If the existence of an enduring soul was proven...

[Gawdzilla Sama]

...would it change the way you live?

(In Atheism because the existence of a enduring soul doesn't automatically prove a god or gods exist.)

The Christians I've known were very consistent in being afraid of death, because, I suspect, they didn't know if they were in the correct camp regarding whatever god was "on the other side of death". This has since made me wonder how they would act if they knew they'd "make it safely out of this world". More reckless? More smug? More placid?

Additionally and not necessarily part of the above, what if we create our "next life"? Would we create a Heaven or Hell? Or both?

[Angrboda]

It would change the way I think. Whether it would change the way I live, I don't know. The existence of a soul doesn't necessarily answer the questions I think you are implying, such as that of an afterlife.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

It would change the way I think.  Whether it would change the way I live, I don't know.   The existence of a soul doesn't necessarily answer the questions I think you are implying, such as that of an afterlife.

The "enduring" part was intended to imply that.

[tackattack]

Most of the Christians I know are not inherently afraid of death. But in your thought experiment, let’s assume the eternity of a soul , without a God(s) or heaven/hell/purgatory//shangrila etc..

If an eternal soul could/would not affect the physical world then I wouldn’t change much. I would still try and make the most out of the briefest time here physically.

[Angrboda]

It would change the way I think.  Whether it would change the way I live, I don't know.   The existence of a soul doesn't necessarily answer the questions I think you are implying, such as that of an afterlife.

The "enduring" part was intended to imply that.

That still doesn't tell us anything about the afterlife. It could be sheol for all we know.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I mentioned that people might create their own afterlife.

[brewer]

Is the other side of death always guaranteed better? If so, what would stop people from whacking themselves/their children in times of strife?

We'd just create next life. Heaven or hell would be what the next people create of it.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Is the other side of death always guaranteed better? If so, what would stop people from whacking themselves/their children in times of strife?

That is, indeed, one question. If we go to "Heaven" regardless of how we live in this world I think the human race wouldn't last long.

We'd just create next life. Heaven or hell would be what the next people create of it.

"next life"?

[Brian37]

...would it change the way you live?

(In Atheism because the existence of a enduring soul doesn't automatically prove a god or gods exist.)

The Christians I've known were very consistent in being afraid of death, because, I suspect, they didn't know if they were in the correct camp regarding whatever god was "on the other side of death". This has since made me wonder how they would act if they knew they'd "make it safely out of this world". More reckless? More smug? More placid?

Additionally and not necessarily part of the above, what if we create our "next life"? Would we create a Heaven or Hell? Or both?

I am afraid of death. Just not afraid of not existing, there is a difference. I am not afraid of my pre life either. I am afraid of prolonged pain and a slow death. I am afraid of missing my friends and loved ones, and them missing me. But I am not afraid of being finite. 

If life didn't evolve to avoid danger, we wouldn't look both ways when crossing a busy street.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

This thread was inspired by the memory of a line from Stranger in a Strange Land where Don Juan "begged to be returned to the solitary Hell he had created for himself." That line bubbled up to the surface earlier today and I was wondering how things would go if that possibility was a real thing.