"No afterlife is unacceptable to me!" | Matt - Kokomo, IN | Atheist Experience
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- Matt from Kokomo, Indiana has difficulty accepting the idea that there might not be an afterlife. He also brings up near death experiences and the weight of the soul. This is an urban legend that goes back to 1907. (According to this legend, the weight of a soul is 21 grams; not 7 grams.) You can read the story here:
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This is a clip from The Atheist Experience #656 of May 9, 2010, with Matt Dillahunty and Jeff Dee. (Topic: Viewer calls.) This entire episode can be watched on Blip.tv and Ustream.tv:
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I'm sick of people saying life cannot exist without a brain. What about creationists.
+movieklump This needs more thumbs ups...
+movieklump HAHAHAHAHA
+movieklump hahahahahaha
+movieklump MOHH OMLHOMHOLHOLULULUAAUA
hilarious.
"I was dead for a billion years before I was born and wasn't bothered by it one bit." Greatest quote in the face of certain death I have ever heard.
Actually, not true, because you had no identification as anything before you born.
JeffersonDinedAlone Well death won't be any different that it was before we were born, regardless of whether that state should be referred to as "death" as well.
wouldn't it be 13.7 billion years before your birth?
The full quote:
“I do not fear death. I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest inconvenience from it.”
― Mark Twain
Benny Gonzalez why do you believe that? It seems to be a rather pointless and unprovable belief. If you die and lose all memory and therefore personality, any entity born after you in the process would be just as different from you as you are to any other random person. You still would be dead dude.
Wow. A caller who asks reasonable questions and listens to the answers. Impressive!
Sadly, it really is amazing to have such a level headed caller like this. I might not agree with some of the things Matt said but I respect him for being respectful and actually allowing the host of this show to speak.
I definitely disagree with Matt on this subject. He is verifiably WRONG!
The name of the movie was 21 grams not 7 grams
Really, you can measure your soul?
sowcratees
It's a myth. Allegedly it was observed that a corpse lost a tiny bit of weight after death. I think it was a tiny error in measurement coupled with some wishful thinking.
Gotta give credit where credits due. Although many people will leech on to anything sounding mysterious and call it god. Cant stand those guys.
This... my mortality is what keeps me up at night. The thought of "me" not existing anymore scares the crap out of me. I was in hard denial. For me, like the caller, the idea of no afterlife was completely unbearable and unacceptable.
I used to be a very religious roman catholic but then I started to read a lot about science and became dubious... and eventually, became an atheist.
When facing the truth about no magical afterlife existing, I cried a lot... I felt life was just like filling up a hard disk with awesome memories, knowledge and information to just format it and burn it at the end... But that's life, that's the real deal.
It took me a long time to accept (3 years exactly, started doubting at 16, I'm 19 now).
After seeing how random the opportunity to live (as a human being) is, I value life and my loved ones 10000 times more than I used to do before.
Now I just live happy everyday, doing good things, loving, caring, learning, meeting new people, thinking this could be my last day here to, at least, leave a positive impact on the lives of everyone I helped throughout the day and be somehow remembered.
Questioning religion was the best worst thing that could ever happen to me, I just wish more people could open their eyes and see how truly valuable life is.
(If anyone reads this to until this line, thank you :) Needed to share my experience
Your experience has been shared and I relate to it a lot.
It was a serious problem for me too. I studied many religions and different spiritual scripture texts from different religions. Trying to get an answer, or a comfort, at the end of the day, I believed for a while, then I studied psychology and understood what I was doing to myself. Basically ego projection, denial, and cognitive dissonance were all experiences when one attempts to deny the reality we can verify in favour of myths that give us comfort. At the end of the day, most people prefer comforting lies, than harsh truths... I prefer harsh truths.
For those troubled by the thought of their existance ceasing, their consciousness fading into nothingness, I would like them to look at the implications of the contrary. No, not "Oh, live after I'm dead, super neat!", I mean really think about it. Existing. Conscious. For all eternity. Imagine doing all there is to do, in total bliss, for 100 years, and then not knowing what to do. Maybe, after 1000 years, you'll be oficially bored. After an eternity of nonstop boredom, you may think your eternal consciousness torture, and want nothing more than to just *stop*. And then, millennia after millennia after eon after eon in that sorry state, you'll still have eternity left to go. Really think about that.
"I don't care how blissful it is; It's eternal, you'll get used to it, and then you'll be *fuckin' bored!*"
-Jim Jeffries
Remember before you were born?
Exactly. You don't. That's what death is like. It's nothing, void, absence.
Nothing to fear really, for some it's even something to look forward too.
I'm not a Mac guy, but you just fucking blew my mind. Is the 'same as before you were born' thing from somewhere?
This caller actually seems like a genuine, kindly fellow who'll listen to reason. It's nice to see that some Christians are willing to accept ideas that aren't their own.
Arthur MC Same here. That's why I consider this caller's apparent genuineness to be a little uplifting, you know?
I don't think he was a christian. I think he was just scared of the thought of no afterlife and was desperately trying to find alternatives that seemed possible to him.
Yeah he sounded like I did before turning atheist. I believed in some reincarnation crap because of "energy" not being created or destroyed only transferred. I attributed the energy to something like a soul or life force. I used to get pretty high then too
Matt Dave I'm willing to accept ideas that aren't my own if they are the truth. but if they are not the truth then they are your ideas.
Christians accept all ideas that aren't their own and with zero proof or evidence.
Fear is an incredibly powerful emotion.
+Andrew Tessler Yeap. It's a pretty strong indicator as to why religions exist. We're the only animals, that we know of, who actually have a concept of death. We all know that, one day, we're going to die.
