Let me start by saying I've been reading totse regularly for a while now. I have learned so much from reading here, and reading here has helped open my mind to so many things I had never thought of before.

However before I really started browsing through frequently I was having serious doubts about the afterlife. I don't really care about anything other than an afterlife. I was raised christian but completely stopped believing (I don't think I need to explain myself there) but hand in hand when I stopped believing in religion was when I had doubts in an afterlife. Really the only reason I still "believe" is to function daily. It has just been drilled into my head for so long, the thought of everyone I know that has deceased, just ceasing to exist forever, someday I will cease to exist forever, it's just so damn depressing. I realize it is largely because of the way I was raised to look at life after death, but I can't consciously change that, or at least I haven't been having much success trying to.


I don't know anymore, I think about this stuff constantly. I've been trying to fool myself into having hope for an afterlife with many thoughts but knowing all of my emotions etc., kind of what I thought was my 'soul' is just a bunch of chemicals in my brain makes anything other than ceasing to exist hard to believe. I've been so desperate I've been thinking of some really out-there ideas to avoid ceasing to exist. A family friend had a brain anurism(sp*, it's late I'm sorry) and claims to see spirits. See, now I'm going to try and look into that, even though I know I will most likely wind up thinking it is BS. I have been looking into it a lot, but I respect totse posters and the knowledge they bring here. Just off the top of anyones head is there any reading (preferably online) you could recommend? Anyone think the advances in science will prove one way or the other in the next 10 years or so? By one way or the other I am strictly talking about what happens after death, nothing to do with a creator or anything of that nature. I hate thinking about this kind of stuff as much as I love it, I am constantly asphyxiated on trying to make sense out of it.


I know internet forums are generally a bad place for this kind of stuff but I assume someone here has had a similar train of thought and could provide some insight?

I realize this may sound generic and stupid but I have to start somewhere.

EDIT: I was also hoping to get a volunteer to shoot down some of the ideas I thought of that I thought may work around what science suggests and make an afterlife seem plausable? You've probably heard it all before though.

Science has already given a definitive answer to the question...once you're dead your consciousness ceases to exist. Unless you want to invoke the god/magic/supernatural/matrix that's just the way it is.

However, you could find some solace in knowing that your legacy will live on, that you made a difference, that we are all part of the universe...

You die every night, it's not scary

You die every night, it's not scary

I think he meant actual death.

But you're right, its nothing to worry about. Existence will continue.

Well if there turns out that there is no afterlife and we all just won't exist when we die, then really when you think about it, it's not like we'll know we won't exist so..well, yeah.

It'll just be like "Oh no I'm dea--.."

I'm starting to think that I might just live my life to the fullest, not really working in one job too long (unless it's a surprisingly good one) but being tied down to one thing lately is getting on my nerves.

What I'm trying to say is since we don't really KNOW for sure what the after life holds, just fuck it all and party. (anyone who knows me though knows I do not party :P)

fuck it all and party.

Woooo-hoooo! Lets eat some shrooms and smoke some grass man.

Woooo-hoooo! Lets eat some shrooms and smoke some grass man.

Oh I would man, but I'm dry right now *cough* :P

See but part of realizing that is now I really don't know how to live my life, trying to keep that mindset I get mixed messages with every interaction throughout my day. I know if I die and cease to exist I wont be able to be upset over it, but people I know that have died, just stuff that you don't know and have to deal with the fact you may never know. The ceasing to exist part is just ugh especially after I've been told for so long about this great happy afterlife...

I was thinking about it like this...if there was a creator and a heaven and hell, some way to punish and equalize you if you did something "wrong" in this life, I would be unfathomably happy to be banished to the worst possible "hell". To me the idea of hell kind of contradicts itself, because hell can't exist if you don't right? I don't see how ANYTHING could be worse than ceasing to exist?

If I knew my consciousness would continue on for all eternity, pain and anything hell could throw at me would seem irrelevant. It's not like pain would matter anymore, pain is only relevant to me now because my body is telling me to stop doing something because I could get hurt and jeapordise my existance. If I know my existance will be forever, pain wont be a factor. Nothing would phase me because you have all eternity to do whatever you want.


I think all of the pain and depressing emotions we experience are only present because we all know we will one day die. If existance continued for eternity, there really wouldn't be anything to be upset about because you have eternity, endless chances to do whatever you feel like. So, going on that same train of thought, and what science seems to suggest, at least to me...the whole death = ceasing to exist, I mean thats hell to me. Thats why I have been so desperate lately to change my views because I just can't live life practically thinking this way.

I think that even if one does not believe in an afterlife or the survival of the consciousness/soul/whatever, life still has - and arguably more - meaning. If this is our only life, then surely that is all the motivation we need to make it as full and meaningful as possible.

