Poll: Do you believe in the afterlife?

[Dinosaur_Face]

I believe in reincarnation, the idea of an afterlife seems a bit too far-fetched for me, plus it would be kind of creepy...
Reincarnation is the way to go for me

 

[Dinosaur_Face]

*snip*
sorry for ddouble post

 

[4RM3D]

)rStrangelove]I'm Atheist but still believe there's something following after this life has ended. In a universe where energy doesnt disappear and only gets transformed into another form i find it hard to believe my soul or 'life energy' will be gone just like that. It must go somewhere.

Whether thats in some ghost form or if it gets 'reborn' in another body i'm gonna find out some day.


Since i don't seem to remember any other existence i might have experienced before, i don't think my life here & now will have any effect on the next one.

Are you sure there's a law stating that energy doesn't disappear? There's the law of conservation of mass, but that only deals with.. well.. mass. Tangible stuff, you know? Besides, there's as little evidence of ''life energy'' as there is of any form of a deity for as far as I know.

To quote wikipedia:
"Energy is subject to the law of conservation of energy. According to this law, energy can neither be created (produced) nor destroyed by itself. It can only be transformed."

Then again, this is a 'human law'. We still don't understand everything about energy. So in the grand scheme of things, we could be wrong.

 

[Twilight_guy]

I believe in an afterlife because of my religion. I also don't think anyone can prove wither or not their is an afterlife as its not an issue of science.

Yes. However, no one can prove or disprove that there is an invisible, intangible, inaudible, orange unicorn in the room with me right now.

And no scientist would ever attempt to prove it or disprove it as part of science because it can't be tested, what's your point?

It's silly to believe in things that can't be proven or disproven.

That statement is silly. You know what else can't be proven or disproven? Math. Math is an axiomatic system which means that its most basic elements are a set of Axioms that cannot be and are not proven. If its silly to believe in things that can't be proven then its silly to believe that Math works and as an extension its silly to believe in large portions of science since they can only be proven using math.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

I believe in heaven or at least, some form of existence that relates to heaven. By that I mean that we get to live out our happiest moments, or fantasies, for eternity as a reward to being a good person and a devoted religious individual.

 

[JoCharlie266]

It's silly to believe in things that can't be proven or disproven.

But isn't that the whole point of believing?

If something has been proven you no longer have to believe in that something.

Example: I believe team X is going to win the match tonight? It seems unlikely, but I have my reasons for believing. The next day... They lost? There is nothing left to believe in.

Depending on your definition of "belief". There are good reasons and bad reasons for believing. If your define belief as accepting ideas without good evidence then belief itself could be inherently illogical.

That statement is silly. You know what else can't be proven or disproven? Math. Math is an axiomatic system which means that its most basic elements are a set of Axioms that cannot be and are not proven. If its silly to believe in things that can't be proven then its silly to believe that Math works and as an extension its silly to believe in large portions of science since they can only be proven using math.

I'm terrible at doing math and maybe almost as bad at understanding what math actually is, but as far as I understand we've set up axioms and anything that follows from and is consistent with those axioms is good math. Math is a concept that exists and is internally consistent when done properly. Obiously math "works", because otherwise math-based science wouldn't be practical and technology wouldn't function.
An afterlife has no such application to reality; it's merely a hypothesis.

I believe in heaven or at least, some form of existence that relates to heaven. By that I mean that we get to live out our happiest moments, or fantasies, for eternity as a reward to being a good person and a devoted religious individual.

Do I have to be religious to go to your Heaven? Can I be of any religion?

 

[Twilight_guy]

That statement is silly. You know what else can't be proven or disproven? Math. Math is an axiomatic system which means that its most basic elements are a set of Axioms that cannot be and are not proven. If its silly to believe in things that can't be proven then its silly to believe that Math works and as an extension its silly to believe in large portions of science since they can only be proven using math.

I'm terrible at doing math and maybe almost as bad at understanding what math actually is, but as far as I understand we've set up axioms and anything that follows from and is consistent with those axioms is good math. Math is a concept that exists and is internally consistent when done properly. Obiously math "works", because otherwise math-based science wouldn't be practical and technology wouldn't function.
An afterlife has no such application to reality; it's merely a hypothesis.

