For my fellow Atheist and People who dont believe anything happens when you die, how do you personally deal with the fact that theres nothingness?

[HermitLonerGuy]

This has been really bugging me lately, i believe that once we die thats it. No afterlife or reincarnation. I am glad people have the comfort of a heaven or reincarnation but i cannot in good conscience lie to myself and delude myself into believing things out of hope or fear.

I am 100% sure in my mind after thinking about thing logically that once we die we cease to think or feel ever again.

How do you deal with this notion?

 

[Jadzia]

It brings me comfort knowing that there is nothing after. If I thought there was an afterlife, especially eternal life, that would worry me. I don't want anything else after this living hell.

 

[ksp]

the thought of an afterlife is horrifying

life is based on physical needs, needs lead to suffering: you need to breathe, to drink water, to eat food. everything you do is meant to satisfy your constant needs.
once you satisfy your thirst you'll be ok, for a while, but then you feel thirsty again. the same with hunger, and the same with procreation - constant, unrelenting needs (the strongest of all instincts: survival - this is the true reason why suicide fails, not pro-lifer mentally)

continuation of consciousness after death imply awareness of needs.
if you eliminate any physical needs, you end up with other mental needs, stemming from curiosity, imagination, wonder, philosophy, the unknown (as opposed to knowledge), etc, and this will lead to suffering caused by unmet intellectual needs. there no contentment, there is no peace, and there is no happiness - ever, because happiness is only based on the satisfaction of every need - of ever second, and that is an impossibility

to me that is the true definition of hell: unending, unbearable, eternal need and suffering

the end of consciousness implies the elimination of all needs

the thought of an afterlife is truly horrifying

 

[Forever Sleep]

Personally, I'm not afraid of there being nothing. It's any form of something that bothers me.

I don't think I'll be feeling or thinking anything at all for it to trouble me. Bit like sleep without the unpleasantness of bad dreams and waking up.

I don't think my life is particularly special. While I'm sorry for the hurt it will cause a few people left behind, the world itself will be better off without me- all I do is pollute it.

 

[777]

I'm not scared of the eternal oblivion. Whatever happens subsequent to living has to be better than sentience/awareness of our existence. The fear of nothing is ridiculous as it's literally a fear.. of nothing. Just eternal beauty sleep for the soul and no commercials in between. I'd request it now if i could

 

[pauly1963]

Nothingness to me, means a total lack of suffering.

 

[darkwater]

After waking up I am for a few seconds in a state without thoughts and then I always think death is not bad.
Of course, during the day one start to ponder again. But from sleep I know non-consciousness is not a negative thing.

fear of nothing is ridiculous as it's literally a fear.. of nothing.

That made me laugh

 

[outrider567]

This has been really bugging me lately, i believe that once we die thats it. No afterlife or reincarnation. I am glad people have the comfort of a heaven or reincarnation but i cannot in good conscience lie to myself and delude myself into believing things out of hope or fear.

I am 100% sure in my mind after thinking about thing logically that once we die we cease to think or feel ever again.

How do you deal with this notion?

I feel like there's plenty of 'nothingness' here also--With two big personal losses, I feel like I'm mostly dead already anyway, certainly don't enjoy anything anymore, and I dread the future instead of looking forward to it

 

[Forever Sleep]

if you eliminate any physical needs, you end up with other mental needs, stemming from curiosity, imagination, wonder, philosophy, the unknown (as opposed to knowledge), etc, and this will lead to suffering caused by unmet intellectual needs. there no contentment, there is no peace, and there is no happiness - ever, because happiness is only based on the satisfaction of every need - of ever second, and that is an impossibility

I do agree with the principle here but I don't think every single human on this planet is in anguish ALL of the time. (Although some people here certainly seem to be- sadly.) Those of us lucky enough to have our basic survival needs fairly effortlessly to hand can put our minds on our intellectual/ emotional needs. Granted, many jobs fall short in being interesting enough for them to be pleasurable, although I would say, as a species, we can be fairly good at distracting ourselves- whether that be a task/ job we take pride in or find challenging- or sport or entertainment- we do have the ability to SOMETIMES shift our focus away from our own misery. Something I imagine that is also unique to consciousness. Maybe that's not blissful happiness but it's not anguish either- especially when we achieve our goals.

Many of us (as in the 'normies') are also pretty good at telling ourselves stories about how everything is actually ok- that maybe we don't need to be Einstein's or rock stars to be happy. SOME people out there I believe do find a measure of contentment and even brief moments of happiness with their little lot. We can say they're delluded but at the end of the day- isn't it just that their perception and expectations of life are different to ours? Another aspect of consciousness.

I do agree in principle though- that consciousness seems more of a pain in the arse than it's worth and OVERALL does seem to lead to our needs and ambitions being unmet.

