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What do atheists believe happens when you die?
- Thread starter Druidus
- Start date
Irenicas
high overlord of sod all
Generally, they believe nothing at all happens. To most athiests your body is all there is - no god or a soul - and so your brain and organic operations are all there is to your life. When you die, that ends, your existence ends. You decompose and there is nothing else.
Cheery, huh?
Cheery, huh?
Irenicas has more or less described what happens to you when you die. And it's not meant to be cheery, it's death.
Of course, if you want cheery, you could always make up 'life after death' stories to appease.
Besides, if one lives a fantasy their whole lives, why not die a fantasy, too?
Of course, if you want cheery, you could always make up 'life after death' stories to appease.
Besides, if one lives a fantasy their whole lives, why not die a fantasy, too?
Mr Spinkles
Mr
First of all, the thing you have to understand, Irenicas and Druidus, is that I don't believe in things because I *want* them to be true, but because I *think* logically that they are probably true (or I think logically that something is probably not true). I would love it if Santa existed, but I just don't think it's very likely.
I think we humans have been hardwired for survival a little too well....our brains don't seem readily able to even comprehend the concept of death. Humans have come up with all sorts of beliefs about the "afterlife" meant to evade the obvious...when we die, we die. Everything you experience comes directly from your brain, so you can't possibly experience consciousness, memories, dreams, visions, etc. once your brain has stopped functioning.
If you want to know what not being alive is like, just think back to before you were born
I think we humans have been hardwired for survival a little too well....our brains don't seem readily able to even comprehend the concept of death. Humans have come up with all sorts of beliefs about the "afterlife" meant to evade the obvious...when we die, we die. Everything you experience comes directly from your brain, so you can't possibly experience consciousness, memories, dreams, visions, etc. once your brain has stopped functioning.
If you want to know what not being alive is like, just think back to before you were born
jeremy.swenson
New Member
anything that happens after death is only sensual since you obviously cease to live... so why would I want to waste what time I have truly living trying to please a deity to admitting me into his 'special place' when I die. I'm far more interested in living my life as just that... life.
Fra.Morelia
Member
I do not adamantly deny an afterlife. It would be swell. But, odds are, when we die... well you're dead. As Mr. Sprinkles put it, we are hardwired for survival. The human animal wants to live, will fight to live, and will kill to live. It's nature.
What would you do for an eternity? What could honestly occupy you for all time? Does god need an exponentially swelling choir and orchestra to sing his praises? If any form of 'eternal' life were to be true, I would hope for reincarnation. Thus, I would not be aware of the continuation of consciousness. But then... that would defeat the purpose of continuation of consciousness. SO, another theory out the window. Ah, well.
Your existence is carried on through your little monsters, i.e. children.
What would you do for an eternity? What could honestly occupy you for all time? Does god need an exponentially swelling choir and orchestra to sing his praises? If any form of 'eternal' life were to be true, I would hope for reincarnation. Thus, I would not be aware of the continuation of consciousness. But then... that would defeat the purpose of continuation of consciousness. SO, another theory out the window. Ah, well.
Your existence is carried on through your little monsters, i.e. children.
Druidus
Keeper of the Grove
I don't believe in that God anyway. Druidry is based less on Gods (although they do play a role), and more on reincarnation (As we learn things we slowly continue our growth until we are able to move on to anoher realm, in which we live again, eventually reaching the highest realm living there for some time and then starting over). How do athiests explain the 21.4 grams that are lost after death that is not accountable to water loss or gas loss, or any other observable cause. No one has come up with a satisfactory answer to that. Of course, if it is your soul, then seeing as it is matter (it has mass so it must be), you should be able to trap and contain a persons soul. I'm not saying it is a soul, I'm saying there is a possibiltity. I always leave the door open, and I believe in the possibility of all things. On a side note has anyone ever visited http://www.philosophers.co.uk/ ? It has some very good philosophical games, and I think that you would like it.