I wouldn't say I've fully come to terms with my own death but, one comforting thought that I like to remind myself from time to time, was that there was a period in which I didn't exist at all because I wasn't conceived yet.
Am I scarred from this previous non-existent state? Of course not. Was I in pain? Was I scared? Totally absurd questions on all counts.
So I view death as simply going back to this non-existent state, from which I was "in" before I got conceived. I.e. the "circle" closes back to what it was.
Thus, using that analogy... Since there was a time in which we were all "dead" then why are we afraid to "die again"?
We are simply returning to a state of non-existence... A state we've all "been" before.
John Doe and who knows maybe we are reborn with new lives and identity or reincarnated THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS we must live for today and to help our fellow humans
@@ginajustiniano84 yep its all about the present...there is no future or past..everything is now because that is where you can consciously interact with reality. You cannot interact with the past or future reality.
The main "fuel" for religions ......................
Yup. Christians don't like to admit it but 98 - 99% of why they hold on to their faith, ignore facts, reason & logic is because of the perceived "afterlife" and their fear of dying.
I guarantee that if their wasn't the afterlife and heaven aspect there would be a lot less Christians and I guarantee that if their God said that EVERYONE was going to hell there'd be hardly any Christians at all.
I think he was a very good caller. He actually presented his ideas and what he thought but he also *listened* to an alternate explanation without freaking out or trying to twist out of hearing something that made him uncomfortable. It well could be that he hung up and went on believing in an afterlife out of fear of the alternative... but that doesn't matter because he has the capacity to understand that other people hold different views and had the guts to ask about them AND listen to a response. That kind of honesty bodes well for him if he continues, not just with the issue of gods but with anything he encounters in life. It sounds like he is an investigative type of person. Very good caller.
I liked this. An honest man calling to talk about an insecurity he has, admitting he likes an idea because he's afraid of the alternative and doesn't want to accept it. I find this moving.
"Does a battery have an afterlife after it's drained" is a good point. Lol. I love when he said that. People can't accept that there may not be an afterlife because somehow they feel like they deserve it.
Biggz Giebig Its because people are afraid to die, dude. But, hey. That's their problem.
KC TheFreethinking-Atheist Agreed
KC TheFreethinking-Atheist you can't prove what's in somebody's mind other than your own moron. So your "people are afraid to die bullshit", is called projecting. But hey, doesn't mean you're afraid to die, just means you claim other people think like you. I won't attempt to care why you're so fucking egomaniacal, I can however prove you're outward thoughts, well your representation of them in bold type, are fucking stupid.
Vernon Smithjr You can spew bullshit all over the place if you choose. If you sell people the idea that they are going to live forever, they will buy it. The heart of all the indoctrination is the fear of dying.
Btw, it has nothing to do with my ego. It's called food for thought. You should try it sometime.
KC TheFreethinking-Atheist " If you sell people the idea that they are going to live forever, they will buy it. The heart of all the indoctrination is the fear of dying."
Prove it...the proven fear is the basis for accepting the doctrine...I'll wait for you to prove what is in someones mind other than your own, oh yeh, you cant.
"Its because people are afraid to die, dude. But, hey. That's their problem."
Yeh, pointing to others "problems" isn't ego based...you're a fucking moron..
It's hard to accept the idea that there might not be an afterlife. I relate to it.
But I don't want to have faith, I want to know. Since we don't know(yet), I'll stick to reality and live my life to the fullest, because it's the only one I've got.
***** I don't want any kind of relationship with Christ. I'm straight. By the way, I can't trust a person that doesn't exist.
"I don't want any relationship with Christ. I'm straight" XD
***** you need medical advice......see a doctor...........there is help out there
Carlos Amaral Yolo bitch Yolo
Carlos Amaral So someone just happened to invent a story of a man named Jesus which story has lived for 2,000 years. I don't think "fake stories" live that long. If you look for him you will find him if you don't you wont. End of story.
In conclusion: There's no afterlife, no heaven, no hell. This is it. Make the best of it.
Well said. I agree.
that kinda sucks.... its some ppl who life here is shit and they truly have nothing to look foward too. im not saying we should blindly believe in a after life just to believe it. but at the end of the day there are people who are only experiencing bad in life whether it be severe oppression, starvation war etc etc. it would really suck if there is no after life for the millions of ppl who dont experience the "good in life"
me too bro I appreciate the kind words. we aren't crazy or moronic like they try to make us seem for hoping for a better life than this one. a life filled with righteousness, justice and love for one another. atheist fail to realize we all have faith in something
You don't need to wait until death, hoping to live a life of righteousness, justice, and love for one another, just live it now, in the one life you KNOW you have.
The energy idea sounds great until you think about it for two seconds. You aren't born with energy, you get it from your mother in the womb, and then throughout your life you eat and drink converting that stored energy in the bodies work energy. This is easily testable for anyone wanting to put forth the conservation of energy argument, just stop eating.
William Bonney Show me in what up to date science book it's stated as a proven fact that "human consciousness survives death." Where is there ANY scientific PROOF of that?
Great caller actually, he really listened to what they said. I'm impressed, very questionable if this guy still holds his religious beliefs ;) If he does, good for him, if he doesn't - even better for him.
Ditto!!
Yeah, I'm always suspicious when I see an honest reasonable religious person, because usually it turns out to be trolling.
there are no honest religious people anyway, there are fanatics, who would burn alive for theire belive, then there are religiousleaders, who acctually just take and never give, and there are the broad band of people who think they belive, but when it comes down tu acctually burning youre self, theire not that bothered anymore....
