Poll Life After Death?

[Doctor Omega]

Whether you are religious, agnostic or atheist...

Do you think, know or believe that there is more after you breathe your last?

What - at a guess - would such survival be like?

And does the alternative of "nothingness" terrify you?

Thoughts please....





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[filmfan95]

Yes, I'm a Christian, so I believe that there is life after death.

 

[ant-mac]

I am an atheist, therefore I do not believe in life after death. It is a fairy tale for adults who lack the courage to face up to reality - no matter how empty or terrifying it might be. It is a soother for the fears of the masses.

For centuries it has served as an effective form of control for the powerful over the weak. The educated over the ignorant. The few over the many. Our species has made endless advancements in every field of endeavour that you can think of or name. And yet, at our core, we are still the same frightened, ignorant and primitive primates that once huddled together in the darkness of a pre-historic African plain, dimly wondering what those pin-pricks of light in the night sky were...

However, we are all made of star stuff - everyone of us. Every molecule that is currently within us was once within an earlier generation star - five billion or ten billion years ago. Therefore, five billion or ten billion years from now, who knows...? Our molecules may again be within a new generation of stars... And another five billion or ten billion years beyond that, those molecules may yet again form a part of a living organism...

Or maybe not.

We wonder if there might be life after death. Perhaps we should be more concerned with finding out if there is life before it.

 

[Doctor Omega]

I have an instinctive feeling that there is "something", but I am all too aware that the evidence in favour of my "instinct" is lacking in the harsh reality of the scientific world - and Ant-mac's argument is all the more chilling to me in that I am unable to refute any of it.

Therefore I am not expecting my forthcoming book: "I Have a Feeling That There is Life After Death, But I Can't Really Prove It" to top any bestseller lists.

 

[ant-mac]

I have an instinctive feeling that there is "something", but I am all too aware that the evidence in favour of my "instinct" is lacking in the harsh reality of the scientific world - and Ant-mac's argument is all the more chilling to me in that I am unable to refute any of it.

Do you want to know something really chilling?

The universe is not cruel, it is merely indifferent.

However, for some reason I can't quite explain, I find that oddly comforting.

Therefore I am not expecting my forthcoming book: "I Have a Feeling That There is Life After Death, But I Can't Really Prove It" to top any bestseller lists.

Don't worry, mate, it will most probably be the book of the year - if not the decade.

There are always those who are so fearful that they will latch onto anything in a desperate effort to stave off approaching reality.

 

[ant-mac]

DEATH

My days are finally over,
And my life is at an end,
It's time for me to leave this world,
Because death is now my friend.

It is time to say goodbye,
It is time to bid farewell,
For who knows where I shall go,
Is it to heaven or to hell?

I'll not fear what is to come,
My spirit I shall uphold,
As I enter the unknown,
With many wonders to behold.

And so now I must depart,
I must leave this gentle Earth,
The world that has been my home,
Since the moment of my birth.

It shall happen very quickly,
Two seconds of pain is all,
And when it's finally ended,
I'll begin the eternal fall.

Far and wide we shall travel,
Myself and my new friend,
Then down into oblivion,
Where forever I shall spend.

So do not be concerned,
For I shall feel no fear,
Wherever my final rest,
I know it's better than here!

 

[Doctor Omega]

n a desperate effort to stave off approaching reality.

Funnily, "Approaching Futility" is the title of the next book in my Despair Trilogy.

The third book undoubtedly won't get finished, but "Ant-mac was Right" is pencilled in as a working title.

Sadly.

 

[ant-mac]

Funnily, "Approaching Futility" is the title of the next book in my Despair Trilogy.

The third book undoubtedly won't get finished, but "Ant-mac was Right" is pencilled in as a working title.

Personally, I would have gone with the titles...

ANT-MAC'S BIGGEST MISTAKES, MORE OF ANT-MAC'S BIGGEST MISTAKES and WHO THE FUCK IS THIS ANT-MAC PERSON ANYWAY?

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

ANT-MAC'S BIGGEST MISTAKES, MORE OF ANT-MAC'S BIGGEST MISTAKES and WHO THE FUCK IS THIS ANT-MAC PERSON ANYWAY?

Soon to be a six movie series directed by Peter Jackson. I can't wait to see ant-mac running out of the shire...erm, pub, yelling "I'm going on an adventure!", only to have some kid outside yell "Oi, mate, you forgot your trousers!" It will certainly add gravitas to the constant mutterings of "My precious".

The middle movie of the second book is like seeing Tom Bombadil as written by Hunter S. Thompson. Johnny Depp will play him.