Druidus
Keeper of the Grove
Never mind my info about 21 grams, that was just my brother trying to screw up what I was typing. I went to the bathroom and he typed it. Most of what I said was me though. 21 grams is based off of an experiment in 1906, which concluded that the human body loses 21 grams or three-quarters of an ounce at the moment of death or shortly after. It was attributed to the soul. However, only one of his six experiments were actually significant. 1 of the six lost 21 grams. Another 1 lost about a half an ounce and then another half ounce shortly after. 2 patients were disqualified for faulty equipment. The last patient lost the weight but later regained it. As you can see, clearly MacDougal was wrong about "the weight of souls".
JivanaKrishnaDasa
Member
So what is the point of life? If we are all just food for the worms when we die? Why would it matter if say, I went on a killing spree. It doesnt really matter right? Life doesnt mean anything right? There is no purpose, no justice, just nothingness. What drives us or motivates us to do anything at all?
If you cannot answer that question, then you are cause for serious social concern. Those who require religion to refrain from pathological action are the very type who engage in pathological action when they think that their God commands it. It is, in essence, Taliban logic.JivanaKrishnaDasa said:
So what is the point of life?
Life itself, for however brief.
If we are all just food for the worms when we die?
The 'circle of life' thing tossed in with a smidgeon of entropy.
Why would it matter if say, I went on a killing spree. It doesnt really matter right?
That would be argued from a social standpoint, not one of religion.
Life doesnt mean anything right?
On the contrary, life should mean a great deal. You should be honored to be the existing product of billions of years of evolution.
There is no purpose, no justice, just nothingness.
Purpose and justice are what you make of them, but must include a probability factor.
Open your eyes if all you see is nothingness. Nature is out there, embrace it.
What drives us or motivates us to do anything at all?
The list is endless. One can't possibly do all there is to do and know all there is to know in our natural world in a given lifetime. To squander life is to use it in the pursuit of ones death.
Life itself, for however brief.
If we are all just food for the worms when we die?
The 'circle of life' thing tossed in with a smidgeon of entropy.
Why would it matter if say, I went on a killing spree. It doesnt really matter right?
That would be argued from a social standpoint, not one of religion.
Life doesnt mean anything right?
On the contrary, life should mean a great deal. You should be honored to be the existing product of billions of years of evolution.
There is no purpose, no justice, just nothingness.
Purpose and justice are what you make of them, but must include a probability factor.
Open your eyes if all you see is nothingness. Nature is out there, embrace it.
What drives us or motivates us to do anything at all?
The list is endless. One can't possibly do all there is to do and know all there is to know in our natural world in a given lifetime. To squander life is to use it in the pursuit of ones death.
Mr Spinkles
Mr
I used to think if there was no afterlife, life would be a waste. However, I was always willing to accept that possibility as truth, if logically I ever came to that conclusion. I have logically come to that truth, but I don't think life is a waste.
It's been said that truth is beauty, beauty truth. However, the truth can be harsh and cruel. On nature shows, I've seen insects devour each other alive, and killer whales toss baby seals around like rag dolls. And yet, there is something beautiful, I think, inherent in the never ending drama that is life in this universe, in this galaxy, on this planet--there's beauty in our very humanity, our desire for meaning, our struggles and our dreams. The things I know about the universe right now are enough to make me stand in awe of it and appreciate the life I've got, without having to believe in 'extra' stuff.
I think the main problem is that people who do believe in an afterlife tend to devalue the wonder and intricacy of this life. Why do we need an afterlife? Out of millions of sperm, you were the lucky sap, and now you think you deserve more than one life? What makes you so special? Whatever happened to being happy with what you have?
It's been said that truth is beauty, beauty truth. However, the truth can be harsh and cruel. On nature shows, I've seen insects devour each other alive, and killer whales toss baby seals around like rag dolls. And yet, there is something beautiful, I think, inherent in the never ending drama that is life in this universe, in this galaxy, on this planet--there's beauty in our very humanity, our desire for meaning, our struggles and our dreams. The things I know about the universe right now are enough to make me stand in awe of it and appreciate the life I've got, without having to believe in 'extra' stuff.
I think the main problem is that people who do believe in an afterlife tend to devalue the wonder and intricacy of this life. Why do we need an afterlife? Out of millions of sperm, you were the lucky sap, and now you think you deserve more than one life? What makes you so special? Whatever happened to being happy with what you have?
