Where do you go after death? Religious, atheist, gnostic views are all welcome. Just wanted an interesting thread

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I think dying feels kinda like before we were born. We go to the same place and shit. I dont remeber how it felt beforenI was born but it was sure as hell better than living in this shitty world.

trips confirm
a glass of water back into the sea

water has a memory of sorts though

Thats the trick.

"The only thing the dead knows, is its better to be alive"

where's that quote from?
>dmt

Full Metal Jacket

I like this dude, what do you think about dreams? Recently had a false awakening, felt just as real as anything, then my friends head started glowing and turned all demonic. Woke me up, was pretty startling

Yas

Your brain ceases function and you become compost. It's like sleeping without dreaming. Forever.

Not sure. I have reason to believe the idea of the soul reborn (reincarnation), and it's fascinating as hell. I'm just terrified by the possibility of ceasing to exist. I like living, and the only possible imagining of what being nothing at all sounds like a nightmare.

>Where do you go after death?
Where does this idea come from that there is a "you" decoupled from your body? Everything you are is physical so if your body ceases to exist, so do "you".

How can you explain all consciousness then? Whats its purpose? Also why are we given this ability to critically think and ask direct questions like these?

If we didn't have a consciousness we would still proceed to exist right? Even if we were unaware of it?

I think you return to a spirit world where you meet your higher self and consider the lessons you learned in that life and then get to live in utter peace and happiness for a while then your higher self plots out a new human life for you to live that you may agree to or change. This repeats until you have mastered the human experience and you go on to maybe harder challenges then return to source or the great spirit from which you came.

I met my higher self last night in this strangely placed window in my bathroom.

who's to say your not already there and the only thing stopping you from that creation is the rules others have created for you?

It's an interesting point of view.

Like what if this "life" we are experiencing is actually the afterlife? What if death sends us back to reality?

Or what if were sent in to a different reality each time, as to not have things like social construct biase your final judgement, to test the true content of your soul?

>How can you explain all consciousness then?
What kind of an answer are you looking for? Where exactly consciousness is located in the brain? Or which chemicals it is made out of? If we were able to give such an answer it wouldn't be very satisfying because it doesn't explain the way existing feels etc. That's why people make up things like a soul that is decoupled from the body which in the end doesn't explain anything but instead just gives the unknown a name. How does that explain all consciousness?
How would you define consciousness anyway? The feeling of "being there" and "observing and planning your own actions"?

>Whats its purpose?
Purpose is a man made idea. Nature is not required to follow anything we would call purpose.

>Also why are we given this ability to critically think and ask direct questions like these?
It's a byproduct of our ability to think in abstract ways which obviously is a huge advantage compared to other animals.

>If we didn't have a consciousness we would still proceed to exist right? Even if we were unaware of it?
That's the point. How are you going to tell if somebody/something is conscious? You see consciousness as nothing but a camera capturing everything we think. In my opinion these two aspects cannot be separated. You are not observing your thoughts, you are your thoughts.

The astral realm you are correct OP

Energy never dies it goes somewhere else

You disentigrate. If your consciousness lives on, we don't know what happens.

At least if you take the scientific term. If you say "soul=energy therefore afterlife" this has nothing to do with energy conservation and is an invalid argument.

Similar to the monad theory of souls.

You turn to cosmic dust to float around the universe... basically do you remember before you were born? No I assume. That is how it will be after death too. Nothing. You'll be free from pain and the agonizing void of existence that is already modern life though

Your last statement is quite interesting. It really does boil down to whether you believe one or the other.

I actually really like this idea

but tbh I think this is the correct answer

Consciousness is just a form of awareness. It comes in various degrees or levels. like plants have a form of consciousness which is a very primitive form and hard to understand from our perspective. Then theres animal consciousness, which is closer to our own (hence why we see similarities) consciousness, but its really much much different. This is why we can ask these questions, and think critically about things as such.

Purpose is not a man made thing, even if we were low conscious beings like animals. Everything still serves a purpose.

If you believe that if we could exist while being unaware of it, then why can't you Believe your consciousness could exist else where in the either without your awareness? Since you'd be dead and all?

Each water molecule retains its data and structure. That water molecule could be used in a car wash, a water bottle, and a hydro electric dam in it's entire existence. Maybe human souls have the same purpose as that?

>Consciousness is just a form of awareness.
That just gives the problem a different name. How do you quantify awareness? And how do you prove that plants and animals are "aware" (whatever that means) but to a different level? What does that even mean?

>Everything still serves a purpose.
How do you know? If you ask for the purpose you already imply that there has to be something bigger that would prefer a certain outcome over another. I have no reason to believe in anything like that, therefore my question: How do you know there is a purpose and what is it exactly?

