Why I would rather believe in the afterlife

47 posts / 0 new
Last post
Mozart Link's picture
Why I would rather believe in the afterlife

I don't care about the truth. The only truth I care about is what is relevant to me and gives my life meaning. That being, knowledge (truth) gained about composing and music theory since I wish to be a composer. The truth that there is no afterlife makes my life empty and meaningless and, thus, is not relevant to me and is not how I find meaning in my life which is why I don't care about such truth.

I am going to talk about materialism which is the idea that there is no afterlife of eternal bliss as a reward for people who go through much suffering in this life. Unlike some materialists, I find no meaning whatsoever being a materialist. I think an afterlife of eternal bliss is absolutely neccessary.

The misfortune of this life renders our greatest dreams and pursuits into nothing more than pipe dreams. For example, if a very talented singer has some great or even genius singing talent that he/she wanted to pursue and share with the world, but he/she got into some tragic accident that permanently took his/her singing voice away, then he/she would no longer get to pursue his/her genius talent anymore.

His/her life would now be rendered into lesser pursuits. Pursuits that he/she is not as talented in. As a matter of fact, they might be pursuits that he/she never wanted to pursue and finds them to be completely bland, empty, meaningless, and nothing compared to his/her singing career.

There are many talented people in this world who never get to pursue their great talents and share them with the world due to something such as a tragic accident or a fatal illness that ends their lives shortly. They never get the chance and are then bound to forever remain dead in the end with no afterlife for them to live on in and express their talents in.

How is that meaningful? To me, with no afterlife, then this very life is nothing more than some fool's errand in which our very acts, lives, and goals/dreams solely lie on the hands of fate. When we find profound meaning in our lives and pursue a certain goal/dream in our lives that has such profound meaning to us, then it is only because we were lucky enough to stay alive since no illness or form of major suffering in our lives has crippled or killed us off yet. But if our lives are unfortunate and we then have much suffering in our lives that ends our lives shortly, then it is all nothing more than a simple matter of "too bad so sad." To me, that is an utterly meaningless life regardless of how much you make the best of it anyway.

For us as human beings and our lives to solely lie on this wretched hands of fate and for us to die with no afterlife, especially those who are very innocent people, then I don't care who you are and what you did with your life. You, in my eyes, are all nothing more than an inferior species. I don't even see you as a human being. I see you all as nothing more than pieces of meat that are all just bound to rot and decay away. Having no suffering in your life and living on forever in eternal bliss is the one and only thing that makes your life great and is the one and only source of joy, happiness, and good meaning one can have in his/her life. Nothing else.

But we are all nothing more than just this random and quite unfortunate product of nature. It is a physical form that is prone to suffering, disease, illness, and eternal death. We are not products of our own making. In other words, we are not a product of transcendence and immortality in which we can live how we want and live for all eternity with no suffering in our lives to hold us down and dictate our fate in this life.

Instead of treating ourselves like high class elite immortal beings who can live and pursue their goals, talents, and dreams all they want, we instead have to treat ourselves for what we are. That being, we are all nothing. We cannot rule over this life and live by our own rules. This life instead has the advantage over us. It is a life ruled by fortune and not by any righteous grand cause. Innocent people will go through much suffering and evil people will have it all handed to them in life.

If an innocent person goes through much suffering and dies while an evil person lives on in bliss, then it is a matter of:

"Haha! I was fortunate enough to live on for something great in my life and I had it all handed to me while you were the unlucky one! How sad for you!"

This very quote is the grand meaninglessness of this life. It is, by far, the most outrageous, rage-provoking, and absurd thing. It really gets to you and really enrages you to do something about it. It really makes you wish there were an afterlife to give innocent people the lives they deserve and evil people the lives they deserve. Most materialists would say to innocent suffering people:

"I know that this life is quite unfortunate and that there is no afterlife for any of us. But it is all about making the best of it anyway and finding good meaning in our lives anyway."

This quote shows ignorance of the person's suffering. It's like you are not even in this person's shoes to truly understand the depths of his/her suffering. I feel that all the immense suffering and desire of innocent suffering people to want to live a blissful afterlife is all being masked by the sheer insulting ignorance of this quote. Do you even realize just how many people are suicidal who think their lives are worthless and meaningless due to all their suffering?

So for you to still bring that quote up front would be the most insulting and ignorant thing you could do on your part. I don't care if the afterlife really doesn't exist. I really think people need to have the hope and comfort in it anyway. Especially those types of suffering people I've mentioned. For you to call that selfish and cowardly would be the stigma we all see today against depressed and suffering people.

