what do you think happens to you when you die? and why do you believe that?
just curious!
i'll start - i think that when you die that's the end. no afterlife, no collective conciousness, no reincarnation, nothing. i believe this because after growing up in the church and looking at it in retrospect, that an afterlife was simply a man-made product of wishful thinking and fear of the unknown. heaven was like a sense of entitlement. and i know that not all religions look at the afterlife the same way, but i'm also an atheist, so it's irrelevant. sure, i think the idea of an afterlife is kind of cool, but the idea of eternal life sounds painfully boring. at first i was scared of this, but now it makes me happy. to know that this is the only life i have to live makes me want to live it to the fullest even more.
your turn
^Shit, took my words.
Yeah same thing here.
I think we move on to spiritual energy or we can choose to go back to physical reality. the way i see it is our reality is just an illusion anyway.
the idea of eternal life is that the possibilities are endless, how could you get bored of doing anything that the mind can instantly create, just by thought? you exist now, you will always exist. that's how I see it.
most likely we're just plain ol screwed
yo i personally believe in afterlife, heaven and hell but thats what i personally think
we are all reincarnated into cake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4AXOmPZ6fo
Im more attuned to the cyclical universe idea.
when your body is dead, your brain is still alive. it's said that there's still 6-12 minutes of brain activity after everything else is shut down. and a second of dream consciousness is infinitely longer than a waking second. you know how you wake up and you see that it's 8:40 or something and then you go back to bed and you have these crazy long intricate dreams and you wake up again and it's 8:44?
in that 6-12 minutes of brain activity that could actually pretty much be your whole life. it's like your imagination works full time in that last couple of minutes before death that creates your own sort of afterlife.
after that i look at it the same way as rtil, where there is no consciousness. a dream like that is enough for me.
although, i'm not athiest really. i'd say i'm more agnostic. for some reason this stuff stopped bothering me, but i used to think about it hours on end a few years back.
most of you are skipping this part
Quote from: rtil[size=]and why do you believe that?[/size]
I'm serious when I say you took my words.
Quote from: rtilmost of you are skipping this part
Quote from: rtil[size=]and why do you believe that?[/size]
because it's proven. the whole no consciousness thing after death is just what makes sense to me. it's not that i think any other thing is really impossible, i just think that that's probably what's going to happen. there's no real reason behind how i feel, except maybe that i've had the catholic religion shoved down my throat since a young age.
edit: also that's exactly why i said i was agnostic rather than atheist.
I think it's interesting that the reasons for being atheist that I've read so far have been in part due to church experience, mine included.
Quote from: WalkingShrubI think it's interesting that the reasons for being atheist that I've read so far have been in part due to church experience, mine included.
the best way to make an atheist out of a reasonable person is to have them just read the bible
At first I was going to just post "Ahahahahahahaha" but then I realized it's so true. Wait, that makes it funny. Okay, I would have been right in doing so, nevermind.
i don't know why i think the way i do, it's just what seems less illogical than everything else to me
Quote from: rtilQuote from: WalkingShrubI think it's interesting that the reasons for being atheist that I've read so far have been in part due to church experience, mine included.
the best way to make an atheist out of a reasonable person is to have them just read the bible
>reasonable person
>catholics
so we have now established that catholics are not reasonable people. that probably explains why religion is a mandatory course at my school. the only thing that really bothers me about a lot of catholics that i've met is that they're completely opposed to every other possibility. it's no fun getting into arguments about beliefs.
i'll stop here before this turns into religion discussion thread 2011, though.
you rot in the ground
gg
Quote from: stusaderQuote from: rtilQuote from: WalkingShrubI think it's interesting that the reasons for being atheist that I've read so far have been in part due to church experience, mine included.
the best way to make an atheist out of a reasonable person is to have them just read the bible
>reasonable person
>catholics
so we have now established that catholics are not reasonable people. that probably explains why religion is a mandatory course at my school. the only thing that really bothers me about a lot of catholics that i've met is that they're completely opposed to every other possibility. it's no fun getting into arguments about beliefs.
i'll stop here before this turns into religion discussion thread 2011, though.
yeah i make it a point to never argue with theists. you never change anyone's mind, they have to make that journey on their own
I was once in a situation where my friend's dad and grandfather called both him and I devil worshippers. It was great.