While I'm not an atheist myself, I think it's a huge misconception to view it as some dismal existence. As far as we know, we're the only creatures in the universe endowed with a sense of consciousness as we understand it. We should count ourselves lucky to have the opportunity to live as we do no matter how short a span of time it may be compared to the grand scheme of things so to speak.

Hope that helps you find at least some solace in a mortal life.

once ur dead, ur dead, end of story

The better question is WHY WOULD YOU WANT AN AFTERLIFE? The whole idea of eternal life seems scary as hell to me. Just think about it...forever...and...ever...never ending. Whether it's fun or not, who cares. It's something I didn't sign up for and can't sign out of. I just want to fucking rest, no mas por favor!!!

Islam describes it very much.

Either you are going to taste the Hellfire for eternity or Paradise. There's no escape. There's no ''lulz w/v ima die and become dust''. Allah created you, and no-one else. Just think, medidate. I'm sure as hell (lol) that you don't wanna burn alive for eternity. All the fire you can find on this Earth, everything, is only 1/70 of the fire of Hell.

Think, Meditate, Do.

well, according to modern physics, the linear passage of time is just an illusion created by our minds. Time is all at once, and we are only perceiving it as going from one direction to another. Therefore, you never really end, you just can't see whats further down the 4th dimension. Perhaps, since we build up memories, at the end of life we perceive everything backwards linearly? Or perhaps we achieve some sort of nirvana where we can finally grasp the other dimensions. I dunno.

My philosophy on living though, is be prepared for both: do the things you want to do, this limited span we get may be it, and try not to do anything you'll regret forever.

That's how i deal with existence anyhow.

well, according to modern physics, the linear passage of time is just an illusion created by our minds. Time is all at once, and we are only perceiving it as going from one direction to another. Therefore, you never really end, you just can't see whats further down the 4th dimension. Perhaps, since we build up memories, at the end of life we perceive everything backwards linearly? Or perhaps we achieve some sort of nirvana where we can finally grasp the other dimensions. I dunno.

My philosophy on living though, is be prepared for both: do the things you want to do, this limited span we get may be it, and try not to do anything you'll regret forever.

That's how i deal with existence anyhow.

Hallelujah! :D Very good stuff.

Hallelujah! :D Very good stuff.

all of it from totse really.

Really the only reason I still "believe" is to function daily. It has just been drilled into my head for so long, the thought of everyone I know that has deceased, just ceasing to exist forever, someday I will cease to exist forever, it's just so damn depressing.

Welcome to the reason why religion still exists.

People are too afraid to admit there is no afterlife. It's a matter of not having the mental capacity to handle the emotional response. You said it yourself, you "believe" just so you can function daily.

Perhaps, since we build up memories, at the end of life we perceive everything backwards linearly?.

How do you plan on perceiving without the usage of ANY perceptive faculties, a brain or...even existing?

Somebody on totse (can't remember who) once said, "I'm not afraid of death, I'm afraid of how I'm going to die."

I agree.

How do you plan on perceiving without the usage of ANY perceptive faculties, a brain or...even existing?

really you wouldn't notice if you were perceiving backwards, and i also mentioned that time is not linear, the human mind constructs it to appear as if it is. I'm hoping that when we see our end, then maybe we can understand how the higher dimensions work. I dunno exactly, nobody does, but i think its interesting at least. its a little better outlook than "You die, that's it, end of story"

I'm hoping that when we see our end, then maybe we can understand how the higher dimensions work.

Start doing psychedelics, immediately. Then smoke some DMT or salvia.

;)

I had some of the same sort of concerns when I first stopped believing. Having an idea indoctrinated into you from the time you are born makes it extremely hard to let go of. Once you let go in the belief in an afterlife, you become more focuses on this life. Not believing in an afterlife has sparked somewhat of a "Carpe Diem" attitude in me. I don't have anything to look forward to, so I might as well enjoy my life as much as I can. The reason humans make up the idea of an afterlife is that we realize we are mortal, and want to find a way around it. I mean who really wants death to be the end? I'll admit I don't but thats just the way it is. I'm not going to go through life believing in an idea only because it gives me comfort.

I was, as most of you guys seem to be, made to be a believer from a young age, and as time progressed I began to stop believing. I now have kind of an atheist outlook on life, with a background of Christianity, like keeping the morals and whatever. About the afterlife... I think that it is easy, as you said, for humanity to get comfort out of the idea that death is not the end. I have many doubts about it. I think the easiest thing to think about, is to believe that there is a heaven and an afterlife, and live your life accordingly and to the fullest you can. Party and live it up, help people, and feel good about everything you do. Believing in heaven, you don't have to be afraid of there being no afterlife, and if there isn't any afterlife, you won't have any time to complain about it, because you'll just cease to exist but you won't know that. Hope that helps. Sorry if parts of my thread don't make sense, my train of thought kind of goes off its rails talking about deep things like this.:p