So with all of this being said, you can see why I find materialism to be nothing great at all. I wish I never became a materialist and I wish I had the belief in the afterlife regardless if that said life exists or not. I have a great composing talent that I have yet to pursue and express to the world and now, I feel that it is all nothing more than a game of Russian roulette in which I am just taking my chances here and hope that some fatal illness doesn't come into my life and kill me off before I get the chance to share my great autistic composing talent to the world. This life is nothing more than some foolish game to stay alive. Nothing more than a fool's errand. There's nothing here for us. It is a life we were all better off not living in the first place.

Subscription Note: 

Choosing to subscribe to this topic will automatically register you for email notifications for comments and updates on this thread.

Email notifications will be sent out daily by default unless specified otherwise on your account which you can edit by going to your userpage here and clicking on the subscriptions tab.

Anser's picture
I don't have the patience

I don't have the patience necessary to count the number of times you use the word "I" in your diatribe.
If you ever come to understand that you're not the only being on the planet you'll think differently.

Mozart Link's picture
This attitude of yours is a

This attitude of yours is a big misconception of me. From your tone, I can gather that you think of me to be something like a child who wines, complains, doesn't show respect towards others, etc. Actually, it is quite the contrary. There is a good ego and then there is the bad ego. The bad ego is what you are talking about here. It is someone childish who tries to be better than everyone else, puts others down, etc. But the good ego is different. It seeks its own greatness in life while not trying to cut others down or be better than them. Therefore, since I have the good ego, then I see no reason to have any sort of frowning attitude towards me. I am merely trying to find my own personal meaning in my life here and I am just simply describing myself here.

CyberLN's picture
But which ego, the good one

But which ego, the good one or the bad one, would lead someone to think that long written descriptions of themselves is something in which others are even interested?

Anser's picture
You read a lot into a little.

You read a lot into a little.
Why do you compose music? Is it for yourself or others? Is it for your personal satisfaction or for the pleasure others feel when they listen to it? Why would an afterlife give you meaning?

Mexxor's picture
You say in your very first

You say in your very first paragraph:
The truth that there is no afterlife makes my life empty and meaningless and, thus, is not relevant to me and is not how I find meaning in my life which is why I don't care about such truth.
How does the truth that there is no afterlife make your life empty and meaningless? Doesn't it make the life you'll actually have that much more valuable? since its the only one you have. When you do believe in an afterlife this one would only be the gateway to that, making it that much less valuable.

Anser's picture
"How does the truth that

"How does the truth that there is no afterlife make your life empty and meaningless? Doesn't it make the life you'll actually have that much more valuable? since its the only one you have."

Absolutely.

Mozart Link's picture
[quote]But which ego, the

[quote]But which ego, the good one or the bad one, would lead someone to think that long written descriptions of themselves is something in which others are even interested?[/quote]

It would still be the good ego because it is still not a matter of the person cutting others down or thinking that he/she is better than anyone else.

[quote]You read a lot into a little.
Why do you compose music? Is it for yourself or others? Is it for your personal satisfaction or for the pleasure others feel when they listen to it? Why would an afterlife give you meaning?[/quote]

It is for my own personal pleasure. My good moods are very profound experiences for me and are the one and only things that give my life meaning, joy, inspiration, and happiness. All things in this life can only seem full of meaning to me in the context of me having my good moods. Without my good moods, then everything seems empty and meaningless to me.

I live my life solely by the pain/pleasure principle. That is, to pursue pleasure and avoid pain/death. I do not live by the moral principle which says things such as to seek the truth over pleasure and comfort. You have to understand here that most of us as human beings are hardwired to seek pleasure and avoid pain. So it would be daft of you to expect me to be a non-hedonist. I am hardwired to always be a hedonist and nothing can change that since my good moods will always be the one and only profound experiences that give my life meaning.

An afterlife of eternal bliss would give this life much more meaning since it would be a life of far more pleasure. It would be a life of eternal pleasure that I would never grow tired of since the only thing that matters to me in life is if I have my good moods and no suffering in my life. That is my only reason for composing/living and is all I came here to get out of life and nothing else.

[quote]How does the truth that there is no afterlife make your life empty and meaningless? Doesn't it make the life you'll actually have that much more valuable? since its the only one you have. When you do believe in an afterlife this one would only be the gateway to that, making it that much less valuable.[/quote]

Although there are many people who do think that this being the only life gives more meaning, this does not apply to me. For me, living and having a great time with no suffering in my life for all eternity is the only greatest life for me. That is all that matters to me and is my only reason for living. We have two concepts here. One is death and suffering. But the other is something good in which you are making the best of this life while having bliss in your life. If I could somehow get rid of the former concept in a pretend situation and stretch the latter concept all the way out to eternity, then my life would be stretched out to something far greater. It would be an eternal blissful life that has an eternal amount of good meaning, joy, inspiration, and happiness. So this is the reason why an eternal blissful afterlife would give my life far more meaning.