*Sorry back on track.
I don't believe in eternal damnation, so, naturally, I don't believe in eternal reward.
I don't see why god would create people that are destined to be doomed, anyway.
I hope death is as much of a relief as sleep, I'm always so tired...
I hope I'll dream...
look at all the lonely people
where do they all come from
I believe in heaven and hell, but if there isnt and you known I "rot in the ground" then how would I me dissapointed
as to why, its just the way ive been brought up, and it helps not having the risk of supposedly going to hell
BUT I never allow religion to be the deciding point in an argument, when people do that it pisses me off
Quote from: RadWalrusI hope death is as much of a relief as sleep, I'm always so tired...
I hope I'll dream...
what you said... what you said right there just took me away.. I can talk all night about my theories about death and what is supposedly 'after' but its late here and i need sleep for my self. :I
Why do we live only to die? Because everything is in motion. Everything is in a cycle. One thing for sure is that i am not a god believer but i do know something IS out there.. I did have a few past-life experiences before too.. very strange. One was that i was in a room. Not to shabby of a room. But it was dark except for a dark-blue/gray glow from the tempest outside shining into a small window.. idk how else to describe it..
maybe i'll make my own post in a few days about my thoughts on life, death, and beyond..
Whenever I see this question asked I feel like there are always people who get 'what they believe' and 'what they want to believe' mixed up.
Quote from: cipherWhenever I see this question asked I feel like there are always people who get 'what they believe' and 'what they want to believe' mixed up.
nailed it.
Quote from: stusaderQuote from: cipherWhenever I see this question asked I feel like there are always people who get 'what they believe' and 'what they want to believe' mixed up.
nailed it.
two big principles in mind that lead to a bigger theory for me:
1. everything is in constant motion, and this constant motion is what keeps the human body alive. everything in life works this way it seems, from even microcosmic ends of the spectrum such as people getting depressed when they don't freshen the routines of their daily lives, to the higher extremes, like the oxygen cycle of the life on planet earth, or even the way the world turns. if any of those things stop, bad shit happens. nothing of substance on this earth (aside from maybe space debris) has ever been created entirely from scratch. all of the elements that have existed at the beginning of time exist today, and has only changed form, evolved, and been recycled. change is crucial, and stagnation inevitably leads to death. this is a precept i firmly believe in, one of consistent motion and fluidity.
2. when people die, it's always because of some defective organ or bodily function, which makes the body unable to perform the processes that allow it to maintain homeostasis and continue life. but despite this, replacing that defective organ doesn't bring anyone back to life. once the flow stops, it stops forever.
so by that stroke, here's my thought process:
- there has never been a brain transplant ever seen done successfully. it's so far been proven impossible to revive a human being. once all of the human processes stop for a certain period in time, life is not salvageable. this proves to me that our being isn't totally limited to the brain, although it is obviously a crucial part of it. it causes me to believe that there may be something else to life, something that is not malleable like any other element on the planet.
- given that this is true, and there is something more to life, and given that it, too, follows the same primary principles above, it is not retrievable after a body is out of service, and in the way of the body, must be recycled. the body feeds the planet through various processes of decomposition, so if there's another side of life, where does it go?
- this leads to ideas of what happens after death. if it follows the same principles as everything else on this planet, it is a non-negotiable process that has to continue endlessly, and constantly change. on that note, i don't think there's a "heaven" or "hell", because that would oppose the rule of infinite motion, as both of those are portrayed as places you stay eternally. (i never liked the idea of "eternal paradise" anyways. always sounded boring to me)
- if not heaven or hell, then what? this always lead me to turn to various eastern philosophies for a second opinion. one of the most common themes of what occurs after death in all of the more popular ones (except islam, i guess?), unlike most european religions, is reincarnation. this would be in line with the two aforementioned principles, but at the same time, leaves a lot of things without explanation. for example, if we reincarnate, and every death breeds another life, why has humanity been able to multiply as it has? and why would the knowledge and lessons of one life not be retained in the next? it leaves a lot of blank spots that no man can actually answer.
