Life After Death

Having had time to actually consider this, and reason to, I'd like to ask your opinions on life after death. In your opinion is it possible that life after death could exi, or do you believe you just dead and that's the end of it?

Was just reading this excellent article: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1842627,00.html

I have a few books on the for and against on this subject, so at some point I will chime back in with my views.

(edited 10 years ago)

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Reply 1

AttackofTheBoris

You can't really prove that there is or isn't life after death, but it makes life a bit happier if you believe there is...

Reply 2

cascadingstylez

Original post by AttackofTheBoris

You can't really prove that there is or isn't life after death, but it makes life a bit happier if you believe there is...

A lot of studies are being done to test the validity of out of body experiences and near death experiences, but one thing that gets me is how they test it. It doesn't seem possible. Only a percentage of people have them - or recall them at least.

I don't think we have the knowledge or resources to observe the mind at present. We don't even understand the brain fully at this point in time. This sentence is only true if you're of the opinion that the mind and brain are separate entities.

It would be nice to have some informal discussion on the subject though. A lot of people don't want to discuss it, as death is rather a taboo subject - even though it comes to us all.

This may be off the subject mark, but I wonder if death is similar to the experience of being put to sleep during surgery. With anesthetics you lose time, and for the time you're under nothing exists. I don't imagine there is any relation to the effects of anesthetics and death ... or maybe there is. Who knows? Of course, there is a difference ... you're still alive whilst under anesthetic.

Reply 3

The Angry Stoic

Scientifically our brains return to the same state they were before we were born. Non existent. As our consciousness has been proved to be merely the activity of our brain it will be in the same state as our brain. Non existent. If the consciousness was separate to our brain cerebral injuries and drugs wouldn't affect it.

But not existing wasn't too bad from what I remember. So don't worry.

Reply 4

Martie08

I don't believe in a life after death, I just think we stop existing, and it's just like before you were born; you're not there. I don't find the prospect of death scary in the slightest; if you're not there, there's nothing to be afraid of because you won't have the capacity to be scared. You just don't exist.
I think afterlives are basically made up by people who find the concept of non-existence scary or confusing. However, I actually wouldn't want an afterlife. We're given 80, maybe even 100 years to live. You got a life when so many were robbed of it early on, so you should just live those limited years to the best you can. If I knew I'd carry on living after my death, I'd just find it demotivating, because I'd know I had an unlimited window of opportunity to live in, whereas knowing that my existence is finite means I know that I need to make the most of life, right now.

Reply 5

Smokhe

"Be thankful that you have a life, and forsake your vain and presumptuous desire for a second one." - Richard Dawkins
We won't know what happens after death until we die, and if there is no afterlife we'll never know... so don't lose sleep over it! :wink:

Personally, I choose not to believe there is or there isn't; I think you are more likely to live a fuller life believing there isn't.

Reply 6

viriol

Original post by The Angry Stoic

Scientifically, you're spouting nonsense. None of the "facts" you claim to have been "scientifically proven" has been so.

Reply 7

Darth Stewie

There is no life after death in the form that religions promise however the idea that there is "nothing" is also incorrect. There is the same amount of matter in the universe now as there was when the big bang occurred, although yes your consciousness ceases to exist the matter which makes "you" doesn't cease to exist, for instance you being buried results in you becoming sustenance for other life, mainly bacteria and insects and in turn they feed and provide sustenance to other life. Saying nothing happens after death implies that you are simply gone like magic when in fact the opposite is true, when you die you will help life on this planet to continue and grow thus helping to ensure our planet remains able to support complicated life and the matter which made you will be present in other forms of life.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 8

The Angry Stoic

Original post by viriol

Scientifically, you're spouting nonsense. None of the "facts" you claim to have been "scientifically proven" has been so.