CyberLN's picture
Apparently, my intended

Apparently, my intended sarcasm didn't read very clearly...

hermitdoc's picture
Sarcasm only works on those

Sarcasm only works on those who are able to see beyond the tip of their own nose, which the OP is clearly unable to do.

Anser's picture
"All things in this life can

"All things in this life can only seem full of meaning to me in the context of me having my good moods. Without my good moods, then everything seems empty and meaningless to me."

How would belief in an afterlife change that?

"It is for my own personal pleasure. My good moods are very profound experiences for me and are the one and only things that give my life meaning, joy, inspiration, and happiness."

I refer you back to my original statement; "If you ever come to understand that you're not the only being on the planet you'll think differently."

Mozart Link's picture
This has nothing do with me

This has nothing do with me thinking that I am the only one on this planet. Even if I lived for others, my life would still seem meaningless as long as I am depressed. I have struggled with depression for so long and it has done nothing but brought my life misery and meaninglessness. Take note that I do, in fact, live for my mother and help her out and even then my life still seems empty and meaningless without my good moods. Therefore, your comment there is not relevant to me.

As for having the belief in the afterlife, just me having the thought that when I die I will live on in eternal bliss, this will give me the thought of having meaning in my life anyway. I don't care if the afterlife exists or not. All that matters to me in my life is that I live a life of as much good moods and as little suffering as possible along with the belief in the eternal blissful afterlife.

Anser's picture
"This has nothing do with me

"This has nothing do with me thinking that I am the only one on this planet."

Of course it does and you just made my point for me. You ask a question of other people and when you don't like the answer you dismiss it as irrelevant. You only lend credence to yourself and refuse to consider that anything outside of your own thoughts are relevant.

Based on your prior statements I contend that you don't live for your mother but you feel a sense of obligation and wish to discharge it in order to feel good about yourself.
Your good moods seem to be a result of garnering satisfaction from your accomplishments yet it's apparent that you don't believe you're getting enough satisfaction so you feel depressed.

You've reached a crisis point. You can no longer keep yourself happy.
You will either look elsewhere or you will continue to be depressed.
By your current definition, "eternal bliss" would have to be you entertaining yourself.

I'll hazard a guess here and say that you don't share your music with others because you're very apparently afraid of anything that even borders on criticism because only your opinion of yourself matters to you. Though you talk about "good ego" for some reason you don't actually think well of yourself.

Been there, done that, it's all a part of maturing as a human being.

Mozart Link's picture
Me living to be a composer

Me living to be a composer and for my own personal pleasure is no different than how a person lives to go to the gym and undergo some training. He/she is doing it for his/herself. It is his/her own personal hobby. So he/she is doing it all for his/herself in order to gain something he/she wants to gain. That being, muscle and fitness. Same thing for me. I wish to gain pleasure from this life and from composing. This life and my composing dream is very personal to me and means a lot to me. But if I can't get any good moods out of it, then it means nothing. It would be no different than how if that person who went to the gym could not gain any muscle or fitness, then his/her pursuits mean nothing to him/her. He/she could very well work out just to simply work out. But if he/she is not gaining anything from it, then it really means nothing now.

Also, I would share my music. But only to get pleasure manic highs off of those types of people who compliment my compositions. As for the people who give constructive criticism, I would listen to this criticism since my goal is to be a better and better composer in order to achieve greater and more profound pleasure highs. If I can become a truly great composer, then I can achieve truly great pleasure highs from my compositions. This would even include getting truly great pleasure highs from an audience that now has far more people complimenting my works.

Anser's picture
Apparently you get a great

Apparently you get a great deal of pleasure by talking about yourself.

Mozart Link's picture
I would get pleasure from

I would get pleasure from just having someone there to listen and talk with me. That is my goal. Like I said before, I am not the bad ego trying to cut everyone else down. I am the good ego who just wants someone there to listen to me and talk with me.

Anser's picture
It appears to me that you

It appears to me that you only want someone to listen to you.
When you refuse to consider what others say in reply you discourage them from conversing with you.

Mozart Link's picture
I just want people to

I just want people to acknowledge the idea that the suffering and death of this life imposes upon us. It takes away all the meaning, joy, happiness, and inspiration in our lives and renders many people to suicide. I just want people to acknowledge the idea that such suffering people like me absolutely need the belief in the afterlife and absolutely need to live lives of as much good moods and as little suffering as possible in order for them to have true meaning, joy, happiness, etc.

Anser's picture
Suffering and death are the

Suffering and death are the counterpoint to pleasure and life.
Without one, you couldn't recognize the other.

