What do you think happens to you when you die?

Arun Varma
Arun Varma

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06:30 AM on January 18, 2008

What do you think happens to you when you die? Myself I am agnostic, I believe that afterlife is a catch 22. So I won’t know what to expect until I die however I can’t tell anyone obviously if I was dead. But I just want to get a few ideas to see what people are thinking.

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  • Jason Mancer
    Jason Mancer replied on 01:55 PM on January 18, 2008
    well im a christain so i belive im going to heaven and the bible states that all people who are nonbelivers go to hell but i also belive that people without the chace to hear the word of christ get judged and if they lived a fairly good life they go to heaven also like aborted babys babys die at child birth and lots of todlers who die go to heaven and like an old hermit whi lives in the mountens all his life, stuff like that they all go to heaven too

  • Kyle Ruth replied on 03:12 PM on January 18, 2008
    I believe that thought is a product of living matter. (evidence: whenever thoughts occur, electrical activity can be detected in the brain - after death no electrical activity can be detected) When that matter ceases to be alive, thought processes can no-longer continue. For many this is a difficult concept to grasp -- not because it is challenging to understand, rather people don't want to understand it. The idea that after death the consciousness that makes YOU who YOU are no longer exists is scary. It makes people feel good inside to "know" that when they die some part of their identity will continue on indefinitely. I feel that this is one of the major reasons that questions like "what happens after you die" are asked in the first place. The truth is that we have very real evidence for what happens to a living being when they die - they decompose (barring rare events like mummification, embalming, etc.) There is no reason to invent mythical places or fantastical stories to create answers to questions that are meaningless to begin with.

    To conceptualize this think about the dead raccoon you drove past on the way home from work today. Does she have an afterlife? Furthermore think about all of the animals that have existed on our pale blue dot...4 billion years of life. Does every single life have an afterlife? If so where are they?
  • Laura Dragonetti
    Laura Dragonetti replied on 03:30 PM on January 18, 2008
    I personally have changed my opinions drastically over the past few years. About five years ago I was Catholic, but I have changed my mind about what I believe. Recently, really a couple months ago, I thought that I was agnostic and I guess in a way that you could say I am, but I have developped my own beliefs as to what happens when you die. I believe that people are reincarnated, until they live as the person that they were truly meant to be, or until their soul has lived all the lives that it can (or fulfilled its purpose). When someone dies during their 'last life,' I believe that they go to 'heaven.' Once someone has lived their last life, I believe that they can also become a spirit guide, guiding another soul through one of their lives. I have developped my beliefs from what has been said by several modern-day psychics. I actually don't even really know if there is any religion that corresponds to what I believe, but to sum up/ reiterate what I said earlier, I believe that when you die, you begin another life.
  • Derek Pritchard replied on 04:16 PM on January 18, 2008
    When you die you will rot in the ground. The energy derived from your body will be reused with life in generations to come.
  • Bobby Clark
    Bobby Clark replied on 05:47 PM on January 18, 2008
    Through the years my thoughts have shifted from a lackadaisical Catholic to a new age convert believing in reincarnation. At this point, I still believe in reincarnation but at this point in my life I would probably classify myself as a humanist. Not too concerned about life after death as it's out of my control. The best thing I can do is try to get the most out of "this" life and leave the worries about afterlife to others.
  • Vlad Fridkin
    Vlad Fridkin replied on 07:10 PM on January 18, 2008
    The belief in an afterlife is due to the people's love of procrastination. If people did things now instead of leaving them to do later, they wouldn't need a 'later' in which to do them. If people really want an afterlife, then they can have kids to pass on their physical code, or they can write books, songs etc to pass on their ideas. Some people don't have the opportunities of others but that in itself does not prove there is an afterlife.
  • Brittany D
    Brittany D replied on 08:24 PM on January 18, 2008
    When you die you go to Purgatory and when all your sins are forgiven, you go to Heaven. God makes the final judgement. The only way you can go to Hell is if u arent ever sorry for your sins. Also your right. You cant come back to Earth when you die, therefore nobody really knows the exact truth. so although im a Christian and believe in it 90% of the time, who knows if my religion is wrong.
  • Marc Rose
    Marc Rose replied on 08:51 PM on January 18, 2008
    I believe that it is not important what happens when I die. I'd like to think more about what I can actually control. By trying to not subscribe to any specific dogma(which I don't claim to have achieved), I don't give myself authority to create a world which I know nothing about. You can adopt, create, and mix and match ideas which may alter the way you interact in this world. By doing this, you have to power to, in a way, create your own afterlife.
  • Liam O'Riley
    Liam O'Riley replied on 11:09 PM on January 18, 2008
    When I was a little kid, I always thought that, when we die, we live as long as we want in the time, place and age in which we were most happy in our lives....