Yet both Math and the afterlife revolve around unprovable things that one must actively make the choice to believe in. If you think the axioms of math are bad you could make your own and invent your own type of math and it would be just as good and could probably do just as much. A quick examination of the various non-euclidean geometries can tell you that. What I want to point out is just because it can't be proven doesn't make it silly or irrelevant; whatever your views on an afterlife might be.

 

[4RM3D]

It's silly to believe in things that can't be proven or disproven.

But isn't that the whole point of believing?

If something has been proven you no longer have to believe in that something.

Example: I believe team X is going to win the match tonight? It seems unlikely, but I have my reasons for believing. The next day... They lost? There is nothing left to believe in.

Depending on your definition of "belief". There are good reasons and bad reasons for believing. If your define belief as accepting ideas without good evidence then belief itself could be inherently illogical.

"If your define belief as accepting ideas without good evidence then belief itself could be inherently illogical."

Like, basically, all religion? Hey, I mean does the Bible (for example) really proof anything?

Then define a "good" reason for believing?!

 

[JoCharlie266]

"If your define belief as accepting ideas without good evidence then belief itself could be inherently illogical."

Like, basically, all religion? Hey, I mean does the Bible (for example) really proof anything?

Then define a "good" reason for believing?!

Yeah, like all religion.

I'd define the kind of belief we're talking about as "accepting a proposition as true". Evidence is really the only good reason for believing anything. There are, of course, a myriad of bad reasons. If we define belief as "accepting ideas without good evidence" then there are no good reasons to believe. Sorry if I was unclear.

 

[tjcross]

no idea if there is one or not but i hope there is one even if I will be tortured for all of eternity

Really? Can you even imagine that?

yes at some point we will reach a point were one being will have to die for another to be born but again i think that god gave a rather large amount of "extra" souls so that it would be unlikely for that number to be reached.

"one being will have to die for another to be born" how does that translate to eternal life? Because I am getting a FIFO (first in, first out) feeling here. FIFO as in the oldest getting kicked out of the hereafter to make room for some new souls.

What i meant was that if the limit is hit than another being will not be able to be born until another being dies the birth of one would not kill another it would be the opposite as the old soul would have to leave the old body to enter the new body

 

[poundingmetal74]

When it is God will resurrect those he believes deserve a second chance (the vast majority). You then get a certain amount of time to prove you deserve it and he'll let you live. If you fail/refuse to convert etc then ZAP bolt of lightning.

The whole idea of apocalypse and raising the dead for final judgment has never quite "sat right" with me. I've yet to receive a satisfactory answer (that isn't just speculation) about what happens to unborn babies, or those who die shortly in childbirth, or those with severe mental deficiencies unable to make informed or rational decisions, etc.? How can someone be judged who never had a chance at life?

Furthermore, what kind of test would determine whether or not I deserve eternal life/a life in heaven/an afterlife filled with God? The mainstream Christian notion of a judgment day where people rise up (will they be zombies?) raises numerous questions.

Returning to the topic at hand, personally, I think the whole second-chance at life things comes from a fear of our own death, and the desire to see our loved ones again. It's a comforting thought that those who die are somewhere else, rather than just decomposing in a state of nothingness.

 

[4RM3D]

The whole idea of apocalypse and raising the dead for final judgment has never quite "sat right" with me. I've yet to receive a satisfactory answer (that isn't just speculation) about what happens to unborn babies, or those who die shortly in childbirth, or those with severe mental deficiencies unable to make informed or rational decisions, etc.? How can someone be judged who never had a chance at life?

You make a good point there. I have always wondered about this myself.

There is an hypothesis for the problem mentioned above. If you are going to talk about the afterlife you probably would have a hard time to come up with a form of justification. But if you look at reincarnation, then it makes sense. To put it bluntly: "Oh you just died after being alive for a mere 5 seconds? No problem, I'll just put your soul (or whatever) into another body and you can try again." That almost sounds like an (old) arcade game, where you first die a countless times before you reach your final destination.

Then again, I don't really believe in reincarnation. But I try to keep an open mind about it.