Life after death?

[redr0cc]

so when i die i'm dead. does it matter to me what happens to my body when i'm already dead, hell no. so all i can do is plan my funeral while i'm alive cause once that day comes, its over for my life i'm lucky to have had one.   to winning the lottery of life!

[searchingmind]

Back to the basic question: Life after death?

This and "What is the meaning of life" have been questions which have plagued me since I was 7.  Since I was able to think rationally, I have never been able to believe in the idea of God.  It makes complete sense to me that there will be no more conscious awareness and therefore no existence for me after I die.  So, everyone who has lived and died is nothing but a memory and some remnance of cells which may or may not be still decomposing.

The question I am at times obsessed with is "Given that I will not exist after my body dies, what purpose can I have in this life?" Why live at all? I can't seem to find any satisfaction with my life because it seems so empty.  No matter if I focus on relationships, hedonistic pleasures, career, mental pursuits, or daily activities, I never feel comfortable.  There's an underlying confusion and fear which I know is the reason that others have choosen to believe in "God" and religion.

So I ask: How has anyone who has felt and thought about these things been able to reconcile it and live joyfully?

[McQ]

Back to the basic question: Life after death?

This and "What is the meaning of life" have been questions which have plagued me since I was 7.  Since I was able to think rationally, I have never been able to believe in the idea of God.  It makes complete sense to me that there will be no more conscious awareness and therefore no existence for me after I die.  So, everyone who has lived and died is nothing but a memory and some remnance of cells which may or may not be still decomposing.

The question I am at times obsessed with is "Given that I will not exist after my body dies, what purpose can I have in this life?" Why live at all? I can't seem to find any satisfaction with my life because it seems so empty.  No matter if I focus on relationships, hedonistic pleasures, career, mental pursuits, or daily activities, I never feel comfortable.  There's an underlying confusion and fear which I know is the reason that others have choosen to believe in "God" and religion.

So I ask: How has anyone who has felt and thought about these things been able to reconcile it and live joyfully?

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, to your question. I think many atheists have thought about this. I have, and I managed not to slide into nihilism. I live sooooo much more happily now than I ever did as a believer in afterlife, because I KNOW that every minute here is important and there are no "do-overs".

when you discover that you are the author of your own life story, and you get to make the rules of that story, it helps a great deal. You can live happily and with a purpose that you get to define.

Stick around, and you'll get to talk with some other Happy Atheists!  

[jaymayo]

Viktor Frankl said and I paraphrase that we have to cease asking life for meaning. Rather we should add meaning to our life. We were asking the wrong question our whole life that we never actually thought of reversing the question to answer that question.

The meaning of life is fairly subjective and cannot be answered by religion. If religion answered it for you, then it is not personal anymore. It becomes objective against the "laws of God."

It's great to have that thought that the meaning of life is subjective since you and only you can add meaning to it. Whether your aim in life is to achieve intellectual freedom, financial freedom, relationship, etc, it all contributes to what you want from life. The joys that costs nothing or less that is accessible to you in anyway. I think that is what we all aim for and adds meaning to our life.

To a personal level, what's my meaning of life? Well... life is about having fun with friends and family; helping them out, guiding them, being guided by them and just having fun with them! That's it! And I'm god-damned happy!

A great thought experiment is envisioning yourself at your funeral (I'm taking this excerpt from 7 Habits...). What would you like to hear from your eulogy? That "searchingmind" was a great son, father, friend and mentor? Or that "searchingmind" was a frigid but everyone knew that he loved in that way?

In a sense, we do live forever in the hearts of those who know us. We also live forever by the memories, the lessons and the stories handed down by our children to theirs and to theirs... Sounds preachy but I'd like to imagine that if my mind enters the big void, at least someone here in life would pass on my life lessons.

[Kona]

In a sense, we do live forever in the hearts of those who know us. We also live forever by the memories, the lessons and the stories handed down by our children to theirs and to theirs... Sounds preachy but I'd like to imagine that if my mind enters the big void, at least someone here in life would pass on my life lessons.

This makes me think of theoretical physics and Hawking.  Whatever dust we become in the end, the 'information' of us still persists.  Perhaps in the memories of others this holds true.  And what effect do we have on those who have known us?  And on their children throughout succeeding generations?  Perhaps minuscule influences, but influences nonetheless.

[Edizzle]

In a sense, we do live forever in the hearts of those who know us. We also live forever by the memories, the lessons and the stories handed down by our children to theirs and to theirs... Sounds preachy but I'd like to imagine that if my mind enters the big void, at least someone here in life would pass on my life lessons.

Yeah, I think about things like this a lot. One of my biggest goals in life is to be remembered long after I'm dead, and not just by family, or friends. I hope I can impact society (positively, of course) enough so that a meatpacker who lives in Montana in the year 2108 knows my name, and more important my ideas and theories and beliefs. I think thats the only way to achieve immortality. MLK isn't dying soon, but then again, neither is Hitler.

[SteveS]

I don't know if anyone has quoted this yet, but the discussion reminded me of these words attributed to Dr. James Watson:

I don't think we're here for anything, we're just products of evolution. You can say 'Gee, your life must be pretty bleak if you don't think there's a purpose' but I'm anticipating a good lunch.

 Seriously, though, this is how I look at it.  Try to enjoy as much as you can --- and the stuff that's not enjoyable, do it as you believe you should do it.  If nothing matters except the here and now, then the only thing that matters is the here and now!  If you worry about leaving a lasting positive impression on future generations, then try to leave a lasting positive impression on future generations.

Me, I don't worry about them so much.  Afterall, what have the future generations done for me?  :wink:

[LARA]

Well I don't believe in death, just extreme molecular disorganization and memory loss.

