Would Ceasing To Exist Really Be That Bad?

[LosingMyReligion]

Last night I was really, really, REALLY, exhausted. I spent the entire Sunday(emphasis on Sunday because it is the Sabbath and all that other stuff); mowing the lawn; washing my car; vacuuming my car; and cleaning the house. So when I went to bed I just zonked out. Then I woke up. It felt like I had been asleep for a few seconds, but I realized I had been unconscious for eight or nine hours. I didn't dream or anything. Infact, I didn't know I had been asleep.

 

So I wonder if that is what it's like when you die. If so I, honestly, don't think ceasing to exist would be that bad. If you are totally unaware of ever having existed in the first place then who cares about going to hell? You really wouldn't care about anything because you would be nothing...

 

I don't know sometimes. I would like to believe, undeniably, that there is an afterlife, where you get to be immortal and still remember exactly who you were and all these things you learned. But now, I wonder what if we are just NOTHING after we die? What if there really is NOTHING?

 

Even though I am no longer a christian I honestly don't know what in the hell I believe anymore.

 

I wonder would, during the span of eternity, I start to get bored? Would god really be creative enough to keep me entertained for eons? Will there be sex in heaven? Can you listen to music that isn't gospel? Will I have to play a harp? I would much prefer to play electric guitar or the drums. Would I have to go to church services in heaven, because I hate those anyway.

Furthermore, When I become dissatisfied I have a habit of ruminating over things that either depress or piss me off...And I keep imagining that I might be the next Lucifer and get my ass kicked out of heaven or something.

 

I really would love to believe we go on forever and ever, but what if we don't? I don't think that would be so bad. In fact it might be better. Now I don't have to be in this mad rush to the grave waiting for a better life. Then I keep thinking, "Will I ever get the chance to know all my dead relatives, or meet celebrities?" And if I wanted to meet alot of my relatives and celebrities then I would have to goto hell.

 

I don't want to deny, emphatically, the existence of God. But, honestly, I don't know for sure because there is no definitive proof. All of these fundies can babble about the bible and NDE's and etc el, but that still isn't proof.

 

Maybe I don't have to deny the possibility of either or? Maybe there is a God and maybe there isn't? What would he/she/it be like? Maybe my romanticism keeps me from turning athiest? I would love to believe(and even KNOW) there is one(who is contrary to Babble Gawd), but I'm open to the possibility that there isn't one at all. After my really good sleep last night would it really be that bad if there weren't a spirit realm?

 

I wish I did not care, but since leaving christianity I think about this stuff alot.

[pandora]

I think about it a lot too, and I've come to the conclusion that it won't be bad at all, except for the feeling of missing out on something since I won't get to see all the things I wanted to see... humanity evolving, going to space, etc.

 

Being non-existent will be... nothingness. Since my brain no longer exists, how could I experience anything at all? Doesn't sound like a bad thing to me, and I won't even be able to appreciate that.

[Guest Shiva H. Vishnu]

I think about it a lot too, and I've come to the conclusion that it won't be bad at all, except for the feeling of missing out on something since I won't get to see all the things I wanted to see... humanity evolving, going to space, etc.

 

When you cease to exist, so will that feeling, Pandy. There's nothing to worry about.

[pandora]

I think about it a lot too, and I've come to the conclusion that it won't be bad at all, except for the feeling of missing out on something since I won't get to see all the things I wanted to see... humanity evolving, going to space, etc.

 

When you cease to exist, so will that feeling, Pandy. There's nothing to worry about.

 

Yes, but I wonder what my dying thoughts and feelings will be. I think I will be a bit sad that I know that can't experience anymore.

[Lycorth]

Ceasing to exist wouldn't be a burden at all - you can't feel or realize anything, so what's to worry about?

 

Yes, it would suck without my sweetie to spend the afterlife with, and I hate the thought of a good person like her just ceasing to be, but aside from that little personal opinion, just ceasing to exist is a far cry from eternal torment.

[NotBlinded]

They say that everyone dreams, but most of the time they're not remembered. What if you only think you were dead to the world? :-}

 

This is just a little 'what if'. I have no idea what happens after death.

[Kurari]

Maybe I don't have to deny the possibility of either or? Maybe there is a God and maybe there isn't? What would he/she/it be like? Maybe my romanticism keeps me from turning athiest? I would love to believe(and even KNOW) there is one(who is contrary to Babble Gawd), but I'm open to the possibility that there isn't one at all. After my really good sleep last night would it really be that bad if there weren't a spirit realm?

 

This is a very mature way to look at it. Personally, I believe in an afterlife and reincarnation. I don't believe in hell and I'll see all the souls I've grown close to again. Oh yeah, and sex and all that fun stuff exists in heaven.

 

But if I'm wrong, I honestly don't have a problem with just not existing. If this is all there is, I'm very happy with that. I'm making sure to spend my life the way I want it and to experiance what I want to do. So by the time I die, whether there is an afterlife or not, my last words will be "I regret nothing!"

[Checkmate]

I know for a fact that non-existence won't be bad. How do I know? Because we ALL did it before.

 

Quick poll: Show of hands of all the people who suffered, or were bored, or were in anguish, or worried, or knew of ANYTHING BEFORE you were born? Anybody? I didn't think so.

 

We weren't aware of anything before we were conceived/born, and THAT didn't suck. So why believe death after life will be any different?

 

RIP. Rest In Peace. Don't sweat it folks. We're ALL going to my idea of "heaven" -- Non-existence.

 

For my money "hell" would be "existing" forever. Life on earth is hard, boring and tedious enough for a few decades. I don't even want to imagine trying to keep myself occupied and entertained FOREVER!

[Mythra]

Once again, the grinch-man and myself are on the same page.

 

I was dead for millions of years.

