Sapo, welcome! “Thoughty” posts.
Thanks, dude! Or is it dudette? (I must say, though, that I get the sense that you’re male. I can’t explain it–it’s just a sense that I get sometimes.)
Aaaanyway…
I get what you’re saying: the notion of ceasing to exist (and not knowing that you no longer exist) is rather mind-bending. I think it about it sometimes, and when I realize that I will, one day (hopefully not soon), most assuredly cease to exist, yet everything, and everyone, else will go on…well, it’s…interesting.
As mind-boggling as this might be, though, I find this much easier to grasp than the notion that my soul will live forever and ever and ever, either in heaven or hell. Or that my soul will somehow be, I don’t know, reconstituted into some other something, and that I’ll have no memory whatsoever of my previous existence. (Please forgive my ignorance; I’m not very familiar with the terminology of reincarnation.)
And, really, for very practical reasons, I wouldn’t want to live forever, especially if (a) I have to worship some “being” just to further its ego trip, or (b) the punishment of hell will be waaaay disproportionate to any uncool shit that I’ve done in my current life, of (c) I have to live yet ANOTHER lifetime in a world that, given its current condition, I will eventually not be sad to be leaving behind. And, honestly, unless I can get all of the D&A (I’m sure you can figure out what that means) that my little heart desires ('cause it sure as hell ain’t happening now), that whole eternal life thing just isn’t winning my heart and mind.
At any rate (my lowest-common-denominator vulgarity aside), I think you’re right. Worrying about whether/how you continue to “exist” or not after death is fruitless. Much, much better, I think, to be concerened with whatever impact you have on the world–however much of the world you happen to impact–while you live now, and how your actions will cause you to be remembered once you’re gone. If more people did that, the world might not be in the goddam mess that it is now.
And that’s just the very humble opinion of some guy who doesn’t know a lot about, well, a lot of things. For what it’s worth, and all that.
I’ve come to the decision that Earth and Humans are really some 7th grade Space Aliens Science Fair Project.
“Oh, look what you’ve done Zroglov! You haven’t managed the Humans well and they’ve destroyed everything!”
Pushing glasses up the bridge of his snout." It’s all a part of my plan, mother dear. If you watch this tribe over here ( points to the Mid-East) they’ve been fighting since last Tuesday or 2000 years their time. Quite a clever little bunch in their brutalizing each other. Went from throwing rocks to suicide bombs. This group over here ( points to America) had their lands taken away by a tribe of WASP’s and nearly lost everything do to disease. They’ve retaliated by turning to a tax-free commerce that is undeniable to the other tribes, especially WASP’s and Brown Skinned one’s, known as da Brother’s. "
His mother looks at a bunch racing over a line, " What’s going on there?"
“Those are the Mexicans. They spend most of their time crossing this line to get into this territory where they excel at yard work and domestic issues ( things the WASP’s are too lazy to do) and the rest of their time being caught and being sent back where they started. Interesting enough, the words Green Card send them running.”
“And this,what is going on on this little Island?”
“That is Japan. They were nuked sixty years ago and suffered horrific loses due to their little episode in starting a near global war and death marches. But they’ve had their comeback.”
“Casino’s?”
" Fuel effience automobiles. Something the Midwestern WASP’s won’t even bother with."
“Ah, success. It is the best revenge, is it not?”
“WEll, I don’t know about that. The Japanese have tentacle porn, so its offsetting penalties, really.”
I believe that the reason why there are so many different interpretations of what God/the Divine/Supernatral actually is, is that we as a species cannot fully 100% know What that Higher Power is. We can get a vague idear…but b/c our brains and other ways of transmitting info are so puny, we cannot know Whatever’s Out There right now.
But if our brains are so puny that we can’t understand it, how do we know our vague ideas are anywhere close?
“thankious” responses to you. 