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/sci/ - Science & Math

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3209051 No.3209051 [Reply] [Original]

Why so much hysteria about death and afterlife in religion? If we die and there is no afterlife we can have no mental recollection of events suggesting regret as we're "dead". However, if there is an afterlife we get to live it out.

What are your thoughts /sci/?

>> No.3209054

this belongs in the toilet.

>> No.3209056

Fear of the unknown.

>> No.3209170

>>3209051
Since I didn't experience the first thirteen billion years of being dead, it's a reasonably safe bet I won't experience the next thirteen billion either.

>> No.3209175

Death is such a big feature in many religions because it sucks, and causes awful pain in those left behind. It's very comforting to imagine your murdered son is enjoying an eternity of happiness in heaven, and his killer is boiling in hell.

>> No.3209184

I don't want an afterlife. When I die I want be gone forever. Afterlife is for babbys who can't grow up.

>> No.3209204

I suspect the fear of death is mostly due to people not feeling fulfilled in their lives.

Note that this psychological basis has nothing to do with whether or not an afterlife actually occurs.

>> No.3209211

Faith can't be challenged neither should it challenge others. The sensible way is to (as always) keep it personal.

And Pascal was right, btw. There is no harm in living morally.

>> No.3209212

>>3209184
Unfortunately, what we want is irrelevant.

>> No.3209219

>>3209212
If there's an afterlife I'll just be a giant dick hole till they kick me out.

>> No.3209223

>>3209212
essentially a statement of faith in an impersonal universe.

>> No.3209262

But if you don't believe in god you go to hell. This fear of hell is the root cause of much religious insanity.

So I propose to you anon's wager:

1. God exists.
>a) You live as a moral non-believer. God rewards you for doing what is right and you get eternal happiness.
>b) You live as a believer. God punishes you for not standing up for what is right.

2. God doesn't exist.
> a) you live as a non-believer: you enjoy life
> b) you live as a believer: have shit life.

>Rational choice = a.

Pascal's wager relies on the assumption that god is the exact god of a certain religion. Once you realise you can't make any assumptions on what god will or will not punish, you're left with two choices:

a) act as if god exists (or the more philosophically dodgy)
b)act as if god is truly good (and thus won't care if you choose not to believe him).

>> No.3209273

I would actually prefer reincarnation. Haters.

>> No.3209276

Every organism naturally has an aversion to dying. Humans are able to contemplate what it is like to be dead, or far more likely, what it is not like.

The reality is that while cessation of existence may be "okay" to whose who are dead, it's a terrible fate to anyone that is still alive, because it means they lose everything.