 

[ksp]

we do have the ability to SOMETIMES shift our focus away from our own misery

you want to see the glass half full :)

i still maintain that life can be viewed only based on misery:
100% unhappiness to 0% unhappiness

not every one on earth will be constantly 100% unhappy, or 0% unhappy (except suicide)
most (normal) people maintain a daily average of 30% to 50% happiness (i'm guessing)
on SS, it would be more like 10% to 30% happiness

but my main point is that we constantly find ways to 'distract' ourselves from our problems, as you apply put it:
books, movies, sitcoms, pleasurable outings, ALCOHOL, DRUGS, etc (delusion of happiness)

but we all start off, every day, driven by some sort of need; sometimes many problems, other times fewer problems (weekends). but the main background will be dark, and we all try to make every day be brighter, based on our needs

ps. granted: progress, success, and incredible breakthroughs are also based on needs

pps. back to subject of OP: nothingness = 0% needs / misery (only possible after death)

 

[GetMeOut]

I just have my two favourite quotes.

"Why should I fear death?
If I am, then death is not.
If Death is, then I am not.
Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not?"

"Death. The certain prospect of death could sweeten every life with a precious and fragrant drop of levity — and now you strange apothecary souls have turned it into an ill-tasting drop of poison that makes the whole of life repulsive."

I look forward to eternal nonexistence. The nothingness after death is what calls to me, it is permanent release from this miserable existence.

Many of us (as in the 'normies') are also pretty good at telling ourselves stories about how everything is actually ok- that maybe we don't need to be Einstein's or rock stars to be happy. SOME people out there I believe do find a measure of contentment and even brief moments of happiness with their little lot.

Narcissism check.

 

[Forever Sleep]

you want to see the glass half full :)

i still maintain that life can be viewed only based on misery:
100% unhappiness to 0% unhappiness

not every one on earth will be constantly 100% unhappy, or 0% unhappy (except suicide)
most (normal) people maintain a daily average of 30% to 50% happiness (i'm guessing)
on SS, it would be more like 10% to 30% happiness

but my main point is that we constantly find ways to 'distract' ourselves from our problems, as you apply put it:
books, movies, sitcoms, pleasurable outings, ALCOHOL, DRUGS, etc

but we all start off, every day, driven by some sort of need; sometimes many problems, other times fewer problems (weekends). but the main background will be dark, and we all try to make every day be brighter, based on our needs

ps. granted: progress, success, and incredible breakthroughs are also based on needs

Absolutely agree and lol- no one would describe me as 'glass half full.' I have to be one of the most pessimistic people I know. I probably enjoy playing devil's advocate though.

Guess I was just trying to say that our experience of life is largely dependant on our perception of it. I completely agree that for a lot of us, our constant needs drive us mad. That is because we hate life though... I Imagine for people who enjoy it, needs are simply pointers on what to look for to make them happy- Hungry? Eat. Thirsty? Drink. Sleepy? Sleep. Horny? Masterbate/ Fuck. Feeling stupid? Look for knowledge. Feeling unfit? Exercise. Bored? Find entertainment. Of course it's an oversimplification as a lot of our situation and ability to meet our needs hinges on wealth in this age plus- what we've been given physically/ mentally to work with. Plus, it's obviously not always appropriate to fulfill our needs the moment they arise. Still- many of our needs can be met without huge effort. What else would you do with your time if you didn't spend it meeting your needs? Not so sure that EVERYONE'S baseline is some level of misery unless of course they are ill.

Plus, there are examples of people who seem to get something out of denying their needs. Obviously many religious practices spring to mind but dieting also- people are 'happy' to loose weight by restricting a very basic and essential need.

I agree- we and many people out there (maybe the majority? I don't know) feel tormented by life and society and its requirements from us. Guess I'm not trying to say this viewpoint is wrong or illogical- but maybe it isn't the viewpoint held by EVERYONE- maybe not even the majority. If you walked up to a random person in the street and told them their life could be viewed only based on misery- how many do you think would agree? Many people don't see the need to eat, drink, read and whatever else as great hardships- they are simply things they do- sometimes they even enjoy them. Granted, if they can't fulfill their needs, then there's a problem. Still, it doesn't mean they view the entirety of their lives as torture. Otherwise- everyone would be on here surely? No one would be there to try and prevent you from taking your life and people would stop procreating because we'd all agree that life is completely bad and needs to end.

I guess I just have trouble seeing the optimists of this world as purely delussional or stupid. Some of the more positive people I know certainly aren't dumb or living in a fantasy land. They just quite often don't seem hampered by the same thoughts we have. Their perception is that life isn't there to torment them, so they don't seem to react to hardship/ need in the same way. It's something they simply do what they can to address. If they fail, they try something else. I have met people who APPEAR to see life that simply- and boy do I envy them!

