What happens to you when you die?

[Eilonnwy]

Here's the deal. I've heard a lot of atheists say that "Nothing happens to me when I die. I just end." This almost seems like a claim to knowledge. To me, to state that when one dies they blink into nothingness is almost a ... belief. Why not stay more open minded and say "I have utterly no idea..."?

Of course it's a belief, no one ever said otherwise.

Mine: I don't have a single clue what happens to whatever 'me' is when I die. I don't know if I will blink into nothingness any more than if I will wake up staring at Hades' boatman. I hope there is some sort of an afterlife, maybe something akin to Valhalla where everyone that has ever lived is there but at the same time I want to be practically all-powerful (so I can look back in time and see 'what really happened', among other things). I approach death with curiosity.

What is everyone's position on death? What say you?

I do not claim to know absolutely what happens when we die, but evidence suggest that we simply cease to exist. There is absolutely no evidence for any version of the afterlife, so we have no reason to believe there is.

Well, I guess I'm speaking more of something that you could call a soul, essence, spirit, mind, or maybe something else that is there but is undefined by man or maybe is defined, basically 'me', with disregard to my physical body. 'Paul the Human' said that "the mind is a product of the brain". Really? Are we certain of this? We certainly don't have any evidence that any of these things exist and I'm not making the claim that we do. I'm also not stating that I believe they exist, I lack a belief. However, I'm not ruling out the possibility that something could exist because of hope, a hope that I don't put much stock in, but is interesting to think about all the same.

There's no evidence for the soul. In fact, the more we learn about the human mind, the more we understand how everything that makes up our personality, sense of self, etc... is all contained within the brain. In essence, the mind is the brain experiencing itself, which I think is absolutely fascinating.

Ultimately, If there's no reason to believe in the mystical soul, why should I hope for it? I personally would rather embrace my life and death realistically rather than just hope there's something better.

This notion that there's evidence that when we die, "that's it", is false, in my opinion. There is no evidence either way and it might even be unmeasurable so there is no way to take a position. Now I understand if one doesn't believe in heaven or hell or other blatantly fantastical conjurings, but can you not even entertain the idea of a continuation of 'yourself' after death, somewhere, somehow?

I would say that the proposition that there is some sort of soul/spirit/thing that continues on to some other sort of existence, however improbable, is possible within the realm of possibilities, and that to claim with almost certainty that 'nothing happens'/'worm food, that's it', is as much of a claim to knowledge of this event as the religious claims.

There is no evidence of an afterlife... but to my knowledge, there's no evidence of a "blinking into nothingness" either...

The evidence I would argue that supports the notion of death being, well, death, is varied. In short, the lack of good scientific evidence for an afterlife, versus the continuing evidence that the brain is responsible for everything that makes up the human mind, to me, makes the idea that "That's It" more valid than any other notion of an afterlife.

(If I am nothing more than some electrical-chemical computer program that runs within a biological meat bag, then as far as I can tell, it is possible for science to advance to the point where my brain could be perfectly replicated within a computer, where I would then 'exist'. If I think of it this way, then it would be entirely possible for the program 'rax.exe' to be deleted and cease to exist as easily and as certainly as a deletion of 'tities.jpg'. I guess if I think of it this way I can understand the 'nothingness' position. However, I guess I would still like to use my imagination to ponder what could happen after death.)

A spark of truth, since any idea about afterlife is pretty much the result of imagination. Why I disagree with the statement that the evidence for an afterlife and no afterlife is lacking for both, as far as any afterlife goes there is absolutely no scientific evidence, as you admitted, which means any notion of an after life is as valid and worthless as any other.

I think the main word that I'm using here is 'hope'. I mean, imagine you are on a game show, and there is a wall with a big curtain over it. The host tells you whatever is behind the curtain, if anything, is yours, except for any parts of the building. So, the question is, "What do you hope is behind the curtain, a billion dollars, naked women and a billion dollars, a yacht and a billion dollars, gold bars, what is your hope?"

This is the same concept that I'm applying to my death. What would I want to happen, what do I hope happens? I do not want to cease to be, even as much as I will more than likely cease to be, I do not want nor hope to cease to be. I hope that when I die there is a continuation of 'myself'.

Hope is nice and soothing, and I don't have anything against hope. However, I personally prefer to deal with fact. I don't pretend to myself that every bad thing in life will be rectified in the afterlife. I know this is the only life I'm guaranteed to have and I want to make the best of it, so when I die I can at least know I lead a good life, afterlife or no afterlife.

I'm simply using my imagination to conjure up what I would want to happen when I die. You honestly don't do the same? Sometimes I also day-dream about what it would be like to have certain super powers or if I were rich. How is this any different? I wish there is another life after this and I wish I were a multi-millionaire right now.

Of course I day dream and have an afterlife, that doesn't mean I delude myself into thinking it could be true.

Hoping, wanting and wishing doesn't make it any more or less possible, but it is possible right? Or are most of the people that responded here strong-aLifeAfterDeathists (a play on strong atheism), and refuse or are in capable of such fantastical thinking?

So when I get grilled about an atheist's view on death, I answer that I don't know, and that we very well might cease to be, (and go into the circle of life, and star death, physics, yada yada...) but that I hope that there is an afterworld...etc

The responses on here were kind of surprising, but maybe I'm phrasing the question wrong.

---> How about this: Do you hope/want/wish there is an afterlife... of some kind... or no? If so, what do you think of? If not... why?

Yes and no. Sometimes I think it would be nice, but other times I think I wouldn't want to exist forever. Maybe because we know we're going to die we think immortality is a wonderful thing, but I'm not so sure. I certainly want to exist for a long time, but I don't think forever.

I think of death as being not born. For all those millions of years I didn't exist it didn't bother me. I'm lucky enough to have this time here and on earth, enjoy myself and make the most of it. Dying may be scary, but not as scary as wondering if some vengeful God will send me to hell. I know I'll be free of pain, worry, stress, fear, etc... Yes I won't have other positive emotions either, but I won't be bothered. I'll be done, and that's okay.