The Afterlife... How Does it Work?

@Livingtothefull I agree. We have only 5 senses and even the data we observe through those is not directly available to us but interpreted by our brains. I love for example, the our brains invent the colour magenta to make sense of the data. It does not exist, yet we experience it. It's actually basically the same as teal green. 🤣

Ultra violet light, infrared light, x rays and all kinds of other things exist that we can't perceive directly. Snakes can sense infrared. Many animals have more senses than us so their experience of the world will be vastly different. Some have skills we cannot even explain yet so perhaps are sensing things we have not yet discovered.

These things existed before we discovered them and it would be naive to think we now know all there is to know and science is complete. Clearly it is not because we still cannot fix the discrepancies between the best theories we have, like relativity and quantum physics. We are still discovering new particles. There are unexplained phenomena. We are also limited to a three dimensional existence.

We are tiny and have limited intelligence, gave had only a miniscule period in which to build up knowledge and have very short life spans. It's highly unlikely due to the scale of the universe that humans will ever be able to know all that there is to know about it even if our civilisation survived for billions of years (highly unlikely). And it would also be impossible for us to know we knew everything even if we did.

There is much in the universe to wonder at and be awe inspired by, not least the sheer scale and complexity of it. We are just one possible formation of the matter in it.

But there's also no need to posit some other existence of which it is impossible for us to know anything. To do so would be rather pointless because there is no way we could ever know about it anyway, so it's a distraction. Why does it matter, when it will make no difference to our reality in any way? And this reality is so astonishing that no fantasies are required to fuel our imaginations.

This universe could be some kids' computer simulation. It could be something made accidentally and forgotten about. It could be a dream. What's almost certain is that stories made up to try to explain it in the form of religions and myths, by the same limited human brains that can't comprehend it, are wrong. All major world religions are also logically inconsistent to the point of incoherent self-contradiction.

One thing that always strikes me as particularly odd about the idea that humans have "souls" is the arrogance to think this applies to a certain type of monkey only. What about the other monkeys? Or other mammals? Or insects? Birds? Octopu are very intelligent, do they have souls and go to heaven? Dolphins? What if they don't "believe" or "repent" or follow the prescribed "moral codes"?

This is not a competition and God and the afterlife(presuming they exist) are not like political parties whose reality can be argued for and against. All posters can do is put their viewpoints on here and some may resonate with some people.

Briefly, my view:

The reality as understood within the human experience, may not be the full reality. There are so many things outside our knowledge and understanding that I don't see how anyone can argue with confidence that we should look at reality within our experience, and conclude 'this is all there is'.

Even reality as we experience it is unreliable. It has been shown that the things we perceive as solid (time and material reality) are actually something entirely different; just as we perceive the sky as blue even though it actually isn't.

Just because things are real to us doesn't make them objectively 'real' within a bigger picture. So believing in something further beyond our life experience doesn't seem a big stretch to me.

These are things that have been considered and meditated on for millennia. I think we should be really careful not to write off all previous generations as being ignorant, superstitious and not knowing any better. Anyone who thinks highly sophisticated people didn't exist throughout the past is themselves the ignorant one, and we have the benefit of earlier accumulated insights as well as our increased scientific knowledge. So presuming people in the past didn't know any better is an arrogance which does us no favours at all.

@crabbyoldbat when I was reading Beyond Black I saw ghosts everywhere. They were teeming all over the lawn. Stopped when I finished the book. Very weird. Brilliant novel, if you can bear the long descriptions of conference halls and business hotels and dull Surrey housing estates.

'Are you saying that the 117 billion is a myth?'

I read it as the myth being that there are more people alive today than ever lived. This is clearly not true. There have been many more than 8 biilion people who ever lived.

I used to be atheist and believe there was nothing after death.

Having had a period of taking psychedelics though I changed my view. I now think that it is so beyond our comprehension that saying 'it's scientifically impossible' there is life after death isn't valid. I still don't believe in any kind of God that intervenes in our every day life though, there are just energies we don't understand.