- so, given that everything above is true, reincarnation is the most plausible idea to me, because a static afterlife sure as hell isn't, and science's idea behind it ironically contrasts one of the principles that have clearly defined our planet and all of its processes since day one. but even then, there's so much that goes unexplained.
- in contrast, however, the fact alone that life is actively created every day makes it literally the only thing in the world that has not been here since the beginning. so basically IF ALL OF THE ABOVE IS TRUE, i can conclude one of the following about the afterlife:
a. considering the universe is huge, maybe reincarnation is real and there's some sort of race or various races out there that die at the same rate life on earth expands, and there's some sort of cross-galactic reincarnation shit going on. weirder theory but hey i haven't died yet, what right do i have to say that it's bananas
b. birth is the only thing in the general chain that actually breaks the recycling of all of earth's elements and defies the rule of endless re-use, so maybe in the same way, there's a way that death can also break the cycle, and maybe there is something beyond the theorized endless cycle of change, and an end to life.
or of course there's always c or d:
c. we're born, we die, we rot in the ground. all we are is the sum of our parts, and there's nothing magical about life or personality or intelligence. basically, scientific fact.
d. x religion is right, and all believers of y and z religions burn in hell while the dignified emissaries of x religion earn themselves a seat in x god's kingdom. basically, extreme stereotype of religious teachings.
no matter what though, i live by 3 principles.
i. try to be a decent person, and live by a moral code that makes sense
ii. accept the possibility of something else being out there, even if it isn't a religious interpretation of some sort of god, and respect it, and respect other people's beliefs
iii. don't ever claim to know how the universe works or what happens after life. because nobody actually knows their shit for sure.
i agree with sev because he is a bitch and stole the words out of my mouth
also this topic gives me an uneasy feeling because of prior family loss but if you ever have a serious discussion with me on this topic the convo will be just as long as sev's post.
im with stusader. ive been holding onto this belief since middle school.
i feel like it works universally. whatever you really believe, the last 6-12 minutes of your life are gonna make it so.
Quote from: RadWalrusI hope I'll dream...
Will I dream, Dave?
Quote from: sevno matter what though, i live by 3 principles.
i. try to be a decent person, and live by a moral code that makes sense
ii. accept the possibility of something else being out there, even if it isn't a religious interpretation of some sort of god, and respect it, and respect other people's beliefs
iii. don't ever claim to know how the universe works or what happens after life. because nobody actually knows their shit for sure.
Quote from: iinnkki agree with sev because he is a bitch and stole the words out of my mouth
also this topic gives me an uneasy feeling because of prior family loss but if you ever have a serious discussion with me on this topic the convo will be just as long as sev's post.
i don't know if anything can actually be that long but WHATEVER HELPS YOU SLEEP AT NIGHT !
what's going to happen is i am going to live forever and my underwater friends will make me queen of the sea and i will forever swim with the fishes and we will feast on human beings and you all will turn into fish poop.
o
fish
poop
I believe that after death we're all transported to an alternate dimension where an infinite orgy of all people that ever lived takes place.
P.S. Pascal's Wager is a gigantic load of bullshit, I can't believe someone who called himself a "philosopher" could propose it with a straight face
I don't think there is anything after death and that life is like a switch; it's either on or off. However, the fact that death is so abrupt and permanent terrifies me and often sends my mind reeling when I think about its finality. I feel that those who hold beliefs of afterlife or some sort of eternal spiritual energy must be a lot less anxious about such things. The only reason why I don't believe those concepts is because I can't trick myself into believing something that lacks reason. The fact that time seems to pass more and more quickly as I get older, does not help these anxieties but I feel it is better than lying to myself about the inevitable.
whenever I feel anxious about my inevitable demise, I find comfort in knowing that my gorgeous American teeth will remain intact hundreds of years after the electrical activity in my brain has ceased and my bones have corroded into dust
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rty5l41_NbU
Here is a video of a what is a supposed multidimensional being channel through a man called Darryl Anka, discussing the concept of death. Some of you may not buy into it, but for the most part a lot of Bashar's messages are positive and have taught me a lot. It's all very interesting and requires an open mind.
Quote from: tmkwhenever I feel anxious about my inevitable demise, I find comfort in knowing that my gorgeous American teeth will remain intact hundreds of years after the electrical activity in my brain has ceased and my bones have corroded into dust
me too. perfect choppers.
