# You learn there's an afterlife, do you change? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 19, 2019, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298 "2019-07-19T10:35:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2019, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/41 "2019-07-21T12:41:26Z")
Nah, no big change. It’s just another paranoid conspiracy theory, and pretty much the oldest one at that. I’ve had some pretty elaborate ones before (and they do seem like the factual truth when you’re experiencing them!), but I’ve always been able to refute them simply by telling myself: “Dude, you know, you’re not _that_ important!” (No booze or other drugs for a week or two, though.) Oh, wait – did _everyone on Earth_ experience this “revelation”, simultaneously? Doesn´t matter what I do; we’re all doomed. It’s the end of the world as we know it. Societies are collapsing. People are weeping, praying, killing and dying in the streets, everywhere; some trying to score credits for the afterlife or simply to postpone it as long as possible; some thinking “I believe in the One True God, so I can do what I want”; others “I’m damned anyway, so why not?”; some wearing tinfoil hats fighting the Evil Gubmint or the Space Aliens or whatnot. And governments are blaming other governments for this unprecedented psyops. It’s probably just a matter of minutes before someone, somewhere, reaches for the nuclear button. But I won’t feel fine. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2019, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/42 "2019-07-21T20:05:54Z")
I’d stop kicking puppies. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/43 "2019-07-21T21:53:49Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > I’d stop kicking puppies. You better not kick them weenie dogs! I got my eye on you!!🙂 (I know you REALLY wouldn’t) ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/44 "2019-07-21T23:09:01Z")
The scenario as posited in the op does nothing but give some people one more thing to worry about. Without any knowledge of the criteria for being sent to pleasure or to pain, the existence of an afterlife is meaningless and worthless. No it’s worse, as has been said, charlatans would be sliming out of the midden the world over claiming knowledge of the rules and stealing peoples money (and most likely damning them for all we know). I wouldn’t change anything about myself in this scenario that I’m not working on now. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/45 "2019-07-21T23:39:04Z")
I think people who say they would change their behavior in this scenario have a limited ability to think hypothetically. The premise is that you know NOTHING about what will get you into the good afterlife. Maybe it really is the traditional Christian values, charity, love, etc. But maybe the key is offering the correct sacrifices to Zeus. Or worshiping Isis in a way that’s been forgotten for 2000 years. Or wearing a colander on your head and offering daily pesto to the FSM. This is the same fallacy underlying Pascal’s Wager. Without any way of knowing what behavior will be rewarded, there’s no way to know how to change your behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/46 "2019-07-22T01:28:45Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > I think people who say they would change their behavior in this scenario have a limited ability to think hypothetically. The premise is that you know NOTHING about what will get you into the good afterlife. Maybe it really is the traditional Christian values, charity, love, etc. But maybe the key is offering the correct sacrifices to Zeus. Or worshiping Isis in a way that’s been forgotten for 2000 years. Or wearing a colander on your head and offering daily pesto to the FSM. This is the same fallacy underlying Pascal’s Wager. Without any way of knowing what behavior will be rewarded, there’s no way to know how to change your behavior. But did you read the reason why I said that? If the OP had been something like “You learn that the universe is a simulation, but nothing else, how does it affect your behavior?” My answer would be it doesn’t. I don’t know anything about who made the simulation, or why, so any given behavior could be right, wrong or neutral and there’s no way to tell. A hypothetical on the other hand where all I know is that there are two afterlives and it’s mandatory you go to one of them, and they line up pretty well with the concepts of heaven and hell… It lines up too well with popular Christian mythology. And I want to do something to reduce my chance of going to hell. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/47 "2019-07-22T02:24:05Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > So given that you have a strong incentive to do the “right stuff” but no actual knowledge of what the “right stuff” is, do you change anything? Heck – you just described me perfectly; another ELCA Lutheran stumbling through this mortal coil. So no ----- I play the cards as I hold them. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/48 "2019-07-22T23:55:16Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I got my eye on you!!🙂 Which one? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/49 "2019-07-23T00:04:23Z")
I’m an atheist and thus I built my own morality from the ground up. (My parents were mormons and thus incapable of teaching any morality other than “because God says so!”) At this point my response to learning that there was a god out there that considered me immoral would be to immediately deem _the god_ immoral, and stand on my moral superiority over the creature in question. Faced with the scenario in question, I’d promptly start questioning the mechanics of the scenario - how does one generate ten thousand years of continuous pleasure? Drugs? Brainwashing? As for which things the god in question considers immoral, that’s the god’s problem, not mine. If the creature decides to torture me it’ll be because it’s a twisted demon beast, not because I’ve done anything wrong. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/50 "2019-07-23T02:21:42Z")
Hold on, the afterlife is 10K years but, er, regular life is maybe 80 or so? I think the OP’s ‘afterlife’ should be ‘life’, and whatever we are doing now be called ‘beforelife’. Or something. Sorry. Actually, I’ve already got 60-plus years of personal history, good or bad, that I can’t alter. That plus not having any notion of what the criteria are for entering Candyland means I change nothing. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/51 "2019-07-23T02:25:02Z")
Nope, I’m practically perfect in every way 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/52 "2019-07-23T07:45:15Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > … my response to learning that there was a god out there that considered me immoral would be to immediately deem _the god_ immoral, and stand on my moral superiority over the creature in question. This is the coolest thing I’ve ever read on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Mnemnosyne](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mnemnosyne/32/3347_2.png) [@Mnemnosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mnemnosyne)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/53 "2019-07-23T14:04:52Z")
I do find the comment that it lines up pretty well with Christian mythology somewhat convincing, but even that’s not really enough data to go on; after all, there’s plenty of different versions of Christianity. I suppose I might try to research all religions which have heaven/hell as a concept and as a result of your actions/beliefs in life, and then try to match my behavior so I’m hitting as many as possible, but…I probably wouldn’t bother, because even that’s a tiny chance of getting the RIGHT particular set of behaviors. Now, if I knew exactly what was required, sure, I’d immediately begin following those requirements, no matter what they are. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/54 "2019-07-23T17:15:52Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > This is the coolest thing I’ve ever read on this board. Thanks! 😃 Suffice to say, as an atheist surrounded by christians, I’ve had ample opportunity to consider both my moral standing and that of the christian god. Suffice to say I’m not particularly bothered by the idea that an entity that accepts blood sacrifices (including a _human_ sacrifice) might consider _me_ immoral. Which is not to say that finding myself in the position of being tortured for ten thousand years by a sacrifice-accepting demon would be _pleasant_, but it wouldn’t change the fact that I’d consider myself morally superior to my torturer. (Among other details, he’s torturing people!) ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/55 "2019-07-23T17:43:01Z")
AFTERlife!? I’d kill myself right now if I had to go through a whole other life. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2019, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298/56 "2019-07-23T18:01:55Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > AFTERlife!? I’d kill myself right now if I had to go through a whole other life. That’ll only bring it on quicker! And it’s gonna be a hundred times longer this time! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-learn-theres-an-afterlife-do-you-change/837298.md?page=2)