[filip3rd]

Death is

[Seosamh]

something relevant: http://audio.wnyc.org/radiolab/radiolab050807pod.mp3

If you're not a listener of Radio Lab, subscribe to the podcast!

[sveric]

Reflecting narcissist you completely misunderstood where I was going with that.  "If you wish to believe your body to be a distinct inferior entity from your mind, don't expect anything but speculation and faith to support you."  Umm way to be objective...  I think its quite the stretch to say that you can positively prove that my theory couldn't have any scientific grounding. Its called thinking out of the box ...

Its pure theory and I can't prove any of it but neither can you disprove it so don't be such an ass and start ripping apart my logic and turning it into some sort of denial of death complex.

 The possiblity that our subconsious mind is influenced before birth with certain tendencies and aspirations that we are unaware of on a consious level isn't a ridiculous concept at all. I admit there is speculation in there because I would love for it to be true but it logically seems possible and likely to me. Off topic a little but still relevant i think is that some transplant patients suddenly have urges and cravings to do things they never had any interest in previously. Like monster trucks or cooking.. which their donors enjoyed doing. They've done some research on it and im not sure where scientificly it stands at the moment but its things like that that lead me to beleive its very possible for memories and aspirations to jump beyond the consious mind after death through our genes.

Also past life regression through hypnosis is another interesting topic that seems to strectch the possiblity. How could that be possible if the memories unlocked weren't stored somewhere in the human mind or body? What many people have described in their sessions has been confimed with research on the described persons life.


Ok ... so to summarize I'm not saying that we all have our grandfathers carbon copy consciousness lurking around unnoticed in our minds . I'm saying that theres a good possiblity that somehow his life experiences lessons might be etched somwhere in our minds unknowing to us.

 I'd go into further detail explaining the "possibility" that you shot down like some 6 year olds dream of being an astronaut; (bush is president you know ) but this computer screen is givin me a headache. Just because it sounds somewhat spiritutal to you doesn't mean it can't be scientificly possible.

Almost everything extrodinary unexplained at first is thought of in a spitirtual or mystical light because people can't comprehend it as anything else but just that.

I think I'll re-write my first post so it's not just an abstract jumble from my mind thats going to be prodded with a stick by a bored 15 year old boy.

[Death?]

boo ya, maybe looking into the only single explanation of life, that can answer your question satisfactorily is the road to your answer. I know what you mean, and your question is being seriously 1.avoided in its totality, or 2."beaten around the bush" by your fellow atheists.
I know the answer to your question,totally, but its not one word, its a whole belief system that you need to hear from start to end, with an open, free thinking mind-

[ShimShamSam]

There are many aspects of the human psyche which modern science has yet to figure out. But a simple "I don't know" will suffice. Just because we don't know everything (Death? this is for you) doesn't mean we have to fill in the gaps with "Well god did it". I am no psychologists, and no neuro-biologist or what not, but I'd like to "believe" that who we are is determined by the actions and our choices we take through life. I find it hard to believe that who we are is determined before we were born and instead is in our genes. We've all seen kids that look bright and promising get mixed in with the wrong friends and throw their life down the drain. Who we are is a result of what we do, and to whom, and why? You may not always be able to control where you go in life, but you can control what kind of person you are to people.

[Death?]

I want to know what really makes someone who they are. I could alter my mind with drugs, have a stroke or develop schizophrenia and become a completely different person with different thoughts, emotions and behavior but I want to know why this particular combination of genes makes me who I am. How does mere matter make a mind with an understanding of ones self in the universe? Through what sublime process does electrochemical energy become something that allows ME to have an existence in the first place? Surely there has to be something more to it than Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. I am not saying its wrong I am just looking for an explanation on a deeper level because as I see it now I tend to think perhaps there is something after death which can not be explained by evidence.  


very interesting question posed boo ya.

To sum it up, the word on the tip of your tongue just now is ...Soul.

Look, if our lives were initially dictated only by the bio-chemical structures within or bodies, our genes, electrochemical processes, would we not be acting like lifeless robots? Emotions would not exist, love would also be absent, as would fear and arousal. Its like saying, are u aroused if you take a viagra tablet? According to research, your not, it just keeps it up... so to say.

What im trying to simply state is that, we have not learnt through the centuries to become who we are. Our ancestors died, and took theyr habits with them, they didnt pass the need for women with child bearing hips, or certain facial hairs to be kept down the generations, or through the genes, so that all these habits have accumulated to who we are.

We are unique. God made us that way,in order to recognise his power.

How many billions of people are on earth, and haw many recorded billions have passed away. Have any two faces been perfectly identical? Apply that to the whole of creation! You learn from your parents, and guardians, and it is that what affects your outlook in life until you begin to really think for yourself. We are all unique and individual, that i because God has made us that way.

You have a soul, which will exit your body once the day comes and continue to meet its creator. You cant deny you wont die, would you rather think quite bleakly thats the end, that you will simply be no more and switch off, or do you really have inside you some form of hope that its to your creator you will return. Either way, this short test is gonna be over.

[ShimShamSam]

Death? sorry, I know I've been a pain to you in these forums, but there's a question that's been bothering me that I just remembered while reading your posts above on souls.

Someone's soul, as you have described, is independent of their physical body, the body holds the soul until death, then it moves on out of the body to meet the creator. This is my understanding. What happens if someone has a lobotomy, like a piece of the brain is removed in the frontal lobe, the area associated with your personality. There have been lots of cases over the years where this has happened and it used to be almost common medical practice for certain medical conditions. The person survives, they can walk around, but personality wise, they are completely vacant. They become the drooling idiot, but they are still alive. So where is the soul? The soul, their personality, that part of their mind that is uniquely them, where is it, has it left the body to meet the creator leaving the body alive, or is the soul trapped in the brain leaving them unable to communicate?