I just have my two favourite quotes.

"Why should I fear death?
If I am, then death is not.
If Death is, then I am not.
Why should I fear that which can only exist when I do not?"

"Death. The certain prospect of death could sweeten every life with a precious and fragrant drop of levity — and now you strange apothecary souls have turned it into an ill-tasting drop of poison that makes the whole of life repulsive."

I look forward to eternal nonexistence. The nothingness after death is what calls to me, it is permanent release from this miserable existence.


Narcissism check.

As in- I'm a Narcissist? God, I hope not. I was trying to say- some people DO seem content with their lives. (Who we would refer to as 'normies.') I truly would love to have that peace of mind. They're not reliant on what other people and society at large think of them or even what they believed they were capable of. I think we (many people here) are frustrated with ideas that we haven't lived up to our potential. (Which could obviously be a delusion in itself.) That- whether delussional or not can create a lot of unhappiness. Not trying to say these other people are stupid! Just that their brains are wired differently- more effectively if you ask me- so they aren't (or at least) don't seem to be constantly berating themselves for failing or being angry that the world is working against them. That's all I was trying to say but you might be right- maybe I do have some narcissistic traits- although I hope not as much as some of the people I have encountered in my life!

 

[ksp]

our experience of life is largely dependant on our perception of it

brilliant!

you bring up fascinating points and reasoning - i can't handle them all (but they're all exciting, lol)

this is where age is important:
- a young person sees a daily problem as a challenge (optimistic and positive outlook)
- an older person is tired of the same problem - i know the problem, and i know how to solve it, but i'm tired of it, and i don't want constantly to have to solve it, so now i want peace

anyway, your perspectives are refreshing, too bad i can't address them all…

 

[niiina]

It's better to have nothing than eternal torture that would be hell, the place where people who commits suicide goes according to Christians.

 

[Fadeawaaaay]

Thank God there's nothingness …

 

[pauly1963]

I feel like there's plenty of 'nothingness' here also--With two big personal losses, I feel like I'm mostly dead already anyway, certainly don't enjoy anything anymore, and I dread the future instead of looking forward to it

Same here: A lifetime of depression that turned into anhedonia. Sorry you are having to endure this.

brilliant!

you bring up fascinating points and reasoning - i can't handle them all (but they're all exciting, lol)

this is where age is important:
- a young person sees a daily problem as a challenge (optimistic and positive outlook)
- an older person is tired of the same problem - i know the problem, and i know how to solve it, but i'm tired of it, and i don't want constantly to have to solve it, so now i want peace

anyway, your perspectives are refreshing, too bad i can't address them all…

Brilliant point on the age thing: I'm old and tired and just don't have the energy to give a fuck anymore.

 

[Antinous]

Grew up Catholic. Went to Catholic schools. Studied to be a priest 4 years undergrad, 2 years grad school. Helped raise three children. Taught CCD (religious ed). A lector at Mass. Even prayed the family rosary (!). All three children shed their religious delusions by the time they graduated from high school (USA). Asked myself: WTF? Years went by. I asked my adult children: Why? Turned out I was a "liberal" Catholic and the kids told me that the message to think for yourself came through in spite of Mass, CCD and family prayer. At age 65 I followed their example in spite of fear: what will hold my life together? Shedding the delusion of religion turned out to be the most liberating experience of my life. Fuck afterlife. There is only this life. It is full of regret, sorrow, and loss. Thanks to the support of this awesome community, I have acquired two methods to make my self-determined exit. (One method was made readily available by the so-called "pro-life" conservatives in the USA.) Not ready to (literally) pull the trigger, but have no problem with picturing my metabolism stopping and that's it. End of consciousness. End of sadness. End of regret. Just one less of eight billion humans currently destroying the planet. Nobody will notice. Thank god.

 

[Ligottian]

As others have said, I find the idea of "nothingness" quite comforting.

 

[FuneralCry]

I don't get how this could ever be a problem. Permanent eternal nothingness is ideal and it's all that I wish for. There is nothing to deal with as once we die we simply won't be able to experience anything, we won't even have the awareness that we are dead. It's completely irrational to fear nothing. The truth is that life should have stayed as nothing. It's horrific how life evolved in this way, in which so much unnecessary suffering continues to be experienced.

All of life's problems are solved by dying and the dead have no concerns and worries. Existence is a curse and a burden, having to endure this life is completely undesirable in every single way. Having the ability to feel pain and to suffer is an absolutely horrific thing, and death is freedom from all this. As humans we are destined to die and return to nothingness. Life is just a temporary, yet nightmarish experience. My view is that regardless of the circumstances I see it as being always preferable to not exist. Experiencing things only inevitably leads to suffering in some form.

