What do you believe happens after you die?

[AnguishedBlade]

I've been asking myself this for a month already, I know I'm going to die someday, somehow, somewhere........and yet it does not feel that way. I feel like I can live forever and stay young. So one day I think of what would happen if people died.

Would they become spirits, and live another life? Would they still be the same person? Will they still see their family and freinds? Or will they become another person, and become reincarnated into a new life ? Will they have knowledge of my past life? See, when I think about stuff like this, I want to be assured that I'm still going to be me and I still will be with my beloved ones. I don't want to live with the knowledge that everything will fade to black or white and that'll be it. I'm going to miss everyone. Sometimes I feel that what I'm being told isn't enough. Sometimes, I even picture that in death, I would be in a dark area, where I'm the only living thing there, and live a lonely death.


Am I the only one that thinks about this? I've never seen or heard anyone ask about this in public...

[Urd]

I remember asking my father this question when I was really young, I forgot what he said, but the general gist of it was the ol' "That's how life is".

Personally, I think we just fall into a deep slumber and never wake up. The end. I do not believe in the soul stuff or the reincarnation deal.

In response to your last question, as you can tell, I've obviously thought about it, but I have never really given it much thought because my stance has always been clear and cut(as I've written above).

[De l'enfer]

You die, your body stops functioning, you stop thinking. IMO, I agree with Urd, there will be nothing after that.
I guess everyone at some point of their life will think about this question. Afterall, everyone will die at some point of their life.

[Oxygen]

My mum and her sister had this discussion once. So my mum's sister told her, " I'll come back and tell you how is it like, since I'm older". She hasn't told my mum how is it like.

And that conversation took place 30 years ago.

[AnguishedBlade]

I remember asking my father this question when I was really young, I forgot what he said, but the general gist of it was the ol' "That's how life is".

Personally, I think we just fall into a deep slumber and never wake up. The end. I do not believe in the soul stuff or the reincarnation deal.

In response to your last question, as you can tell, I've obviously thought about it, but I have never really given it much thought because my stance has always been clear and cut(as I've written above).


Do you think you'll be dreaming in that eternal slumber? If not, then what's that like? See, there have been people in comas, they've had NDE's (Near-Death experiences) and they actually saw something that was really going on. A woman who was revived said she saw the doctors trying to revive her were operating on her crotch. Turned out they did. So if what you say is true, then how was that possible?

[phlyRy]

this is going to sound a little warped, but i would like an experiment to take place during a near-death experience. i mean...they say that the instance you die, your body gets lighter 21 grams. so if that's the case, what happens during near-death? depending on the answer to that question, then we can determine whether near-death experiences are really anything like being dead, because it is possible that they aren't alike at all.

of course, the fact that your body gets lighter when you die, makes us wonder where it goes. many of us like to speculate that that consists of the soul... but who really knows?

it's terrifying to believe that when you die you cease to exist. people aren't so much afraid of dying as of death itself....because we don't know what will happen when we are dead.

[Eric]

Dude.... death is the cease of electrical activity in the brain. No electrical activity = no conciousness. Think of it as a comptuer (computer = brain) and the fuse blew (blown fuse = stroke or any cause of death, etc...). That's pretty much it!

[Oxygen]

Eric's post sounds similar to what occurs to a person in vegatative state, just that in vegetative state, your brainwaves are just at a constant, but you are alive, technically.

[AnguishedBlade]

Dude.... death is the cease of electrical activity in the brain. No electrical activity = no conciousness. Think of it as a comptuer (computer = brain) and the fuse blew (blown fuse = stroke or any cause of death, etc...). That's pretty much it!

And what would that be like in first person? You're seeing it from third person view.

Look, I don't know why some people aren't afraid to die, they really SHOULD be, because it's a pretty disturbing fact that at some time your life will end, and you won't know what will happen, if not, worse......you'll just simply cease to exist! Ressurection? Forget about it. Reincarnation? Forget about it. Life starting all over again? Forget about it. God? FORGET ABOUT IT. It's as if all the things you've done and all the friends you've made have become completely insignificant. If that's pretty much it, why strange phenomena such as ghosts appear? I know the brain is the source why my body moves, why my lips speak, and how I think, it all depends on chemical and electrical activity in the brain, what I want to know is, or at least believe, is there something piloting it? Something not physical?

[Eric]

Bro, whatever you're smoking that makes you see ghosts and shit, man hook it up brother! [/joke]

"Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today." - James Dean

[Urd]

You are asking some awfully deep questions that none of us here are capable of answering with a hundred percent certainty, if you ask me. ._.

