Discussion what's after death

[worthIess]

isn't it just fucking scary to think about? on an existential level. like, this is all we've ever known, will ever know, and will ever be able to comprehend. just the known universe and our 5 senses. so what happens when we stop perceiving? the idea of nothingness is terrifying, but at the same time it shouldn't. nothingness is absolute nothingness, not something perceiving nothingness (which isn't possible but ykwim) so therefore there is no "you" when talking about nothingness anyway. but how is it possible to just stop perceiving. i swear there has to be some sort of continued perception after death. what if we only "die" in this dimension/plane of existence but keep "living" in another? like our consciousness is tethered to somewhere else? idk. it's just impossible to really comprehend not living, perceiving, and experiencing as a human, with the 5 senses. it's terrifying. not necessarily the reason i haven't ctb'd yet though. hell, if anything i'm curious about it, enough to make me want to ctb even more. i'm really that desperate to experience something else at this point that i'm getting excited about hypothetical other dimensions and existences lol. honestly though, i hope this is all just a simulation, and it all ends after i die. and when i "wake up" i can simulate whatever i want. and i only simulated this life because i was bored. but that's a boring, modern, human theory of what could be after death. so probably not accurate. and i only desire it because it seems desirable to me, as a human, that exists at this moment. who knows what other kinds of experiences/existences are out there? and i don't just mean in this universe/plane of existence if you will. but anything, anything that could ever be. sorry, i'm insane

 

[GreenOctober]

Maybe consciousness transfers into another form if you believe in the earth being like a closed circuit. Or we do just stop completely. I mean nothing is just a perception like uhhhhh happiness. U can't be truly nothing like u can't be happiness. It's just a feeling. Or maybe their really real things that u can become. Idk this is a lot to unpack cause of the duality of things. Like life and death creation destruction. Uhhh Ouroboros typa thing.

 

[yesyesandalive]

it seems unbelievably likely that the sad, uninteresting answer of nothing, just nothing, after death, is the right one. im not smart enough to explain why it seems so completely improbable that the more comforting answer of a beyond isnt the correct one, but it just seems that way. i think the reason why we rationalize the fragility of our existences, the constant thread of the needle that occurs as our bodies sustain the perception of a self, a consciousness, is that truly understanding the our mortality is simply evolutionary inefficient. we are anomalies of half instinct and half logic, doomed to know too much and yet too little at the same time.
(my apologies for sounding incredibly pretentious while having no clue what im talking about)

 

[divinemistress36]

I think our souls go to some other dimension after death or at least that's how I felt on ketamine the other day dead and in another dimension

 

[GreenOctober]

it seems unbelievably likely that the sad, uninteresting answer of nothing, just nothing, after death, is the right one. im not smart enough to explain why it seems so completely improbable that the more comforting answer of a beyond isnt the correct one, but it just seems that way. i think the reason why we rationalize the fragility of our existences, the constant thread of the needle that occurs as our bodies sustain the perception of a self, a consciousness, is that truly understanding the our mortality is simply evolutionary inefficient. we are anomalies of half instinct and half logic, doomed to know too much and yet too little at the same time.
(my apologies for sounding incredibly pretentious while having no clue what im talking about)

Aphex Twin

 

[Darkover]

from a purely scientific point, THERE is NO life after death, humanity has to abandon all fanciful beliefs and focus on what the laws of the universe dictate.

the laws of physics underlying everyday life are completely understood and everything happens within the realms of possibility. there's no way within those laws to allow for the information stored in our brains to persist after we die.

for there to be an afterlife, consciousness would need to be something that is entirely separated from our physical body – which it is not.

Rather, consciousness at the very basic level is a series of atoms and electrons that essentially give us our mind.

it's really nothing but atoms and the known forces, there is clearly no way for the mind to survive death.

 

[NeedAnEscape]

I'm not afraid of death. Regardless of if there's a heaven or hell that awaits, I'm too numb to care. If I see either, it means that I have freed myself from this world. The idea of 'nothingness' is a quaint, peaceful thought. You can't be scared of the nothingness when you endure it. The only thing that scares me about death is the method of getting there. I don't want to be in endless torture in the moments before death. I don't want to die filled with fear and despair. I want to find peace. People believe in God to find solace in their lives -- to believe that every hardship in their life has deserved some divine purpose / is worth enduring because something better awaits. I don't relate to those sentiments. My pain feels empty and meaningless; everything hurts for the sake of hurting.

Your idea of a simulation is intriguing. Though, I could never imagine why I would ever simulate a life the way I have lived.