***** To the contrary. It is quite an observant statement.
All religions I know of have some claims that contradict real world observations. Most people are raised from a young age to believe one religion is correct. Then most people get to school or somehow get exposed to science. They find a contradiction between their beliefs which they got from their parents and scientific notions from teachers or scientists. Usually all these people are reliable but in this case someone is lying. You have two options:1 find out the truth or 2 just not care about the truth. Most religious people don't say they don't care about the truth so they either proceeded with the other option or lie (being dishonest).
If you want to find out the truth by actually checking what happens science will always prove correct (as it's based on all the observations previously made, and the world is understandable). Once you know that religious beliefs don't apply in the real world you have two options: keep your beliefs, don't seek the truth any more and pretend you didn't find what you found, but you will base your decisions on real world observations. (dishonest) Or you have to admit your religion is based on lies because anything that contradicts reality is a lie. In this case you stop being religious.
The same happens when someone tells people about the internal inconsistencies of religions. (Anything that contradicts itself is a lie)
The only way someone can be honestly religious is by being raised in a "bubble" eg in a religious community and religious "schools" and never ever get exposed to real world observations. (That is a very insignificant minority.)
Most "religious" people have realized that their dogma is false, so they don't make decisions based on it, however they would not admit it, because they fear the repercussions from other people. (being dishonest)
Steven Johnson what you're saying is factually false. You can't just make a broth sweeping generalization unless you personally know every single Christian out there, or claim to have omniscient knowledge that the rest of us don't have. I grew up around Christians that you say do not exist.
What is it like to not exist? It's hard to answer because nobody remembers ever not existing. But everyone has indeed been in a non-existant state (if you can call it a state). So in theory, you can think of it this way: Remember what it was like before you were conceived by your parents? (of course not; you didn't exist) There was no light, no dark, no love, no hate, no pain, no joy, no here, no there, no now, and no then. That's what it's like to be dead.
You sir, have just freed me from the fear of the afterlife and eternal torture.
Edwin Kip And the funny thing is, God believers think that since we don't believe we will burn, we must consider ourselves free to do evil as we please. But we don't. Why? Because we are inherently good and we stay good because we *want* to. The *real* people to fear are those that are only being good because the threat of eternal agony terrorizes them into being good. What do you suppose they would do if the threat didn't exist for them? Perhaps it's not such a good idea to try to convince them there is no Hell. Their religion keeps them in their cage where they belong.
"Their religion keeps them in their cage where they belong." So, "The real people to fear" are these supposedly caged people? Supposedly, according to Uncle John’s Unstoppable Bathroom Reader pg. 299, "When a person is dying, hearing is the last sense to go. Sight is the first." IMO, this supposed non-existent experience is merely the absence of sensory input, not unlike blacking out, a possible reason why a person would have a hard time remembering ever not existing. There is also a sense of self that always is and the idea of non-existing is what is described in 1984 as the destruction of self.
@Gagan Singh But that was _before_ experiencing life. Of course _before_ we were born, there would be no fear. But having that life, knowing that one day you will go back into that empty void, _that's_ where the fear is. The depression. The sadness.
@Gagan Singh Well I'm already an atheist, and I already know that facts don't care about your feelings. But the feelings don't go away.
Being dead is like being asleep except you don't have to get up in the middle of the night to pee.
So every night we're just killing ourselves or dying in sleep? Guz dats how it kinda feels like lol not like how 💉🐕🐈⬛.
I was dead for a billion years before I was born and it didn't trouble me one bit . Ha, ha,ha .
DMT is a powerful naturally produced drug, but experiencing it doesn't prove God or an afterlife.
And to explain, your body produces this drug naturally in death or extreme near death cases.
To be more accurate, it's constantly produced in all(?) living matter. In near death experiences, it's hypothesized that a fairly large amount of it is dumped into the brain. I'm not sure if there have been any legitimate studies of this claim (for example, no one has demonstrated that the pineal gland creates or stores DMT, or that it has a mechanism for releasing DMT into the brain). Feel free to enlighten me if you have any specific evidence, but I've looked into this in the past, and just recently tried finding any specific studies on DMT and NDE's. There is very little support for this hypothesis from what I've read.
Kyle G Yes it is, you’re incorrect.
I've taken DMT recreationally before, I was an atheist before and after the experience, in fact the experience had nothing to do with religion at all and if it did I'm pretty sure that would have ruined it for me lmao.
The thought of no afterlife honestly makes me appreciate the life I have even more. I am a statistical anomaly. I am a multi-celled organism with sentience. That in itself is amazing, and wasting that by fearing for what happens when it's over is an unfortunate waste of time. It is better to live your life appreciating it as the only one you get than to live a life fearing it.
I had an NDE, then the DMT wore off and I was still on my couch
I have to admit I do kind of agree with the caller. Not what he said about "no afterlife is unacceptable" but that not being able to exist anymore is scary. It really is. To think that the consciousness I'm feeling right now is one day going to end forever is frightening to me. I will never see my family and friends again, go to the movies, play games, celebrate birthdays and holidays and so on. Granted when I am dead I'm not going to know the difference, but the thought is still very unsettling. All of us have only ONE shot at life and we need to try to make the best out of it.
Well said
+bellametallica I feel the same exact way as you! And I'm an atheist.
+bellametallica I see it like this.
There was a time where you weren't alive. Do you suffer from this? Does it sadden you that you weren't alive back then but are now? I don't think most people would even give it a second thought.
Well, death would be like that wouldn't it? Only you wouldn't be *able* to be sad because you wouldn't exist. So, think of it like that. There was a time when you didn't exist, when you no longer exist again, it will be the same as when you didn't before.