The human body:
Oxygen (65%)
Carbon (18%)
Hydrogen (10%)
Nitrogen (3%)
Calcium (1.5%)
Phosphorus (1.0%)
Potassium (0.35%)
Sulfur (0.25%)
Sodium (0.15%)
Magnesium (0.05%)
Humans are a complex machine created by chance after billions of year of events out of the control of any sentient being, the brain is just a computer, life doesnt exist
known universe
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I believe when i die the birthday skeleton will come to collect his part of the contract, because when he seals a contract, he fucking means it!
you cease to exists, your body rots, and goth kids will piss on your grave while posing for photos to put on facebook
nothing happens after you die, and I believe that because I've never thought otherwise. even as a child, this whole "god" and "afterlife" thing came to me as illogical, and no one can or could convince me of the opposite. oh yeah, and I took some religious class, and faked praying for years, because of (as my mother said) "educational purposes". and she's not religious, nor is anyone in the family. oh palahniuk, where are you?
my definition of the bible: the best marketed fiction of the century
also, i have nothing against religious people, unless they try to push their beliefs onto you, or are these "godsent" clowns taking away peoples money. you can think and do whatever you want, it's your life, but don't force things on anyone
ah, wait, this topic turned into the funnies thread, scratch what i just said, i'm gonna become a butterfly and rape vegeta's non-existent eyelashes
I would say we cease to exist.
But if you want a more serious answer, since infinity has existed prior and will exist after us, it's possible someone/something somewhere has us saved in some bizzaro-museum as electronic waves or something.
Eternal life is by far the worlds oldest idea, it's actually the reason we live.
I believe we all turn into anime and that there is a collective anime conscious. Theres a certain anime baby...
as a child i used to think that i would go to heaven because god loved me. So i didn't fear death, i welcomed it.
by the time i was 12 i started having doubts and a few years and some research later i was 99.9% sure there is no god. and if there is no god, then there cant be a heaven and hell. so i also believe there is nothing after death. (however, if they do find some evidence to a higher being, which is highly unlikely, but if they do, I'll be the first one to hop on board)
at first this scared me. i thought 'how do i experience nothingness?' and 'shit, im not gonna live forever?'. well, im still not sure about the first one, maybe it is impossible to imagine. just like its impossible to imagine what it was like before you were born, but it doesnt scare me anymore. I have accepted that this life is all that i have and, as rtil said, that makes me want to live it to the fullest, be with loved ones and be as good a person i can be.
Quote from: mexifry895I believe we all turn into anime and that there is a collective anime conscious. Theres a certain anime baby...
soulja boy....anime.....soulja boy
Quote from: sevtwo cents
I like these theories a lot because they're well thought out, and if I were to believe fully in the concept of reincarnation, this would make the most sense.
I have to say, it would be really interesting if the whole inter-galactic reincarnation thing were reality. Aliens and space ftw!
Either way, I like it when people can talk about their beliefs to another person without trying to convert them to the bitter bone. I find a lot of Buddhists are like this, and I respect them immensely. I still believe in death being a definite ending though, which does seem sad but makes it more important for me to live a better life. You know, because it's the only one I've got.
buddhists are generally chill as fuck, like a handful of other eastern religions
Quote from: lionsefQuote from: sevno matter what though, i live by 3 principles.
i. try to be a decent person, and live by a moral code that makes sense
ii. accept the possibility of something else being out there, even if it isn't a religious interpretation of some sort of god, and respect it, and respect other people's beliefs
iii. don't ever claim to know how the universe works or what happens after life. because nobody actually knows their shit for sure.
the jake credo
These threads are always boring as fuck without religious people
Quote from: salutationsQuote from: tmkwhenever I feel anxious about my inevitable demise, I find comfort in knowing that my gorgeous American teeth will remain intact hundreds of years after the electrical activity in my brain has ceased and my bones have corroded into dust
me too. perfect choppers.
am i the only one here who plans on getting cremated? i don't want my disgusting dead body rotting in the ground
I want to be embalmed and placed in a museum for the rest of eternity
Quote from: rtilam i the only one here who plans on getting cremated? i don't want my disgusting dead body rotting in the ground
me but after this thread i will now donate my teeth to science
im gonna give my body to science
fuck
i always get 1-upped
Quote from: putThese threads are always boring as fuck without religious people
lmao im a religious person but i think these threads is mad boring aswell tbh
uh ive wanted to for some time its not all about you
Soon I'm going to start a fund to pay for my viking funeral
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Quote from: putThese threads are always boring as fuck without religious people
They're always boring to me, even with religious people. That won't stop me from posting, though!
