I was recommended to this website by a good friend. I hear the community is great here. I thought I share this to you guys. Of course you may find some gaps that u can counter. Nonetheless, Would love some feedback! Thank you!
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There is no proof of an afterlife.
I deal with life as it happens and make the most of it as my time is limited by my internal biological clock and my propensity for risk taking.
Death is a natural part of the process of life and is as welcomed and celebrated as the birth of a new human.
As a comment; the production values on this vid are pretty much last century.
Death or dying is uncomfortable? To who? And if it makes you uncomfortable, why not get over it? Doesn't fear of death say something about you and the way you were raised?
Is there life after death? Human religions have been making such assertions since the beginning of time. Life is shit and there must be something better later on? Outwardly our cultures and traditions have been spewing out this information for centuries and covering us with it. But what happens when you actually and seriously take a look at the question, "Does life exist after death?"
On face value, you are dead. Death literally means the end of life. That is what it means. It means "The End!" It does not mean heaven, reincarnation, ascending souls or anything else.
A human being is a process. Think of it as a flame on a candle. The flame must be fed until the fuel is gone. Where does the flame go? Where does the fuel go? It has been said that every atom in our bodies once belonged to a star. The atoms in our bodies were once a part of the dinosaurs. The atoms in our bodies are the universe in which we live. This is not reincarnation. This is not magical thinking. It is simple FACT. I came from the world and the universe around me. I am a part of all that is. This is not a religious idea. It does not make any assertions on magical beings or the consciousness of the universe or anything else. It changes nothing. It is a simple statement of FACT.
It is a wonderful thing that I have had this existence. That the atoms found their way to form this being who is talking to you. And still, this is just part of a very long journey. What happens next is completely unknown. That which was once me will no longer be. How is this a problem? How is death a problem?
There is nothing at all about me that has remained since I was a child. Every part of my body has died and been replaced several times. That which seems to continue is memory. An imaginary sense of self. A very faulty memory. A very selective memory. And eventually even that will end. (Die if you like, for there really is no difference in meaning.)
I don't get how any of this is threatening, fearful, or why I should expect any more. What is real seems to be right in front of us. Death is not difficult to comprehend and it is not nearly as important as how you choose to live.
Nicely put Cog.
By far the most likely, reasonable and evidence based answer is...
Nope. No life after death. Sorry! Everyone should take effort to enjoy the life they have while they are living.
Ditto!
Ditto!
@Leonides: Is there an afterlife?
Yep. Everyone you've ever known that's dead, all your ancestors, they're all up there looking down, watching everything you do through a great spy hole in the sky. That's how they spend their time off from singing hymns in the eternal choir. There's no TV up there.
If that sounds like bullshit, just read some of the idiotic stuff that Xtians, Mormons and Muslims spout about the afterlife.
Your consciousness is electrical signals in your brain. Once it shuts down, the light goes out. You're a long time dead. Make the most of your time above the grass.
You mean I can't watch any replays of Jersey Shore? How about some gaming, like PUBG? Not even porn? So what do I do, play ping pong or sing stale and boring crap? No Death Metal?
And how about sex? Would an orgasm be permitted? Would I be able to bone Marilyn Monroe? What if some Catholic priest groped my ass?
David Killens: And how about sex?
Well I've heard that angels have no sexual organs, so I'm guessing that rank and file souls won't be able to have sex either. But there will be a kind of porn. You'll be able to watch naked sinners writhing in the fires of hell.
What Makes you think Marilyn Monroe will be in heaven? I think she got sentenced to spend eternity in hell humping Kennedys.
Algebe,
"If that sounds like bullshit, just read some of the idiotic stuff that Xtians, Mormons and Muslims spout about the afterlife."
The most significant difference between the Old & New Testaments is that the New Testament introduced the concept of life after death. The Old Testament does not claim that there is life after death.
I grew up going to a Mormon church and half the time I was convinced the people were just making things up. One woman told me that if I drank coffee I would be sent to hell.
Let us imagine I am a con man. And to work my con, I have to dangle something in front of my target(s) that is irresistible. Eternal life is hard to ignore, and just like those who fall for Nigerian scammers, there will always be those who are fair game for cons. This is how religion works.
Despite these claims for thousands of years, there has never been a shred of evidence an afterlife could be in play.
I have pondered this afterlife stuff, and I don't like it for many reasons. If there was an afterlife and I endured forever, after a few million years I would be bored out of my skull. Additionally, since an afterlife does not apply to everyone, there would be some precious souls that would not make the grade. I would have to be either devastated with remorse or the biggest selfish asshole to be able to "enjoy" an afterlife.
But I don't believe in that crap. Death is like the rain. You may not want to get your hair wet, but it's going to happen. All you can do is just go through the process. Suck it up buttercup.