+Jacen Solo We do know that. The problem is that I wasn't alive back than to realize it. True, I won't be alive once I'm dead to realize it. But I'm alive as hell right now to know that I don't want to go back to that condition. It's the thought of getting there that we don't like, not the state of being in it.
Someone compared dying to going to sleep. I call BS. I don't mind going to sleep because I know, or at least expect to wake up the next morning. I know that won't be happening when I'm dying.
+Kodoku If you don't really think about that a lot is not going to bother you, obviously I am curious and I want to know the new theories, technologies, medicines and stuff that we will invent in the future. But at least I have to be happy that Im alive in that time where human rights are actually starting to be taken seriously, and to be the part of the generation that knows what is to have internet and no Internet.
Just be happy and don't think a lot about it so you won't get sad.
one of the few callers who was open minded and sincerely interested..good change of pace
The hint is "near"-death experience. Those people do not experience death itself but the process of dying.
For me, I'm not afraid of death, I'm afraid of the dying that comes before it.
Death is nothing to me. But a long slow painful death like many I have seen go through does bother me
Greetings@@robertpreston2220,
A near-death experience (NDE) is a profound personal experience associated with death or impending death which researchers claim share similar characteristics. Such experiences may encompass a variety of sensations including detachment from the body, feelings of levitation, total serenity, security, warmth, the experience of absolute dissolution, loss of pain, and the presence of a light.
Many common elements have been reported, although the person's interpretation of these events often corresponds with the cultural, philosophical, or religious beliefs of the person experiencing it. Seeing loved ones is very common. Christians often see angels. Muslims see Allah. Buddists can see Budda, &etc. A "tunnel experience" or entering a darkness. A sense of moving up, or through, a passageway or staircase.
Pilots who pass out due to lack of oxygen, or blood loss to the brain due to high-g stresses all report this "tunnel experience" and NDE until they recover after returning to consciousness.
These are believed to be common reactions of the brain as it becomes oxygen starved and as various portions of the brain begin to shut down. The good news is that for most, impending death and this normal reaction of the brain shutting down is a pleasant and painless experience. So death is not generally a negative experience.
Look up near death experience and start with Wikipedia. Move on to NDE and pathological or clinical studies. It is a fascinating subject and will help anyone to better cope with what we all can expect to experience. Animals likely react in much the same way
@@stevefranks6541 I have read all of that over the years. That is why I said we have only one life and this is it. death is the end of everything so enjoy the only life we will ever have
@@stevefranks6541 aww that's good to know :) makes me think of my brother who passed away
I don't think Christians understand that some of us atheists had a hard time getting over the fact that this is it. It is scary to think about one's mortality. But we must live in truth. We must learn to accept reality for what it is. There is nothing to suggest that we live past the point of death.
my personal thoughts on death are like my thoughts on sleeping - I'm not aware during it so I don't see much difference.
Damian Freeman being unconscious is a better example, you have dreams when you sleep
Damian Freeman Same thing as before you were born.
I did it for the cat girls True but most of the time I don't dream, I just fall unconcious while I sleep. It's weird when in retrospect I try thinking about "what was I doing at that time"?
Damian Freeman
Actually, you always dream if your sleep period is more than 30-40 minutes. It's just that, in your case, you usually don't have recall of your dreams. That's the case with many people.
Dreaming is a natural and (short of using drugs or some other method of artificially suppressing the normal functioning of the brain) unavoidable part of the sleep cycle.
In fact, through studies where people have had their REM sleep or dreaming portion of their sleep cycle suppressed, people begin to show signs of psychosis, emotional instability, and significantly impaired memory after only a few nights of not dreaming. These were people who got plenty of sleep and were well rested. They just had their dreaming activity suppressed.
The currently accepted hypothesis of why dreaming is a necessary brain function is as a kind of "housekeeping" routine for the brain. As in a way that the brain uses it's rest periods to "organize" the memories of our experiences each day.
BigRalphSmith I see. Well, that's interesting. I'll make a note to get more sleep.
Why do Christians keep posting quotes from the Book of Romans? Do they think its suddenly going to convert people? All the quotes they post seem to be saying the same things....don't think...don't question...obey....and whatever you do, don't listen to anyone who might know something....
Not only that, but Romans mentions that God shows mercy to those he wishes to show mercy, and hardens those who he wishes to harden. In other words, God makes Atheists just to send to hell and make an example of.
***** Indeed he is.
Good thing he doesn't exist.
***** or does he?
naaaa, I'm just kidding, all religion is a rediculus concept, I honstly belive no one has any need what so ever of religion, in any case....
They can quote scripture all they want, but they can't escape the verses in Leviticus that are completely immoral and should cause any rational person to immediately shred their bible and use it as fireplace tinder.
Religion is, as was stated, an opiate for the masses . . . those verses are somehow a wall in their brain meant to keep them submissive and "charitable" to the church they belong. If you look at the design for a church, it's basically a sound resonating chamber. If you really want to fuck it up, try finding a way to add a sound-cancelling device in the congregation and see what happens.
You can hear the fear in that poor boy's voice as he says that it is unacceptable to him. They handled that terribly, he couldn't even finish what he was saying about how scary that is for him. However invalid they consider his perspective, that really got me down. We're all humans in this world, trying to figure everything out. I just feel as though they ought to have been more compassionate before shattering any small hope he may have for an afterlife.
I feel for the guy because when I was transitioning to atheism a decade ago, I faced the same dilemma. It put me in a state of depression that lasted almost a year, and while I’ve recovered and accepted reality, it has left a scar on my personality. I’m not the happy go lucky man I used to be. But, in many ways, I’m wiser.
Completely relate to your situation. I didn’t get depressed. I think I miss the social aspects of religiosity and the thought that there was something more.