Also, I never said what I said was true, it was merely an opinion. ;_;

NDEs are just that, NDEs, near-death, is not the same as death. Almost getting a hundred, is not a hundred. These are two totally different matters. In response to the questions you posed directly to me, I think that no dreams goes on whatsoever. I'm sure everyone's fallen asleep and then just wake up, with no memory or notion that hours have passed by, that is what I am trying to say. As to "what's it like then?", well, my sentences above are my opinion of it, I have no idea if it is true or not because I have not...you know...died...yet.

[Oxygen]

Who's to know... Maybe death like falling asleep. With sleep that has no dreams, just a sheer expanse of darkness. Everytime I wake up from a nightmare, I feel like I lost an inch of my life.

[phlyRy]

so...instead of seeing ghosts, sometimes, we might even experience dreams that involves a "spirit" that asks you for a favor. these spirits are most often friends or relatives that have passed on. in the dream they might complain about say, being cold and wet. later on, you find that the cremated remains have been left in a dark corner with water dripping on the urn. and when coincidences recur enough times...especially when you heard significant number of accounts like these, it really does make you wonder...

just thought i'd throw that out into the open as well.

[mecian enigmiel]

i was just thinking about that the other day. first, i wondered what it would be like if when you died, you just ceased to exist... but i couldn't quite wrap my head around that. so, what i used to believe is pretty much what it says in the Bible. i think i like that story best although i can't really remember how it goes. ._. then again, it's always a bad idea to mention religion of any kind, so i'll shut up for now. :]

[Scarlett Fire]

I'm scared shitless of dying. I want myself--my personality, thoughts, feelings--to go on. I don't want to just... stop existing. I'm scared because I think what I fear is true, the person will just disappear when your body can't support itself anymore. Yeah, I'm selfish and attached to the material world. Leave me alone. :x

I wish my soul would go somewhere else. Preferrably limbo. XD *remembers the Hell quiz*

[Rady]

I hope death doesn't hurt once you're dead.... ::scratches head:: if someone confirms that for me I'll go kill myself right now :D ::is dying over bio midterm anyway::

[Kyreii]

Try hamlet. It's the topic of "to be or not to be" along with the perils of life.

Anyway, i think that this question is moot since we get there one way or another. I'm not dissing this thread, in fact, I like this topic so...

My views.

Death is just like an eternal rest. Nothing should bother me. If death is the catatonic euphoria I dream it is then I wish I was dead.

[Oxygen]

Death is a permanent solution to a temporary problem...

[AnguishedBlade]

i was just thinking about that the other day. first, i wondered what it would be like if when you died, you just ceased to exist... but i couldn't quite wrap my head around that. so, what i used to believe is pretty much what it says in the Bible. i think i like that story best although i can't really remember how it goes. ._. then again, it's always a bad idea to mention religion of any kind, so i'll shut up for now. :]

No, I think it's pretty much ok to mention religon, in fact, thoughts of death motivated philosophy and religon.

[Lizzy]

oh man, these are too deep for me...I've thought about death before, but not that much...

I would like to think that a person reincarnates. Too much stuff in this life, so do it in the next. I would like to think that death will be a peaceful experience, because people brainwashed me at confirmation school, that Jesus really paid for our sins, and we don't have to suffer for it...but still I am afraid of death, because I have to keep on guessing what it's like. Nice feeling? Adrenaline rush? Something else? But no, no Heaven, it would get pretty cluttered up there. o_O

Thus, my believing in reincarnation. We can't just cease to exist, just like that. We might wander for a while, but our spirit (soul, yes I believe in this stuff) needs a home.

I just confused myself.

[Eric]

oh man, these are too deep for me...I've thought about death before, but not that much...

I would like to think that a person reincarnates. Too much stuff in this life, so do it in the next. I would like to think that death will be a peaceful experience, because people brainwashed me at confirmation school, that Jesus really paid for our sins, and we don't have to suffer for it...but still I am afraid of death, because I have to keep on guessing what it's like. Nice feeling? Adrenaline rush? Something else? But no, no Heaven, it would get pretty cluttered up there. o_O

Thus, my believing in reincarnation. We can't just cease to exist, just like that. We might wander for a while, but our spirit (soul, yes I believe in this stuff) needs a home.

I just confused myself.

Do you have any factual basis to that claim? Or is that a mere conjecture?

[AnguishedBlade]

You can't prove it right, but you can't prove it wrong either you know.

[Eric]

You can't prove it right, but you can't prove it wrong either you know.

That's a logical fallacy, argumentum ad ignorantiam (Latin for Argument from Ignorance).

Lack of proof is not proof!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_Ignorance

[Lizzy]

Do you have any factual basis to that claim? Or is that a mere conjecture?
I don't have any proof of it, but there may be some god-knows-where. I just think it would be horrible, if after living so long we just...disappear. That there is nothing more left of us, than the memories, and those too will fade when others die. It's not really a conjecture (fancy word there, had to look in the dictionary for it), but what I hope. I don't want to cease to exist completely.

