Life After Death

Mirrorball95 · 05-22-2009, 07:24 PM

I find it really difficult to believe that we are here just by chance. That all the complexities about the planet & how we exist and act like human beings was all just a matter of kaboom! then all these concidences occured. Im not exactly religious or anything either but I have had a few experiences in the past to make me at least have reservations about the afterlife, but not enough to convince me. I try to keep an open mind on this subject as people will obviously say science is fact & is there in black and white & I agree you cant argue with fact.
I believe that there are just too many sightings/stories in order to dismiss the afterlife as non existent as it would be to dismiss science. Your not telling me that all these people either made it up/are dillusional. There must be something after death.
You never know the afterlife could have actually been created with the supposed Kaboom! that got us here in the first place! How f*cked up would that be if you found that out in the end!

Now in all truth most people would prefer to think that there is an afterlife & that after we die it isnt just all over as such. It can act as a sort of comfort for them as nobody would want to think that when they die there is absolutely nothing next which could make death a really scary thing for some people.

So my theory on it is that I keep an open mind on both parts based on facts and my own experiences.
Anyway even if there is 'nothing' after death, I wont know a single f*cking thing about it.
On the other hand, Id love to come back and haunt people.

EDIT: By the way Verdical, I had thought about the comment you made about it being created in peoples minds, but I just dont buy it. Perhaps there is something in our brains that hasnt been identified yet and can trigger these occurences. Only time will tell, but for now I wouldnt say that all the people who cite ghosts & spiritual experiences are just imagining it.

Freebase Dali · 05-22-2009, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mirrorball95

EDIT: By the way Verdical, I had thought about the comment you made about it being created in peoples minds, but I just dont buy it. Perhaps there is something in our brains that hasnt been identified yet and can trigger these occurences. Only time will tell, but for now I wouldnt say that all the people who cite ghosts & spiritual experiences are just imagining it.

I think you may have misunderstood what I was saying.

I wasn't referring to actual afterlife experiences being created in the mind. I was speaking on the psychological need for an afterlife in order to placate a fear of death.

TheBig3 · 05-22-2009, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veridical Fiction

To me, looking at the psychological aspect of it does two things:
1, as we made apparent, it tells us about people's relationship with a fear-based desire for continuity.
As you said, that doesn't tell us anything about an afterlife itself. (at first glance)
But 2, looking at 1 generally and logically, you shine a light on the naturally occurring assumption that because of this situation between people and fear of death; the afterlife was created in the mind as a way to reconcile it.

It's sort of using one parameter to define another based on the relationship between those two parameters. Obviously we have a more solid foundation when weighing the psychological factors as opposed to supposition independent of them.

All I'm saying is there are ways to accurately draw conclusions based on psychological relationships. Of course, with the nature of what we're discussing here, each one of us only gets one chance to test our theories, and even then, it won't help anyone else.

You get that, no matter what science shows us about humans coping mechanisms, it doesn't tell us anything about what happens when you die right?

cause the only thing I'm saying.

sleepy jack · 05-22-2009, 09:31 PM

Well actually it does tell us quite a bit about what happens when we die. We know a lot about decomposition.

Freebase Dali · 05-22-2009, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog

You get that, no matter what science shows us about humans coping mechanisms, it doesn't tell us anything about what happens when you die right?

cause the only thing I'm saying.

Of course..
Not in the sense of what happens outside the realm of physical processes.
So we've established that if we want to theorize about what happens spiritually, for lack of a better word, then we're doing it on our own.

What I'm saying is that there is value in using what info you do have and making assumptions you're confident in. That kind of answer only needs personal validation.

TheBig3 · 05-22-2009, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sleepy jack

Well actually it does tell us quite a bit about what happens when we die. We know a lot about decomposition.

the decomposition of psychology?

/douch-off
/go!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veridical Fiction

Of course...

great! I'm done here.

Freebase Dali · 05-22-2009, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog

great! I'm done here.

Haha... I feel so manipulated.
You could have made your question a lot simpler.

sleepy jack · 05-22-2009, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBig3KilledMyRainDog

the decomposition of psychology?

/douch-off
/go!

If one were to consider psychology to be (loosely) the study of the mind and one to were to even more loosely define decomposition as something being simplified because it isn't in complete use (or rather living) then I would say it's possible that the decomposition of psychology is occurring within your own underused/simple mind.

Your move 3!

Mirrorball95 · 05-23-2009, 06:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Veridical Fiction

I think you may have misunderstood what I was saying.

I wasn't referring to actual afterlife experiences being created in the mind. I was speaking on the psychological need for an afterlife in order to placate a fear of death.

Yeah looks like it, was just skimming your post as I was writing mines.
Well I did make reference to that as well in my post.

Guybrush · 05-23-2009, 07:18 AM

You can still gather evidence in favour of something and make one explanation more plausible than others, even if you can't be sure it's 100% correct.

F.ex you can look at a brain scan and record brain activity when people think of different things, so we know that brain activity somehow relates to thinking. We know that when parts of the brain is damaged, that can alter function such as the ability to speak languages or the ability to associate visual sensory input with your knowledge of stuff so that you're able to recognize things you see. Damage to the brain in old people with alzheimers often alters personality.

You can take all that and more and say that's evidence in favour of the following assumption : that if the brain dies and completely decomposes, it's function is lost which is so disruptive to thought processes and personality that this stuff ceases.

That's based on f.ex knowledge of the effects of necrosis in your brain when you're alive. Why should the rules suddenly change? From our general experience, they don't.

05-23-2009, 07:18 AM	#140 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	You can still gather evidence in favour of something and make one explanation more plausible than others, even if you can't be sure it's 100% correct. F.ex you can look at a brain scan and record brain activity when people think of different things, so we know that brain activity somehow relates to thinking. We know that when parts of the brain is damaged, that can alter function such as the ability to speak languages or the ability to associate visual sensory input with your knowledge of stuff so that you're able to recognize things you see. Damage to the brain in old people with alzheimers often alters personality. You can take all that and more and say that's evidence in favour of the following assumption : that if the brain dies and completely decomposes, it's function is lost which is so disruptive to thought processes and personality that this stuff ceases. That's based on f.ex knowledge of the effects of necrosis in your brain when you're alive. Why should the rules suddenly change? From our general experience, they don't. __________________ Something Completely Different