I think we become spirits, just points and slivers of coloured light, in a vast open void. We don't have concrete memories of our 'personality' or most recent life. We do however know the lessons we have learned, and what we still have to learn. Our next life is tailored towards what we still need to learn, and we are reincarnated into a situation and personality that will allow us to learn it. I think 5-6 of the people in our life reappear in future lives but in different guises, so your son now might be a close friend in another life etc.

Alternatively life as a simulation seems believable to me. We have decided the life we want to 'try' and on death return to our real selves. Though that leaves the issue of what our 'real selves' are. Could be a spirit, or humans in the far future recreating their lost world.

I like the atoms idea (which is physically probably the truth- that your body just becomes part of something else- a tree for example, if you are buried somewhere, either as ashes or a body, you become food for something else, but I like the idea that your spirit is the same. YOu cant speak to anyone, as that would be annoyingly noisy, but you become part of the wind, or the sea and just float around, part of everything where you can see and do what you want, anywhere in the Universe. My late dad loved to travel, but wasn't able to do it when he was old. I scattered some of his ashes in the sea, and its nice to think of him wandering around on the Gulf Stream going all over the world. But really, as I think for the existence of God, who cares if it really exists or not. You'll be dead. If the thought of God or the afterlife helps you live a better and happier life on Earth, then it doesn't really matter if its true or not.

Anyone mentioned reading Will Self's 'How the Dead Live'? Might give you some ideas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_the_Dead_Live

Also 'Beyond Black' by Hilary Mantel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_Black

In my mind, the afterlife consists of a nicer version of life on Earth. No death, no having to go to work, sunny with a gentle breeze, verdant, relaxing, no housework, and surrounded by loved ones. In essence, my life now only better

Think about this. If this were the case, then a lot of people would be necking themselves within the hour. Do you really believe this is realistic?

What's so scary about oblivion anyway?

For me, it's the anticipation of oblivion that is the scary part.

You sound like you’re describing The Sims.

So if there is one thing scarier than oblivion, it is eternal life.

What's so scary about oblivion anyway? You didn't exist for the whole of time before you were born. If there's oblivion after death, you'll be just as unaware of it then.

Are you saying 117 billion is a myth?

Hopefully he takes Apple-pay now

great thread op

I vary between wanting an afterlife or just being completely dead. I know I don’t want to live my life again - Disabled and unwell the last 40ish years with good blips in between.

No thanks no reincarnation for me. Unless I come back as my beloved dog who really has the life of Riley!

You need to read 'Over My Dead Body' by Maz Evans. I think you'd really appreciate the humor.

Op

You need to watch The Good Place oo.

I dont want there to be an afterlife. Eternity sounds exhausting tbh.

I like the buddhist way. Nirvana is actually a release from samsara ( the cycle of life) rather than perpetually living it.

I'm inclined to agree. I've always thought it odd that people can believe in god and heaven but immediately become derisive if one were to mention that they worship Zeus.

Hahahahahahahahaha

Oh my god that made me laugh aloud!

😂😂😂😂

My mum was skeletal and bald when she died, far too young, of oesophageal cancer. For some months after her death, I kept having dreams of her and she had reverted to being young and healthy and sitting in the garden of our family home. She always had a different outfit on. However, what was strange was the conversations we had were about things that happened after her death. Eventually, she'd ring me from a red phone box to chat and I could see her in the box but couldn't reach her. The box got further and further away and then eventually I could barely hear her. In the last conversation she told me she was going now and the dreams stopped that day. As ridiculous as it sounds, I take comfort in that she was well again, she still had "mum things" she wanted to say and when she finished, she went off to heaven. So that's what I hope happens.

Unless you have a coin to pay Charon (the Ferryman) you will not be crossing the river Styx to the other side and will be floating around on the mortal plain unable to cross over for eternity and will end up haunting your old house and dealing with Beetlejuice

Thought this might be about the Ricky Gervais comedy “Afterlife”. Disappointed. 😭 That show is really funny.

I'm definitely in purgatory right now. No way is this my life. Im definitely dead

My afterlife will be on an island fully of dogs, cats, horses, cows, sheep etc all living in peace and harmony and just a few selected family and friends. There will be no rap music and food will be abundant and free.