Well, with an afterlife, I’d have more time. Maybe not to be “alive”, but to something.
Hmm. For me, there really isn’t a coherent idea of both “time” and “pleasant eternity.” IOW, if there will be the passage of time and I’ll experience the passage of time, well, I’m a finite person with a finite personality and finite interests. Assuming I’m still “me” in any sense, the passage of time can’t really be an infinitely good thing.
Or, if we assume it’s less experiencing the passage of time and more just being infinitely pleased, well, that’s either going to have to involve a different “me” or be pretty static.
But the biggest issue is just that I want time while I’m alive. Alive is the experience I know and it’s the experience I want. Nothing about some potential “not alive” time holds any comfort for me.
This may sound trippy but I believe reincarnation is very real possibility at least in some senses of the word. We know that whatever is causing our consciousness was some complex system that existed at least once. There are some real scientific models of the universe(s) that view them as infinite either as an neverending series of multi-verses or by having the universe that we live in now going through an infinite number of Big Bang/Big Crunch cycles. An idea like that sounds far-fetched at first glance until you compare it to the alternative - one universe just sprang out of nowhere about 14 billion years ago and that is all that will ever be. There is something really big missing in that explanation.
Infinity is a weird thing. Any condition has happened once will happen again just by chance. We can assume that something, even if it just a set of unknown forces, created our universe. We also know that something generated our personal consciousness so that means that it is duplicable even if extremely unlikely (infinite scenarios don’t care anything about something being unlikely however; given enough neverending scenarios, it will happen again). If that is true, it doesn’t mean that you will have any personal connection to your identity in this life or even any knowledge of this universe at all. There isn’t any way to rule that out scientifically right now and probably never will be.
It is a terrifying thought in a way. There may be no way to ever truly get out of the cycle. If you commit suicide because you are being horribly abused, the universe will eventually recreate that same scenario or a very similar one again. However, it also means that you would get to experience an infinite number of pleasurable experiences even though there is no way to carry them over or even learn anything from one consciousness generation to another.
I am not afraid or disappointed that there is no heaven or hell.
I have done some good things in my life that have affected others in a positive way, I have saved lives and I have taught other people skills that one day may save lives. If I was to die tomorrow, the fact that I have done this things and that they do/could affect other people positively, is a form of having an afterlife.
I believe this to be true for all of us, whether we discover and learn things to teach future generations ways to live longer, peacefully etc or simply by throwing our genes into the pool.
Also, bit off topic, but I don’t understand how anyone can believe in hell. If satan is in charge of hell and hates god, why would he punish those that displeased god? I had a horrendous boss once, a really sociopathic bully. I had bought a lotto ticket and spent the millions in my head while waiting for my numbers to come up (they didn’t) - I was going to offer $200K & a cruise to each colleague who would quit with me on the day the money hit my bank account …
I’m theist of a sort, because that’s my here and now. But when it comes to the question of afterlife, I’m completely agnostic. Nobody has ever come back from the other side to let us know if there is another side or not. We have no data on it at all, nothing to base an opinion on, let alone a belief (or disbelief).
It neither bothers me nor comforts me. I figure I’ll get my turn to find out if there’s something or nothing. It isn’t something I ever give much thought to. Living to the full, being kind and generous to others, trying to be of some benefit for my fellow beings in the here and now is what concerns me, not some future that may or may not exist. To do this out of hope for reward or fear of punishment seems to cheapen the value of goodness for its own sake.
I like how Rābi‘ah, a renowned Sufi of long ago, went walking around with a burning torch in one hand and a pail of water in the other. When they asked her what she was up to with those items, she said “I want to burn down Paradise and extinguish the fire of Hell, so that people would worship Allah only for the love of Allah and not out of trying to gain reward or evade punishment.” I take that to mean that dwelling on a possible afterlife is a waste of our present life that could be put to better use.
I’m not afraid of dying. I’m not especially thrilled about it, either, but of course how I might feel about it has no bearing on the matter whatsoever; I’m gonna get it just the same. As for being afraid of a painful death, well, life is plenty painful and goes on for a lot longer, and I’m dealing with that OK, so whatever… Just “whatever” is all I can really say about it.
Very well put Fossil. Other peoples memory will be my ‘afterlife’.
I have a cousin in law that was a very sweet, funny, intelligent guy. He died 10 years ago today. Thanksgiving, at my mothers house. He was talking to my wife before dinner and boom. Fell over dead on the floor.
Ten years ago today. Yes, he was screwed up. Alcoholic in a huge way, but the guy could always make you laugh, and would give you the shirt off his back.
Yes, the idea of non-existence is extremely troubling to me. I do not know how anyone who looks at things completely objectively can actually believe life has any purpose or meaning if it is in fact true that we are only conscious for a relatively short glimpse of time before we slip into oblivion. You can try to console yourself with the idea “I make meaning for my life” but unfortunately if I am really being honest, I think that whatever meaning you manufacture for yourself is ultimately futile. It will almost certainly become irrelevant once you die, so what is the point?
Now the fact that this is an unpleasant thing to think about it doesn’t make it untrue, mind you - I think some atheists find it hard to admit to feeling this is unpleasant because they are worried it then becomes a “checkmate, atheists” thing. Unfortunately, sometimes reality IS unpleasant. I don’t think that I will ever be okay with the idea that life means nothing and that after I die most of the good things I did or the things I cared about will end up being forgotten.