 

[lovedread]

isn't it just fucking scary to think about? on an existential level. like, this is all we've ever known, will ever know, and will ever be able to comprehend. just the known universe and our 5 senses. so what happens when we stop perceiving? the idea of nothingness is terrifying, but at the same time it shouldn't. nothingness is absolute nothingness, not something perceiving nothingness (which isn't possible but ykwim) so therefore there is no "you" when talking about nothingness anyway. but how is it possible to just stop perceiving. i swear there has to be some sort of continued perception after death. what if we only "die" in this dimension/plane of existence but keep "living" in another? like our consciousness is tethered to somewhere else? idk. it's just impossible to really comprehend not living, perceiving, and experiencing as a human, with the 5 senses. it's terrifying. not necessarily the reason i haven't ctb'd yet though. hell, if anything i'm curious about it, enough to make me want to ctb even more. i'm really that desperate to experience something else at this point that i'm getting excited about hypothetical other dimensions and existences lol. honestly though, i hope this is all just a simulation, and it all ends after i die. and when i "wake up" i can simulate whatever i want. and i only simulated this life because i was bored. but that's a boring, modern, human theory of what could be after death. so probably not accurate. and i only desire it because it seems desirable to me, as a human, that exists at this moment. who knows what other kinds of experiences/existences are out there? and i don't just mean in this universe/plane of existence if you will. but anything, anything that could ever be. sorry, i'm insane

Yes. Its extremely scary. Im scared of going to hell or regretting ending my life. Fear is all that keeps me here nowadays
Sorry for double responding—im also really afraid of reincarnation. I dont want that to happen.

 

[counting-out-time]

You know when you fall asleep and you don't know nothing. Complete darkness. Thats what death is.

Can you remember anything before you was conceived. Nope? Exactly. We are born from nothing and we die into nothing. That's my opinion

 

[lovedread]

You know when you fall asleep and you don't know nothing. Complete darkness. Thats what death is.

Can you remember anything before you was conceived. Nope? Exactly. We are born from nothing and we die into nothing. That's my opinion

i hope youre right, but on the other hand a happy afterlife sounds nice to me too

 

[Ambivalent1]

Eternal torment beyond all description as seen in Hellraiser. "We have such sights to show you. "

 

[hamvil]

Nothing there was for billions of years before I was born nothing there will be of me in this universe after I am dead, we are just short blinks.

 

[Dark Window]

Probably just a lack of experience really. Afterlife seems obviously a product of the human imagination.

 

[Hotsackage]

Quantum madness

 

[FuneralCry]

True peace, I believe that once we die we simply cease existing. All that I've ever wished for is this existence to eternally disappear into nothingness, the thought of permanently losing consciousness is all that comforts me. I don't understand those who say that nothingness is terrifying as one cannot suffer from the absence of everything, to me the thought of being unable to think or feel is really beautiful.

Existence is evil to me as it's the source of all suffering and death is the one escape from the futile and torturous burden of existing as a human, I'd be so glad to finally cease existing, existence is what terrifies me instead, I find it so tragic how life even exists at all.

 

[sserafim]

Quantum madness

Wdym

 

[melancholymallory03]

I don't know

 

[Eudaimonic]

I don't know. No one does for sure.
I've been researching Ian Stevenson and Jim Tucker's work on past life memories and other anomalous data that may support reincarnation.
I've also been researching veridical NDEs and OBEs, veridical intermission memories, veridical apparitions, etc.
Frankly, I am much less sure that death is eternal oblivion than I once was, as uncomfortable as that possibility is because I so dearly wish for it.
Furthermore, the explanatory gap casts doubt on the purported explanatory power of physicalism.
As for phenomenal binding, I'm unsure, but the evidence in favor of postmortem survival seems to suggest that it is not produced by the brain.
That's scary if true because it leaves the door open for hellish experiences; though, to my knowledge, there is no evidence for that.
At this point, I suppose I remain agnostic as to what happens. That's the humblest position one can take, I think.
But eternal oblivion is the least daunting possibility, IMO.
And yes, it's scary, but I hate myself and my life so much that I'm willing to gamble; it's not what's stopping me from attempting, at any rate.

 

[BardBarrie]

from a purely scientific point, THERE is NO life after death, humanity has to abandon all fanciful beliefs and focus on what the laws of the universe dictate.

the laws of physics underlying everyday life are completely understood and everything happens within the realms of possibility. there's no way within those laws to allow for the information stored in our brains to persist after we die.

for there to be an afterlife, consciousness would need to be something that is entirely separated from our physical body – which it is not.

Rather, consciousness at the very basic level is a series of atoms and electrons that essentially give us our mind.

it's really nothing but atoms and the known forces, there is clearly no way for the mind to survive death.

What scares me about this is if reality permits our consciousness/self to "randomly" assemble (when we're born) for this life, then what's to stop it from just happening again at some point in the future after we die?

A new, fresh consciousness we have to occupy, in a new body with no memory of the previous life.

Condemned to continue in this reality a life at a time, without realising we've been alive many times in the past as different people.

To be stuck in this reality no matter what, I couldn't think of anything worse.

 

[anhedonya]

You're not insane! It's a complex discussion and it's understandable to have complex feelings on it.

Personally speaking, and by personally I mean that I believe this only for myself and not for everyone in the world, I know I'm going into nothing after death. I've experienced it twice. The kind of nothing that happens when you close your eyes. The way I saw it the first time was scary but the way I saw it the second time was peaceful. I thought I was in a dream and felt no fear. I'll never forget it. I felt pure peace and serenity in that split second before what happened to me. And then I saw that empty nothing again. If you had asked me right there in that moment if I was scared, I would've told you there's no need to be, because we're finally waking up now. That's what it felt like. And that's what I think will happen to me. I will finally wake up into my eternal state of empty nothing. A serenity that never ends and no form or thoughts to hold me. That's how I've rationalized what I saw and felt, and I'm certain it's waiting for me.

