Afterlife

[Aupmanyav]

.. it keeps me from falling into depression.

Analyze, why should it cause a depression. It is natural.

[missingnocchi]

.. it keeps me from falling into depression.

Analyze, why should it cause a depression. It is natural.

So is depression.

[mykcob4]

So to expand on this thread, do any of you even bother to contimplate death, if so how?
I take life as it comes and therefore I approach death the same way.
Now I know that the thread is "worrying about an afterlife or the lack there of", but I would guess that the majority here haven't even faced a possibility of death, or more to the point sudden death.
Sure some of you have been deathly ill. Some have been around people that died from illness, but who among you have faced death. Such a situation causes the mind to race and think about an afterlife. The saying "there are no Atheist in foxholes" is ofcourse a falsehood but it came about watching and experiencing the possibility of sudden death.
When you have convictions as strong as I or even stronger you don't contemplate an afterlife even faced with the possibility of sudden death. Sure it took a while to develope that approach. I was christian socially culturalized just like most of you. I had to make a conscience effort to find my peace with being an atheist. I had to learn(deprogram) from turning to a deity just because of a dire experience or sudden danger. I had to understand that all the christian cultural crap was just that. I was fighting years of brainwashing that started far before my birth.
Luckily I came to a realization early enough that I could combat the christian brainwashing efforts. When I first faced sudden death it was natural for me to not contemplate an afterlife. I had excercized those demons long before.

[PickelledEggs]

So to expand on this thread, do any of you even bother to contimplate death, if so how?

I try not to think about it. It's not like I'm overly frighened of it. I just don't want to obsess over something I don't really have much control over and is going to happen inevitably anyway. I just concentrate about doing what I want to get done while I'm here. Which sort of brings me back again to the afterlife thing... I don't live for an afterlife. In other words; I'm not going to live my life according to someone else's standards if it's not going to make me happy.

Right now I'm still kind of young. I have a long life to live and I want to make sure I'm living it on my own terms as I am now becuase it makes life enjoyable... even my toughest struggles lately have been enjoyable. Maybe not during them, but while I am in the middle of  tough time, I know from my past experiences that there is going to be a huge lesson to be learned, and I'll be a better person for it and that makes it enjoyable afterwards.

(back from tangent) But yeah, I sometimes contemplate death, but only if I'm in a bad part of town at night. I don't want to get hit by a bus or get shot. That would suck. I would much rather be able to yell at kids to get off my lawn and then die of old age.

[Colanth]

Don't turn into such an irascible old coot.  When I wave to my 7 year old neighbor, her smile makes my day.

[PickelledEggs]

Don't turn into such an irascible old coot.  When I wave to my 7 year old neighbor, her smile makes my day.

Lol, I probably won't turn in to a jerk of an old man. But I WILL fake being delusional and give people poop for their birthday and other things like that.

[Johan]

Now I know that the thread is "worrying about an afterlife or the lack there of", but I would guess that the majority here haven't even faced a possibility of death, or more to the point sudden death.

I have.

Small aircraft and wind shear don't mix. Low altitude, fully stalled wings, controls not responding. I was watching the ocean come up at me and I realized that if the controls didn't come back and get the wings flying again, I was going in that water hard and I would not survive the event. I had about 4 or 5 solid seconds of watching the bad movie play before the tail found enough lift to get the wings flying again. I was probably at about 75ft when I got it back. The banner I was pulling was likely less than 20ft from hitting the water and making that bad situation worse.

In the 4 or 5 seconds when I was nothing more than a passenger in the aircraft I was piloting, I had an amazing number of complete and complex thoughts that my brain processed and completely digested, I would be dead, there would be a funeral, my sister and brothers would be devastated, I would end up being one of those assholes that I used to read about in NTSB reports who died from making stupid choices when he should have known better. But I didn't think at all about the afterlife or lack of it. Nor have thought much about the afterlife or lack of it sense.

Perhaps that's because I'm more comforted knowing there isn't an afterlife than I would be if I believed there was one. I understand how the thought of an afterlife makes people more comfortable because it allows them to get around the troubling thought that things will happen after they're gone which they will never see or know about. But if you really think about it, the thought of an eternal existence is far worse.

