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What do you believe happens when you die?

Greetings and salutations mortals I know this may seem like a stupid question but I must ask what do you all think happens when you pass from this world?

For me, I believe in a spirite and I believe that when I pass my spirit fades away into nothingness and becomes one with the cosmos where I will gain my eternal rest.

What do you all think happens?

TheDamned 3 July 28
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14 comments

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0

Everything shuts down and I cease to exist.

1

Dying means nothing at all. When you die. you're no longer there yet not going anywhere . Jeez ?

2

Nothing. You're alive, you're alive, you're alive, then you are dead. The end.

0

I will stop breathing. My brain and organs will stop doing whatever. My blood will settle at the lowest point in my body and the fauna in my guts will start multiplying to devour me from the inside out. Hopefully somebody will have noticed and send me on to the University of Rochester Medical Centerr for further procedure.
The medical students will get parts of me assigned for practice. They will admire all my tattoos. When they are done with me, my remains will be cremated, ashes put in a box and send to my family, where my grandsons will build a small wooden boat, spread my ashes in iot, bring it to Lake Ontario and set it on fire. The boat will flame up on the waves and carry me to Valhalla. Just kidding. We will sink to the bottom and disappear.

2

If there is a 'spirit' within us, it would necessarily be a product of evolution. The question then is, when and how did spirits arise? Did Neanderthals or Cro-Magnons have spirits? What is a spirit? Is it a soul?

Perhaps you're referring to consciousness itself, or self-awareness? If so, the question about what will happen to us when we die is often compared to our self-awareness, prior to being born. What we know for certain is that the atoms in our bodies were once a part of an untold number of plants, animals and even human beings, and when we die, we will return to the dust, and our atoms will become part of other living, and non-living, things.

1

I don't see why a "spirit" or "soul" would be necessary to one's "eternal rest". I would expect to just cease to be aware, and enter into oblivion. The spirit is not necessary to explain how that would work.

@TheDamned Yes and it's fine that you have that belief and I understand that you have it. I guess what I was trying to say (and sorry if I sounded confrontational, wasn't my intent) is that I just found the insertion of spirit into that equation to be both unnecessary and confusing. If you find it necessary or clarifying, and can help me understand why you do, that might help me understand your point of view. Which I would enjoy, even if I might not necessarily agree with it. If you wish to expand on the role of spirit in "fading away to nothingness" I would welcome that. Perhaps it has to do with "becoming one with the cosmos"? If so ... what does that mean to you?

That is an honest question, as it's another view that I've encountered before but am not sure why that would be desirable. If, on the one hand, I regard myself as separate from the cosmos, and I value my identity, I would not want to lose that identity in some sort of union with some larger one. On the other hand, if I don't value my identity, then whether I simply disappear or become a highly diluted part of some infinite consciousness, strikes me as roughly the same thing.

I hope that makes sense in explaining my views.

0

I also lean toward Pantheism.

MrDMC Level 7 July 28, 2018
0

If you believe in a spirit you should be able to justify your belief. It seems you believe it to be some sort of energy that lasts beyond your life and rests for eternity. Unless I didn’t understand the meaning of your words, it seems to me there is no justification for such a claim.

The illusion of a soul or spirit comes from the beauty of our brains that can give us the illusion of being separate beings. Consciousness is an emergent property of many separate areas of the brain working in concert to allow you to make sense of the world around you. People who have strokes or brain damage can retain consciousness, lose it entirely, acquire e new completely different personality, or be conscious of certain things and not others. It’s all an illusion limited to the state of your brain. Once the brain stops working, you aren’t a spirit or a soul and you aren’t resting. It’s over.

Neuroscience is getting a grasp on consciousness. You should look into it. Very interesting.

0

People miss all the times they could of seen you alive and you get to fly in ash form and be truly free .

1

People miss all the times they could of seen you alive and you get to fly in ash form and be truly free .

3

That is it. Mark Twain is quoted as saying something to effect that he was dead or din't exist for millions of years and it didn't bother him so he wasn't worried about dying.

I do like to say that "from star dust was I made and to star dust will I return".

Twain also supposedly said he didn't want to go to heaven - wouldn't know anybody there. ?

@chalupacabre Twain was an agnostic maybe atheist. I haven't done any in depth research. His private papers were to be held for some lengthy period or until his descendants had all passed away. He was well aware of the attitude of his time just as we are aware of the current attitudes. Sorry I can't be more specific but The Prince and the Pauper was my first book. My mother read it to me and I think I may have learned to read following along with her. Never paid much attention to his religious or political views. Just his stories.

This is one of my favorite quotes:
"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
Read more at: [brainyquote.com]

When people complain about getting old I like to point out to them that the alternative is not acceptable. Life is to be lived. Embrace it, both the good and bad, the happy times and the sad time. Drink deep we walk this way but once.

@Nakiarogue If you can find a copy, Letters From Earth is fantastic! One that his family wanted suppressed.

4

Maggot food, and people will talk about me much more complimentary than they did when I was alive.

3

Heart stops, brain stops, decomp starts.

1

You return to the cosmos for another round in eternity.

Marine Level 8 July 28, 2018
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