unfogged Wrote:I talked once with an atheist who believed that there was some sort of ethereal cloud of abilities and that you drew your talents from that cloud and that the goal was to improve on them and when you die release them back into this nebulous cloud for the next person.  It wasn't an afterlife in that your consciousness did not survive death but your talents and abilities did.  It was a very strange conversation.  Atheism may be a common result of skepticism but that's apparently not the only way to get there.

This sounds like someone who has taken respawning in a video game a little bit too seriously.

Another thought... It may sound like common sense to some... but I almost see humans as simply a very advanced "growth" on the surface of the Earth. We are simply life that has been allowed to evolve over millennia into conscious beings. We are just "there," no different from plants, or fungus or bacteria or rocks or monkeys or deer or anything else. We are seeing and observing the world from our perspective so it is challenging to think anything other than that we are special and are "meant to be here" but we truly are not. We are simply bacteria that has, arguably, been allowed to evolve for WAY too long. We are like an infection on the Earth in that we destroy everything around us. We're just a growth, nothing more. A complex one at that, but still just a growth.

(October 2, 2018 at 3:50 pm)PRJA93 Wrote: Another thought... It may sound like common sense to some... but I almost see humans as simply a very advanced "growth" on the surface of the Earth. We are simply life that has been allowed to evolve over millennia into conscious beings. We are just "there," no different from plants, or fungus or bacteria or rocks or monkeys or deer or anything else. We are seeing and observing the world from our perspective so it is challenging to think anything other than that we are special and are "meant to be here" but we truly are not. We are simply bacteria that has, arguably, been allowed to evolve for WAY too long. We are like an infection on the Earth in that we destroy everything around us. We're just a growth, nothing more. A complex one at that, but still just a growth.

Such depressing words aren't for all. There are a lot of people who after thinking about what you described, just commit suicide to skip short sad life. And religion steps in and prevents a lot of such disasters, even if it brainwashes.

(October 2, 2018 at 3:58 pm)purplepurpose Wrote:

(October 2, 2018 at 3:50 pm)PRJA93 Wrote: Another thought... It may sound like common sense to some... but I almost see humans as simply a very advanced "growth" on the surface of the Earth. We are simply life that has been allowed to evolve over millennia into conscious beings. We are just "there," no different from plants, or fungus or bacteria or rocks or monkeys or deer or anything else. We are seeing and observing the world from our perspective so it is challenging to think anything other than that we are special and are "meant to be here" but we truly are not. We are simply bacteria that has, arguably, been allowed to evolve for WAY too long. We are like an infection on the Earth in that we destroy everything around us. We're just a growth, nothing more. A complex one at that, but still just a growth.

Such depressing words aren't for all. There are a lot of people who after thinking about what you described, just commit suicide to skip short sad life. And religion steps in and prevents a lot of such disasters, even if it brainwashes.

Well, not really. There's no need for it to be depressing. We can understand, logically, that life really has no objective meaning or purpose while still feeling fulfilled in our personal lives. The fact that, on the macro scale, I really don't matter, doesn't make my life any less enjoyable, my friends any less funny or my niece any less beautiful. It doesn't make my cat any less adorable or food taste worse.

I think it's important for people to compartmentalize certain beliefs, as we often do with so many ideas anyway. Why should this one be any different? Yea, life doesn't really mean much in the vastness that is our universe but we don't live on that macro scale, we live on the day-to-day, hour-to-hour, minute-to-minute scale.

There's really no need to take this sort of approach that being realistic about our existence is somehow depressing.

Imagine an all you can eat buffet that also had some of the most magnificent desserts you've ever seen.

You eat and eat until you are perfectly full and then eat about half of a remarkable dessert. It's a meal you would brag about to family and friends.

It was wonderful because it was finite. It had value because it didn't last forever. You were able to enjoy it because the food itself has a finite shelf life. It won't be this tasty a month from now. You are able to bask in it's freshness.