I like my down time as much as anyone I suppose. I work very long hours. And my around the house to do list is as long as most if not longer. And I've got several hobbies to focus on when all else fails. And even with all that, I still get bored sometimes. And when I get bored, I get depressed. The thought of having to keep myself working or focused or otherwise occupied on something more or less constantly for all of eternity in order to stave off boredom is just about one of the most horrifying thoughts I could imagine.

I mean you have to remember it would take about 32 years to count to one billion if you counted at the rate of 1/second which I mention here only to give some scale to how big 1 billion really is. Eternity is billions upon billions of years. As fascinating as the universe is, I don't want to have to keep myself from getting bored for that long. In fact, I don't want to do ANYTHING for that long.

I hope the exit is joyful, and I hope to never return. - Freda Kahlo

[Mermaid]

but I would guess that the majority here haven't even faced a possibility of death, or more to the point sudden death.

I cannot speak for the majority, but I have faced that possibility. I can't say I had that many complex thoughts like my husband did, the prevailing thought was "I do not want to die. I am only 15. Please do not kill me". I also pictured headlines in the local newspaper. "Teen raped and murdered near skating rink".

[WitchSabrina]

I may be the only person here who wants reincarnation.  Sorry, but I just do.  That's something I want to be real - no matter how unproven it is. Why? Cause I'm not done yet.  Too much to do and too much to see.  This surely cannot be all there is.
And not due to some supernatural sky daddy - no - just us returning again and again until we are ultimate, wonderful human beings and the world is a better place millions of years from now.

yeah........... it's a dream.

As for facing death - I have several times.  And I thought the same thing I've typed right here in this thread.

[Plu]

I may be the only person here who wants reincarnation.

I'd love to have reïncarnation! I'm just not going to spend any time thinking it's real because it's unproven. But I think the concept is interesting enough, and a great way to let us experience more of life. (Of course, we'd never know. Unless there's an over-arching sense of self that has the shared experiences of all your lives. But that seems even more far out.)

[Johan]

Reincarnation is such an endearing thought. I picture being born again, realizing that reincarnation exists and being totally excited. Then I look down and realize I've come back as a cow. Crap, I'm made of meat and I'm delicious. Or worse yet, a crab. Even crabs don't understand why anyone would want to eat a crab. All that work for 0.000000001 oz of food. Its crazy.

[WitchSabrina]

Reincarnation is such an endearing thought. I picture being born again, realizing that reincarnation exists and being totally excited. Then I look down and realize I've come back as a cow. Crap, I'm made of meat and I'm delicious. Or worse yet, a crab. Even crabs don't understand why anyone would want to eat a crab. All that work for 0.000000001 oz of food. Its crazy.

 :rollin:
thanks for the giggle

[Aupmanyav]

I was piloting, I had an amazing number of complete and complex thoughts that my brain processed and completely digested, I would be dead, there would be a funeral, my sister and brothers would be devastated, I would end up being one of those assholes that I used to read about in NTSB reports who died from making stupid choices when he should have known better.

That is exactly what happens in NDEs. The brain fast forwards one's life-film ending with a white-out with a character holding your hands and taking you through the tunnel before wash-out. I have not experienced an NDE but this is what I deduct from reports and biology when the brain shuts down one center after another to conserve Oxygen, only the thinking facility remains at the last.

Too much to do and too much to see. This surely cannot be all there is.

Well, Sabrina, that is what it is. There would be others to do what you will have left to do and to see what you will have left to see. So, smile.

[WitchSabrina]

I was piloting, I had an amazing number of complete and complex thoughts that my brain processed and completely digested, I would be dead, there would be a funeral, my sister and brothers would be devastated, I would end up being one of those assholes that I used to read about in NTSB reports who died from making stupid choices when he should have known better.

That is exactly what happens in NDEs. The brain fast forwards one's life-film ending with a white-out with a character holding your hands and taking you through the tunnel before wash-out. I have not experienced an NDE but this is what I deduct from reports and biology when the brain shuts down one center after another to conserve Oxygen, only the thinking facility remains at the last.

Too much to do and too much to see. This surely cannot be all there is.

Well, Sabrina, that is what it is. There would be others to do what you will have left to do and to see what you will have left to see. So, smile.

You're absolutely correct! :-D

[Aupmanyav]

But I think the concept is interesting enough, and a great way to let us experience more of life.+

The concept is for peaceful conduct in society. Be good to enjoy pleasures in heaven, be evil and suffer in hell. Society created Gods to validate it.