I'm still new to the world of atheism, but becoming more and more comfortable. Here is another question that I'm interested in understanding. Generally speaking, do agnostics and atheists believe in some for of self-awareness or self-beingness after departing this world?
As for me, I think there might be based on an experience I had, in my early twenties, in the Air Force, and stationed in Greece.
I hadn't been there very long when a decided to take a daytime nap, something I rarely do. During this nap I nap I had what I believe to be an out-of-body experience. It didn't last long, perhaps a couple of seconds.
During this out-of-body experience? I was walking over an arch shaped bridge going towards a beautiful city. This could easily be discounted as a dream except for one thing. During this brief moment, I had such an incredible sense of peace - now words to describe. I never approached anything like it, before or sense. When I consciously snapped back into this world? I was angry. I didn't want to be here and I was only in my early twenties.
If what I experience is a view of the afterlife? I can make this generalizations. First, we/ll retain some sense of body. Second, we'll be in an environment similar to here. Third, it's a place of overwhelming sense of peace. Finally, I didn't see any God, nor did I have any desire to see any God.
In my early twenties, I had no interest in religion, seeking God, or philosophy. I was only interested in doing my job and chasing girls. Now, I don't have any job, and I can't remember why I wanted to chase girls. The point is that if I had a glimpse of the so-called after life?, my existence there didn't have any relationship to any god.
Logically, we know that we self-consciously exist now, why wouldn't we continue to self-consciously exist? I would like to think that we do continue to self-consciously exist or our self-aware existence is to me, a meaningless existence. My opinion is that we self-consciously exist in a continuum of self-conscious existence, but I'm open to more logical explanations.
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Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.It was an out of body experience,it is relatively common,though I have never had one,at least I don't think I have .I have had visions/vivid dreams which are similar I believe. Some people can have an OOBE easily,its down to the individual.
Far as I know you have to be careful doing this as it can cause anxiety or distress.why it happend i have no idea but our consiousness is not what we think it is.
You say " of self-awareness or self-beingness after departing this world? You are getting that the wrong way round in my view ,you have these things now,trouble is most of us take that for granted,but we should not be so blase about that. This life is not the status quo, it is the creation something(conciousness) out of something else.
VinceRichardson
Level 6
Dec 1, 2017
0
Tomm:
Thank you for your thoughtful response to my post I think we agree on the basics, I just put a different interpretation on the observations. For example, you say life is not status quo, it is the creation of ... consciousness out of something else. That means there must have been something causing our self-conscious existence. I agree, but what I think is that our self-aware existence has always existed, and our self-consciousness now is just one expression of our infinite self-aware existence. Anyway, it seems that we're all destined to interpret some form of individual meaningfulness into our lives. It's inconceivable to me, that our self-aware existence is a result of freakish chance.
Tomm, you can get a better idea of what happens after death by studying the biological bases for self-awareness/consciousness/mind. A simplistic description goes like this: Our brain is not an isolated entity in our body. It receives inputs from every part of the body including itself. What that means is that every experience we have, no matter what it is or how insignificant it is, is passed through the brain and processed there. All of this is the 'self', the who we are.
Now, unlike it is commonly thought, the brain never ceases to function. If it did, we would die. When we sleep, there are times during that rest period when its activity reduces slightly, but there are also times when it is just as active as it would be during any physical/mental activity in the waking world. The dream state is one of those times, and our dreams are a product of essentially random thoughts (dreams can also be well organized and/or suggested) that we sometimes remember upon waking up. Dreams can be total nonsense, or they can be extremely realistic and apparently rational. They can be indistinguishable from our conscious reality.
In order for all of this to take place, the brain must be functioning and that requires blood supply carrying adequate oxygen and nutrients. The brain is a prodigious drain on the body. Anyone who has ever crammed for an important exam can attest to the fatigue that follows one of those sessions -- and there has been no real physical activity.
When the body is dying, all those connections to every part of the body begin breaking down. The brain loses experiential contact with the body. When the blood flow to the brain ceases, the brain itself begins to break down, but it remains cognizant of itself for a short period after the body is quite dead. This is the extent of 'afterlife'. When the brain no longer functions, there is no more self -- no more you.
Anything one would like to have after that point is necessarily drawing on the supernatural ideas we have been plagued with for so long. You are certainly free to cling to this notion of a peaceful existence after death if it makes you more comfortable, but I suggest that is nothing more than wishful thinking and may be the result of a fear of no longer being alive.
evidentialist
Level 8
Dec 1, 2017
1
Tomm:
Thank you for responding to my post. You'll obviously thought about this a lot, and I can't say that I object to any of your observations. You say that good feelings resulting from OBE's are wishful thinking. I can agree with that, In fact, it's our brain's way of comforting us, which wouldn't be a bad thing.
I'm an atheist and I don't think we experience anything after death. I don't believe in any sort of spirit world, plane, or dimension. People may argue over exactly what they would define as death and therefore some debate may exist about experiences after death, but I find that rather pointless. I think even then, most of us get the general idea of the long term outlook on the meaning.