Fortunately I have gone through the death process. In 2010 I was being wheeled into emergency surgery, and I knew that my odds were poor. As I lay on the gurney and observed the nurses and orderlies opening the operating room door and wheeling me in, I was not a player, I was an observer, and I had no fear. I was VERY aware that these may be my final moments. And all I thought was "well, if I wake up, I'm still alive".
I had a good run, I had more than my share of adventures, and met a lot of nice people. But baby, the rain must fall.
During the emergency surgery they lost my vital signs twice, I experienced a very powerful dream, I had what some describe as a near death experience. Trust me, there weren't any flames of hell or the pearly gates or light of heaven. It was just a dream.
I used the word "fortunately" because the experience taught me that every second is precious, and life is to be enjoyed to it's fullest. Not death, but life is to be enjoyed.
Some religious types look forward to enjoying death, I intend to enjoy every second of life.
Sir, May you describe this dream?
Yes leonides, it was a prolonged and very vivid dream. I was down on a lower deck ( the tiller flats) of the German Battleship Bismarck.
In the months preceding I was heavily involved in researching the design and construction of battleships. Not because of the conflict of wars, but the pure engineering side. I was also building a model of the Bismarck. Fascinating ship, amazing engineering.
David,
Here's a book that might interest you if you don't already have it.
"Anatomy of the Ship: Battleships Yamato and Musashi" - Janusz Skulski and Stefan Draminski
1020 scale drawings; 350 colour 3D views.
Pretty awesome!
I did not watch the video, and why should I. I don't need any propaganda to determine things. There is no evidence that there is an afterlife so why the fuck dwell on it?
I could give a shit about supposition! Give me facts and I will consider them. Hand me "what ifs" and I'll ignore them. On the drill field, we had a saying whenever someone asked a "what if" question. "What if bugs had guns? Birds wouldn't fuck with them then."
I deal with dying people for a living. Personally, I do not deal with death itself. For myself and others, dying is a bigger concern for me. How we die and treat the dying are a part of life. A member of this forum opened up a while back about the long dying process of his father who had dementia. Dementia is a terminal illness. A society that respects and values humans who no longer can work or think is a society I want to participate in. This is a bigger concern to me than being dead. Funeral practices are a cultural/ personal matter.
Two comments...
Is there life after death for me? I doubt it.
Dying sucks, but I don’t think death does.
I like the comment "I fear death like I fear the War of 1812" .
If there is an afterlife then consciousness must be separate from the brain.
If consciousness is separate from the brain and can continue to exist after the brain ceases to function then there is no reason why it could not exist before the brain begins to function.
Since no one has ever reported accurate memories from before their brain began to function it is logical to conclude that consciousness is dependent upon the brain and when the brain stops working consciousness disappears.
Hence, no afterlife.
@simon: Some peoples lives are not connected to their brains so why should their afterlife be any different?
According to the fairy tale as explained by the Paul character, do you gain eternal life when you become a Christian and become symbolically dead and resurrected during the baptism ritual or do you gain eternal life after you've actually physically died?
To quote Bender from Futurama:
"Afterlife? If I had to live a whole 'nother life I'd kill myself right now."
You can worry about death after you die!
What objective evidence can be demonstrated for an afterlife? If there isn't any why would anyone believe it is real beyond wishful thinking.
I don't fear death, but I do fear the Japanese giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia japonica), and with good reason. By comparison death has nothing to fear.
It doesn't matter whether there is a afterlife or not as it does matter what happens when we die it that matters is making the planet we live on better for the next generation and the generations that come after its not what we do when we die it's the differences we make in this life
The idea of the "immortal soul" is that the Mind can exist completely intact in the absence of a physical brain. Thinking, remembering, and perceiving will all be completely unaffected by the disintegration of this vital organ. The study of brain trauma however, reveals startling examples that this concept is false.
Prosopagnosia (the inability to recognize faces including your own) is one such example of a mind-brain dependence. Alzheimer's Diesease is another dramatic example of mind-brain dependence. Not only is the brain slowly destroyed neurologically - but the personality contained within is slowly destroyed in corresponding fashion. The creation of multiple personalities in split-brain patients whose brain is severed down the corpus callosum to reduce severe epileptic seizures, is yet another dramatic example. Left brain no longer communicates with right brain and causes the emergence of two independent persons operating in the same body - each unaware that the other exists.
Thus, your mind is not immune to damage and decay. When your physical brain begins to die off, that person known as *you* dies off as well. Your memories, your experiences, your emotions - are directly caused by the dendrites in your head. Destroy some of those dendrites and those memories will be lost forever - never to return. Destroy enough dendrites and you will become imbecillic - unable to recognize family, friends and favorite places. If all of us had "souls", then the only thing that brain damage would do is incapacitate our ability to move the body. Our memories, emotions and experiences should all remain indestructible and able to survive.
This is now known to be false.
Destruction to your brain parts results in the corresponding destruction to the memories and personality it contains. When your physical brain dies, your personhood and everything that makes you *you* - dies with it.