Discussion Let’s just assume there is no “other side”, would you still proceed with self-destruction?

[Deleted-User-0]

I understand the thought of void, nothingness after this life is appealing to a lot of individuals including myself.
But let's imagine one day we know for sure this is it and this life is the only shot you ever get to experience existence and there is no "other side ".
Would you still go ahead with self-destruction?

 

[esse_est_percipi]

I understand the thought of void, nothingness after this life is appealing to a lot of individuals including myself.
But let's imagine one day we know for sure this is it and this life is the only shot you ever get to experience existence and there is no "other side ".
Would you still go ahead with self-destruction?

Yes, I would even be more likely to go ahead with it. Because it would make life even more pointless and meaningless.
At least not knowing what death brings allows for the possibility that there is some wider mysterious purpose which we cannot fathom in life.

 

[Tereon]

Yes! By the way, I don't believe in the existence of an "other side". I am at ease with the idea that if I die, I will simply cease to exist and that I will not find peace because there will be no "me" to find it. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe there is an "other side", but I don't worry about it too much.

 

[jameslb72]

its my belief in 'another side' that holds me back from suicide as i fear the 'other' will be worse than this and the other is for eternity, that is why i want to be erased, I just dont think i should have been born. When my mother found out she was expecting me at 18 and still at school, she pretended nothing was happening. My real father she didnt tell, in later life he found out about me but didnt want to know me and he is now dead. My mother pretended her pregnancy wasnt happening until two weeks before i was born when my gran confronted her. I doubt very much whether i was nurtured in anyway. I just feel i should,nt have been born it was a mistake and ive been paying ever since. Im nearly 50 this has been a long sentence and i dread to think how long it will last. When i was 12 my mother married a malignant narcissist, she has been his property ever since. Illness has dogged my life and i am still dependant on them. If you want to know what hell is like just imagine that.

 

[kane]

I think it would make it a lot more likely. Much of what holds me back is fear - of something worse beyond, of the unknown, of somehow failing to fulfill my 'life's purpose'. If I was sure that there was nothing, and all I was left with was my fears in this world versus my desires, then as soon as things get bad enough I have a bus to catch.

 

[alexit]

without question. doesn't even enter into the equation

 

[Dima2]

If you mean by self destruction to ctb , then yes , i gave it all , i tried my best so life can work , it didn't,
I want to end the pain more than the desire to end my existence

 

[lostangel]

Yes, but I would probably delay my date and do crazy things. That won't harm people.

 

[Cherrypea]

God yeah. I sometimes worry there will be a hell and it'll be a never ending version of my life.

 

[alexit]

God yeah. I sometimes worry there will be a hell and it'll be a never ending version of my life.

oh worse, this life but just a little crappier

 

[Isadeth]

More than likely. It would be the same as before I was born.

I personally don't believe there is just nothing, but if there is... I won't know anyway.

 

[braketimez]

Yeah, all the more reason.

 

[TAW122]

Whether there is or isn't the "other side" has no bearing in whether I will CTB or not. Personally, I have no evidence or reasonable expectation to believe that there is (this doesn't mean there isn't one) so I'm not worried about it. If I am wrong, then so be it, I will deal with it then (assuming I am conscious and can interact with whatever is on the "other side").

 

[Worthless_nobody]

Yes I would feel better and more at peace with ctb. Thinking about an after life makes me feel worse.

 

[Escapist]

If I found evidence that there is no other side, I would probably be a bit more interested in making sure that I have exhausted all the other alternatives before suicide, as it would be the only life I got. It wouldn't change the big picture for me, though, I would still do it if there was no meaningful alternative.

In a way having the knowledge that there would be just emptiness would be a relief, as I have some afterlife - related worries. I'm worried that there is some great purpose to my life and I would fail it if I CBT, I guess. Something like that. It's a vague feeling of worry, rather than a very specific fear.

 

[GonnaGoBye]

Yes.. And looks like a lot of people here will still go too

 

[profoundexperience]

Carl Sagan is famous for saying:

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

What we have are bronze-age myths, anecdotes and heresay = absolutely no evidence for "another side".

We have bodies upon which our consciousness seems to depend. We DO have first-hand evidence & experience that when that body dies = that consciousness seems to die too. What could be more obvious!

We also have an inbred, evolved, desire to survive & continue on: Since all we know is having existed... our non-existence is literally unimaginable to us....

The only problems here are the ones we (life) are creating: We make the messes then have to clean them up. No life = no problems = no suffering.

Yes, I would even be more likely to go ahead with it. Because it would make life even more pointless and meaningless.

Exactly! All this is "pointless and meaningless"... and we make-up stories because we're too afraid to face that.

This [existing] is all just so forking stupid. I need to stop forking around and get the fork out of here!

 

[so tired or manic]

in a heartbeat

 

[TheAntidote87]

God yeah. I sometimes worry there will be a hell and it'll be a never ending version of my life.

Literally the only thing holding me back and it's making this life and actual hell itself

 

[falloutcarter13]

Why not? If there's nothing after this and all that's ahead is more suffering, then none of this ever mattered anyway. And we all die, so if there's nothing after life, who gives a shit when or how you go? You wont know or care

 

[inactive]

It's possible such a truth could only motivate me more. It would provide me peace of mind knowing that no type of hell exists.

 

[lifeisbutadream]

I definitely believe in life after death. In fact i believe that's when your life will actually begin, or rather resume...but at any rate it's not like we have a choice here on earth is it? Everyone, beggar or king, must walk that road.

 

[Sinai Silence]

No matter what's on the otherside my decision stays the same.

 

[CarbonMonoxide]

We have bodies upon which our consciousness seems to depend. We DO have first-hand evidence & experience that when that body dies = that consciousness seems to die too. What could be more obvious!

I agree. When people suffer damage to certain parts of the brain, their experience of consciousness is profoundly affected. Sometimes they lose their memory and become entirely different people. The body is a system that keeps your brain alive and feeds it with data. In turn, the brain generates your mind. When the body dies so does the brain, and thus the mind comes to an end.

 

[death137]

I will still suicide but with more peace in mind. Currently I'm open minded to anything happening after death.

 

[snowman626]

right now life is at a negative. nothingness is a zero. zero is higher than a negative, so it would still be a step up.

of course if there is a good afterlife that would be even better.

 

[Leshen]

I really hope there isn't, existence is the worst thing that happened to me and I really want to just go back to the void.
I can't imagine anything that would be better than simply not existing.

 

[ExistentialEntropy]

The problem with the idea of an 'other side' is that assumes an individual point of view to experience it from. This seems to be at odds with the idea of the death of ego and identity. Even to experience or be aware of nothingness you would need some sort of vessel to experience it through.

That being said. Those who have done big hits of DMT are entirely convinced that there's far more to reality than we can know in our present form.

 

[KleinerWolf]

It depends how much something bothers you.
If you perceive it more painful than eternal void,
then that's that.