# Why is the afterlife so popular?



## Anxietype (Mar 14, 2014)

I've never understood why so many people are so positive about various forms of the afterlife and hope they go to such a place after death. It is the worst kind of torture when you really think about it.

Sure seeing relatives and friends again would be great and the first few thousand or million years might be good fun but after billions upon billions of years and counting it must just be despair.

I'd mostly like to hear responses from people who follow a religion that has an afterlife, how do you deal with this problem? Do anyone of you want that last peaceful sleep and non-existence some day?


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## Pillowtalk (Feb 25, 2014)

Well as my profile says, I don't have any set religious beliefs. (the benefits of growing up in an atheist family I suppose) But I always thought of what comes after death as the ultimate neutrality. It seems like good and bad things can happen in life. Once you die you lose that opportunity. Maybe some people see this as a bad thing, others might see it as good. I see it as neutral. You go into emptiness, nothing good, nothing bad. Just nothing. There's a degree of appeal to it in a way. It's like the ultimate rest.


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## Umpalumpa (Jan 26, 2014)

People are afraid or dying, we want to survive, people tend to believe in what they want to believe.


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## Umpalumpa (Jan 26, 2014)

Pillowtalk said:


> Well as my profile says, I don't have any set religious beliefs. (the benefits of growing up in an atheist family I suppose) But I always thought of what comes after death as the ultimate neutrality. It seems like good and bad things can happen in life. Once you die you lose that opportunity. Maybe some people see this as a bad thing, others might see it as good. I see it as neutral. You go into emptiness, nothing good, nothing bad. Just nothing. There's a degree of appeal to it in a way. It's like the ultimate rest.


What good and bad things are you referring to?


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## SisterGoldenHair (Apr 30, 2014)

Heaven is real


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## Pillowtalk (Feb 25, 2014)

Umpalumpa said:


> What good and bad things are you referring to?


Well one bad thing that comes to mind instantly is SA. Good things can be happiness, love, sex, success, etc. Bad things can be grief, loss, depression, anger, sadness etc. I probably should have specified but these ideas are just how I feel about it. Not saying it's how everyone should feel.


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## Umpalumpa (Jan 26, 2014)

likeaspacemonkey said:


> And they wanna do what they wanna do :b


Well that's like your opinion man... 

Edit: no, I'm not making sense here, but quoting the big lebowski is just fun...


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## Umpalumpa (Jan 26, 2014)

Pillowtalk said:


> Well one bad thing that comes to mind instantly is SA. Good things can be happiness, love, sex, success, etc. Bad things can be grief, loss, depression, anger, sadness etc. I probably should have specified but these ideas are just how I feel about it. Not saying it's how everyone should feel.


Completly theoretically speaking,

What's the difference between sadness, anger, happiness- all of them are emotions which a person express, don't you feel 'happiness' after you cry? Isn't this sensation of happiness comes after the relaxation of expressing an emotion?


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## Pillowtalk (Feb 25, 2014)

Umpalumpa said:


> Completly theoretically speaking,
> 
> What's the difference between sadness, anger, happiness- all of them are emotions which a person express, don't you feel 'happiness' after you cry? Isn't this sensation of happiness comes after the relaxation of expressing an emotion?


:sigh I don't know man. I don't really want to get off topic here. I already threw my 2 cents in the ring. Let people interpret it as they please.


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## Umpalumpa (Jan 26, 2014)

Why the sad face!? :O


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## jeanny (Apr 17, 2014)

Because this life sucks.


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## Umpalumpa (Jan 26, 2014)

likeaspacemonkey said:


> That's some serious Carpe Diem right there :yes
> 
> And I told you to shut the **** up, man.


So knowledgeable :love2

Have you ever heard of Vietnam?


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## Umpalumpa (Jan 26, 2014)

likeaspacemonkey said:


> It turned men into animals
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Pssst - if an admin would come, tell him that that's your perception of the after life


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## Artinum (May 5, 2014)

SisterGoldenHair said:


> Heaven is real


It certainly is. Not been there myself, but I've heard about it several times.
I believe it's a nightclub in London for, um, discerning gentlemen...


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## Duskily (Apr 9, 2014)

Lester87 said:


> I've never understood why so many people are so positive about various forms of the afterlife and hope they go to such a place after death. It is the worst kind of torture when you really think about it.
> 
> Sure seeing relatives and friends again would be great and the first few thousand or million years might be good fun but after billions upon billions of years and counting it must just be insanity and despair.
> 
> ...