Our minds won't survive the afterlife, if there is one. That's just science.
Don't know about the concept of 'souls', but if humans have souls, then that should mean every living being has some kind of spirit in them. I don't want to get a free ride just because I can form words and stuff.
Maybe they'll create a system where they can store human consciousness in computers as prep for dying people/fans of the singularity.
Maybe that's possible? I don't know, I'm not that smart.
Quote from: rtilam i the only one here who plans on getting cremated? i don't want my disgusting dead body rotting in the ground
I'll probably donate my body to science
i dont think anything happens after death. i think you just stop existing like before you were born. but i do sort of believe in spiritual energy and meditation because my mom and brother are both hippies who collect healing crystals :/
Quote from: tmkI'll probably donate my body to science
even if you don't donate it, there's no real guarantee that they won't take it, medical students will probably practice on your organs without your consent
Quote from: rtilam i the only one here who plans on getting cremated? i don't want my disgusting dead body rotting in the ground
yep, i need my shitty, rotting body when i come back to life as a flesh eating zombie
you gonna do something wicked and tell your kids to keep you in a vase, pour you into the ocean, or gonna be just like "throw me in the trash can" ?
science/people in need of organs can have my organs but not the rest of my body
anyways afterlife/reincarnation is a cool concept but is unfeasible
the only thing i wonder is if you get reincarnated, do you get to keep your memories from your former life?
Quote from: logenQuote from: rtilam i the only one here who plans on getting cremated? i don't want my disgusting dead body rotting in the ground
yep, i need my shitty, rotting body when i come back to life as a flesh eating zombie
you gonna do something wicked and tell your kids to keep you in a vase, pour you into the ocean, or gonna be just like "throw me in the trash can" ?
i most likely won't have kids, but if someone was going to do something with my ashes i'd prefer they'd be dusted over some majestic yet somewhat convenient to travel to mountain
Quote from: systechscience/people in need of organs can have my organs but not the rest of my body
anyways afterlife/reincarnation is a cool concept but is unfeasible
the only thing i wonder is if you get reincarnated, do you get to keep your memories from your former life?
obviously not or we would have memories of our former selves. i know some people think they discover their former lives and the memories need to be "re-awakened", but i again attribute that to wishful thinking
Quote from: rtilQuote from: logenQuote from: rtilam i the only one here who plans on getting cremated? i don't want my disgusting dead body rotting in the ground
yep, i need my shitty, rotting body when i come back to life as a flesh eating zombie
you gonna do something wicked and tell your kids to keep you in a vase, pour you into the ocean, or gonna be just like "throw me in the trash can" ?
i most likely won't have kids, but if someone was going to do something with my ashes i'd prefer they'd be dusted over some majestic yet somewhat convenient to travel to mountain
I was told that when you are cremated, what remains is nothing like dust, but more like a chalky dirt with rocks (aka bone chunks) in it. I think the fact that its a light dust that can be easily blown away (or drank in milk) is a creation of movies.
Or I could be totally wrong
I have a fairly large obsession with skeletons and skulls, so I wonder if I could have my skeleton preserved and given to some respected artist who would make something interesting with it and not rape it.
I can't wait for the grey goo to come true and turn us all into a universal unique consciousness so we can live forever.
atheist, no afterlife, no sky-daddy for me
my family members get cremated and its totally normal to me. having graves always weirded me out. why would you put your body in a box and put it in the ground, idk
id like my ashes to be scattered
i'll donate my body to science but first i'll make sure to cut myself open and hide nasty surprises for the fags cutting me up like pictures of hannah montana
i just want my funeral to be as cheap as possible
fuck human dignity, i aint made of money
when I am killed I will get up and kill and the things that I kill will get up and kill
and as the dead walk the earth with insatiable fury the pits of hell shall flood
while jesus wept
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