 

Up until 50 years ago - I was quite dead.

 

As I recall, it wasn't a problem at all. Just like going in for surgery, and they say - okay, now count from one to ten - and at about three it's lights out.

 

That's what I believe about the afterlife. Permanent anesthesia. And the concept is absolutely not a problem for me.

[Vigile]

Yes, but I wonder what my dying thoughts and feelings will be. I think I will be a bit sad that I know that can't experience anymore.

 

I struggle with that thought to, but the reality is it is here and now that we allow the issue to affect us. When you are close to death I think you won't care. I had malaria once and I laid in bed for days on end sweating with a high temperature. In that state I lost all track of time and really just didn't give a shit about anything. I even got used to the pain after a while as feeling bad started to normalize within me. Truly, the last thoughts I had at that time were about the meaning of life.

 

We make our own hell out of obsessing about death and the meaning of life. At least I know I do. I'm learning to relax about it and have made a lot of progress over the last year. It used to really bug me that I will one day cease to exist. Now I don't care so much.

[Guest JohnFensworth]

Great post! Ever since escaping the christian mind-slavery, I no longer understand why the thought of an afterlife could be comforting. I personally would rather there not be an afterlife anyway (which I'm quite sure there isn't). Though I guess saying that is trivial anyway, since the word "rather" implies that I would be happier after a particular event, but after death I can't feel relief that there's no afterlife anyway. Well, the thought of an afterlife is silly anyway, and it's just a fantasy invented by people to comfort themselves and make themselves believe that there isn't an end, even though there is an end.

[Young Mother Atheist]

Grinch, you put it the whole afterlife thing into perspective beautifully.

 

There is NO reason for anyone of us to think that there is something more after death. There is no reason for any of us to think there is a soul that lives on once we are dead. When we are dead, we don't have any senses with which to bring in the things around us or to perceive the world with.

 

As Epicurus said:

 

Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.

[nicoleeann]

I absolutely do not want to cease to exist after death. I would rather cease to exist than live the christian afterlife though. I have always felt like i would continue on after death. One thing has happened to me to make me believe that my can be seperated from my body and that is that several times when I have fallen asleep during the day-my "spirit" has left my body and I have actually looked at my body from a distance. I flew around outside onetime while my body rested. This does not prove an afterlife-but it has made me believe that the spirit can seperate from the body.

[wideawake42]

This is how I came to terms with my fear of death after I left Xtianity and the idea of heaven/hell...

 

When I was a little girl, I used to have very bad anxiety problems. I couldn't ever get to sleep because I would lay awake in bed thinking that if I fell asleep, various "bad guys" would come in and kill me/rape me/hurt my family/etc. while I was unaware and unable to run/prevent it. This was a problem for me from the time I was about six until I was fourteen, and I almost never slept.

 

But when I was fourteen, I slept over at an older cousin's house, and naturally, I wasn't sleeping, and she asked me what was wrong. When I told her my fears, she looked at me plainly and said, "You're a fourteen-year-old girl. If someone does decide to come in the house and kill you, you're pretty much screwed. Once they get in the house with a gun, what are you going to do? You might as well just go to sleep anyway and be happy when you wake up."

 

And the realization that I couldn't prevent certain things from happening gave me the freedom I needed to finally sleep. And death is like that. I can't prevent it. I can't have any idea what happens after it.

 

So why not just be happy that I'm awake, and alive, right now?

[RedPillAddict]

It doesnt seem like a big deal to me either. Which is funny because everytime I tell a Christian I am an atheist, the first response is always "Well, where do you think we go when we die, then?!!!". I usually ask them what happens to that fly that just got swatted? what happens to the squirrel when it gets run over by a car?...etc.

Why waste your entire life worrying about death? When you are dead you arent going to spend death thinking about life. When you die, you die. thats it.

Game over, man. Game over.

[Astreja]

I don't really mind the thought of not existing as "me" after death. I'm not even the same "me" that I was yesterday, let alone at birth or age 20 or however long I may happen to live.

 

Whatever consciousness actually is, I think that it exists in all matter and is essentially immortal and is just fine just the way it is. But our egos, the sense of "me and only me and nothing else" gets in the way of us seeing it that way.

[paloriam]

I don't fear my death or what lies beyond death. I am nihilistic by nature. I do at times hope that there is something else after life (hopefully reincarnation). There are times (when I am depressed) that I feel like I pissed my life away and would like a second chance.

[Megara]

I think about the topic a lot too. If I cease to exist, then I won't even realize it.

 

As for a hell, well, if I go to hell, then I'm sure many other people have gone there too. I can't really imagine hell being all that terrible. If other "souls" can stand it, then why can't I? It has to be bareable in order for them to be there, doesn't it? ... Erm, that probably didn't make much sense. Oh well.

 

I think I hope that if we have "souls", then I want mine to stay on earth so I can harass the crap out of people.

 

I've considered all things that could happen in an afterlife or lack there of, and have realized that I'm fine with all of it.

[pseudovillain]

This is something I've been thinking about recently, too.

 

I want to believe that there's an afterlife, because this life seems so short, and what if it's cut off before I get a chance to live it? I want there to be an afterlife... one that includes the people I love, and not one that damns them to hell just because they didn't buy into the Bible and Jesus.

 

But... there isn't anything that points to there being an afterlife. So... I have to deal with the fact that I very well may end up 6 feet under and stay there until there's nothing left of my body. And that isn't that horrible. At least I'm not living in fear of hell.

 

I have a Christian friend with whom I was discussing my new beliefs. What he said really saddened me. He thinks that either I'm going to hell for not believing in Jesus, or the Bible is somehow wrong and he and I are both going to hell. It's sad that he thinks that hell has to be where you end up if you don't believe the right thing.

 

I'd rather believe in the possibility of eternal sleep.