A question for Atheists (page 3)

El blanko

Narkissos:

I like your thoughts - very intriguing.

... as for an afterlife - heres hoping - because when I'm well, I love life.

Bas

Narkissos, I really like your reasoning concerning the realm of ideas. Is the concept of "metareality" applicable here?

Anyway, I never really believed in an afterlife and I consider myself a agnos-atheist as well.

I do however, have serious doubts about not living again. I mean, it has gone "wrong" at least once for me (being alive at this moment) so I think it's only reasonable that it will go "wrong" again after I die. Meaning that I expect my consciousness to be born again in a human being some time after my death. I do have trouble understanding how this would work in practice so I usually say it would take another universe for conditions to be right to produce another "you". Anyway, I do believe there are some possibilities in this direction of reasoning but I acknowledge that it's speculative to a degree.

Bas

Pole

I agree with Narkissos, although I tend to put it more bluntly:

Human consciousness is a form of megalomania. If it weren't so we'd all have suicidal tendencies.

People generally have a problem accepting the fact that the Universe can continue to exist without them. How come??? Or they can accept it conditionally. They make up complex theories of salvation and resurrection which don't hold water for a minute, but which are so complex that it may take an entire life to figure it out.

I have no problem understanding what most likely happens with me after I die. Exactly the same thing as before I was born. Is that so hard to grasp? I still wonder, how did the Universe manage to exist before my birth :)))

Cheers,

Pole

Abaddon

I don't believe in an afterlife. My girlfriend however, remembers meeting me in a previous life, so my beliefs may have nothing to do with what actually happens!

8-)

I suppose IF (as might be the case) it is possible for homeopathic medicine to work via the traference of properties to water moecules from the molecules of the remedy used even when dillution is such that none of the remedies molecules remain, it might be possible to speculate some similar transfer process opening up the possibility of some form of personality survival.

However, this is speculation and I don't base my life on it.

Narkissos

Bas,

What we call a subject, a person, a soul, assuming its continuity from birth to death, could also be described as a dotted line, each dot representing a unique topos of consciousness; at best it is an ever-modifying construct.

Where is the child I was? Nowhere if not as a sort of self-erasing trace in a few minds and stories, including mine -- along with a few photographs, drawings, copybooks... his expectations and anxieties have long come to rest, relieved by others.

To me the myth of eternal return (from Ecclesiastes to Nietzsche!) is just one way to say the limited, subjective, yet absolute truth of every moment.

Pole,

They make up complex theories of salvation and resurrection which don't hold water for a minute, but which are so complex that it may take an entire life to figure it out.

LOL... this could be the summary of my life. Fortunately I have grown some taste for nonsense.

AlmostAtheist

I am a part of life. Life is not a part of me. The meaning of my life is to add to the breadth, beauty, and power of life. By doing so, I experience BEING more fully.

Beautifully put, Spook. I feel the exact same way. Birds, people, rocks, sunshine, all one big happy family.

Dave

Big Dog

It seems from reading the posts that many are interchanging being conscious and capable of thought with the concept of a soul. It seems to me the argument can be made that the brain facilitates the soul being able to interact in the material world and thus when damaged that interaction can no longer take place as the mechanical means for it has been damaged. Take for example if one believes in angels, they manifest themselves to humans in the physical plane so as to facilitate communication, if their human manifestation was damaged, would that mean they would cease to exist? I don't know that a brain injury is absolute proof that there is not something else that we are or that is inside of us. I think this is an example of there is no proof either way, one who believes can't prove that a soul exists and one who doesn't believe can't prove that it doesn't exist. I agree with most, we'll find out when we get there

wanderlustguy

we'll find out when we get there

I can't help but think of the old saying "a bird in the hand..." you know the rest. I only know I have what I can see and touch today. It is very hard to beleive that there is a Purely Good Being (which has been responsible for millions of deaths) and an Evil Being (which was made and is allowed to live and be evil by the Good One), and those two are hanging on every decision I make and grappling over which side I will take in this huge argument that has been going on since forever. You mean at the end of all of this somebody gets to add a tick mark to their roster?

When I look back and think of all the times I thought I was in a state of despair because I had offended Jehovah in some way, I now clearly see that they were ALL due to decisions I had made or allowed others to make for me. Why was I broke? Because I didn't work enough or manage my money properly, it damn sure wasn't because I didn't spend enough time in service or because I listened to AC/DC. In the end I realize I am responsible for my current situations, no matter what they may be. There is no help, there is no Entity that gives two sh*ts about whether I'm eating peanut butter or filet mignon, or whether I'm listening to Kingdom Melodies or Metallica. If they exist and I find I'm wrong later, I'll ask why the hell they weren't paying attention to the damn tsunamis or earthquakes and helping people instead of peeking in on my inconsequential life while I was minding my own business and posting long rants on an apostate board...

ok, there's my 2 cents, gimme my change.

Taylor S.

I find, though, that a lot of people who claim to be atheist, are really agnostic.

classy ...

i've often found myself toggling between the two. for me, i think, i would accept the possiblity as a way of 'doubling-down' my bet ... just in case. you know?

i could always say, "Look, Big Guy. I never said you didn't exist. It's just that you've been out to lunch for a very long time and ....."

Anyway, as for an afterlife ... I've lost people who were actually 'soul-mate' caliber. If there was something more, if they were still watching over me ... I'd know it. Even if it was against some AfterLife code of conduct, they would break them to contact me. It's never happened.

mkr32208

I've been athnostic for a long time now... The problem with the afterlife as I see it is that humans are so tied to their physical self... If someone invented a teleportation machine that was more of a cloner/copier and just made a copy of you at the destination point would that copy be you? It has all your memories all your thoughts the exact same chemical makeup heck it THINKS it's you! But is it?

A question for Atheists

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