How do you mean, “special”? Consciousness is the self-aware aspect of the natural survival instinct. It is common to many animals, my cat has consciousness (about 2 hours a day, between naps). We only seems different because we have the language tools for abstraction and introspection.
As I have said elsewhere, consciousness, self-awareness, emotion and pain are all related to biological survival: after death, given that survival is no longer a concern, these things fall away like an old scab that is no longer needed. What then remains?
Yes, but even more about appreciating the very real and natural miracle (odds of exact sperm and exact egg through generations) that you were conceived and born. Such a waste to disrespect that gift by accepting indoctrination into one of the multitudes of contradictory cults that would have one spend it, preparing for an afterlife that doesn’t exist.
I believe that this was mentioned upthread, but I don’t know if anyone really responded. For those of you that are concerned with what happens after death, why aren’t you equally curious about what happened before your birth (yeah, yeah…besides conception?) And if you believe that your soul goes on into…where ever…what keeps the soul inside the body while the body is alive? Why can’t me myself and my soul just wander around? Do you consider the soul to be trapped by the body? That’s no fun.
as far as womdering about before birth, i would say there is some interest but because a) its already nappened, and b) it was only a temporary state whereas after death is final…i think accounts at least in great part for why more interest in after death.
as far as the question about the spirit being trapped, some people believe the physical body is a temporary dwelling for the spirit, not so much that the spirit is trapped. more like a butterfly inside a cocoon. also there is a beoief that the spirit can very briefly leave the body such as when a person is asleep, and then returns to the body, you can google silver cord for more in this…once the silver cord breaks then the spirit is released after death
After death is cookies; lots of them and an ice cold glass of milk.
So what do we make of those people who HAVE died and come back? Do we discount their narrative simply because they didn’t stay dead? I’m firmly in the nothing afterward camp for the most part, but there are individuals who have been able to come back and remain sufficiently lucid enough to describe what occured to them.
Well it wasn’t really temporary at all seeing as we weren’t here before the Big Bang* either so what happened before birth is just as infinite as what happens after death, only in the opposite direction.
*To the extent that “before” has any meaning reference the Big Bang.
billions of years…? ? Wow…mine only lasted nine months, well come to think of it I was born almost three weeks late, so maybe it was closer to ten months
since the birth process and the death process are two distinct things its possible that whatever happens before birth is different than after deathl it is taking a guess, I guess thats what guessing is for