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

I'm with @ant-mac on this. However, my scientific side is often at odds with my poetic side, and so I look at the Laws of Thermodynamics. Energy can neither be created or destroyed. The human body, indeed, runs on energy. Ergo, that energy has to go somewhere. I like to think it goes to Disneyland, or at the very least, goes down to the pub and has a pint and then heads out to get a massage. From there, it just goes out into the universe. Some might look at this as being a soul. I don't prescribe to that. It is my own way of getting over my own fear of nothingness after death.

 

[croft_alice]

"We aren't meant to live forever,death is a part of life"

Lara Croft - rise of the tomb raider

Don't fear death,embrasse it.Death it's only a step to the next plane of existance

 

[ant-mac]

"We aren't meant to live forever,death is a part of life"

Lara Croft - rise of the tomb raider

Don't fear death,embrasse it.Death it's only a step to the next plane of existance

Sorry, but I want something a bit more substantial than a random line of dialogue from a fictional character in a video game before I start accepting that there might be proof of some sort of existence after death.

 

[croft_alice]

Sorry, but I want something a bit more substantial than a random line of dialogue from a fictional character in a video game before I start accepting that there might be proof of some sort of existence after death.

Fair enough.

 

[SoapboxQuantez08]

The Egyptians got it right--"eternal recurrence" is what we live in, we just don't really know it.
Face it, time is subjective: I think I'm living my life for the first time, and may not be.
I may be living my life for the 30th time or so, for all I know. After all, I'm only human (per se).

 

[ant-mac]

The Egyptians got it right--"eternal recurrence" is what we live in, we just don't really know it.

If we don't really know, then how can you state that the Egyptians - or anybody else for that matter - got it right?

Face it, time is subjective: I think I'm living my life for the first time, and may not be.

No, you are living your life for the first - and only - time.

I may be living my life for the 30th time or so, for all I know. After all, I'm only human (per se).

If you are only Human, then you only have one life.

Enjoy it while you can and don't waste it on illogical fantasies and nonsensical wishes. Reality doesn't care about that and won't be swayed one iota.

Science and technology may one day chance the circumstances of our existence, but don't waste your time waiting for it - get on with living your limited, single lifespan.

 

[SoapboxQuantez08]

If we don't really know, then how can you state that the Egyptians - or anybody else for that matter - got it right?

No, you are living your life for the first - and only - time.

If you are only Human, then you only have one life.

Enjoy it while you can and don't waste it on illogical fantasies and nonsensical wishes. Reality doesn't care about that and won't be swayed one iota.

Science and technology may one day chance the circumstances of our existence, but don't waste your time waiting for it - get on with living your limited, single lifespan.

I can entertain your thoughts if you can entertain mine.
For example, deja vu exists, correct?
Isn't it possible it exists because we've been here before, and are re-experiencing something we've done before?
If we can imagine space as infinite, I see no reason why time (and life itself) couldn't be.

 

[michaellevenson]

This is a bit light hearted but good nevertheless.

 

[ant-mac]

I can entertain your thoughts if you can entertain mine.

No.

In discussions such as this, I only entertain thoughts based upon proven scientific principles and logical theoretical extrapolations or scientific possibilities, which are based upon current scientific knowledge.

For example, deja vu exists, correct?

There are in fact two forms of déjà vu. One is the pathological type of déjà vu usually associated with epilepsy. The other type is non-pathological and is a characteristic of healthy people experiencing psychological phenomena.

Isn't it possible it exists because we've been here before, and are re-experiencing something we've done before?

No.

It is an anomaly of memory, which creates a distinct impression that a specific experience is being remembered. This is because of a familiar - but not always identifiable - factor present in the environment. This indistinct feeling of familiarity is what triggers the psychological phenomenon.

If we can imagine space as infinite, I see no reason why time (and life itself) couldn't be.

Space and time are indeed linked in many ways, especially via Albert Einstein's laws of general relativity and special relativity. However, life - intelligent or otherwise - is a completely separate and unrelated topic.

Furthermore, whilst space may indeed be infinite or limitless, the same does not necessarily hold true for time. Time is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events that occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future.

However, theoretically, at some future point, after all life has disappeared from the Universe and all matter has finally dissipated, there will come a situation where there is no change anywhere on any level, from the largest macroscopic scale down to the smallest microscopic scale. When this finally occurs, the measurement of the passage of time will no longer be possible and the end of time will have finally be reached.

And if all energy and all matter finally vanish, nothing will exist any longer - not even time.

 

[michaellevenson]

As Ollie says our relationship to the world after we die is the same relationship as we had before our birth i.e. non existence. We can't be afraid if what's going to happen to us because there is no "us" in being. The only hope is that the soul actually exists and departs our decaying corpse and takes us to a new life.
If you've enjoyed this guy's vid I've put some cool ones on the philosophy thread, the possible worlds and time ones are entertainingly way out.

 

[Gavin]

However, life - intelligent or otherwise - is a completely separate and unrelated topic.

Before we start any discussion about intelligent life I'd like to see some evidence that such a thing exists.