    I still believe in this theory many years down the track as it is a nice and light-hearted idea to hold on to

  • Ash
    Ash  replied on 11:18 PM on January 18, 2008
    i think people care a lot about life after death because they are afraid to live life now and hope they will have a second chance at happiness. however that said, i do believe that there is an essential human awareness - a "soul" or spirit - that perhaps continues after we die.

    due to years of childhood indoctrination, i cannot completely forget the idea of heaven, and i have to say that when people i love die, the idea of a heaven where we will meet again is comforting. but then i think about religious fundamentalists and their belief that only people like them get into heaven, and i have to say that if heaven is full of people like them, they can keep it.

    i like the idea of reincarnation - it makes biological sense since everything in nature is recycled (dead animals become fertilizer for new plants etc etc). maybe we just change form after we die.

    it doesn't matter because i think questions like this detract from the real questions like why are we alive and why are we here? those are questions that we can possibly hope to answer.
  • sue ri replied on 12:58 AM on January 19, 2008
    I too believe that you are reincarnated until you are "perfect". Each time you are reincarnated you have a goal to achieve and once you have achieved all the goals you go to heaven.
  • Kris Kimmel
    Kris Kimmel replied on 09:03 PM on January 19, 2008
    I'm an Atheist, so officially I don't believe in an after life, but I definitely feel its allure. Its hard to think that when something dies, all that made it what it was moments earlier are simply gone. And its almost impossible to imagine absolute nothing. If there was proof of any religion, that would be terrific, but as it stands, I lack whatever it takes to believe in something based on nothing but what everyone told you to believe when your young, I'm just cynical and skeptical that way.

    From the moment of birth, death is your one and only absolute certainty, and its the one thing that all living things have in common. So I'm not really scared of it, in fact it kinda excites me to think of finally finding out once and for all what happens.
  • Christi Strickland replied on 11:18 PM on January 20, 2008
    Frankly, I have absolutely no idea. I know the "matter" that is me will be recycled. The part of me that identifies as me....who knows?

    As part of some work that I do with hospice, I hear many many many amazing stories that lead me to believe that there is some mystery going on. I came close to death once, and that has led me to each day literally walk out the door for work and look back at my home, life, loved one's like I might die that day; living always ready to die; having as many loose ends always tied up. Not willy nilly behavior, but attitude of awareness of how preciouse each moment is. In this way, death becomes an ally to life. Then, when the moment comes, I hope to be ready and my life has become an ally to death.
  • Randall Menser
    Randall Menser replied on 12:21 PM on January 21, 2008
    rigor mortis.
  • pokój!
    pokój!  replied on 05:28 PM on January 21, 2008
    even if one has no belief in God or an afterlife, I think eventually even science will attempt to prove the existence of a soul, in the same vein as when it can be proved that a black hole exists even though we can't see it. I don't think it is purely a matter of energy moving on, I believe there is a definite spiritual entity within everyone. you could connect that to a belief in more than three dimensions, that even though we can't perceive them, they exist, and maybe one day we will know how.