There have been times when I have become extremely anxious when I allow myself to truly imagine and feel what it would be like to be slipping into oblivion, to have your consciousness shut down for the last time and just simply…not exist.
I think it is hard to truly comprehend it, since of course none of us actually have experienced our own non-existence. Sometimes when I am up late at night I feel like I can get a better grasp on it than when I am distracted by other things, and it is a terrifying thing.
It’s easy to accept the idea that life went on for many years before I existed as somehow “leading up to” me. It is far worse to consider that someday, all the things I have done, seen, said, or experienced in life will vanish into nothingness. I have visited old cemeteries, and it makes me sad when I see very old graves for people who probably no longer have any living relatives who remember or care about them. You know that at one point they had a rich, complex life just like we all do - and yet now nobody remembers their name or knows anything about them, even if they do have descendants. To me, that seems horrible.
It makes me sad to think that my loved ones who have died far too young and suffered far too much never got to enjoy a pleasant afterlife to balance out the scales. It seems unfair that some people’s lives are brief and filled with sadness when they did nothing to deserve that.
I am not a big fan of the idea of Hell, but it does seem unfair when you really think about the fact that evildoers who die before they are punished basically get away with their crimes. For example, I know many people would probably prefer to imagine Hitler was punished in some way for all the horrible things he did.
Anyway, regardless of that, I think life CAN be quite wonderful, and I do think it is very sad that we can’t go on forever enjoying the good things about it.
I think this is one of those situations where you really do have to try not to dwell on it too much or think too hard about it. If you allow yourself to dwell on it, you will make your life sadder because of it. However, since we can’t do anything to change it, there’s no sense in letting it spoil life for you. You just have to try to focus on the good and fun things.
I’m surprised how many people here think that dying is THAT unsettling. Then again, I’m not the happiest dude in the world and suffer from depression. I also don’t have a wife or kids, which I think would make me more likely to want to live longer.
As depressed as I get, I do think the “purpose” of life is to simply enjoy it the best we possibly can and, (hopefully), help other people to enjoy it. It’s simply amazing that we’re here living out our short life to begin with.
I want an expiration date.
Would I choose to live longer than the average person if I had that choice? I don’t know. There’s a lot to consider, and I would be careful of what I would wish for.
As far as there being nothing after death is concerned… perhaps my brain could use the rest.
Like I said, I am scared of the process of dying, it might hurt or be extremely uncomfortable and unsettling.
Eternity sounds way too long to me.
I’ve heard of various different kinds of afterlife, and a few of them sound kind of appealing. But I have no expectation of anything but darkness then nothing.
It is kind of strange to think that I will just stop one day, but I did just start one day, nobody questions that, and that’s just as weird.
Well there’s this… Up to you.
- George Santayana
There was a time (a moment ago) when I did not exist; there will be a time (even shorter moment) when I no longer exist.
What’s so hard to understand?
And yet, a dreamless rest does nothing for the one experiencing it at the time - it is only the waking rested and refreshed that shows that the dreamless rest was at all good. Take that away - take away even the self that is experiencing the dreamless rest - and what possible meaning is there to the rest itself, any more than there is meaning to saying the lump of pre-Cambrian rock on my desk* is enjoying its three-billion-year sleep?
*There isn’t one there, but you get my meaning.
I fear death, and also sometimes have bouts of existential angst. And on top of it, even assuming that I accept death and the lack of meaning of life, I find our lives ridiculously short. The kind of afterlife offered by most religions doesn’t appeal to me, though. If I could choose freely, I guess I would pick an extended regular life, say 500 years.
I also sometimes wish that some people would have their comeuppance.
I have this issue too. With every person who dies, a lot of memories dissapear. Memories of their own life, of events their participated in, of people they were the last to remember. It bothers me a lot.
Sur, but if someone is going to have one, better they have it during life so that there’s a chance they’ll change, or at least stop doing the thing they’re doing.
Yes, it troubles me, and I intend to file a strongly-worded complaint.
The only time I was actually near death , for me it was painless and so I wasn’t worried about it. However I really do not want to go out kicking and screaming. When one of my aunts died her last words to me were “It isn’t fair”, she had said that many times in fact , so who would it be fair for I wondered. I am sorry she had cancer but really who would it have been fair for? I hope I never say or think that, I am 75 its been a surprisingly good life I won’t be able to complain.
I kinda go with the quote below and not worry too much about dying.
“There never was a time when you or I did not exist. Nor will there be any future when we shall cease to be.”
Bhagavad-gita As It Is Chapter 2 Verse 12
There is no afterlife. That’s just the way it is. It’s not going to change. So no sense wasting time fretting over it. Better just to enjoy life now. I reckon I wasn’t put out all that much all those years I didn’t exist before conception, and this will be about the same.
The question is bizarre and twisted!
I am sad to think I won’t go on forever, and would like the option of living another year every single year.
But death is the problem, not the nonexistence of an afterlife!
If we feel lonely, why not yearn for more friendships and loving relationships? Must we regret that the fairies in the woodwork might be imaginary?
I forgot to mention that I plan to live forever, so the question is moot.