(Poll) Alternate Death Systems

[Samantha Rinne]

Currently, there are only about four systems of what happens after you die:

No Afterlife: You die, your body rots. There's no such thing as soul
Rebirth: Usually Buddhist, your body rots and souls are destroyed. However, the self is like a candle able to be passed to a new vessel (which usually winds up making the same stupid mistakes)
Reincarnation: The soul is immortal and transfers to a new body.
Afterlife: You go to... wherever, depending on the religion. People often think all religions are this category and all believe in Heaven and Hell, which reveals their extreme ignorance. The Norse for instance believe in Nine Worlds where things live, and some of these are part of an afterlife.

However, this is not the limit of all systems that can exist.
Resetting: Similar to how an RPG works. You repeat the "game" at the last "save point" until you get it right
Reiteration: People you know come in and out of your life through death but they get to "echo" as different people with similar features.
Recycling: You die, and your soul converts into energy. Your body, on the other hand converts into raw materials for new life.
Immortality: You, assuming you earn it, rise from the dead as a sort of invincible solid superghost. All lesser souls become petty ghosts until their goals are resolved, in which case, an afterlife or reincarnation occurs.
Other: There's probably other ideas.

For this exercise, don't tell me what you feel as part of your worldview, you "should" believe, but what type of system you'd prefer. This should get more varied answers than atheists all jumping on the bandwagon of no afterlife.

I chose other: I believe that after death, the soul does what the person believing wants (this includes people who want to punish themselves).

 

[Laika]

Currently, there are only about four systems of what happens after you die:

No Afterlife: You die, your body rots. There's no such thing as soul
Rebirth: Usually Buddhist, your body rots and souls are destroyed. However, the self is like a candle able to be passed to a new vessel (which usually winds up making the same stupid mistakes)
Reincarnation: The soul is immortal and transfers to a new body.
Afterlife: You go to... wherever, depending on the religion. People often think all religions are this category and all believe in Heaven and Hell, which reveals their extreme ignorance. The Norse for instance believe in Nine Worlds where things live, and some of these are part of an afterlife.

However, this is not the limit of all systems that can exist.
Resetting: Similar to how an RPG works. You repeat the "game" at the last "save point" until you get it right
Reiteration: People you know come in and out of your life through death but they get to "echo" as different people with similar features.
Recycling: You die, and your soul converts into energy. Your body, on the other hand converts into raw materials for new life.
Immortality: You, assuming you earn it, rise from the dead as a sort of invincible solid superghost. All lesser souls become petty ghosts until their goals are resolved, in which case, an afterlife or reincarnation occurs.
Other: There's probably other ideas.

For this exercise, don't tell me what you feel as part of your worldview, you "should" believe, but what type of system you'd prefer. This should get more varied answers than atheists all jumping on the bandwagon of no afterlife.

I chose other: I believe that after death, the soul does what the person believing wants (this includes people who want to punish themselves).

Voted "No Afterlife". As I don't believe in an immaterial soul and consciousness cannot survive without the body.

So becoming compost it is then!

 

[SalixIncendium]

I selected “other.” Moksha. Freedom from samsara and continued existence as Brahman.

 

[Eddi]

I like the idea of "resetting"

I'd never heard of that before, as a possibility

Such a world where that happens would have structure and meaning (and even design???) which would be nice

 

[SalixIncendium]

I like the idea of "resetting"

I'd never heard of that before, as a possibility

Such a world where that happens would have structure and meaning (and even design???) which would be nice

I’d find myself rage-quitting just like I did with Fallout 4 about 10 minutes ago.

 

[Heyo]

I voted "other" because I want "true immortality" without having to die first. I.e. a medical solution to aging.

 

[SalixIncendium]

I voted "other" because I want "true immortality" without having to die first. I.e. a medical solution to aging.

Would you, though? Want to stay in that body for eternity? What will you do when the earth is gone?

 

[Altfish]

Going with reality - No afterlife

 

[Heyo]

Would you, though? Want to stay in that body for eternity? What will you do when the earth is gone?

I will be gone long before the earth goes. We are only decades away from the ability for interstellar travel. And I don't climg to this body. I can imagine "going into silicone" one day.

 

[Sinncubus-74]

I'm not particularly concerned about the afterlife at the moment and don't really have any opinion on it, but I like to imagine people go where they think they're going. Like, if someone believes such and such god has authority over where they go, then they do. I sometimes like to daydream about what would happen if that by chance ended up being true, and I wound up becoming a godform of sorts upon death. A benefit of that would be having the ability to shift my form, that'd obliterate my gender dysphoria.

 

[danieldemol]

I voted other - at physical death we are born into the immortal world of the spirits as the soul seperates from the body

ETA changed my vote to afterlife (any)

 

[sun rise]

I first voted reincarnation and changed my vote to other because my wish is to be reincarnated until I get it right and then be united with Divinity.

So it's not pure reincarnation as you've defined it.

 

[SigurdReginson]

What do I think will happen? The first option. What am I voting for? Ghostly immortality! Sounds awesome to me.

