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can you live with knowing after death there is nothing

tiggerific

tiggerific

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Just wondering as it is something that has never bothered me.
I kind of feel good about it knowing I will be putting something back into the ground that I have taken from my whole life, so having nothing after death is not something I am afraid of.
Just wondering if anyone else thinks about it that way, or is the need to believe in something that keeps you going, or keeps you sane.
Or would life seem pointless if there was no sort of after life or heaven?
 
You don't KNOW after death there is "nothing". None of us know what happens after death. But the choices are not two mutually exclusive options: some sort of heaven vs absolute nothingness. "Something" wouldn't have to = a continuation of our normal human ego consciousness. There could be "something" we wouldn't even be able to perceive or understand while in the state we are in now.

But to answer your question, no I am not afraid if there was "nothing". I had a pretty deep "trip" while on an insane amount of nitrous (lol) once... it felt like I'd died and I didn't know who I was anymore, I wasn't anything. It was just this pleasant, peaceful darkness that went on forever.. like the deepest sleep. Wouldn't be a bad thing if death were something like that, in my view. :)
 
The proposition of there being nothing does not bother me.

Just wondering if anyone else thinks about it that way, or is the need to believe in something that keeps you going, or keeps you sane.
Or would life seem pointless if there was no sort of after life or heaven?
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Speaking of that, its asserted in the book The God Part of the Brain that atheists are much more likely to commit suicide, have mental problems, and suffer from more stress related health problems. True or not, it may be that spirituality helps out in some extra-spiritual ways.
 
Good question. For me the thought of nothingness is close to bliss. The bliss of an opiate nod, deep sleep that we happily engage in and even crave, and other times of no awareness are sought out and experienced. So if nothing happens then we could never know or miss so it's moot. Not suffering has to be bliss.

But I do not think we will get off so easily. ;) It's easier to think there is nothing when we don't understand, but even logically that doesn't seem so. All indication even in a word of particles is that information can not be lost (the whole black whole debate). So since we are information packages it follows reason that the info can't be lost. But that is as far as any evidence goes until we reach our subjective experiences. I won't engage in debates, but I will say what one experiences for themselves is the truth of the matter. I think at the core of all religions and mystical teachings there is truth that becomes apparent even when one just wishes for nothingness. In other words the whole idea that an afterlife is "comforting" and that's why people "believe" is silly. People don't just cling to beliefs, that would be insulting. People sometimes look for an explanation of the wild thing they just experienced. Look at how much commotion DMT causes. =D
 
For me the thought of nothingness is close to bliss.
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Even though I don't personally believe there is "nothing" after death, I do agree that it's blissful to know that I won't have to be trapped in this existence, being this girl, forever. I love myself, but that would be torture. I am okay with setting my energy free and letting go of this ego consciousness after my body has had enough.
 
All the more reason to appreciate living the life you have now, knowing for certain it's the only one you'll be given.
 
As far as I am concerned the prospect of nothing after one's death is all the more reason to live now.

And I am not a fucking optimist, in case anybody wondered.

:)
 
No. If it were provable beyond any reasonable doubt that there was nothing, ever again, after death, and that all I strove for and endured in this life would ultimately be for nought, I'd take my exit immediately.
 
Yes. It would provide more motivation to make something out of my one and finite life rather than to just coast through it. If I knew for sure that once the ride is over it is OVER I think I would try to enjoy it as much as possible while I have the opportunity.

If there was no light at the end of the tunnel it would be all the more reason to hang on to the here & now imo.
 
Jamshyd said:
You assume too much, hunny :).
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I didn't mean to implicate you, specifically, as a believer of non-believer. I've just met too many people that 'hang on to' Christianity solely for fear of going to Hell if they don't; my post was pointed at those people.
 
If indeed, the most profound thing I experience is contained within my body, then I would consider the process of bodily decay, extreme suffering (which no one is immune to, unless you're constantly high until you perish), and awareness of the process and where it will lead as an insult, and a cosmic joke which the universe plays upon itself. However, it still doesn't completely bother me, because there is nothing I can do about it, and also because I am not entirely convinced whether or not my Self ends with my body.
 
I believe something goes on, but acknowledge the possibility that there's nothing; I'm not sure it matters. My waking up some morning a dyed-in-the-wool atheist won't going to turn me into a carpe diem libertine because this is it; it's simply not me. Honestly, what I care about more than anything is just living a life in accordance with my morals; afterlife or not, if I can make it to the end with a clear conscience, I'll feel I did all right. :)
 
I can imagine hanging on to this life at the final moments, absolutely terrified of the inevitable.


Like the salvia trip where you do not come back.
 
I would love it if there was just loss of consciousness and nothingness. I believe that I will be judged, and I have ask Jesus to forgive me being a sinner but if there was ever a sinner... I am she.

So I am locked towards that future but I am in the present and if I can live in the present, I can live with knowing that I have no way of knowing, for sure.
 
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