Why would you want to live in a conscious state for ever I'm 25 and already jaded lol
Luiz Claudio de Souza Querido "Imagine trillions of years, and you just cant die. It sounds like a nightmare."
Where old age is unknown, and dying is replaced by its opposite, yeh, TOTAL nightmare
Luiz Claudio de Souza Querido That's why I've so often wondered why so many theists like Christians or Muslims etc. have some idea that it would be a good thing to actually experience eternity in a "heaven". I don't care how comfortable it might feel, it would be the worst torture I could imagine being forced to experience millennia after unending millennia forever and ever. What a horrible concept.
A horrible concept indeed, especially, since its the ONLY one -_- Logic and reason, does imagination disappear with their use, along with trial and error, because using imagination alongside logic and reason doesn't automatically have to be used to believe in tooth fairies that pilot flying spaghetti spaceships in a universal bullet hell simulation (in context of the universe being a kind of computer)
daijinryuu itsutsu
Huh?
I'm assuming you were responding to me but I can't be sure since it seems you did not use the "Reply" link.
I also don't understand what you're trying to say. You've started out with an erroneous statement and then attempted to employ some kind of metaphorical reference which is apparently esoteric enough as to be unintelligible.
If you would rephrase what you were trying to say, it might be more productive.
Thanks.
What are the unintelligible parts of my statement in this thread of exactly more than two people?
My 6 billion year long pre life will be exactly the same experience as my infinite afterlife.
+stunningarrayof Unawareness is not an experience.
Vertical Horizon
Whoosh
It’s hard to believe Matt was ever this calm, and soft spoken. 😂
Religion = "No afterlife is unacceptable to me!"
Awh, this guy was really nice, polite and respectful :) This is what I'd call positive atheism - This is how the dialogue between atheists like myself and religious people should be conducted. Not that I don't appreciate a bit of Matt tearing the arse out of someone ;)
An afterlife would be awesome! As long as there's a euthanasia option for when I get bored with eternity. =D
Yeah an afterlife is like a fun concept every once in a while, but once you're actually honest with yourself... this life is good and bad enough without there needing to be a second life where only you get to go to heaven and those who agree with all of your opinions vs the hell all of the people you disagree with go to because they disagree with your opinions.
You know I've been thinking about eternal life, and you can argue that there is also no meaning in it. I mean any number divided by infinity is a number that tends to the 0, so any of the people we met, any experience we had etc, in infinity means close to nothing...
An afterlife (that isn't heaven) that is free of pain, sure.
Haha. hey dude don't you want to work forever? Like 9 trillion years? I mean sure it will be some incarnation of you that isn't really you but still? I guess it beats roasting in eternal chilli.
Life could very well be that option. Then again, you wouldn’t be separate from eternity, just less aware.
I think that some people need something to believe in and hope for because it scares them that much. While others are comfortable enough with the idea of nonexistence and many other unknowns that they don't insert beliefs into those gaps in their knowledge. That's how it will always be. That level of uncertainty will always be "unacceptable" to some people.
Im an Athiest but where i disagree with other atheists is when they say there is nothing after death. Im not saying there is but what i am saying is that nobody knows. Nobody.
Thats true, but do we have any single evidence to the existence of it?no?
I didnt think so
ciamarrajohn No i am not agnostic. i dont see any evidence or good reason to believe in the existence of any god but i dont know what happens after death. Could be nothing, could be something. Nobody knows.
so your argument is what; you should believe that something can happen [such is life after death]until there is evidence to prove you wrong? The default position, of course, is that you don't believe in anything until there's reasonable evidence to support it. you're not exercising strong critical thinking skills Al
Michael Dennis clearly not even close to what i said at all.
***** who are you to label what i am? YOu dont know me outside of a comment on youtube. What is to know anything? How sure are you that this reality is real? I do not believe that there is a god. at all. I am an atheist. as far as death goes i do not know what happens after and neither does anyone else. Not knowing what happens after death has nothing to do with whether i believe in a god or not.
I honestly feel bad when I hear someone ask if theres just nothing after death and express fear when they say that idea scares them. That was the first thought that went through my mind when I first realized my religion was fake and I suddenly realized there was no afterlife as promised by my religion. I felt a grave sense of fear immediately thinking my conscienceness would return to the way it was before it first awoken into existence but after death most likely never agian to awake. I cant help but feel empathy when I hear that fella say that was a scary thought.
It took me about 3 days to get over the empty feeling I had inside, feeling like life had no purpose and without a god to take care of me after death(not that he did a damn thing for me in life) caused me to fall into a deep depression. I started feeling much better after the 3rd day when I just figured I would enjoy my life the best I could while I still have it. I now look at things like, instead of just enjoying it the best I could, now I know I can enjoy it the best I want. No right or wrong no rules for me, I'm free LOL. I feel better about life now that I dont have to worry about being punished after death for anjoying things that once was considered sin in my religion, that being that I am bisexual, something I tried to pray away all my life but no support from the fake god I was praying to. Now I can just let loose and do what feels good and natural to me.
I honestly feel bad sometimes 2
Why has nobody ever had a near death experience and spoke of hell? Lol
+Guy 01 There is no such thing as a "near death" experience. You are either alive, or you are dead.
Juiceinmycup 777 no I don't believe that, I don't believe in God either.
Vertical Horizon I'm not saying the experience part is true, but of course you can be near death, you're alive but still can be close to death.
+Guy 01 nor heaven. the brain releases "drugs" when you die.. no one has SEEN heaven and came back before. It's all debunked. So hahah...... It's not looking good for wither they exist or not at all.
Juiceinmycup 777
I'll be the Judge of that.