    I think that after death, that inner being moves into a different dimension, whatever that may mean. after that I have no idea.
  • John succo
    John succo replied on 08:09 PM on January 21, 2008
    I believe its smart to assume there is no after life and the only part of us that survives is what we do or work for on this earth. a major part of us that survives after we die is our children .. so start makin babies.. not to many though
  • Brendan Sheley replied on 10:44 PM on January 21, 2008
    I believe that waiting for people after death is absolutely nothing. From what I've read to what I've contemplated, it makes no sense to me that there would be any magical world (like heaven/hell) or another dimension filled with spirits of the dead. Convincing me of the idea of a heaven is like trying to convince me that what magicians like Criss Angel do is real. The reason that leaders of society created and adopted the religious idea of an afterlife was to give citizens of their nations an otherworldly consequence for poor behavior. Let me preface this final comment by saying, I'm no Hippie. But I live my life in the here and now, I am not living my life waiting for and expecting something else, and I encourage all others to do the same. Don't wait for something better make now better.
  • Kevin Waltz
    Kevin Waltz replied on 11:24 PM on January 21, 2008
    I will decompose, or burin if I%u2019m cremated , that%u2019s one reality . I believe eventually I will get heaven whatever that means . I believe in a loving god and she wants every one to be saved whatever that means and she usually gets what she wants eventually and she will what out ones death for it.
  • Tristan Heindl
    Tristan Heindl replied on 03:00 AM on January 22, 2008
    I believe right after we die, as our lives flash before our eyes we judge ourselves and where ever we withheld love. I believe we judge ourselves fairly because we become one with the infinite consciousness that sees all as one. After this my soul will be reincarnated as some wierd lifeform prossibly billions of lightyears away in some distant galaxy.
  • Reef Lobang replied on 04:15 AM on February 21, 2008
    When you die, you either go A (Above) or B (Below). But the only way to A is C (Christ). But bet **S will try to get in the way!
  • Reef Lobang replied on 04:17 AM on February 21, 2008
    When you die, you either go A (Above) or B (Below). But the only way to A is via C (Christ). But bet your last dollar **S will stay in your way!
  • Tim Birdsong
    Tim Birdsong replied on 02:35 AM on March 16, 2008
    There is a reason that people have zillions and zillions of gigabytes of memory capacity, and that we remember every thought, word and action; every smell, taste, sound, touch and everything we see, and everything we love. This capacity is far beyond evolutionary need. Each person is the writer, actor, director and producer of their own life movie. The family is the school of love where we learn to create an exciting, adventurous love movie. This love movie, created while on Earth, is the foundation for your eternal life. Sharing your life movie will be the joy of your life-so make it a good one that everyone will want to see!
  • Graham Orr replied on 06:12 AM on March 16, 2008
    Sadly, regardless of what we would like to think (to comfort the mind and put us at ease), when you die there is no more. Nothing exists after death...it is almost as if you have fallen asleep.

    With that being said, you probably perceive something interesting due to the lack of oxygen to your brain and neurons firing sporadically...but these are artifacts of perception and not reality.
  • Graham Orr replied on 06:18 AM on March 16, 2008
    ...and just for record the brain has the capacity of about 100TBytes, not "zillions and zillions of gigabytes"
  • Joseph Bute
    Joseph Bute replied on 04:21 AM on March 19, 2008
    I believe that your brain creates a matrixs of whatever your opinion of the after life is if christain you will goto heaven if agnostic whatever your brain subconsiously creates in your dream. I think this because as a person dies a chemical is produced in your brain. this chemical is the same chemical that is produced when your dreaming. and because dreaming is the only way people can be transported into a diffrent plain of perseption an entirely diffrent enviourment with only your subconsious to fuel it nothing within your physical reality effects your dreams as you wake up and if your dont wake up what happens you stay in your world dont u ooooooooooooo your brain creates a matrix of your subconsious perseption of what the after life is. aint that cool do u think this is would change peoples perception into accepting itself as a species instead of slowing ourselfs from progress in technology with war amongst ourselfs and disputing religious beliefs and hating others for silly reasons. anyways reply on my topics for more info.
  • Quinn Simpson replied on 01:08 PM on March 21, 2008
    Well, I think when you die your soul in your body goes up to heaven and you have a wonderful life there.
  • Bryan Cridlebaugh
    Bryan Cridlebaugh replied on 12:13 AM on April 01, 2008
    back in a womb
  • sophie vaillant replied on 01:02 PM on April 01, 2008
    As a friend put it, when you die, the TV turns off. At least, this is the most likely situation. But who really knows for sure? May be there is something after all. It could be anything. But I'm ready to bet that it would be nothing like the heavens imagined by the big religions. Angels signing on clouds? And how many virgins for the Muslims? It is so obvious this was imagined by people.
  • Simon-Pierre Lauzon
    Simon-Pierre Lauzon replied on 03:04 PM on April 04, 2008
    I believe that when we die, its over. No afterlife, thats it. No heaven, no hell, no ghosts, our body decomposes and we cease to exist, except in peoples mind.
  • Larry K. replied on 06:26 PM on April 04, 2008
    I think there's nothing. Fade to black.