I am still trying to decide on details to put into a will as to how to handle my remains. Burial, cremation, donate my body for science and/or organ harvest. The one aspect that concerns me most relates to the brain. Clearly it is the key to everything we experience. My biggest fear, probably a ridiculous one, is the idea of the brain still experiencing SOMETHING, beyond death.
If I donated for organs or research, is it possible to have negative experiences, in the short term, after death, but during organ harvesting. I mean we do hear of stories that people experience the surgical procedures when they have supposedly been put under. If the brain is donated for research, might one possibly have experiences through artificial animation? I know these are far stretches, but I have a hard time letting go of these fears.
weston5
Level 4
Dec 1, 2017
0
Tomm:
Than you for your interesting response to my post.. You wonder if the brain still experiences something after so-called death. I'm totally out of my element, on this subject, but our brains put out some type of electrical energy. And, if it as assumed that energy can't be destroyed, where does it go? Suppose some civilization ten thousand years from now is able to collect our individual brain energies and resurrect all of us. Sounds crazy, but that's what most speculation brings, craziness..
You can dream if you have a functioning brain (like when you're asleep). After you die, your brain will cease to function. The lights go out completely, permanently. If you can't imagine that, it's for a lack of trying. The way it has been explained for ages is "remember what it was like before you were born? That's what it's like after you're dead.
Eazyduzzit
Level 7
Nov 30, 2017
1
Tomm:
Thanks for responding to my post. Man, I hope your're right. My problem is that it seems to me that our self-aware existence is special, but it just could be an intermittent function or reality, whatever that is.
It's obvious if you look at the evidence. If someone injures part of their brain, they can lose memories, speech, sight and it can seriously change their personality. I've seen those changes. But people have been brainwashed to believe you can completely damage the brain at death with lack of oxygen or other trauma, but still be completely aware and see, speak remember loved ones and fly around invisibly (their invisible because it doesn't happen).
They're, not their
I’ve been reading about these types of experiences in Carl Sagan’s “The Demon-Haunted World.” I definitely recommend it to understand the science behind such experiences.
SeptemberSara
Level 5
Nov 30, 2017
1
Tomm:
Thanks for responding to my post, and thanks for recommending THE DEMON-HAUNTED WORLD, I'll check it out.
I don't expect there to be an after-life; of course I can't prove it, but I'm presuming that when I die... that's it, nothing. Hard to imagine, isn't it? That's why I don't want to die in pain, because I fear, for lack of any experience beyond death, that the last moments may feel like they're drawn out into infinity.
I remember a dream I had in college, where I found myself doubting the existence of any gods (don't recall how I got to this point) then suddenly I feel my body whipped high in the sky and then zinged back and forth as if attached to a very long rubber band. Scared the hell out of me.
Another time after college, I was in a long distance relationship which was souring for me... too much time on the telephone with someone I was no longer so interested in... one early morning I swear I was lucid and found myself strapped down to my bed by a telephone cord... then I woke up for real.
godef
Level 7
Nov 30, 2017
0
"… then I woke up for real." Or did you? [Twilight Zone music]
Tomm:
Thanks for responding to my post. Interestingly, I had a very similar experience to the one you had about 'being whipped high in the sky, and then being zinged back to earth. However, when I was up in the sky, I looked down, and I could see the entire city. I felt exhilarated. Interesting, many of us share out-of-body experiences. What does it mean? don't have the foggiest.
no not a view of afterlife..Its a copulation of daily thoughts, Been on a few, scary at first wanted to get back to body fast,,The I realize it is very usefull need to be annualized Like a dream.best
advice use three or more.. Freud ? haha maybe not..
Drtoothfairy
Level 4
Nov 30, 2017
0
Tomm:
Thanks for responding to my post. For me, the most interesting thing about my OBE was that I wasn't scarred, but I hated coming back to this world.
Many people have these mystical experiences that drives them to find answers. You're an exception in that you're seeking answers outside of conventional religion. Good on you. I mean that.
Sounds to me like you got a rush of natural MDMA, I forget what it's called, but the brain produces it naturally. It's called the "god drug". Ayahuasca is related, and is used for guided shamanic trips into the netherworld... People who experience it describe it as incredible.
Sam Harris has lectured on this; look him up on Youtube.
Hominid
Level 7
Nov 30, 2017
1
Hummm
Tomm:
Thanks for responding to my post and your kind words. I will definitely look up Sam Harris. Thanks again.
The problem as I see it is belief itself. Everyone is entitled to an opinion but they're pointless. What you believe is irrelevant. What is? What is the reality?
JLFowler
Level 6
Nov 30, 2017
0
Tomm:
Thanks for responding to my post and I agree that what we believe is mostly irrelevant. Thus, we try to understand an innate curiosity, our self-awareness, which can never be universally understood
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