Are you saying the brain doesn't decompose after death? :dry:

Reply 9

John Stuart Mill

Original post by The Angry Stoic

Are you saying the brain doesn't decompose after death? :dry:

you heard it first on tsr it has not been scientifically proven that our brains decompose

Reply 10

viriol

Original post by The Angry Stoic

Are you saying the brain doesn't decompose after death? :dry:

Original post by John Stuart Mill

you heard it first on tsr it has not been scientifically proven that our brains decompose

I'm saying that your (TAS) words in "As our consciousness has been proved to be merely the activity of our brain" are a lie.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 11

viriol

Original post by Darth Stewie

There is the same amount of matter in the universe now as there was when the big bang occurred

Actually, there should be no matter in the Universe at the time of the Big Bang - only radiation.

Reply 12

gagaslilmonsteruk

It's not a nice subject to think about, but I take the attitude of Que Sera Sera. I guess we'll not know until it happens.

Reply 13

NorthWest

I prefer to look at the wider issue as a pose to complex details such as DNA comparison, evolutionary trends etc...

The reason being, many people get so into these debates and forget the initial question of how it all came about in the very first place, eg. What caused the big bang? How the universe runs as 'clockwork' as it does without intelligent design? And many other broader questions.

Couldn't God have planned evolution to a certain extent? I don't see how this 'disproves' God in any way, especially as human footprints have been found dating back to before the existence of Neanderthal Man and before.

I'm a very logical person, and by looking at the broader issue, all the evidence we have points to intelligent design whether you like it or not. Its not an argument of wether evolution exists or not, but wether God exists or not, and I believe God exists.

Reply 14

The Angry Stoic

Original post by viriol

I'm saying that your (TAS) words in "As our consciousness has been proved to be merely the activity of our brain" are a lie.

Why? We have proved that by physically affecting the brain we can alter the conciousness.

Reply 15

viriol

Original post by The Angry Stoic

Why? We have proved that by physically affecting the brain we can alter the conciousness.

By physically altering the artic we can alter the world environment, yet the artic is not the world environment. All that proves is that there is a connection between the two.

Reply 16

JohnPaul_

"Near-Death Experiences" is comedy. The key word there is 'Near'. These people who's experiences where 100% subjective, didn't clinically die and then come back. It's just people who where unconscious as they were lucid dreaming in a sense.

If your a Christian you see Christian imagery or if your a Muslim you see the winged horse. It's always subjective Ns never maps out onto reality.

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Reply 17

cascadingstylez

Original post by JohnPaul_

Hi John,

I think you're wrong in saying that these people weren't clinically dead. There are a number of cases where they were. Here is one case where doctors had to make her clinically dead in order to perform the operation - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pam_Reynolds_case

Here is another where a patient was able to report a shoe on a ledge during an NDE that she couldn't have possibly seen any other way. This is a famous case - http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/keith_augustine/HNDEs.html#maria

Back to the point. I'm of the opinion that maybe something could exist beyond death. We will never know until we are dead. I think some things are far to complex to analyse, prove/disprove and test. We just simply don't understand or have the knowledge. So the whole debate on life after death is similar to God vs. No God.

But, the question comes down to believing they happened or dismissing them. It's the same debate we can't answer.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 18

weirdnessandcoffee

Reading all these comments, this is clearly such a subjective issue. There is no definite answer. Now here's the thing. Some people will look at this as POV or factually, if that makes any sense. Say If I use the word 'Medically, it is said'- then I give the medical POV which is seen as the right one. If I say 'religiously, this happens', some may see it as the right view.
Yet if I say after death you return to how you were before you were born- I'm trying to make it as a fact.
And there is no point in arguing, because there is no definite answer.

Reply 19

JohnPaul_

All subjective and also like the God vs No God debate. The hypothesis is untestable and there is no evidence for after-life as there is none for God and because there's no definite answer somehow that makes the possibility 50/50. It doesn't. It's most likely the case that there's no god and there's no afterlife. And that's fine by me, the idea of eternity is awful, knowing that death is the end should inspire people to make the most of what they've got.

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