 

[Harel13]

Currently, there are only about four systems of what happens after you die:

No Afterlife: You die, your body rots. There's no such thing as soul
Rebirth: Usually Buddhist, your body rots and souls are destroyed. However, the self is like a candle able to be passed to a new vessel (which usually winds up making the same stupid mistakes)
Reincarnation: The soul is immortal and transfers to a new body.
Afterlife: You go to... wherever, depending on the religion. People often think all religions are this category and all believe in Heaven and Hell, which reveals their extreme ignorance. The Norse for instance believe in Nine Worlds where things live, and some of these are part of an afterlife.

However, this is not the limit of all systems that can exist.
Resetting: Similar to how an RPG works. You repeat the "game" at the last "save point" until you get it right
Reiteration: People you know come in and out of your life through death but they get to "echo" as different people with similar features.
Recycling: You die, and your soul converts into energy. Your body, on the other hand converts into raw materials for new life.
Immortality: You, assuming you earn it, rise from the dead as a sort of invincible solid superghost. All lesser souls become petty ghosts until their goals are resolved, in which case, an afterlife or reincarnation occurs.
Other: There's probably other ideas.

For this exercise, don't tell me what you feel as part of your worldview, you "should" believe, but what type of system you'd prefer. This should get more varied answers than atheists all jumping on the bandwagon of no afterlife.

I chose other: I believe that after death, the soul does what the person believing wants (this includes people who want to punish themselves).

What's the difference between rebirth and reincarnation?

 

[ChristineM]

I went with reality.

 

[SigurdReginson]

I went with reality.

You don't want god powers? Boring!

 

[Erebus]

This is a tough one but in the end I went with no afterlife.

An eternal afterlife has the potential to become hellish even if it's supposed to be a reward. Eternity is a long, long time. I could perhaps see certain viewpoints on heaven working though, for example by making those in heaven genuinely incapable of boredom or suffering. That raises some uncomfortable questions about whether the thing existing in heaven is still you though. For better or for worse, your suffering is a part of who you are. It also becomes especially creepy if there's also a belief in some form of hell. I can picture people smiling away in heaven while their loved ones burn.

Reincarnation and rebirth have similar issues surrounding identity. They also guarantee that at least some of those lives are going to be utterly hellish. We see enough of that on Earth but who knows how much worse things could be elsewhere in the galaxy.

People tend to view the no afterlife scenario in one of two ways: It makes this life precious or it makes existence meaningless. Neither is necessarily wrong but I lean towards the latter. It cements the universe as an utterly uncaring place but at least death is then a release from suffering rather than a continuation of it.

 

[ChristineM]

You don't want god powers? Boring!

Nope, i am quite happy that the atoms of my body will go on for ever being reused over and over and over again. Bits of me may become blades of grass, breath of wind, a space vehicle, another human being (we are all made of dead people). One day maybe part of a new star that shine's down on and warms a new world where life us just beginning to evolve.

Doesn't reality best imagination every time?

 

[SigurdReginson]

Nope, i am quite happy that the atoms of my body will go on for ever being reused over and over and over again. Bits of me may become blades of grass, breath of wind, a space vehicle, another human being (we are all made of dead people). One day maybe part of a new star that shine's down on and warms a new world where life us just beginning to evolve.

Doesn't reality best imagination every time?

Touche, and beautifully said.

I'm still keeping my god powers, though.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Currently, there are only about four systems of what happens after you die:

No Afterlife: You die, your body rots. There's no such thing as soul
Rebirth: Usually Buddhist, your body rots and souls are destroyed. However, the self is like a candle able to be passed to a new vessel (which usually winds up making the same stupid mistakes)
Reincarnation: The soul is immortal and transfers to a new body.
Afterlife: You go to... wherever, depending on the religion. People often think all religions are this category and all believe in Heaven and Hell, which reveals their extreme ignorance. The Norse for instance believe in Nine Worlds where things live, and some of these are part of an afterlife.

However, this is not the limit of all systems that can exist.
Resetting: Similar to how an RPG works. You repeat the "game" at the last "save point" until you get it right
Reiteration: People you know come in and out of your life through death but they get to "echo" as different people with similar features.
Recycling: You die, and your soul converts into energy. Your body, on the other hand converts into raw materials for new life.
Immortality: You, assuming you earn it, rise from the dead as a sort of invincible solid superghost. All lesser souls become petty ghosts until their goals are resolved, in which case, an afterlife or reincarnation occurs.
Other: There's probably other ideas.

For this exercise, don't tell me what you feel as part of your worldview, you "should" believe, but what type of system you'd prefer. This should get more varied answers than atheists all jumping on the bandwagon of no afterlife.

I chose other: I believe that after death, the soul does what the person believing wants (this includes people who want to punish themselves).

I tend to think we live in a dynamic continuum of which there has never been a start or end point. Just arising and falling form.

I think the mind and ego is the only thing that has a true death. Our composition however is always around that leads me to think the lights come on and the lights go out continually in perpetuity.