[Eric]

I don't have any proof of it, but there may be some god-knows-where. I just think it would be horrible, if after living so long we just...disappear. That there is nothing more left of us, than the memories, and those too will fade when others die. It's not really a conjecture (fancy word there, had to look in the dictionary for it), but what I hope. I don't want to cease to exist completely.

To put it bluntly, there are plenty of things I want and don't want, namely Santa Claus getting me an Enzo Ferrari and a raise. ;) However, that isn't a justification that Santa Claus exists because, “I don’t want [him] to cease to exist.”

[AnguishedBlade]

That's a logical fallacy, argumentum ad ignorantiam (Latin for Argument from Ignorance).

Lack of proof is not proof!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_Ignorance


Oh is that so? I'm ignorant? Tell me that whatever Christians, Jews, Muslims, and other faiths believe is bullshit. PROVE ME WRONG. You're the smart one. You must think I'm dumb. Prove to me that there is no such thing as life after death. Because I want to fucking know. I'm revolted by that shit.



If you do, that means there's no point in believing of an afterlife or reincarnation, or some other belief.

Because if that's the case here...

I guess that means we should demolish the churches because it takes up space. There's no reason to believe in God anymore. Those churches take up space. Why don't we demolish them and replace them with shopping centers? Let's stop all this religious bullshit. Fuck being nice, fuck being forgiving, fuck being good. Let's become what nature INTENDED us to be, greedy, lustful, and selfish people. Down with the synagogues, churches, and mosques.
Down with all religon. Let's all follow that philosophy. And after all that has happened, we will die, and it'll be the end. There's no such thing as souls that will continue to live on.
All there is is just our rotting carcasses. I'm sure that'd be the IDEAL thought of life. There's no point in belief anymore. There's nothing to hope for. Anyone who actually believes in something is just being plain dumb. So lets destroy the Vatican and put a statue of Friedrich Nietzsche in it's place. Ethics is bullshit. Why? Because the reason to follow ethics is destroyed.

[Eric]

Oh is that so? I'm ignorant? Tell me that whatever Christians, Jews, Muslims, and other faiths believe is bullshit. PROVE ME WRONG. You're the smart one. You must think I'm dumb. Prove to me that there is no such thing as life after death. Because I want to fucking know. I'm revolted by that shit.

I never stated that you were ignorant or dumb. However if you insist, you have ever right to evaluate characteristics of yourself.

As for, "Proving that there is no such thing as life after death," that's not my obligation and hence the logical fallacy, argumentum ad ignorantium. That's the responsibility of the individual who asserted the existance of the idea. Per definition, if an individual cannot provide evidence on an idea, that idea cannot exist, hence the phrase, "Lack of proof is not proof."

Okay, let's examine argumentum ad ignorantium.

"X is true, because it has not been proven false."

Likewise...

"'Life after Death' is true, because it has not been proven false."

Hence, your argument of, "Prove that life after death does not exist," is an argumentum ad ignorantium which is a logical fallacy and therefore, it is an invalid and illogical argument.

If you do, that means there's no point in believing of an afterlife or reincarnation, or some other belief.

Because if that's the case here...

I guess that means we should demolish the churches because it takes up space. There's no reason to believe in God anymore. Those churches take up space. Why don't we demolish them and replace them with shopping centers? Let's stop all this religious bullshit. Fuck being nice, fuck being forgiving, fuck being good. Let's become what nature INTENDED us to be, greedy, lustful, and selfish people. Down with the synagogues, churches, and mosques.
Down with all religon. Let's all follow that philosophy. And after all that has happened, we will die, and it'll be the end. There's no such thing as souls that will continue to live on.
All there is is just our rotting carcasses. I'm sure that'd be the IDEAL thought of life. There's no point in belief anymore. There's nothing to hope for. Anyone who actually believes in something is just being plain dumb. So lets destroy the Vatican and put a statue of Friedrich Nietzsche in it's place. Ethics is bullshit. Why? Because the reason to follow ethics is destroyed.

I won't get into this because it's a bit off topic and it would only fan the flames.

[Kinael]

I think life is like a box of chocolate. You eat it and then it's gone.

[AnguishedBlade]

"X is true, because it has not been proven false."


No, I meant X is not or is true because nothing can prove it. What I said was, un-physical things such as afterlife, or a spirit, cannot be true because there is not enough proof to prove that it exists, but it can't be false either because there is not enough proof to prove that it does not exist as well. So no one can just come up and say "There's no such thing" , but no one can say " There is such things" also.

Sorry about that last post, I blew a fuse when I saw that "Argument from Ignorance" It's as if I was being hinted that I was being ignorant.

[Eric]

"X is true, because it has not been proven false."


