The Afterlife... (And a little bit about human nature, too)

[Giddy Plant]

My issue with the concept of heaven is overcrowding. If everything that's ever died that acted with reasonable conscience is there then its gonna be a nightmare. The place will be overrun with insects. Upon death, I want my corpse to be stuffed and then featured as an extra on The Bill.

[Haddas]

I'll tell you when I get back. 8)

[MrColossal]

Gone in a milisecond, no time for my brain to remind me of what a jerk I was.

That's what we're here for.

Also, I recommend you set up a team of people to randomly force you into life or death situations so you can eventually flash back to all events in your life and reach the present. Then when you do finally die [finally!] your brain will have nothing to do.

[Raggit]

I can't really decide if I want to have an quick death, where I don't even have a chance to know what's happening, or a slow death, where I have time to finally face death and deal with the real emotions of it.

With the quick death, I feel comfortable not having to suffer through it, but then I worry that if there's any god I need to make peace with before I die, I won't have that chance, and then I'll go to hell, be reincarnated as a turd, or whatever.

With the slow death, I'll probably have to deal with phsyical pain, which could be scary.  But I have time to do some inner searching.  Then I worry that there really is a God, and I'll give my soul to him, and when I get to Heaven,  I'll become a totally brainwashed sheep who does nothing but worship and praise him all the time.  Not a very pretty existence for somebody who likes to be free.

[Erenan]

The afterlife is one of those things that I've always had beliefs about that I'd been spoonfed during my whole life so far. Now that I'm abandoning those beliefs, I'm at a point where I hope there's life after death, mostly just for the romance of it. However, as I think more about how existence and my own consciousness appear to me, I'm becoming more and more confused about whether I'm willing to discard any notion of an immaterial part of the consciousness. Actually, I guess I'm making progress, but it's hard to tell which way I'm going on this. So at the moment, everything immaterial, including souls, afterlife, GOD, etc. are in the great big I don't know category.

Mostly, this doesn't affect the part of my life with which I'm reasonably familiar, which is work-art-relate-play.

P.S. Dreams are fun.

P.P.S. I like pie.

[Sektor 13]

Hmm strange thing is but I belive in the  reincarnation !

I just can't explain "nothing" !

Why the hell do we exist if we than die and tottaly disappear ? It's not logical to me.


But than again, I think a lot of things would be far more clearer if we could use whole 100 percent of the brains.

[lo_res_man]

Exactly, its one big case of "I don't know". I would want to be Ã, a spirit (whatever a spirit IS.) and wander through space, exploring the universe. There was this called "Noctis" I used to play, still play it sometimes, where you go around in this spaceship, and your this cat like creature and you can explore a whole freakin GALAXY, oh and the games only one megabyte. Ã, Thats what I! want to do when I die, explore. to quote Buzz Lightyear. 'To Infinitie, and BEYOND!"

edit,
I don't mean to offend, but  as for me, I don't like reincarnation.
It seems to me like an exuse for people to stay in their social status "Oh he is an untouchable, because he was bad in a past life" That is probaly a simplistic view, but thats how I feel. But a discussion on this topic would be enlightening. Please go on.

[MrColossal]

But than again, I think a lot of things would be far more clearer if we could use whole 100 percent of the brains.

http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percnt.htm

Man, I am SO boring!

[Becky]

Why the hell do we exist if we than die and tottaly disappear? It's not logical to me.

My thoughts are that either every living thing exists and then dies and gets to go to heaven/hell/afterlife of choice, or nothing does...I don't buy into that whole "humans are above every other form of life" malarky.

We exist and then die cause that's what everything else does.  If cows didn't exist then die then I wouldn't get to eat delicious wholesome meat, and if the grass didn't exist and then die there wouldn't be cows...etc.

But because I'm boredcore, I reckon everything just -dies-. 

[lo_res_man]

But why does much of humanity FEEL as if there is an afterlife? When they did sign language experiments with apes, Cocoa, when asked what death was, she signed "Sleep" It may not mean much, it begs the question, why did human think this in the first place?

[Raggit]

I want to believe that when we die, we go onto another realm where there is more growing to be done, more to do, more to see, more to experience.  A place where we're the same, but better.

In addition, it'd be cool if we could not only move through space, but time as well. 

Then we could come into the earthly realm and go back and see our own birth.

We could find the answers to our questions about why things happened the way they did in our lifetime by going back to watch each relevant event take place. 

That's what I WANT to believe about the afterlife, if there is one.

[Becky]

But why does much of humanity FEEL as if there is an afterlife?

Because we're all shit scared of dying!  Death?  End of our own conciousness? NO WAY.  That's why I reckon people believe anyway.

[LimpingFish]

Personally, I think the Gaia theory is nice.

And simple too, as its singular point is that we simply rejoin the lifeforce of the Earth and are recycled.

Plus it means your spirit can disperse and come back as many different things. Like a small kitten. Or a ducks ankle.

[lo_res_man]

personaly, the gaia theory scares the dikons out of me, I don't want to be recycled, I want to be me. sure living life as duck would be nice, but I like living, aware and free, and well the idea of joining a Cosmic awarness, is not my idea of paradise

[evenwolf]

overcrowding problem in heaven reminds me of the same issue I have:

what if an anti-social man is condemned to a beautiful cloud full of all his loved ones?    That would be his own personal hell, wouldn't it?

[LGM]

I want to be reincarnated as a sea-turtle. That would effing rock.

[Helm]

I want to be reincarnated as a sea-turtle. That would effing rock.

You Will Be Reincarnated as an Imperial Attack Spaceturtle!

[Nostradamus]

I agree with everything Becky said and people like Sektor 13 should stop trying to put meanings and explanation over so simple stuff.

Why does humanity feel there's an afterlife?
As I said, the concept of heaven and hell was first invented it was to make sure people acted right between each other and then it deleveloped to being religious leaders' way to make people do what they tell them to do "or else they'll go to hell". "Give here this charity money so you will go to heaven". etc.

[DGMacphee]

CAN YOU TELL A GREEN FIELD FROM A COLD STEEL RAIL

[biothlebop]

..people like Sektor 13 should stop trying to put meanings and explanation over so simple stuff.

Why?
If faith motivates somone in this life, I don't see it as a neccesarily negative thing.