>If you believe that if we could exist while being unaware of it,
I said the exact opposite of that. We are not observing our thoughts, we are our thoughts. Therefore being aware and existing as "myself" cannot be separated.

>why can't you Believe your consciousness could exist else where in the either without your awareness?
>Consciousness is just a form of awareness.
Also what does "else where" mean? Information is physical and so is your consciousness.

'You dont go anywhere. Depending on your culture, you either rot in the ground, rot in a box, rot in a box buried in the ground, get razed to ash, get eaten, etc.

It is a good question, but a great many answers are offered.

I have no clue if we die and are nothing, or if we move on to an afterlife, come back in a new life, or join with an astral plane. I do know that in hopes I can design something new to inhabit after death, a reincarnation to where you can choose a new life setting. Some are born extraordinary, some are born less than fortunate. In some respect, I would love to become something and someone more than what I have become in this life, perhaps shift my interests and my knowledge to something I am not good at now. It feels like a waste for it to all end and I know I cannot comprehend it. So maybe the end is all there is, maybe reincarnation is, maybe some astral plane is.

But who knows, we'll see when it comes up. I hope for a collective memory reincarnation or for a gaming term "New Life Plus". Every life you end you return to a place to form who you will be and what you are physically able to do. Maybe next life you become a super intelligent individual? Maybe you become a freak of nature? Maybe you intentionally get yourself born to a war-torn area to try and make a name for yourself? Sounds like fun to me.

OP; you're describing the 'Dreamlands' from the Cthulhu mythos.

I think that death is probably similar to birth; could a unborn child comprehend a world outside the womb? No. Similarly, we can't comprehend what is after death and outside what we perceive of reality. I think there is definitely an end to our idea of 'self', so no afterlife as such, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was something after death.

One thing is clear; it's to far from what we can comprehend to actually speculate about. Out of all the mainstream religions I think the East is probably closest with the idea of oneness or reincarnation, but I don't think either of those are 100% correct.

Our consciousness is physical? So that makes it easier. If its physical its energy. You should know where thats going.

There are clearly different levels of awareness. Plants have the most primitive that can be observed. They respond to stimulus in various ways in order to survive. They have a form communication and can warn others of danger. Its hard to percive from our perspective, its like trying to percive living in a 2d relm, but can't since we are in the 3rd dimension. Animals are similar to us, except they are unable to achieve critical thought. They are also not able to ask direct questions. We are clearly above them and we always have been since we magically popped into existence some thousands of years ago.

Laws of nature say everything has a purpose. Things are meant to live long as possible to progress its consciousness till it dies and gets recycled and hopefully pushing forward the evolution of all consciousness as a whole.

So do you say, if you were unaware of your existence you wouldn't exist?

the same place as before you were born if you remember

Not all dead people go there.

If you actually go to "dreamland" when you die I would 100% rather go to the traditional fire and brimstone hell.

Thats not the "original" version of hell.

What we call limbo today was the original version of hell. Its literally a blankness, not black, not white, just nothingness, The unimaginable. Then that wasn't scary enough they changed it to that burning blah blah blah, bs.

>If its physical its energy.
No. It contains energy but it IS not energy. I guess you wanted to argue that energy is conserved. Do you really want to say that ANYTHING that is physical is conserved?

>There are clearly different levels of awareness.
In that paragraph you only talk about mental and sensory abilities, not awareness. If consciousness is nothing but a functioning nerve system to you, then I don't know what you want me to explain.

>Laws of nature say everything has a purpose.
Which law does that? Give me an example.
What you describe is a consequence of evolution, why do you think it's a purpose? Who benefits from its outcome or process?

>So do you say, if you were unaware of your existence you wouldn't exist?
In some sense. My body may exist but there would be nothing I could call "myself".
Cogito ergo sum, as Descartes said it.

Here's something:

What are we? If we are made of millions of cells constantly dying and being regenerated, why are we not different people? What part of our body is 'us'?

Yes, anything. if its physical its energy. That energy cannot be created or destroyed.

What you perceive as bodily functions, i Perceive as a response to our consciousness or or subconscious mind which is 90% of who we really are. Our "conscious" mind (that one you percive the world with) is only 10% of what we really are as a whole.

If you believe biological evolution, that is the law of nature i speak of. Also we all benefit from it, all consciousness for everything living in our relm.

Can you go reiterate with that last thought you had? Cuz it seems like the consciousness is not apart of the body, but more of the controller or operator of this body.