 

[The Eeyorish One]

It's hard for me to relate to this fear. As others have said, nothingness is comforting to me. I don't want an afterlife, or even worse, reincarnation.

 

[TheCyberian]

I think it's extremely comforting, honestly. Death is my permanent escape from all the suffering and unpleasantness of life, and I would even take peaceful non-existence over an eternity in paradise.

 

[looseye]

Not sure about you guys but I almost never remember my dreams after waking up. Go to bed, wait for sleep, wake up. Suddenly 8 hours have passed. I don't remember the exact moment I fell asleep and I don't remember anything from those 8 hours. I think death is like this too, except you don't wake up. Nothing terrifying about that, really

 

[letthisbeover]

I wish I could believe that there is really nothing after death.
I have weird memories with my early childhood, as if I had a consciousness before I was born? Can't really put it into words, it's really strange. And I have always felt like there is some kind of existence after death, my personal theory is that you get reincarnated with no memories of your past. So the thought of experiencing life again is my primary reason to not ctb.
But I think most people's brains don't have the capacity of understanding the concept of pure nothingness. That might be the reason why I feel this way.
So you guys who don't think there is anything after death are luck af.

 

[Hirokami]

It's good to hear a lot of people say nothing after death is comforting; I feel the same and thought my opinion was far more unpopular. I don't know which concept is more terrifying: reincarnation, eternal damnation, or the possibility of praising a deity for eternity. Of course those only aren't the only interpretations of what happens after death, but those seem to be the most popular concepts. At least the concept of nothingness is certain and inherently neutral. It's also literally forever sleep and how can one not like the concept of sleeping forever?

 

[never mind me]

The fact that I believe that there is nothing after death actually reassures me. Not only when I'm suicidal, but also in general. For me it provides the only real safety in the world/ in life, because no matter in how bad a situation I might end up one day, at least I can be assured that eventually it will pass and I won't be forced to suffer forever. When I'm dead I won't be able to be upset about being dead any more.

 

[Meaninglessness]

I think that when you die it will be like it was before you were born - nothingness. Humans have fear of death because we are programmed to live and the fear of nothingness is probably a part of that fear. You have been born, you have a name and you have lived a life. Living life is all you know about. But when you die you must leave the only existence which you know anything about. It is natural to fear what we don´t know anything about and we know nothing about death. I don´t believe that there is an afterlife, which has its origin in religion. There are religions because people are afraid of death.

 

[darkwater]

like it was before you were born

and yet we have jumped from this state into existence, I am afraid of it happening again even as an animal.

 

[GlassAlwaysEmpty]

I've thought about death a whole lot of the years

I don't believe in an afterlife so I'm almost certain that an eternity of nothingness awaits us. Sometimes that's sound like bliss, but other times that absolutely terrifies me.
I've really tried to get past that fear, and over the years i feel like I am slowly getting over that fear.

 

[Domimi]

and yet we have jumped from this state into existence, I am afraid of it happening again even as an animal.

I used to think about this so much. "If I was born once, then what prevents my reincarnation?" And my conclusion about this is that every atom and component in my brain is especially arranged to make "me" and my own POV as I know it. Other animals and humans are born daily, however none of them are "me", they too have their own POVs. Also, if you assume that your brain will be preserved after you die, and a billion years from now the tecnology of ressurection is discovered you're ressurected. What if you have already "reincarnated" at this point? What will become of your conscience, will you experience two POVs at the same time or what? Of course I don't even know if ressurection and making brains work again will ever be a thing, but it's a good thought experiment for me at least.

I also suspect that you can't exist in other universes if the multiverse is real or our current universe resets and takes another "path" as you are under the "jurisdiction" of this universe physic laws only. The only way I can see reincarnation being real is if the universe is a complete deterministic infinite loop or smth like that (Eternal Return), that would suck so bad I don't even like to think about it LOL (However if that is true we may have lived this exactly same life a billion times and don't feel tired - at least not in the sense one would expect -).

I think reincarnating as other beings can be real only if a thing like a "soul" exists and they can also be created. Very unlikely.

Our current flesh prison probably is the only prison our experiences can fit.

 

[Gustav Hartmann]

I think it is a residual of Christianity that this question is often raised in connectione with suicide. Afterlife or not is only important if the way we live and die has an impact on our personal afterlife. With other words "Suicides will burn in hell". If we get rid of this nonsense it doesn´t matter what awaits you after your death, when you consider to kill yourself.
Presumed we know that things will become worse for us when we are dead, no matter how much we suffer in this world the next will be worse. Would this prevent you from suicide? Could you enjoy your limited lifetime if you know that hell awaits you?