** (there was no time before Big Bang, so no “_before_” to ask about). In the same way, I think it is actually _meaningless_ to ask about what happens to you “after” you die. For **you** , _there is no “after”_ Depressing, ain’t it? ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/28 "2005-10-23T13:02:42Z")
In 1995 I hit my head hard enough that my heart stopped. If CPR had not worked, I would have never known. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/29 "2005-10-23T13:19:46Z")
> [@Idle Thoughts](#): > > What do you think or believe happens when we pass on? If your answer is that you don’t know until it happens, that’s fine enough too. Well, that’s good, because that’s my answer. My strong suspicion is “the lights go off” never to come back on again, so to speak, but I admit that’s pure conjecture. With apologies to **lekatt** and John Edward, it would seem that no one reports back reliably on what it’s like to be dead, so there’s really no way to be sure until I’m dead myself. ---
**Author:** ![bizzwire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/958977/32.png) [@bizzwire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizzwire)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/30 "2005-10-23T13:56:45Z")
> [@hlanelee](#): > > In 1995 I hit my head hard enough that my heart stopped. If CPR had not worked, I would have never known. Aaaaaand cue **Lekatt** … ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/31 "2005-10-23T14:59:02Z")
> [@Idle Thoughts](#): > > What do you think or believe happens when we pass on? If your answer is that you don’t know until it happens, that’s fine enough too. I’d be pretty dubious if someone said they absolutely know. I lean toward reincarnation. I think we are beings beyond this limited physical form and we will continue to grow and mature as beings when this brief life is done. It depends on how much progress we make in this life. It may be here on earth or someplace else. As iin school we pass through the grades as we grow. It doesn’t seem like Earth and humanity progresses all that much, we just keep running through cycles. “Classes come and go, but the 2nd grade is always the 2nd grade” ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/32 "2005-10-23T15:06:39Z")
> [@Idle Thoughts](#): > > For those who don’t believe in God… > [@cosmosdan](#): > > I’d be pretty dubious if someone said they absolutely know. I lean toward reincarnation. I think we are beings beyond this limited physical form and we will continue to grow and mature as beings when this brief life is done. It depends on how much progress we make in this life. It may be here on earth or someplace else. As iin school we pass through the grades as we grow. It doesn’t seem like Earth and humanity progresses all that much, we just keep running through cycles. “Classes come and go, but the 2nd grade is always the 2nd grade” (Sorry if this is somethingof a hijack – but I think it’s pretty well related to the OP) Out of curiosity – do you fall under the heading of “Don’t believe in God,” which is the group the OP is soliciting responses from? If so, what goes along with your belief in the preter/super-natural as displayed above? Not being confrontational – I’m truly curious how a self-avowed atheist (“don’t believe in God”) squares this atheism with a view regarding the “afterlife” as possible. ---
**Author:** ![hlanelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/33 "2005-10-23T15:57:14Z")
> [@hlanelee](#): > > In 1995 I hit my head hard enough that my heart stopped. If CPR had not worked, I would have never known. I suspect and I’m pretty sure that if CPR had not worked, I would be pretty rotten by now…that is if my family had not reduced me to ashes. The energy that is our essence will fade away quickly after the body expires. When you are no longer part of the memory of the people that knew you, it is as if you had never existed. :rolleyes: Who the hell is Lekatt? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/34 "2005-10-23T16:05:22Z")
> [@hlanelee](#): > > Who the hell is Lekatt? Oh, no . . . We have invoked him _three times_ in this thread . . . ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/35 "2005-10-23T16:46:26Z")
Quick! Someone find Lydia! ---
**Author:** ![NoPretentiousCodename](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/82dd89/32.png) [@NoPretentiousCodename](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoPretentiousCodename)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/36 "2005-10-23T16:53:05Z")
I always thought that when you died it would be like a giant nocturnal emission. As the saying goes: “For in that sleep of death wet dreams may come…” Am I right? Gosh, I hope so! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/37 "2005-10-23T16:59:30Z")
I have more faith in the infinite nature of universe than there being absolutely nothing after death. The universe(s) created me once and I believe that they will create something like me again that has the same type of conscienceness. It could be living the exact same life over or it could be something completely different. I find it completely disingenious for someone to predict that something won’t happen again in infinity. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/38 "2005-10-23T17:01:35Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I find it completely disingenious for someone to predict that something won’t happen again in infinity. Well, sure I suppose it’s _possible_ that someone like me has lived before and/or will live again. But it won’t be me. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/39 "2005-10-23T17:34:51Z")
> [@Noone Special](#): > > (Sorry if this is somethingof a hijack – but I think it’s pretty well related to the OP) > > Out of curiosity – do you fall under the heading of “Don’t believe in God,” which is the group the OP is soliciting responses from? > > If so, what goes along with your belief in the preter/super-natural as displayed above? Not being confrontational – I’m truly curious how a self-avowed atheist (“don’t believe in God”) squares this atheism with a view regarding the “afterlife” as possible. I don’t believe in the concept of God as the supreme being in the sky that controls everything and offers eternal life. I will use the term in discussions and have not abandoned every concept of God. I think my concept is closer to the Buddhist idea. For me the term God is almost a metaphor for the unsolved issues of who are we? Where does life and consciousness come from and what is their nature? and what happens next? You’ll note in the OP **Idle Thoughts** refered to his Dad who believed in reincarnation but not God. As I understand it an atheist is someone who doesn’t believe in a deity. I don’t think that means you can’t believe in an afterlife. That being said, I wouldn’t refer to myself as an atheist, just someone who doesn’t accept the common concepts of God. I’ve just made that even more confusing haven’t I? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459/40 "2005-10-23T17:36:06Z")
> [@Noone Special](#): > > Depressing, ain’t it? Is it? > [@Shagnasty](#): > > I find it completely disingenious for someone to predict that something won’t happen again in infinity. Do you know of anything that’s actually happened again? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-who-dont-believe-in-god-what-happens-after-we-die-then/327459.md?page=3)