I believe the fear of death is the biggest reason for the existence of religion, belief in god. But from my experience, when people are old and sick and suffering, death is welcome. I try to think of death as what you experience when you are anesthetized for surgery. You experience nothing. The time between when you are put out and when you wake up....that's what death is like. So why fear something when you'll have no consciousness to experience it. And I know I've used the word experience way too much in this post. My apologies.
srg914 I would even refine that idea a little more and say, it's not the idea of being dead that most people find frightening, it's the idea of the event of _dying_.
True.
when my great uncle died of old age, he freaked out. that's the only uneasy part I'm anticipating...in 60+ years hopefully! BTW I'm sure many factors play into how one feels at the time of death. it's just the thought of my uncle's experience that makes me dread becoming dead. then again, afterwards there's NOTHING to worry about! :/
arensel84
I completely understand why the event of dying is a high stress moment. We have an innate survival drive and the event of death, even one that we call "natural" as a result of old age or illness, still comes in to conflict with that instinct.
They have shown that, at the "moment" (it's not actually a moment but a series of events) of death, the brain releases a huge surge of endorphin and other highly psychoactive substances in to the brain. I am not surprised that this can cause strange or unusual reactions in the person dying.
I look at it this way, we all die. There's no getting around it so, to worry about it or anticipate it serves no good purpose.
I had a major heart attack 15 years ago and "died" on the table. No "NEDs" at all. I'm not afraid of being dead. Period. The heart attack was terribly unpleasant and led to a stroke with attendant disabilities, so I don't want to actually die - I didn't enjoy it at all. But being dead? It's a doddle! No gawd, no devil, no heaven, no hell. Been there, done that - didn't enjoy the trip.
I would LOVE there to be an afterlife. I would love to be immortal in some way shape or form, because the finality of death is terrifying. But just because I want something to be true doesn't mean it is.
Don't worry. Life is the only thing you'll ever experience, and, in that sense, you are immortal. You will never know death.
Enjoy life and do your best to be the better version possible of yourself.
Be kind. Love, laugh, be happy.
Alex Ferreira Thanks for your words. You're awesome!!
***** It actually makes sense. What he meant was that you'll never know when you die. You won't experience death because you can't experience being dead. You experience the dying process before you lose consciousness, but afterwards, there's nothing else to experience because there won't be a "you" anymore.
***** You're the only one in this thread who believes in a diety. No amount of bible quotations will alter that fact, either. You live, you die, you become worm food. Scary, sure; but that's all there is.
***** Couldn't have said it better myself. Great words.
***** Look Elibeth, I won't try to argue with you because I know it won't work. I see what you're trying to do here, but please stop. You won't convince us about anything you say, but I also know we won't convince you of anything we say either. You and I already have our points of view and I don't think they'll change just over an argument on the internet. The only things that I want to ask you for are tolerance and respect. There are way too many humans on earth for you to think everyone of them is going to think the same way as you do. Just keep that in mind.
I come from nothing and go back to nothing. What did I lose? Nothing!! - Monty Python
I used to feel the same way this guy felt, till I had my first surgery. I was put under with the medication that stops your conscious mind from working. The kind where you close your eyes and a split second later, you wake up thinking you just blinked and are waiting to go under, only to find yourself in recovery having been under for 10 hours. And I realized that in that eternal split second (to me), I, as myself, didn't exist for ten hours, and didn't care one whit! Not one bit did I care, because I never even knew it! That's what death is. That last eternal split second, and then...nothing. Nothing to worry about, nothing to miss, nothing at all. The dead don't care at all. They don't grieve, they don't care, they don't love, they're gone forever and don't miss life at all.
@swordnquilstarskgrem
I like that. Been there, and you’re right.
Once I came to the understanding that dead is dead and I won’t care, it was easy to accept.
Sooo isn't surgery and type of thing we do to 🐕🐈⬛ at the vet when dhey get too old to live anymore yet we are da 1s who wake up and not forever az 💉🐕🐈 are? Or iz sleep a type of ⚰️🪦😴 where you trust yo self to keep 🫁🫀🧠 working unless you die in our sleep to somehow wake up again hopefully.
.
"I do not fear death.
I had been dead for billions of years before I was born, and had not suffered the slightest
Iconvenience from it."
Mark Twain
Someone just gotta point out how nice it is to see a caller who asks good and honest questions
People cant accept the fact that we just end when we die. Thats it...worm food.
Andrew Wilson you wish
PRISCA NOMPUMELELO CHIKANE you wish there was an afterlife but that’s not how life works..
I believe in Humpty Dumpty and I am saved.
Adam and Eve our first parents Shut up
No you must believe in the power of the easter Bunny only then are you saved
I would rather cease to exist when I die than live forever. People hardly ever think about just how long FOREVER is...imagine living the same existence for say, 5 million years(which is very little considering eternity is infinite). An existence so prolonged would soon turn to an eternity or boredom, and with boredom comes depression, and with depression comes suffering. so eventually you would end up suffering forever....
Not enough people seem to understand just what living forever would involve. If more people did, I think we'd have fewer religious people.
I am 48 and I am just about at that point of enough is enough so eternity to me is like NO THANKS!
Lol all of you forgot that if there is afterlife boredom and time may not exist in that realm
I like what Dale McGowan said about the afterlife when his children started being concerned about death. He said to picture what it was like before you were born.
For once, the caller was not stupid (just ignorant), he was just in denial/scared and (sort of) accepted (or at least could see the reason behind) the ideals/facts/whatever presented before him... This was a "feel good" clip for me at least.
lol religious commercials pop up b4 Atheist Experience... good target marketing there...