Sorry if I went off topic, I'm on phone and it's hard to respond line by line.

 

[KuriGohan&Kamehameha]

I always find it hard to fathom that over 105 billion people have lived and died on this earth since the beginning of time, and certainly many more since that estimation was made. Many of the people throughout history died early in childhood and didn't even live long enough to be able to ponder such a question, in regards to what comes next.

If you watch some of the first movies ever made, it always feels so strange to realize that all of the actors on the screen are nothing but ghosts, recollections of people who no longer exist and can only be remembered for as long as the film reels and tapes maintain their integrity and ability to be seen. It all feels so absurd to know that one day everyone and everything we know will inevitably be forgotten.

I don't think there's anything after this, as much as I wish there was some sort of eternal sweet dream sequence waiting on the other side. Consciousness fades away when the brain loses the battle against necrosis. If I had to guess what it's like from personal experience, I'd assume it's similar to general anaesthesia, which was akin to flipping off a light switch. One second you're awake and the next it's total darkness. When I woke up from surgery it was as if no time had passed at all and I was completely unaware of how long I had been in that state of complete nothingness.

 

[Eudaimonic]

What scares me about this is if reality permits our consciousness/self to "randomly" assemble (when we're born) for this life, then what's to stop it from just happening again at some point in the future after we die?

A new, fresh consciousness we have to occupy, in a new body with no memory of the previous life.

Condemned to continue in this reality a life at a time, without realising we've been alive many times in the past as different people.

To be stuck in this reality no matter what, I couldn't think of anything worse.

From a materialist/physicalist closed individualist standpoint, the only thing stopping it from happening is time.

 

[worthIess]

What scares me about this is if reality permits our consciousness/self to "randomly" assemble (when we're born) for this life, then what's to stop it from just happening again at some point in the future after we die?

A new, fresh consciousness we have to occupy, in a new body with no memory of the previous life.

Condemned to continue in this reality a life at a time, without realising we've been alive many times in the past as different people.

To be stuck in this reality no matter what, I couldn't think of anything worse.

this is what i think now

 

[Raindancer]

Personally I would not want nothingness. This earth and universe have so many beautiful things to see. The images from the Hubble telescope are so awe inspiring and now we will get images from Kepler. I hope when we die we can see all the things we cannot now. Kind of on a silly note, if space time is on a continuum, wouldn't it be something to be able to watch historical events happen? I would love to see Egypt in its prime. Those things are just fun thoughts and I have no idea what kinds of things we will be able to see or experience, but what I do know will be there is everlasting peace, no more tears and no more pain.

 

[hamvil]

It will be like going to bed. You are not conscious when you sleep, it will be like an eternal sleep from which you will never wake up or at least this is the version i tell myself oh and the re will be no dreams but I rarely dream or at least i rarely remember what I dreamed.

 

[Dmoore3232]

It will be like going to bed. You are not conscious when you sleep, it will be like an eternal sleep from which you will never wake up or at least this is the version i tell myself oh and the re will be no dreams but I rarely dream or at least i rarely remember what I dreamed.

@Bed My favorite game as well, if that is indeed your favorite game.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

After death is just permanent non existence. Also, I don't understand the people who are scared of permanent non existence. It's simply just the cessation of all future experiences, emotions, thoughts and so on. What's scary about that? To me, such a thing is blissful

 

[rozeske]

It will be disappointing if it turned out to be non existence, if all of this has just been a meaningless experience. but I guess we won't be there to be disappointed. I hope it will be sort of like the NDE testimonies....no one really knows anyways except the dead.

 

[WoNkEy_DoNkEy]

i hope youre right, but on the other hand a happy afterlife sounds nice to me too

I think 'happy' is just something too good to be true for the desperate suicidal. @lovedread

What scares me about this is if reality permits our consciousness/self to "randomly" assemble (when we're born) for this life, then what's to stop it from just happening again at some point in the future after we die?

A new, fresh consciousness we have to occupy, in a new body with no memory of the previous life.

Condemned to continue in this reality a life at a time, without realising we've been alive many times in the past as different people.

To be stuck in this reality no matter what, I couldn't think of anything worse.

If consciousness is tied in the neurons of our brain then one would think that it dies with it to. Recycling anything just seems inefficient. Most likely everything is made from scratch and you could easily return as another animal, maybe not even earthbound. @BardBarrie

After death is just permanent non existence. Also, I don't understand the people who are scared of permanent non existence. It's simply just the cessation of all future experiences, emotions, thoughts and so on. What's scary about that? To me, such a thing is blissful

I think most people are more afraid of something coming after death. Most don't exhibit nihiliphobia. You'd probably be afraid if you chose to believe in things other than nothingness after death. You can't fear what you can't feel/experience. @ijustwishtodie

 

[bookgirl]

After death I will see my friends again