Fra.Morelia
Member
As (Q) stated life is the purpose of life. Life is not less meaningful to me without a concept of eternity, it is vastly more meaningful. Most of the people who howl about how life doesn't matter without god are the reason we need religion:these are people who do not possess the depth of character to act decently to each other without a reward.
I believe strongly in the sanctity of life. But I will kill if my hand is forced. As a human, I am an image of nature, not any god. And nature is mericless and efficient, but quite loving in its own way. Like humans. The suppossed natural order purported by most religions (that all animals are here for us) is debunked every time a couger eats a jogger.
I love every second of my life. It is, to my thinking, all I get. If there is something else, I will be pleasently suprised. But, I am not holding my breath. Logic dictates, and I listen. In the end, I am an atheist because I could not overide my logic.
I believe strongly in the sanctity of life. But I will kill if my hand is forced. As a human, I am an image of nature, not any god. And nature is mericless and efficient, but quite loving in its own way. Like humans. The suppossed natural order purported by most religions (that all animals are here for us) is debunked every time a couger eats a jogger.
I love every second of my life. It is, to my thinking, all I get. If there is something else, I will be pleasently suprised. But, I am not holding my breath. Logic dictates, and I listen. In the end, I am an atheist because I could not overide my logic.
i belive in reincarnation. though i may be catholic, and there is an "afterlife" i think when we die...thats it. unless apart of our brain goes living on and makes up this enternity long dream, which would be awesome, but not true. the point of life is to make more people on this planet, and then die. no matter how you lived, good or bad, your gonna die the same way anyways, until the end of the world. thats where my faith kicks in, i believe that at the end of the world, its not really the end of the world. life as we know it now ends, and then the world starts over again, and we live our lives over and over again, until earth explodes, i dont believe in armageddon, or any weird stuff like that.
Mr Spinkles
Mr
I do, in fact, do what I want. I want to be moral.
Consider this: if there IS an afterlife in which the body is useless, why don't you commit suicide? This life is a pointless eyeblink if there is an eternal paradise waiting for us.
Logic Problem:
Suppose that we do not know whether or not there is an afterlife. However, suppose we know two things: 1.) heaven is a domain for those who lived a fullfilling life worshipping god and so forth, and hell is a domain for those who did not. 2.) There is a 99% chance that god does not exist and there is no such heaven or hell in existence, and a 1% chance that god does exist as does heaven and hell (heaven in its absolute serenity and luxury in reward, and hell in its absolute despair and punishment).
Question: Knowing what we know from the above (because none can be 100% sure that there is no god and so forth), would you logically live a life of sin and vice in contempt and rejection of god for at most 100-120 years (if even that) knowing that you have a 99% chance of being of the hook, but risking even a small 1% chance of spending eternity in hell, that is, a second life trillions of times longer than our lifetime in perpetual misery? Or would you play it safe and live a life worshipping god and abstaining from sin, just for the sake of that 1% chance of going to heaven where all of your desires are fullfilled?
There is no illogical answer. You are only fooling yourselves if you deny the question.
Helios has spoken.
Suppose that we do not know whether or not there is an afterlife. However, suppose we know two things: 1.) heaven is a domain for those who lived a fullfilling life worshipping god and so forth, and hell is a domain for those who did not. 2.) There is a 99% chance that god does not exist and there is no such heaven or hell in existence, and a 1% chance that god does exist as does heaven and hell (heaven in its absolute serenity and luxury in reward, and hell in its absolute despair and punishment).
Question: Knowing what we know from the above (because none can be 100% sure that there is no god and so forth), would you logically live a life of sin and vice in contempt and rejection of god for at most 100-120 years (if even that) knowing that you have a 99% chance of being of the hook, but risking even a small 1% chance of spending eternity in hell, that is, a second life trillions of times longer than our lifetime in perpetual misery? Or would you play it safe and live a life worshipping god and abstaining from sin, just for the sake of that 1% chance of going to heaven where all of your desires are fullfilled?
There is no illogical answer. You are only fooling yourselves if you deny the question.
Helios has spoken.