All of us agnostics and atheists are ****ing hypocrites, once were actually faced with death I can guarantee we will be hoping and "praying" for an afterlife.

Its instinct and the probability of seeing ones loved ones again is comforting to many. 
I speak the truth.


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## Ryukil (Jun 2, 2011)

On another level you could argue that if our existence is finite, that takes away "purpose." So an afterlife gives "purpose." Plus people are terrified of their own demise.


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## Silent Hell (Sep 17, 2010)

It actually is an irrational fear of mine that I will die and see my family in an afterlife. Even if it's all in my own head as I'm losing consciousness or whatever and hallucinate before death, it's something that really distresses me. 

It's not like they were that bad or anything, but the thought of ever having to encounter them again seems very awkward. I have nightmares about my parents coming back as ghosts and criticizing me from beyond the grave.


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## crimeclub (Nov 7, 2013)

Because it's a cool little tune with a melody so infectious it demands multiple listens. The lyrics are pretty heartbreaking but I think they are ones that everyone can relate to so it almost feels like the band is commiserating with you as you listen to it. Great tune. GREAT tune.


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## sweetSacrifice (Dec 23, 2011)

it's a sign of hope even after all hopes have been crushed.


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## DanTheOutlaw (May 29, 2014)

Simple biology, built in mechanism that is their to protect our self preservation, our brains love the idea that they won't die one day.

One day your brain will be rotting in your skull, your brain controls everything from your emotions to your ability to process information, when you're dead the brain dies and you're gone for an infinite number of years, billions of trillions.

Now, what sounds better?

I prefer the concept of eternal life but without any evidence I am afraid my brain wouldn't allow me to cling to that emotional clutch.


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## Nilrem (Jan 13, 2014)

<---- Most of us on our death bed.


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## DanTheOutlaw (May 29, 2014)

Nilrem said:


> <---- Most of us on our death bed.


That CGI is abysmal.


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## Nilrem (Jan 13, 2014)

DanTheOutlaw said:


> That CGI is abysmal.


That's my point. When you die, you suffer from bad CGI. :bat


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## Just Here (Jul 16, 2013)

It's all about control. If you don't do what they say you'll end up in hell. Church's don't get rich by all the love they sow but by selling fear. 

Also most people fear death and here's a way to beat it. It's a waste of time and energy. We live and die that's it.


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## ThisGirl15 (Mar 1, 2014)

Well I would say from my personal Christian point of view the afterlife or Heaven moee specifically sounds like a nice thing.

For one thing I don't believe in the stereotypes of Heaven. That people float around in the clouds with angel wings and halos. 

I believe there is a lot to do in Heaven and that Heaven is pretty much like earth. Technically, Heaven will be on earth after the end times-it's just going to be perfect with no starvation, or murder, or depression, and much more. I believe we'll be able to do many things like sing, dance, enjoy, nature, etc. The most important thing to me though is that we'll be able to discover our universe and seek infinite knowlegde of our world and perhaps more. It would be useful since humans would have no limitationa when it comes to things like space, health, and being unable to die. 

But that is only my and my family's personal beliefs. Clearly a large amount of Christians wouldn't agree, but I always found it interesting what people believe after dying.


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## markwalters2 (Mar 18, 2013)

Lester87 said:


> I've never understood why so many people are so positive about various forms of the afterlife and hope they go to such a place after death. It is the worst kind of torture when you really think about it.
> 
> Sure seeing relatives and friends again would be great and the first few thousand or million years might be good fun but after billions upon billions of years and counting it must just be insanity and despair.
> 
> ...


You'd get access to all the great games. Both past, present and those that haven't been released.


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## Watsky (Apr 17, 2013)

It's probably the main reason people still believe in god


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## pazuzuinxs (Jan 23, 2014)

Cos it sucks to be dirt


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## The Sleeping Dragon (Sep 29, 2011)

People can't handle the concept of nothingness. We're just not wired to understand.


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## soulsurviver (Jun 17, 2014)

It gives me comfort to think I may have a better time in the afterlife than I did hear on earth.


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## inerameia (Jan 26, 2012)

Ego wants to continue its existence indefinitely. Once I realized the reality of suffering and impermanence, a strange peace came over me.


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## Sententia (Dec 24, 2012)

I was raised an atheist and I've always considered the idea of an afterlife to be preposterous. I honestly didn't believe anyone actually believed in heaven until I was surprisingly old. I though heaven and god were exactly like Santa clause and that people were only pretending to believe. I have to admit though, I find the idea that one day I will no longer exist difficult to comprehend. It's a vaguely foreign concept after all.