+Geoff Ozzy It works really well. Because the crazies if you know what i mean.. come to watch this stuff to say waaaaa waaaaa why don't you believe us?
Bobby Rare that's a very depressing thought....
bananian From an intelligent Atheist talkshow video?...
bananian lol kk I hear ya
TH-cam is retarded. That's all.
The title of this video brought me here. I'm an atheist and have watched numerous TAE videos. This topic of fear of non-existence I find the most fascinating.
First, other than the desire for it, what reason would one have to think there's an afterlife? Religious indoctrination of course… but the fascination for me comes in when you discover both theists AND (some) atheists who will freely tell you how terrifying the notion of their life ending ENTIRELY at physical death is for them.
Experiences & awareness of ANY KIND require consciousness. If you are dead, you have no awareness of your condition. Once your mind truly grasps (in the abstract) the concept of non-existence, how could anyone's response to that involve fear?
I find far too many people CAN'T form the concept of non-existence, and instead imagine "death" as just a different form of existence where you have awareness and the ability to perceive emotional states such as fear, loneliness, REGRET, sense of isolation, etc. I often think of it using a sports metaphor… that for these people death is like the "penalty box" (as in Hokey) of eternal existence, where you get to see all the action in "life" going on, but no longer are allowed to participate. That would suck… but what reason is there to think that could possibly be?
People don't seem troubled wondering what becomes of all other life forms: squirrels, snakes, spiders, tomato plants… they all live, grow, and eventually expire… and so it is with us.
Why is that troubling?… you'll never "know" you no longer "ARE".
I liked Matt. Genuine person willing to speak and also listen
The claim that the loss of weight after death is a soul is ridiculous. That would suggest that the soul is a physical component of the body, therefore it ought to be identifiable in an MRI scan.
Not only that but the loss of weight can easily be attributed to the gas and liquid that escapes from a body after it dies.
after life would be nice but it aint happening ,sorry
How do you know? I think you're right, but no one can know for sure.
And it's because the religious say they DO know that they lack credibility
Like I said, I do think you are right, there is no reason to think otherwise, but there is no way of knowing for sure.
Belief in an afterlife devalues this one.
I like this caller because he was not rude and was open to a different point of view than his own.
I can't imagine anything worse than an eternal afterlife. Everything gets boring after a while and I'm trying to imagine the meals every day where no matter what's on the menu you've had it a trillion times before and are sick of it.
The "weight of the soul" thing may actually be explainable. MacDougal weighed only six people dting from TB before and after death. The first weighed 21g or so less after death, the others varied. 21g seems to have been taken as the weight that many proponents of this idea use. At the moment of death or just after, a small amount of air will leave the body. Air has weight. So what? Let's not even mention that our bodies start to leak soon after death. Leave the body a bit longer and as it starts to decompose, it's weight will fluctuate quite a bit. Besides any of this, a sample size of 6 is hardly very scientific.
Another explanation is how horribly inaccurate his scales were.
The projection of Qi, or spiritual energy, that some martial arts experts are able to project through the palms of their hands is also proof of some kind of spiritual energy.
Chris Tubestinks to make it proof, would require proper testing.
remember how weird of a religion the barbarians had? and how we laugh about it? This will later happen to all religion from now
Seeing a tunnel is not what tunnel vision is. Tunnel vision is the loss of peripheral vision with retention of central vision. In other words vision is restricted as if viewing through a tunnel. No actual tunnel is seen.
It's not seen
😍
That guy seemed genuinely scared of death of the thought of just not existing, and I feel the same way. Although it's less fear and more anxious when I FULLY think about it
For me having no afterlife is better as what i do matters more than if i did have an afterlife. We need to just be good people not so we can enjoy some nice afterlife but so we can die knowing we made somebody happy in our lives.
***** Why do you feel this way? I ask this so i can understand if you really feel this way or your just saying what somebody you know told you.
Say god is real why should i or anybody else care? Say we do have an afterlife why should i want to go to it vs my life on earth being all i have?
Well, a large number of christians disagree with you Elibeth so you all get on the same page, THEN maybe come try to lecture everyone else.
I would hate afterlife.
If I'm going to die I'm going to do it right dammit!
***** i guess you just wanting to push your god views onto others will that's ok.
I WANT there to be an afterlife, but I know my wants and desires does not make it so. It is my wishful thinking, I accept that. Death is a hard nut to swallow for anybody, even many atheists.
The light that NDE people see is the penlight the paramedics is shining in their eyes!
Nope. I had a NDE, I saw a white light & paramedics weren't there.
And that's how the calls should go.
When your knocked out, deep sleep, or in a coma,or been flatlined your brain tends to dream.
8:57 That's actually not true. Energy does have measurable mass. That's why a compressed spring weighs more than an uncompressed spring.
Yeah, but what about a spirit. By definition; a spirit is nonphysical. And that begs the question, how does something nonphysical have a physical attribute such as weight? Seems nonsensical.
A_Stoic_Master I'm not religious so I wouldn't know what excuse they have for spirits.
I do know energy has weight, I saw it on a science doc. I remember the 'fun fact' was that a wound-up watch will weigh more than when it has run down, although you would need a fucking amazing set of scales to see the difference!
Increasing the temperature of an object also slightly increases it's mass, presumably because of the added heat energy.
***** And it's incorrect information at that.
The batteries energy git transfered into the thing it was powering, just like you do when you die, even if you get cremated, your body burning is energy transferred into fire, or your body decaying into the ground is energy transfer in heat and into nutritional value for grass and plant life and worms.
Exactly, I don't understand why the hosts didn't just answer something like this straight up.
