I'm an atheist but I don't actually preclude the existence of an afterlife. "There is no heaven or hell, it just all goes black and that's it," is just as patently unfalsifiable as any claim made by any religion.
It's just as likely to be something completely different and alien from anything conceivable in our limited world view. In an infinite space of probabilities, the likelihood of it being "literally nothing" actually seems pretty low.
That kind of uncertainty is exactly what scares most people, but not me. I'm looking forward to finding out one day.
Exactly. It’s not like you experienced anything before you were born either. Your brain starts sending signals, you experience those signals. After your brain stops your experience stops. Everyone has already observed this phenomenon. Unless technology advances to a point where we can reverse entropy somehow to the point where we can resurrect your dead brain cells, you will not experience anything ever again. And that’s fine, it won’t be scary, you won’t care, because you literally can’t.
I don't agree that the cessation of brain activity necessarily means the end of the subjective experience. That doesn't mean I purport to know what actually happens at that point. I hope it's some sort of reincarnation but that's just because there's more I want to experience in this universe than I possibly could in a single lifetime.
"You only have one life, live it the best you can" is a nice motivational mantra, but however well I live my life, it's highly unlikely I will live long enough to experience interstellar travel, for example, or first contact with alien life. I think that really fucking sucks, and I really hope I'll have a chance on the next go-around. But if it's something completely different, I'm cool with that, too.
But why expect and plan for something that makes no sense? Sure, we can't prove there's no continued sentience once the brain dies, but there's no logic that leads to that. It's just wishful thinking. And that's how people have been duped into religious mumbo jumbo for ever.
I don't agree that the cessation of brain activity necessarily means the end of the subjective experience.
What happens to a car when you turn off the engine and then disassemble the parts? Is the car still running? You believe in infinite possibilities so the chance of it not running is tiny?
I realize this is also unverifiable, but it's just a return to non-existentence.
You already experienced that for most of human history, and then for a comparatively breif period, things were different, and then it's back to non-existence.
The lack of memory of past existence isn't evidence of anything. We have clear evidence that memories are physical things, stored as connections of neurons in the brain. They can be lost to disease or injury, and they're destructively modified every time we access them.
39 Comments
Technus@lemmy.zip · 68 pts · 254d
I think with a capful of Adderall I could ascend to a higher plane of existence
Jax@sh.itjust.works · 39 pts · 254d
Yeah, I mean if you believe in the afterlife
Technus@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 254d
I'm an atheist but I don't actually preclude the existence of an afterlife. "There is no heaven or hell, it just all goes black and that's it," is just as patently unfalsifiable as any claim made by any religion.
It's just as likely to be something completely different and alien from anything conceivable in our limited world view. In an infinite space of probabilities, the likelihood of it being "literally nothing" actually seems pretty low.
That kind of uncertainty is exactly what scares most people, but not me. I'm looking forward to finding out one day.
SantasMagicalComfort@piefed.world · 13 pts · 254d
Life is brain activity and when that ceases it’s the fade-to-black.
Simple as.
Technus@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 254d
My whole point is that I disagree with the certainty of that claim. It's not grounded in empirical evidence, because we don't have any.
SantasMagicalComfort@piefed.world · 13 pts · 254d
We have proof of brain activity and it ending at death.
Cruxifux@feddit.nl · 5 pts · 254d
Exactly. It’s not like you experienced anything before you were born either. Your brain starts sending signals, you experience those signals. After your brain stops your experience stops. Everyone has already observed this phenomenon. Unless technology advances to a point where we can reverse entropy somehow to the point where we can resurrect your dead brain cells, you will not experience anything ever again. And that’s fine, it won’t be scary, you won’t care, because you literally can’t.
Technus@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 254d
I don't agree that the cessation of brain activity necessarily means the end of the subjective experience. That doesn't mean I purport to know what actually happens at that point. I hope it's some sort of reincarnation but that's just because there's more I want to experience in this universe than I possibly could in a single lifetime.
"You only have one life, live it the best you can" is a nice motivational mantra, but however well I live my life, it's highly unlikely I will live long enough to experience interstellar travel, for example, or first contact with alien life. I think that really fucking sucks, and I really hope I'll have a chance on the next go-around. But if it's something completely different, I'm cool with that, too.
CannonFodder@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 254d
But why expect and plan for something that makes no sense? Sure, we can't prove there's no continued sentience once the brain dies, but there's no logic that leads to that. It's just wishful thinking. And that's how people have been duped into religious mumbo jumbo for ever.
Blue_Morpho@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 254d
What happens to a car when you turn off the engine and then disassemble the parts? Is the car still running? You believe in infinite possibilities so the chance of it not running is tiny?
SantasMagicalComfort@piefed.world · 3 pts · 254d
But it’s the brain active that causes the experience.
Jax@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 254d
Ah, so you're in the 'teleporters are just cloning machines' camp.
SantasMagicalComfort@piefed.world · 3 pts · 254d
What do you think they’re a 3D printer with a soul transfer function?
Jax@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 254d
Nope, just aware there are different ways of thinking about it — wasn't implying any one was wrong or right
Clent@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 254d
Teleporters are a plot device.
Tracaine@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 254d
Sir this is a Wendy's. We're discussing drugs, not God. Arguably the same thing but still.
Godort@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 254d
I realize this is also unverifiable, but it's just a return to non-existentence.
You already experienced that for most of human history, and then for a comparatively breif period, things were different, and then it's back to non-existence.
Technus@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 254d
The lack of memory of past existence isn't evidence of anything. We have clear evidence that memories are physical things, stored as connections of neurons in the brain. They can be lost to disease or injury, and they're destructively modified every time we access them.
dangling_cat@piefed.blahaj.zone · 4 pts · 254d
What if I believe that after you die, you get reincarnated as the type of person you hate the most?
Ahhh dirt. I don’t want to be a transphobic trillionaire.
Technus@lemmy.zip · 4 pts · 254d
Yeah but on the second incarnation, wouldn't that put you right back where you started?
deltapi@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 254d
Similar, but I consider myself agnostic, and I'm in no rush to reach the point of 'find out or cease existing'
Wren@lemmy.today · 3 pts · 253d
Can't talk now, waxing my legs one hair at a time.
Rooskie91@discuss.online · 32 pts · 254d
Only if your prescription is for euthanasia!
LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 254d
Youth in Asia don't get enough credit for all the great things they achieve.
oozynozh@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 253d
always wondered as a child why my church was praying to end youth in Asia
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 254d
what are those bar things, is that supposed to be a tablet?
Gerudo@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 254d
Alprazolam can come in a 4 segmented bar tablet. You're supposed to break it apart for the dosage you need.
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 254d
gnarly
Rooster326@programming.dev · 2 pts · 254d
Bars are the devil. It's >!Xanax!<
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 254d
squared off for easy choking lol
Fuck_u_spez_@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 254d
mojofrododojo@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 254d
jfc. grkk
great username too.
adhd_traco@piefed.social · 5 pts · 253d
🎼
Meine Liebe ist für immer
Und mir wird ganz warm
Meine Liebe ist für dich
Alprazolam, Alprazolam
🎧
I can practically taste the seizures
coriza@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 253d
Hey, I know this drug, it makes your snipe zoom more stable in Metal Gear Solid.
oozynozh@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 253d
kicks in instantly and lasts ~30 seconds ... maybe the nanomachines boost Snake's metabolism
ryedaft@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 254d
Benzozzzzz