I have a feeling that you would get very lonely pretty fast

>Yes, anything. if its physical its energy. That energy cannot be created or destroyed.
If that was true the universe would be stationary because literally everyting would be conserved and nothing would be able to change.
It's like saying "Houses are physical and therefore energy. Thus the number of houses is conserved." Of course you cannot annihilate a house in a way that literally nothing is left of it, but as soon as you drop a bomb on it it's no longer worth calling a house. Just as the information on your hard drive is gone if you throw it into a volcano.

>What you perceive as bodily functions, i Perceive as a response to our consciousness or or subconscious mind
So consciousness is not decoupled from your body.

>If you believe biological evolution, that is the law of nature i speak of.
And how can you tell a consequence of this law from a purpose? I think that's impossible so calling the outcome to be on purpose doesn't get you anywhere.
>Also we all benefit from it
There you go. We think existence has a purpose because we benefit from it and we are the center of our perception so we assume we must be so important that everything that happens serves a greater purpose revolving around us.
But that doesn't answer my question. Who or what wanted evolution to happen in the first place? Who benefits from it? Why should anything or anyone care about consciousness on our little planet?

>Cuz it seems like the consciousness is not apart of the body,
I think it is.
>but more of the controller or operator of this body.
Mind and body cannot be separated. Why should a controller be necessary? To control what? Where the chemicals go? Where current is allowed to flow? Physics decides that, no controller needed.

>Can you go reiterate with that last thought you had?
I don't know what a creature without awareness would look like or if it would be able to live at all, but if it was possible to extract my awareness from my brain (which is impossible in my opinion because awareness is not just one single thing decoupled from what it seems to control) there would be nothing left to call "myself". Everything that is "me" (not as a person but as a concept) consists of thoughts alone.

What do you mean it couldn't change? Thats the only thing energy can do is change forms. If you take all the materials in a house and burn them they are not being destroyed but changed to a different form of energy.

I say we because us humans are part of the living things in this relm. If humans didn't exist, it would be every other living conscious thing that reap the benefits. Its not a self center thought if you include everything as a whole.

Just because you believe its impossible doesn't mean its not true. We used to believe alot of things were "impossible" but in reality they are more improbable. But still very possible.

We need a controller cuz if we didn't we couldn't progress our conscious minds to be better suited for life. Our subconscious minds do all the other stuff you just mentioned about the chems and current flow. Physics has little to do with it.

Yeah but you'll still be you and you won't really remember so in turn you'll just make the same mistakes over again.

Essentially think of a creature that wouldn't rely soley on its frontal cortext or "conscious" mind. When in reality the consciousness i speak of is your full consciousness which includes the ither 90% of the mind that controlls everything you don't have to "think" to do. But in reality you are.

Just nothing

I think we're just fruits from the tree of life. We just go back to to it when we die. We're all linked to the same energy. Positive and negative need one another. The universe and everything we experience is a perfect reality. We're like pinholes in a curtain and our life is the light shining through. We love and kill one another. It's all balanced in this universe, and everything happens because something else happened to cause a domino effect..a butterfly effect lol.

agnostic atheist here.
Do you remember how it was 5 years before you were born? death will be exactly like that, you wont exist, you wont be asleep, you wont dream or experience anything, you stop being.

Exactly, the energy making up your consciousness may be conserved but since it is able to change its form your consciousness can be completely annihilated.

So conscious living beings, or to be more precise: in any way superior living beings benefit from the effects of evolution. Still no purpose there. No sign of anybody or anything wanting this to happen.

>Just because you believe its impossible doesn't mean its not true.
Then tell me: How can you tell a consequence of this law from a purpose? You can always say that anything that happend was purposely done by X. But that doesn't explain anything.

>Physics has little to do with it.
Of course it has. That's like saying what happens on your computer has nothing to do with physics because the software does everything. But it does according to the laws of physics. Your consciousness doesn't decide upon currents in your brain, it is rather the result of currents being there.

Consciousness cannot be traced back to a single region in your brain.

You contradict yourself when you say
>Consciousness is just a form of awareness.
and
>When in reality the consciousness i speak of is your full consciousness which includes the ither 90% of the mind that controlls everything you don't have to "think" to do.

God is like a hard-drive of information that can't be seen, because we are in it. It's spherical and infinite. Everything is possible, we just aren't advanced enough to make such things happen yet. We are God, and one day will evolve to the point that we end time and become one with everything and it will all start over again, like it always has.

Its not destroyed. This is how it gets recycled back into the either of the universe. Just like the burning material gets sent out into our world as heat and light and little bits of carbon left.

Life wants to keep living. As soon as life existed it never wanted it to end. This is why we strive to live longer and try to extend life of things that can't live that long. We have a subconscious understanding of this. Our "conscious" mind doesn't.

