Wouldn't heaven start feelling like hell after awhile?

[none123]

What do these religious fanatics think they will be doing once they are at heaven?  I really hope there isn't a god, not for the usual reason of being afraid of going to hell for not believing, but because even going to heaven would eventually feel like hell. I'll explain:

Think of the most fun place you've ever visited? How long till after you would bored of it, and not want to be there anymore, would no longer be the most fun, you'd be bored of it, tired of it?  A week? A month? A year?!?  And when you tired of it, you do what, come home, go back to work, rest. And then how long resting do you bored of it, and how long working do you get tired of it. Basically I want there to be an end to it. Knowing that life won't go on forever, that there is an end to it all, when there will be nothing is wonderful to think of. Cause sure you will miss the fun times, but you won't know what you are missing anyways so it doesn't matter.

But say you are in heaven, after 1 million years, you've watched every movie, read every book, done every that could possibly be imagined, even if for instance you only watch 1 movie a month, no way does 12 million movies exist (Okay I'm not saying that is what you will do for fun in heaven, but whatever it is you will be bored of it, and there will be no end. You can ride every ride millions of time over, talked about everything you could possibly talk about with your family, nothing else to discuss). Only it doesn't end there at a million, you do that a billion times over with no end in sight, the same mundane things, nothing else could ever be imagined because it's been now trillions of years. And A lot of things that take up time: Sleep, Eating, are out since you are then immortal.  Bad stuff you enjoy now is probably out.  Only G rated movies and visiting with family, and theme park rides (again I have know idea what you actually do in "heaven" that isn't the point of this post, so don't complain about me saying that). I think you would eventually wish it would end, even if that takes trillions of years to feel that way, because it will be infinite amount of time, and at that point it will feel like hell when you realize it won't end.

And worst of all, what you get to do for those trillions times a trillion years all comes down to your decisions bases on roughly 50 years. If you get lucky and guess the right religion. Even though you could be born into the wrong religion or wrong country, or realize all you are doing is guessing that the bible or what not is true, that you don't know for sure, but that guess and 50 years will determine the rest of forever. so less than 0.0000000000000000000001% of your time alive is what the rest of the 99.99999999999999999% of your existance is based on. People that believe in god really must believe he is a douche.

[Ellainix]

That was my first thought when I was really young.

[TheJackel]

Eternal existence would suck, and I would agree with your basic assessment. Eventually purpose is lost, or loses all it's meaning to where your existence becomes trivially redundant repetition. It's strange, but eternal non-existence is less frightening to me than eternal existence.. I look at death like how I look at going to sleep every night, the eternal bliss of darkness is actually calming vs the notion of a bright light in my face all the time. Gah, light can give you some serious headaches after a while, and all I can do is try and close the damn shades so I can get some peaceful rest. Anyhow, I don't think I would remain sane for any longer than 200 years much less eternity.

[Heretical Rants]

Ah, but what if "eternity" in the context of heaven is not actually infinite, but rather just really, really long?

[teifuani]

Ah, but what if "eternity" in the context of heaven is not actually infinite, but rather just really, really long?

That reminds me of something I thought years ago. It basically went, "If there's an afterlife, does that mean there's an afterdeath?"  lol

[Tank]

One would be blessed with a cyclic memory, so you'd forget transient things, like movies, after a while. It is after all heaven so you can have want you want all the time and never be satisfied.

[TheJackel]

One would be blessed with a cyclic memory, so you'd forget transient things, like movies, after a while. It is after all heaven so you can have want you want all the time and never be satisfied.

I could live like that as long as all experience and memory were to format and start fresh every 200-1,000 years.... Any more than that would make me go insane

[Tank]

One would be blessed with a cyclic memory, so you'd forget transient things, like movies, after a while. It is after all heaven so you can have want you want all the time and never be satisfied.

I could live like that as long as all experience and memory were to format and start fresh every 200-1,000 years.... Any more than that would make me go insane

Come the Singularity our successors may well have that very capability.

[Davin]

This topic reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode when the guy who gambles his life away and dies to come to a place where he never loses and gets everything he wants. Eventually he finds out that always getting everything he wants and always winning is more punishment than never getting anything he wants and losing most of the time.

[TheJackel]

This topic reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode when the guy who gambles his life away and dies to come to a place where he never loses and gets everything he wants. Eventually he finds out that always getting everything he wants and always winning is more punishment than never getting anything he wants and losing most of the time.

True, accept that in this Twilight Zone we can erase that at will and always be content  

[Thumpalumpacus]

This topic reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode when the guy who gambles his life away and dies to come to a place where he never loses and gets everything he wants. Eventually he finds out that always getting everything he wants and always winning is more punishment than never getting anything he wants and losing most of the time.

One of my favorite episodes.  Didn't Burgess Meredith play the criminal:  "What did I ever do to deserve to go to Heaven?!"

"Who said this was Heaven?"

[Cecilie]

And you can't even commit suicide 'cause you're already dead. Oh man, if there's an afterlife that would really suck.

[Tank]

And you can't even commit suicide 'cause you're already dead. Oh man, if there's an afterlife that would really suck.

That's a point. Could one have a holiday in Hell just to make Heaven feel better? Also, supposing one had lead a pure life but had had a deep desire to kill people would one be able to kill people in heaven because one had resisted the temptation while alive?

[Martin TK]

This question is as old as religion itself.  Now, for those who are what Dawkins calls "faith-heads" it's an easy response.  God will take care of that, perhaps they will spend eternity being in the rapture, kind of like being on a forever high?  IF there were a heaven, I would imagine it would be different for each person, perhaps for those who truly enjoy one thing or another, but I agree too much of a good thing would get old quickly.

I'll take Mark Twain's "heaven for the climate, hell for the company" any day.  I am actually not afraid of death as an eternal sleep, I was dead for a long time before I was born, and I am none the worse off for it, again, a paraphrase of a statement by Twain.

What worries me most is that so many humans waste THIS life, waiting on the next one, why?  Also, if the afterlife is so great, then why is it that mostly Theists are against assisted suicides and euthenasia?  Seems they would be lined up to get into heaven faster.  I find it amazing that we actually allow humans to suffer before death, and kindly put down animals.  My theory is we don't keep the dying alive for their sake, but for our own, because secretly, most modern humans do not deep down believe in an afterlife.

[teifuani]

My theory is we don't keep the dying alive for their sake, but for our own, because secretly, most modern humans do not deep down believe in an afterlife.

I completely agree with this. My dad is a fundamental Christian, "knows" Jesus is the Messiah and everything. Yet while we were talking about Eclipse after we got out of the theater, he mentioned how Victoria had "ceased to exist, I mean stopped moving and everything." Sounds a bit weird out of context and I probably misquoted it a little, but that's the gist of what he said. A part of me was tempted to call him out on what he said, but had I pressed him not only would I have given myself away but he'd also more than likely just say, "She's a vampire, she doesn't have a soul like us."