Beyond Death....

I have never been one to believe in life after death, my general motto is "Life is a bitch, and death isn't much better". As for reincarnation, I personally don't remember any past lives of mine, so I am assuming one of two things, either you never get reincarnated, or you don't remember anything about your past lives. If you don't remember anything about them, then you are as good as dead anyway. Hmm... maybe this is why people claim I am a cynical/negative >.>;

It's complicated: I feel like an atheist as I don't believe in god, but very very theoretically I'm an agnostic because you cannot prove the deity is not hiding anywhere in the universe. But as I'm not completely rational, I behave as if there was a deity in an Agaton-sense (not exactly as Platon defined it, because according to him it would be static if you're consequent), which means I have some moral standards.
I don't believe in an afterlife for selfish reasons (wishful thinking): if I would exist forever, it would be pointless to do anything at this moment that doesn't fulfill any short-term hedonic needs. I could procrastinate everything to a later moment. I don't have to do anything now, because I still have billions of years time to become a better being.
As for consciousness, I think it is physically bound (some research with split-brain patients who lack the conscious connection between left and right brain hemisphere, is pointing in that direction). And anyways, I think the importnace of consciousness is overrated. Not everything we're conscious of is real and consciousness is not even the best tool for making rational decisions (limited capacity). I'm a fan of intuition for rational reasons (or probably because I'm female).

I should read more before I bother others with my opinion. I will probably change my mind tomorrow.

I do believe our spirits endure after death. I also believe in reincarnation. It's been a great comfort to me, to know that this isn't the only shot I have -- my mistakes, delays, and failures would weigh so much heavier on me without it.

I don't really want to get into a discussion about the evidence base. I find that just leads to intellectual arguments where neither person changes their mind and everyone comes away a little angrier. I'll just say my belief is based on evidence, not faith.

If you can find your way to a belief in the afterlife, I think it makes this life more satisfying and bearable.

To be honest, I have never seen any idea of an afterlife that I has ever appealed to me. Sitting on clouds, eating cottage cheese all day? Pass. I've always been of the opinion that when you die, you rot in a box, or dropped in an ocean, etc. Maybe that is why I dislike the idea of death so much >.>

The problem I have with agnosticism is illustrated by Bernard Russells Celestial Teapot. Technically I'm agnostic about Odin, Thor, Jehovah and Lugh but as there is no evidence I am in actuality atheistic about their existence and the same goes for any Deity no matter how grand in concept....sometimes science makes me depressed.

To be honest, I never truly understood the teapot thing. I can't even make people understand why I don't get it. If something cannot be falsified (which I think is true for both, theism and atheism)it's just not a good scientific theory. But this doesn't mean it's correct or incorrect. There's just no way to find out through objective observation. So we're left with logic, intuition or authority to gain any knowledge.
I know after admitting this nobody will ever take me serious again, but I'm really at my limits here. I'm left with two options:believing the analogy is is correct and makes me an atheist because it's always intelligent people arguing that way. Or just saying it's an uninteresting question whether something that isn't objectively perceivable and does not have any perceivable causes exists or not. Both options are not very satisfying. Could anyone borrow me some IQ points,please. The idiot needs enlightment.

Asuka wrote:Sorry Stephen but I just can't resist saying one thing; Just because something is comforting does'nt make it true. Thats the problem I have with God and the afterlife. I wish I had some evidence for an afterlife however, I really do.

Please note that I didn't make that equivalence, you did. I very clearly stated that my belief is based on evidence, not on comfort. The fact that it is comforting is a good thing, but it's not why I believe. I'm not that intellectually dishonest.

I was atheist or agnostic for most of my life. It took a long time to accumulate the evidence for me to believe. Once I did, I saw more and more wherever I looked. I think it's partly a matter of how persistent you are in your search.

By the way, I want to add something else, too. Atheists are also "comforted" by their beliefs, in the sense that it often helps them feel superior to believers and compensates for low self-esteem. I find this attitude quite common in atheists -- they condescenscend to spiritual people, who they think lack the intelligence, education, or intellectual courage to admit the "harsh reality" of life.

I really don't think reincarnation would be the best. Sure if you got to be something cool like an eagle. I'd probably end up as a cockroach or something.

The whole idea of living forever in some way (life after death or reincarnation) is just wishful thinking. A fear of death has been programed into us by our genes so will will survive in order to pass them on. That's why we ar so afraid of death. If you think about it logically it is actually nothing to be afraid of at all. If you don't exist you don't feel pain. How can that be bad?

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Asuka wrote:Now I'm an atheist, I just can't believe in something without evidence, however I've been thinking about the mind recently. Nothing in the universe can be totally destroyed, it can only be broken down into less complex elements. Science does'nt fully understand consciousness yet. So if nothing can be totally destroyed and the mind is infinite then perhaps the mind survives death in some way. Then again maybe I'm engaging in wishful thinking and have had so little sleep I'm delerious.

I'd have to say that although matter is never destroyed, it is rearranged. The mind is a physical part of the body that will be decomposed and altered along with the rest of the physical body. Consciousness surviving depends on whether or not thought produces physical waves and whether or not those waves are eternal. Now we enter the realm of all that theoretical quantum stuff however. I'm most likely to believe that if our physical matter is altered upon death, so is our "spiritual" matter (thought waves) I have little faith in the new age meta-physicists basically due to the skepticism built up in me after being duped too many times. Promises of being able to alter your reality with power positive thinking and all that. It's a load of crap. I personally don't see why people want to be immortal. At least let me die when I've had enough. It's torture otherwise. God I wish Hawking's Paradox Theory had held up! Little black holes everywhere destroying information, what a wonderful thought!