Afterlife?

The OP's argument is that an afterlife must exist because he'd be sad if it didn't. This is an invalid argument. It's entirely possible that the structure of the universe isn't what you would prefer.

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@bulmabriefs144,

If you hope in something it doesn't matter which side of the fence you sit on or even if you sit on the fence......sit where you want......you are "hoping" not "guessing"

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@edgarblythe,

edgarblythe wrote:

When I die I'm going to haunt everybody on a2k.

I look forward to that! Let me know when you pass and I'll keep an eye and an ear out.

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@Leadfoot,

Leadfoot wrote:

bulmabriefs144 wrote:
All of us fear death.

That's just not how I feel about it.
I don't feel a need to rush it.
But truth be told, I'm kinda looking forward to it.

I fear it. I have no idea if there is an afterlife or not. And if there's not, I'm not very enthusiastic about ceasing to exist.

I'm also unhappy about the possibility of my friends and family ceasing to exist.

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@Mame,

I'll see you when you're sleeping. And know when you're awake.

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@oralloy,

Quote:

I fear it. I have no idea if there is an afterlife or not. And if there's not, I'm not very enthusiastic about ceasing to exist.

I'm also unhappy about the possibility of my friends and family ceasing to exist.

We all start there as far as I know, but there comes a point where the desire to know overcomes the fear of death, regardless of the consequences.
Maybe it’s just a matter of age or my reaction to the generally accepted meaningless of life here (believers or otherwise) but I definitely crossed that line some time ago. I think it does require a commitment to know in order to get there. There doesn’t appear to be a lot of company.

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@oralloy,

Quote:

I fear it. I have no idea if there is an afterlife or not. And if there's not, I'm not very enthusiastic about ceasing to exist.

I'm also unhappy about the possibility of my friends and family ceasing to exist.

Oh, FFS, you can't handle accepting a condition which has affected every human being, every animal, every plant, every living thing from jump street? It's called "mortality". The universe really doesn't give a **** whether you or I or our friends and families exist or not. Grow up and deal with it.

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@hightor,

The universe really doesn't give a **** whether you or I or our friends and families exist or not.

That's a tough fact to master. But once you've got it so much falls into place.

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@hightor,

You religious zealots are always so tedious.

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@oralloy,

Wait - whoa!! Is that name-calling? Religious Zealots? I think it might be. And you don't do that, supposedly, right? I've caught you doing this twice today.