Actually, its been known that the frontal cortex is the part of the brain used in most if not all "conscious" decision making.

Yeah, thats cuz we designed a computer from our "conscious" minds understanding of this relms phyisics. Thats not how our minds work. We make computers to imitate our brain, yet they never will since our minds are always evolving.

Its not contradictory, if our brains are just a physical separator of our full consciousness which splits it up into bits so we can function properly within this physical relm. Also we are still evolving our minds so we need the part thats "conscious" (with thought) to controll us and move our bodies around while we are slightly guided with our "intuition" or subconscious mind. This is why we strive to live, not evolution, not cuz you're told to, its because you know in the back of your own mind that its always better to be alive.

>This is how it gets recycled back into the either of the universe.
How exactly. How is your consciousness represented after your death?

>Life wants to keep living.
Again, thats a consequence of evolution. Purpose still missing.

According to Robert Duncan:
"The difficulties we have assessing self-awareness demonstrate that it is a complex trait and support the idea that no single brain area is dedicated to it."

>Thats not how our minds work.
A claim that still has to be proven. And it also changes nothing about the fact, that the currents and chemicals making up our thoughts obey the laws of physics.
>We make computers to imitate our brain, yet they never will since our minds are always evolving.
So do computers.

First you said consciousness is a form of awareness. Then you said consciousness is also what's unaware to you.

>This is why we strive to live, not evolution
Yes it is an effect of evolution. If humans didn't strive to live we would have gone extinct a long time ago.

If you've had a night of no dreams I think death would be like that.
To surmise for those who always dream it'd be like so:
Complete darkness.
It swallows you, you see nothing, feel nothing, and can't think.
That's how I feel at least.

Its just recycled into the either, thats it. It escapes the holds of our bodies and goes beyond this relm or dimension or universe or whatever. This is stuff we cannot experience understand within our physical world, we have been here too long and rely so much on our frontal cortex to tell us whats "real" or not that we have lost our abilty to listen to our subconscious mind and let it guide us. We just let someone give command and our frontal lobe goes "okay".

You use this term evolution like it has any more relevance to the argument than the fact life as a whole could be aware of its self. You can't prove eithet of them wrong. Also why couldn't the awareness of life be the strive for evolution? Why does life want to keep living according to evolution?

Its quite difficult to put out all my information onto a non permanent message board on a Chinese incent trading webpage.

I agree. Imo, this 'need' to believe in an afterlife is simply a difficulty to come to grips with the idea of complete oblivion.

>This is stuff we cannot experience understand within our physical world,
Then why do you belive it? In the end it explains nothing. No falsifiable predictions arise from this idea.

>Also why couldn't the awareness of life be the strive for evolution?
Because evolution doesn't strive for anything. It's just a lifeless process. It has an outcome, not a purpose.

>Why does life want to keep living according to evolution?
Because all those that didn't want to live weren't able to pass on their genes.

I'm agnostic

One thing that I like to think is that when I die, I assume direct control over everything ever. Like a constant lucid dream, free to do whatever I want, when I want, without limitation or consequence

The ground, an urn, a ditch, the woods. Really depends on where they put you after.

Spritually? Wherever you want baby.

I believe this cuz, it makes the most sense to my understanding of things. Which i dont think you can grasp at this point it time in your life. You rely too much on your frontal lobe and not enough on intuition.

If evolution served no purpose, then why does it exist to some extent? Why does life even try to prevail? Try to explain this drive of survival, without the word "evolution".

If nothing has a purpose, why would life even exist? Why do/would they even "want" to live?

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What he said.

Besides who said it was lost? Body releases stored energy as heat immediately and throughout decomposition why should "soul" should it exist not also be converted to heat and released into the worl.

I just don't make unfalsifiable claims because if I was wrong I would never know it.

How is having a purpose a requirement for existence?
You will only be able to pass on your genes if you don't die before you can reproduce. Not every creature that ever existed wanted to do that or was able to. And those creatures died without passing on their genes, which is why their pattern of behaviour was not passed on to the next generation, which only inherited genes from creatures that survived until reproduction. So what will happen after this process is repeated over and over again? You will end up with creatures that would rather live than die, because thats what is inprinted in their genes.
Behaviours that do not serve self-preservation simply die out.
That's not a purpose, but a consequence of creatures that feed on eachother.

You break down and become sustenance for plants or animals.

you go into another body, and you rinse and repeat. the conscious is not bound to time, you will experience and have experience every persons life.

kinda sucks once you figure out youve just been killing yourself for the past few millenia