Mozart Link's picture
But you only need just a

But you only need just a little bit of suffering in your life in order to recognize pleasure and that's it. I lived my whole entire life in the past with no major suffering in my life and it was the greatest life for me since it was a blissful one in which I had my full good moods back then and had my belief in the afterlife. I lived that way for many years and it was the greatest life for me. So that says here that your life does not have to consist of a daily amount of suffering in your life. Only a little bit of suffering is necessary in order to recognize pleasure.

Anser's picture
What's your point?

What's your point?

Mozart Link's picture
My point is that, for the

My point is that, for the most part, we do not need any suffering in our lives at all. Only just that very little bit in order to recognize pleasure. It is for this very reason I do not need any suffering in my life. Suffering only takes away all the good meaning and joy in my life. It needs to be eliminated somehow. All suffering and death need to be eliminated through science somehow.

Anser's picture
Science has already

Science has already accomplished the elimination of suffering. There are two methods in use today.
A "Medically Induced Coma" and a "Chemical Lobotomy".
As for eliminating death, Cryopreservation will do that.

Kataclismic's picture
There is a certain species of

There is a certain species of mouse in which the male lives for only eleven months. Ten of those months are spent eating and maturing while the final month is spent copulating, and they copulate themselves to death by exhaustion. They are hard-wired by their genes to live like this for the benefit of their entire species. They don't have the mental capacity to ponder life after death, or consider what they are going to do with their lives, or wonder why they must die in order to secure resources for their offspring. They just live their lives as their DNA has programmed it.

Just because your consciousness has evolved to consider these things doesn't mean they are beneficial to your comfort or existence. Quite the contrary, to devote yourself to an afterlife might mean missing out on great things in the one life that you already have. It would be such a waste to dismiss it for a life that never comes.

Mozart Link's picture
I think you have to

I think you have to understand here that everyone is different. For you, you would be missing out through having the belief in the afterlife. For me, I wouldn't miss out on anything. I would still choose to make the best of this life, but this time to a greater degree since I would be all excited and joyful knowing that there is an eternal blissful life awaiting for me. The more excited and the more of a good mood I am in, the more I procreate and pursue my goals/dreams, compose, etc. So for me personally, me having the belief in the afterlife would encourage me more in this life and would allow me to get more and more things done rather than just feeling that my life is empty, meaningless, and not getting as much done in this life.

Kataclismic's picture
I think that I do understand

I think that I do understand that everyone is different, much like I understand that your consciousness far exceeds that of the mouse mentioned in my previous post. If you don't pursue something because you have comfort in the idea that a far superior life is waiting for you then you miss out on the experience, regardless of who you are or how you feel about it. Even if you don't pursue something because you feel that your talent isn't associated with that something you still miss out on the experience, even if it would be a dreadful one. The concept that every experience must be a positive self-fulfilling one generates a bias from the start for what experiences you are going to obtain.

It poses an interesting question though. If some-one you cared about needed a kidney (and you happened to be a perfect match) would the satisfaction of helping them overrule your discomfort (possibly death if something goes horribly wrong in the removal) in giving them one? I find your simple logic unsatisfactory.

Just because I don't believe in an afterlife doesn't constitute my life as meaningless. I've already had meaning to you and you don't even know me. What more meaning could one person ask for?

Anser's picture
An apt analogy. Well said.

@Kataclismic,

An apt analogy.
Well said.

Nyarlathotep's picture
Kataclismic - "they copulate

Kataclismic - "they copulate themselves to death by exhaustion"

what a way to go!

CyberLN's picture
oh, Nyar, there are just SO

oh, Nyar, there are just SO many come backs to this.... ;-)

Mozart Link's picture
I am just going to add one

I am just going to add one last thing here. I am hardwired to be a hedonist. I am a hedonist and will always be a hedonist. Nothing can ever change this. I have no hope and can never change no matter how hard I try. My life will always be empty and meaningless as long as I live my life depressed and don't have my good moods. I will always need my good moods to give good meaning, love, joy, happiness, and inspiration to my composing and life.

I can be nothing more than a hedonist and someone who wants to believe in the afterlife of eternal bliss. I can never find any good meaning in my life through a non-hedonistic lifestyle. I am just hardwired this way and that's how it will always be. It's in my genes and hardwiring and nothing can ever change this. Some people would tell me to mature and grow as an individual. But my good moods will always be my one and only source of spiritual growth and thriving as an individual. Nothing else.

Kataclismic's picture
That's a bit like saying I'm

That's a bit like saying I'm hardwired to be a Liberal.

Pages

Donating = Loving

Heart Icon

Bringing you atheist articles and building active godless communities takes hundreds of hours and resources each month. If you find any joy or stimulation at Atheist Republic, please consider becoming a Supporting Member with a recurring monthly donation of your choosing, between a cup of tea and a good dinner.

Or make a one-time donation in any amount.