Nothingness
Offline My thoughs on atheism (meaning reality) up until recently have focussed on the here and now. I've naturally been aware that it means no afterlife but I guess I haven't been thinking about it. Recently I have become obsessed with the idea that after some point in the future I will never have another experience or even a thought. Whenever I'm alone the thought pops into my head and will not go away. No matter what I do, all I have waiting for me is nothingness.
I get angry, then realise that there's nooone and nothing to be angry at. I think it's unfair, then remember that everyone gets the same deal. I can't say it scares me, how can I be afraid of something I wont experience? It's just bad in a way I cant think of words to express properly.
This has been keeping me awake at night, how do you deal with it?
Oh, a lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!
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I tend to make sure that I live every day as happy as I possibly can. I don't dwell on the future at all. (the past either) I know I can't change the past, but I can make sure my future is a good one. To me, it's that simple.
"Killing for peace is like fucking for chastity"
I've dwelled on it before, and nothing good can come of it. Like you said, we all get the same deal, and there is no way out of it.
I am much happier knowing that it all ends than I was worried about whether or not I was going to piss off God and burn for eternity. I appreciate my life even more now than I did before.
If you want to make a little money, write a book. If you want to make a lot of money, create a religion.
L. Ron Hubbard
When I die I shall be as I was in the time of the unborn, in the time of the trilobites and William the Conquerer...there is nothing to fear in that. I have been dead for billions of years and it caused me no great inconvenience
-Mark Twain
"Physical reality” isn’t some arbitrary demarcation. It is defined in terms of what we can systematically investigate, directly or not, by means of our senses. It is preposterous to assert that the process of systematic scientific reasoning arbitrarily excludes “non-physical explanations” because the very notion of “non-physical explanation” is contradictory.
-Me
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That conflict is a major reason religion is so successful. Dying scares the imaginary flaming place out of them. The thought that I will never see my dead friends and relatives ever again really sucks. But I make it a point to enjoy the time here with the ones still living. I gave up a great career to work a crappy job just so I can spend quality time with my kids. Hopefully you will make peace with your own mortality over time.
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As a kid I used to work past it by something of a temporal philosophy. I am here. I will always be here. You just have to know when and where to look. But I will always be here and now.
Now it just doesn't bother me anymore. I accepted death a long time ago.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
We live and then we die, some of us will live our lives others....well they just lived. The most important is to do something with your life, something that means a lot to you, not to everyone, just you, pass on your experience, to friends, family and if you lucky, your children (unless you don't want children), live it well and live it doing good, nothing else really matters. Death is no different than the time before you were born.
except, before I was born there was potential, after death that potential is spent.
Oh, a lesson in not changing history from Mr. I'm-My-Own-Grandpa!
That's precisely why I chose my name here: Todangst is a reference to Todesangst, an existential fear of non existence.
Here's something that may help a tiny bit. When David Hume was asked the same question, he responded:
Before I was born, I did not exist for billions of years, and apparently, I was fine with it.
"Hitler burned people like Anne Frank, for that we call him evil.
"God" burns Anne Frank eternally. For that, theists call him 'good.'
I completely understand what you are thinking, and all I have to say is this - keep looking. Maybe somebody or some religion has discovered the eternal soul. Who knows? You must keep searching for the truth - and keep living for this life.
I hope that when the world comes to an end I can breathe a sigh of relief, because there will be so much to look forward to.
Then live life to it's fullest. Don't stop going till the going stops. That's what I do.
That's interesting, Vastet, because that's one of the things that helped me.
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This is by no means new, but I like the idea that individual identity is pure illusion, created by the brain's record of experiences (memories) and our ability to access them. That's the best way I can articulate it.. it sorta leads back to the whole "one mind" thing that I'm sure some people here think is bollocks... death isn't real etc
Wish in one hand, shit in the other, see which one fills up first.
Um... new favorite quote! Thanks for sharing.
“The four most over-rated things in life are champagne, lobster, anal sex and picnics.”
-Christopher Hitchens
"I don't believe in God, but I'm afraid of Him."
-Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Great minds think alike.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.