Now imagine that instead of finishing your wonderful meal and walking away, you are now forced to continue eating. You can never leave the restaurant. You must stay for all eternity.

It's the finite nature of life that gives our lives such a wonderful experience. You should be thankful that it doesn't last forever.

'The afterlife' sounds very dull and pointless to me. Much like this life but a lot longer.

(October 3, 2018 at 12:50 pm)Rahn127 Wrote: Imagine an all you can eat buffet that also had some of the most magnificent desserts you've ever seen.

You eat and eat until you are perfectly full and then eat about half of a remarkable dessert. It's a meal you would brag about to family and friends.

It was wonderful because it was finite. It had value because it didn't last forever. You were able to enjoy it because the food itself has a finite shelf life. It won't be this tasty a month from now. You are able to bask in it's freshness.

Now imagine that instead of finishing your wonderful meal and walking away, you are now forced to continue eating. You can never leave the restaurant. You must stay for all eternity.

It's the finite nature of life that gives our lives such a wonderful experience. You should be thankful that it doesn't last forever.

---

How can you possibly eat if you haven t got a body?
However you will be able to live in a state of total bliss according to me.
That is also food but food of a total different nature.
Food for the consciousness so to speak.
The same type of food that junkies try to get at any cost through a mental masturbation or chemical induced.
The natural way however is the way to go and I am sure that one day even atheists will agree with me.

I don’t believe in afterlife, but my six year old son does. This is a typical conversation with him (keep in mind he’s autistic and finds some concepts difficult to comprehend)

Son: How many more for me be 100?
Me: 94 years.
Son? How many more me be 104?
Me: after 100? 4.
Son: will I be old? Will I die? Then I be 0 again? Then 1?
Me: well, no. Have a cracker.
Son: WHY DON’T YOU ANSWER ME? I die 104. I be baby again. How many more to be 104 again?

Kid thinks it goes round and round.

Anywho... carry on

(October 4, 2018 at 12:12 am)Little Rik Wrote:

(October 3, 2018 at 12:50 pm)Rahn127 Wrote: Imagine an all you can eat buffet that also had some of the most magnificent desserts you've ever seen.

You eat and eat until you are perfectly full and then eat about half of a remarkable dessert. It's a meal you would brag about to family and friends.

It was wonderful because it was finite. It had value because it didn't last forever. You were able to enjoy it because the food itself has a finite shelf life. It won't be this tasty a month from now. You are able to bask in it's freshness.

Now imagine that instead of finishing your wonderful meal and walking away, you are now forced to continue eating. You can never leave the restaurant. You must stay for all eternity.

It's the finite nature of life that gives our lives such a wonderful experience. You should be thankful that it doesn't last forever.

---

How can you possibly eat if you haven t got a body?
However you will be able to live in a state of total bliss according to me.
That is also food but food of a total different nature.
Food for the consciousness so to speak.
The same type of food that junkies try to get at any cost through a mental masturbation or chemical induced.
The natural way however is the way to go and I am sure that one day even atheists will agree with me.

Little Rick, if God is so generous, why He doesn't heal kids from cancer when most of the parents are praying? If he gives away total bliss, why not start with much simpler thing?

(September 30, 2018 at 2:25 pm)purplepurpose Wrote: Are there atheists here who believe that there is some sort of afterlife? I personally still believe that there is something in afterlife, even if I dislike the idea.

I'm an atheist. But I still believe in the afterlife.

Life goes on after you die. That's a fact. And that's what I mean when I say I believe in the afterlife. If you want to create a better "afterlife" for yourself, you'd better set it up so that those you leave behind are as happy as they can be.

Oh? What? What? You wanted to live on after your own death and have some kind of happy existence for yourself? Nope. Sorry. That does not conform to reality. (Sorry.)

If you want to have a happy afterlife, you are going to have to ensure your survivors are happy. You ain't gonna be happy or sad after you're dead. You're gonna be dead. So if you want to have a happy afterlife, you gotta think of the living. You gotta know who will be alive after you die and ensure that they are happy.