    For those who believe in an afterlife, I do have to ask 'why'?

    The universe tends toward simplicity. What would the reason be for an afterlife? I understand the reasons that people would WANT an afterlife, but I don't understand why there would or should be one.
  • Eddy Grob
    Eddy Grob replied on 09:59 PM on April 19, 2008
    Why cant things just end , the party is over, the game is over, all the bs is over.
    Hot/cold , night/day, fire/water,
    birth/death! Why complecate it?
  • Kaervek Salim replied on 04:05 AM on April 26, 2008
    Well honestly I can't expect anything. We'll probably just fade to black. That's it. No afterlife or anything like that.

    I do believe that heaven and hell are totally bogus, and I have vast amounts of evidence backing that up.

    I really hope that we all go to paradise when we die, where everyone's negative attitudes and emotions are eliminated, and everyone has fun. Maybe not all together, heh, but any way you want. Do what you do.

    I hope I end up smoking hookah on a tropical cool beach with my family and friends and a really good lookin female, with infinite drinks, gourmet cuisine, and good music. Can you feel me?
  • Thomas De Pascale
    Thomas De Pascale replied on 01:24 PM on May 15, 2008
    All my life I've heard the expression: "they are in a better place now", and for some reason I believed it. Now I believe a more realistic expression would be: "life is not fair".
  • Hey Arthur replied on 09:53 AM on June 07, 2008
    What about looking at it from the other direction? Before we were born,
    there was no 'before' life. Why should there be an afterlife?

    Let's make the most of it while we can.
  • alfonso cascudo replied on 02:45 PM on July 03, 2008
    I am agnostic too.
    For me the main questions are ?
    Should we choose an stlyle of live in accordance with our vision of afterlife ?
    Should be our acts "corrects" in order to achive a better afterlife ?
    I think, NO
    I think we must do what we feel, and, in this case, why do we think about de afterlife ?
  • Pastor Jennifer
    Pastor Jennifer replied on 01:18 AM on July 16, 2008
    You decompose, you push up daisies. The laws of thermodynamics don't guarantee you any special favors about your 'energy'. If it did and your 'energy' went trolling off into another dimension in the spirit world I think me might be breaking the laws of physics. It's just not going to happen. So, that means party like hell and live a great life while you have the opportunity to have one!
  • Jamaal Lowe
    Jamaal Lowe replied on 03:09 AM on July 17, 2008
    The physical body ceases to consume or produce energy, and begins to decompose as the bacterium residing within it begin to assimilate the energy stored in bodily tissues. All processes related to and that depended upon the body's production of energy also cease, and the electrical impulses that previously coursed through the body to coordinate this production cease as well. The organism's awareness (or conciousness) thus leaves the physical body, since it can longer be supported through the body, and if the electrical field generated by those previous electrical impulses (consciousness) is to continue to survive, it must find another entity, or another vessel, if you will, that will be able to support it in a way that ensures that it's previous electrical field state (or consciousness) will be supported. In other words, this field has to find something other than the previous physical body to identify itself with, or, 'as'. I may have just proven that consciousness is able to exist as long as there is a vessel that generates processes to support it...I may have just proven possible life, or awareness, after physical death.
  • Agata Zuda replied on 04:10 PM on July 22, 2008
    We are going to live after we die in the souls of all the people that love us and remember us. If we leave something great behind like inventions, art, any big knowledge and ideas we are going to live for generations to come. But if there is no people that loved us and nothing great left behind we are going to die as soon as our organs shut down and than we just become peace of decomposing flesh.
  • Jason Mancer
    Jason Mancer replied on 05:29 PM on October 03, 2008
    i believe in Jesus Christ so i believe that we go to heaven or hell

    and i'm sure i will get made fun of and yelled at for posting this ,but thats what i believe

    and i also [personally believe] that people not given a chance to find Christ will be judged differently and maybe allowed into heaven according to how god judges

    and thats what i believe

  • Andy Hamilton replied on 10:45 PM on December 18, 2008
    just wait. you'll see. noboy knows an i dont think foolish stories can accurately describe what nobody has come back to tell us about. but apparently theres a white light.... i cant wait to find out!!
  • tyler norby replied on 01:41 AM on January 15, 2009
    whos to say death is even real

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