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## overthelake (Jun 22, 2014)

I think this is a good answer:





Quite naturally, the video is cut short. There was once a video with the full scene.

It goes something like this...

Why do we like old things? Old Churches? Old buildings? Family heirlooms?

Because it connects us with the past. It shows us where we come from.

Now does this need to connect to our past only go one way?

It goes into the future.

How do we connect with our future?

We have children. We produce things like new science and long lasting works.

WHY do we want to connect with our past and future?

We're mortal. We die. We want to taste immortality.


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## Zyriel (May 20, 2011)

I don't really "believe" in one because there are too many to believe in, and no proof for any. However, I am open to the idea. What it is or could it be? There are various religions that have different ideas from "heaven" to "reincarnation" to "nothingness" or "perdition". Places in older cultures such as Valhala in Nordic, higher planes of existence in Vedic, Hades in Greek, and various others in history. Aside from the more conventional "heaven" and "hell" concepts of the Abrahamic variety lol.

If there was an afterlife, whatever it may be, would probably be too complex for the human mind to understand. It would take a whole system to play out properly. What moral system would it follow, and whose religion would be "right" throughout history? What various punishments and rewards are there for souls? How do souls obtain the highest level of rewards? If many moral ideas are "right" then how can one even be rewarded with "pleasure"? What would constitute "pleasure" as in the physical plane, all senses are dictated by the nervous system and most of the "best" sensations are "sins" to most (at least modern) religions 

With all the billions of people who have died before as well, it would have to be a pretty large place with various levels of "rewards" and "punishment". What would be the physics of that universe? As well as other species out there in space? Whom are their gods or what is their religion? Whether or not extraterrestrials have visited the earth is one question, but the amount of galaxies, not to mention star systems, and habitable planets out in the great nether that is space, the possibility that earth is the only habitable planet is quite irrational, probability wise. So where do they go when they die? Another whole universe? Could we incarnate in their bodies? ? Many questions indeed xD So to answer the question, for me, it would plainly be out of sheer curiousity!


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## CheezusCrust (May 23, 2013)

There are many reasons, but a couple major ones are fear of death & never seeing loved ones again and people who think this world is terrible and hope yearn for a better one. Addressing income inequality and improving government services would do wonders to address the latter.


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## DanTheOutlaw (May 29, 2014)

Neurological process of self preservation.


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## JustThisGuy (Mar 24, 2012)

Death is scary. It's the end. No more universe for you. You get a blink. Who wouldn't dream of immortality in such a wondrous place?


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## corgilemon (Jul 6, 2014)

Because the death of conciousness isn't imaginable and probably not possible. There must be continued consciousness after death. There can not be nothing.


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## xisco (Apr 22, 2014)

I would love to be reborn as a wolf or something, but the whole hanging out in the skies for the rest of eternity just seems silly.


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## labelme (Apr 22, 2014)

JustThisGuy said:


> Death is scary. It's the end. No more universe for you. You get a blink. Who wouldn't dream of immortality in such a wondrous place?


We only know what we see. Science can only explain to us what we can see. I remain neutral, but I accept the possibility of becoming a different part of the universe after death, as do I accept the possibility of nothingness.


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## JustThisGuy (Mar 24, 2012)

labelme said:


> We only know what we see. Science can only explain to us what we can see. I remain neutral, but I accept the possibility of becoming a different part of the universe after death, as do I accept the possibility of nothingness.


Everything that lives becomes a part of the universe after death because it already is a part of the universe. We are the product of dead stars. Like Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson say, it's beautiful if you think about it long enough.


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## TaylorXXIII (Jul 20, 2014)

People want to keep living. It is not death that scares people, but rather non-existence. It is profoundly terrifying to many to imagine that they will eventually fade into oblivion so that nothing that a memory remains. An afterlife relieves this fear by allowing people to deny death.

I have never found the concept of an afterlife alluring. As a child I always dreaded what might come after for fear of infinite boredom. I much prefer the eternal rest that is oblivion.


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## Pennywise (Aug 18, 2011)

I think the idea provides comfort to some people (a lot of people, actually). It gives them hope of seeing dead loved ones again, as well as the incentive to be good little boys and girls with the promise reward of endless bliss and happiness after death.


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## The Exodus (Jul 31, 2014)

I don't believe an afterlife is easy to comprehend. For most people deeply rooted in science, it becomes an impossible affair. However, it's also impossible to understand a world where you yourself don't exist. But then, if it is really necessary to ask the questions about the afterlife, then flip it over and ask yourself; what happened prelife?


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