No, I meant X is not or is true because nothing can prove it. What I said was, un-physical things such as afterlife, or a spirit, cannot be true because there is not enough proof to prove that it exists, but it can't be false either because there is not enough proof to prove that it does not exist as well. So no one can just come up and say "There's no such thing" , but no one can say " There is such things" also.

Sorry about that last post, I blew a fuse when I saw that "Argument from Ignorance" It's as if I was being hinted that I was being ignorant.

Again, you "cannot" make an argument that, "X is true because it has not been proven false; x is false because it hasn't been proven true." It's just not a valid argument. Likewise an Ad Hominem (Latin for Against the Person, basically dissing the person, commonly used on political campaigns), "Person ABC sucks, therefore X must be false." That's not a valid argument either.

That's all I'm trying to say. I haven't remarked that the afterlife exists or does not exist. I simply asked and commented...

1.) Do you have any factual basis or evidence to backup that claim of an afterlife?
2.) Just because I can't prove it does or does not exist, does not count as a valid argument (logical fallacy) per Argumentum Ad Ignorantium.

Anyways, this isn't meant to insult or offend you, you may find this interesting. I refer to logical fallacies pretty often when writing papers and such.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Logical_fallacies

Some of them are pretty straight forward and widely used, such as Ad Hominem (Clinton is a womanizer, therefore he cannot be an effective president) and Appeal to Tradition (Women should be homemakers because it has always been that way). And for the record, I'm not trying to be sexist but that's a widely used example of appeal to tradition.

[MacPhisto]

Here's a factual answer for yas: You rot.

XD

Correction: Unless you're Lenin.

[Eric]

Fertilizer!

[AnguishedBlade]

Think we'll all be ghosts when we pass away?

[Dmytrin]

Depends on what your definition of "ghost" is, really. If you mean the sort that wonders around this world as they did in real life, no. I doubt there'd be enough space for all the humans who had died throughout the lifespan of mankind. Well, provided there's no more than 3 dimensions involved

[JFA_bobguy]

...well, since I don't think I'll have a whole lot of control over what happens to me after I die (who knows), why dont we just worry about living our lives? I'm sure a fair share of Met-goers know I'm a Christian, so you pretty much understand what I believe. What I'm trying to say, though, is you can believe anything you want, and when it happens I guess you'll just find out if you were right or wrong.

[phlyRy]

i believe that ghosts exist seeing how so many people have encounter stories, but given a believer of laws of physics and balances in nature, i will have to say that it wouldn't seem sane to have the universe accrue souls after death. so, either ghosts only exist because of the circumstances that the person died in leaves a mark in the world that we call ghost which some might call unfinished business, injustice, torture, whatever. and doing "what the ghosts ask you to" is a way of removing the mark. and maybe that's all there is. just a mark.

setting aside the sanity check, i would say that i would LIKE to believe that there is life after death because it's scary to think otherwise, which would mean that all we've done in life in some ways have no meaning.

religion as a basis of proof is not a sound argument, because religion is a creation of man. regardless of whether or not a superior being(s) exists or whatever else is at the core of the religion, what we believe is completely dependent on us. (i know i'm treading very dangerous grounds of philosophy here, because we can have a very lengthy discussion of whether or not there is an "ultimate truth" to begin with and it could continue relating to religion.) since religion is a creation of man, we could change it however we want so that it would look like evidence to prove something else we would like to believe. if anyone would really like to say that that is okay still, then i have no further arguments against it. religion is a convenience, because life is too hard to make sense or sucks too much if we believe otherwise and so it makes our lives easier. not all of us can stand sitting around pondering deep philosophical questions for everything we do because it can never end, so we take things at "face value."

[AnguishedBlade]

i believe that ghosts exist seeing how so many people have encounter stories, but given a believer of laws of physics and balances in nature, i will have to say that it wouldn't seem sane to have the universe accrue souls after death. so, either ghosts only exist because of the circumstances that the person died in leaves a mark in the world that we call ghost which some might call unfinished business, injustice, torture, whatever. and doing "what the ghosts ask you to" is a way of removing the mark. and maybe that's all there is. just a mark.


Then how do you scientifically explain how there they're?

[phlyRy]

you expect me to _know_ all the answers? i have a wild idea involving energy fields and particles. i would imagine that it would be a very complicated working in quantum physics that would give most people who are not really smart and an expert at quantum physics a massive headache.

[Kititt]

I believe what you believe creates what happens in the afterlife. If you believe you'll go to heaven/hell that's what'll happen. If you believe you'll be reincarnated, you'll be reincarnated. You know what I mean? I believe our faith is what keeps religions real. Does that make sense? eh, I don't know.

As for myself, I'm a christian, so blah-blah-blah. But, to tell the truth, I'd rather be reincarnated than go to heaven. If I had the choice, another life here is what I'd choose. I hope I can.