So don't accuse others of what you do in your righteous spirit.

~~~~~

Graham's Hierarchy of Disagreement lists name-calling as the lowest type of argument in a disagreement.
Name-calling is a form of verbal abuse in which insulting or demeaning labels are directed at an individual or group. This phenomenon is studied by a variety of academic disciplines such as anthropology, child psychology, and political science. It is also studied by rhetoricians, and a variety of other disciplines that study propaganda techniques and their causes and effects. The technique is most frequently employed within political discourse and school systems, in an attempt to negatively impact their opponent.

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@Mame,

Mame wrote:

Wait - whoa!! Is that name-calling?

No.

Mame wrote:

Religious Zealots? I think it might be.

It's not.

Mame wrote:

And you don't do that, supposedly, right?

Who said that? I do it in self defense fairly often.

I've also tried to direct name-calling at the Biden Administration (fair play after how Mr. Trump was treated). The moderators tend to remove it however.

It is true however that I do not direct name-calling against other posters unless I am defending myself from their own name-calling.

Mame wrote:

I've caught you doing this twice today.

No you haven't.

Mame wrote:

So don't accuse others of what you do in your righteous spirit.

Setting aside the fact that I'm actually not engaging in name-calling against other posters outside of self defense, why not?

If I accuse someone it will be for a good reason.

Mame wrote:

Graham's Hierarchy of Disagreement lists name-calling as the lowest type of argument in a disagreement.

The fact that progressives use such tactics says much about progressivism.

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@hightor,

hightor wrote:

Quote:
I fear it. I have no idea if there is an afterlife or not. And if there's not, I'm not very enthusiastic about ceasing to exist.

I'm also unhappy about the possibility of my friends and family ceasing to exist.

Oh, FFS, you can't handle accepting a condition which has affected every human being, every animal, every plant, every living thing from jump street? It's called "mortality". The universe really doesn't give a **** whether you or I or our friends and families exist or not. Grow up and deal with it.

Really? All that just because a man says he fears death? I fear death. Most people fear death. Most people fear death so much that they believe in a fable that they won't really die, but will instead go to a magical place of eternal happiness.

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@Brandon9000,

It's one thing to feel sadness and apprehension about the circumstances which will surround you as you are faced with your own demise. Similarly, feelings of grief concerning the deaths of others is certainly understandable. But bemoaning the reality of your mortality and eventual extinction as if it were something unfair or tragic is simply childish. Choosing to believe the fable is fine, but it's a rather pathetic coping mechanism because it's obviously an invented story, unsupported by evidence, which even many religious believers aren't 100% sure of — why not just accept birth, life, death, followed by the empty hollow hum of eternity?

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@hightor,

hightor wrote:

it's obviously an invented story, unsupported by evidence, which even many religious believers aren't 100% sure of -- why not just accept birth, life, death, followed by the empty hollow hum of eternity?

Because that is equally an unsupported fable.

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@oralloy,

Are you saying that death is a fable? Billions of people have been born and have died — are you denying that?

It's not really a fable since it reflects what we actually know of biology, that consciousness is supported by the physical body and disappears when the organism ceases to exist. What would be the evolutionary function of an afterlife?

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@hightor,

SELF is not consciousness types though...SELF experiences consciousness types....that's the mistake the Buddha made.

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Quote:

What would be the evolutionary function of an afterlife?

Funniest thing I’ve read this morning!

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@hightor,

hightor wrote:

Are you saying that death is a fable? Billions of people have been born and have died — are you denying that?

It's not really a fable since it reflects what we actually know of biology, that consciousness is supported by the physical body and disappears when the organism ceases to exist. What would be the evolutionary function of an afterlife?

I see your point with regard to your disagreement with that guy...BUT...

...you may be heading toward a step too far, Hightor.

The ONLY reasonable answer to the question, "Is there an 'afterlife' of some sort?"...is: I DO NOT KNOW.

There may be an afterlife...there may be no afterlife.

Neither assertion can reasonably be made.

And most importantly, neither can it be reasonably asserted that one is more likely than the other!

All one can do is to make a guess about the issue...if one enjoys making guesses about those kinds of unknowns.

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@Frank Apisa,

Well, you're right. But I hope it's okay to point out that existence of an afterlife has never been shown to be true, that no evidence for it has been provided, that it violates everything we know about biology, and serves no evolutionary function. Hardcore agnosticism always wins out in the end but when the only defense for a fantastic claim is recourse to myth and legend I feel justified in questioning the premises and motivations of those promoting the story.

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@hightor,

hightor wrote:

Well, you're right. But I hope it's okay to point out that existence of an afterlife has never been shown to be true, that no evidence for it has been provided, that it violates everything we know about biology, and serves no evolutionary function. Hardcore agnosticism always wins out in the end but when the only defense for a fantastic claim is recourse to myth and legend I feel justified in questioning the premises and motivations of those promoting the story.

As a discussion (NOT as an argument between us)...I would ask:

1) How does it "violate" everything we know about biology?

2) Do you suspect "everything we (humans) know about biology" is ALL THERE IS TO KNOW about biology? Do you suppose it impossible (or improbably) that there is much more left to know about biology than we already know?

Why do you assert that an "afterlife" would serve no useful evolutionary purpose? Seems to me a much better case could be made that an "afterlife" would be the ultimate evolutionary facet.

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