Life After Death: The 2 Major Schools Of Thought

[Saba]

Recently, I've been pondering what death will be like. Such a fun way to go about the day  

I guess I've never truly tackled this topic head-on, though I've always thought I had an opinion on the matter. While I never really gave it much thought, because I assumed there was an afterlife or something, I was confronted by my own experience, when I fainted in a nightclub (true story). It was probably a combination of the strobe lights and the RedBull, both of which I hadn't encountered before. That's neither here nor there.

When I fainted, I suppose I lost consciousness for a brief moment. But the insight that struck me today, was what happened *during* the fainting episode. I was trying to remember what it was like while I was on the floor, unconscious: and it was nothing. I panicked as I thought, what if that is what death is like?

One moment, I was dancing with my friends, and the next, I was being yanked off the ground and carried away. In between, was nothing. No darkness, because even darkness would be something; no experience whatsoever. Just total oblivion. It was different from a dreamless nap, because after a nap, you have some sense that time has passed. But from fainting to re-awakening, I had absolutely no sense of anything happening in between. There was just before and after, no during. Nothingness.

And so, that brings me to my point: death is oblivion, *unless* consciousness is unrelated to an immaterial soul, which lives on eternally. So long as we don't believe in some sort of untethered soul, some aspect of ourselves that is unaffected by consciousness or a lack thereof, then we can only ascertain that oblivion is what follows death.

And if we do believe in an immaterial soul, that cracks open the massive can of religion, and will require much more research... for the opinions on life after death between religions are as vast as infinity! 

Thoughts?

 

 

 

 

[str4]

Yes, you are describing what I think is the conclusion of death in the materialistic paradigm. Your brain shuts down and so you get sucked into the abyss with no experience whatsoever.

However, you should contemplate your experience of the fainting issue. How can you tell that you had no experience when you were blacked out? Sure, you have absolutely no memory of your experiences during that time, but is that really an accurate way to conclude that there was no experience?

What if you had an experience of a lifetime when you were blacked out but it did not leave a trace of memory behind.

Note that you can only verify things with your direct experience and you no longer have the direct experience of being blacked out, all you have is your memory of it.

[Azrael]

3 hours ago, Saba said:

Thoughts?

I'd recommend some drugs for you, lady. Some good drugs.  To prove to you that their is neither a body nor a mind that could ever die. (I'm for real here.)

[Mastral]

@Azrael hm... what would that prove? I think what was described as end of experience makes perfect sense.