***** eventually, you do; your body still gets consumed by bacteria.
Dtv 2222 yes you do...caskets rot, and then the contents rot
I don't care that you don't want to hear it, the fact remains that a casket only delays the rotting of the body, it does not prevent it. Bones also decay it just takes much, much longer time periods. The proof of this is that there are virtually no dinosaur bones to be found.
In other words we all end up as simply the atoms we were made from.
And Whatever you are suffering from does not give you license to insult people. Insults are the last resort of the intellectually feeble.
***** - I apologise
They made a point I have always thought about. We do not have an afterlife but we do serve a biological purpose after death because our dead bodies do serve as food for worms and plants. Our bodies provide nutrients. So, even in death, we are part of the food chain and cycle of life.
Been listening to a song about dis
I would suggest the caller read "Why I became an atheist" and "The outsiders test for faith" by John Loftus. Both of these address all the questions mentioned in this clip.
Energy is a measure of the ability of a system to do work. the greater the energy the more work that can be done by the system. Theists and new agers obfuscate the term "energy" to imply that "energy" is something ethereal that exists in and of itself, a kind of ethereal material that floats around in space or occupies living or inanimate objects. "energy" is probably the most misused term among theists and new agers alike. Energy does not exists unto itself, it is a measure of a systems capacity.
My dad once died for a couple minutes after drowning. Well his dad gave him CPR and brought him back. My dad, being very religious surprised me when asked what he experienced when he was dead. “I just remember waking up.” He didn’t see God, a light, or life flashing before his eyes. He just remembered drowning and waking up.
The prospect of an afterlife for me is horrifying - having to meet up with. all those family members every day for etertiny...give me that nothingness!!
Heaven wouldn’t be very pleasant knowing millions or even billions of people are being tortured in hell for not believing in something that couldn’t be proven.
I feel really bad for the caller. He seems so scared of death. I hope he's okay.
That was a nice conversation, no condescending defence of a certain belief, just reasonable conversation.
Just imagine how difficult it was to resist breaking out into the Beachboys song at the beginning of the call
Dead is Dead that's it
If anybody thinks that energy has weight, they can do an easy experiment at home to test that. Fully charger your cellphone - and make sure it is connected to wifi - then weight it - then use it until the battery is completely drained and weigh it again.
There's nothing wrong with believing in an afterlife: It's possible. The problem arises when people worry about the prospect of one more than the physical reality they currently live in. There are no guarantees. If indeed this is our only shot, we owe it to ourselves to make it count.
Where do all the calculators go?
i just want to say a big thanks to these guys, ive seen the truth after 19 years and im finally athiest and my parents didnt disown me :)
This is the first semi-informed question I have heard from this show, and the questioner was polite.
3:39 My answer to that would be, why is it scary? You were nothing before you were born,you weren't scared then, why scared now. Let the universe do its thing.
☺️
Of course your going to see a light when you have a near death experience. If you are revived then it means that you were healed. No one is healed on there front, you get flipped over and also no one is healed in the pitch black, your going to see a light.
Ever thought about the fact that if you die your eyes doesn´t get enough blood to work right and if your eyes even if still "dead" hit light it will be like looking into the sunlight right after you woke up^^. You don´t feel pain cause you´re nerves are not beable to send the message for that.
***** Ugh thank's captain oblivious. I know it's my choice to believe in Jesus just like how it's my choice to believe in anything. And I do believe in Jesus I just don't think he had any powers. And whether or not we were born with a spirit depends entirely on how you define spirit. I don't really like to throw that world around because it's incredibly vague and means a lot of different things to a lot of people.
***** Prove it, because unless you can prove it then you are delusional.
*****
Really? You can "choose to believe"? You think that doxastic voluntarism is possible?
***** Actually, according to your creation myth, god made a clay doll and then breathed life into it. Gen. 2:7
It says nothing about a spirit or soul.
BTW, a few lines later, it's pretty clear god doesn't want you to live forever, it's why Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden. Gen. 3:22
Energy does technically have weight, negligible however it might be, technically it does have a weight.
Do you mean the photons, for instance, from the sun? They are physical, so they must logically have some mass, therefore weight. But are the photons the energy? Or do they simply accompany the energy?
I was listening to a speech by The Great Courses, he said that energy, even electricity has a weight to it. If you stretch a rubber band, that stretched rubber band has more weight than a non stretched one because of the energy put into it
Photons as we know are a wave and a particle, turns out all matter is a wave, just because of the size of the frame that it moves in makes the wave undetectable for most objects. Just a side note
Ashton Simmons It's interesting. Food for thought. I will ask my polymath genius buddy about it.
I've heard of the Great Courses, but have no way to assess how reliable they might be. And of course there's likely a range (like, say, Ted and TedX).
I'd need it better than a second hand account via YT post, of course. Like...who is this "he"? But it's something I'm open to learning more about.
Thanks for posting.
Ashton Simmons
1. Weight is different from mass. Objects do not have weight, they have mass.
2. Energy does not have mass, either. E = mc² is the concept that mass in some sort of measure of the energy of a system.
3. All matter is not wave. Matter is made of atoms, which are made of electrons, neutrons and protons. Which are made of quarks, bosoms, etc .. This is not wave. Stop taking your information from new-age shit.
Stewie (in family guy): Brian what happens when we die? Brian: well nothing that's it LIGHTS OUT!
I don't understand why it's so hard for people to accept that when they die that's it, lights out.
Seems like you have quite a experience of dying. How many times have you died ???
P.S. Don't use those same "preachy quote" arguments that u disbelievers blame to the religious people
If energy can't be created or destroyed, what fuels Hell? Are there a bunch of fusion reactors keeping the lakes of fire burning?
Who said that there is no energy?
Gasoline is really cheap these days.
I couldn't stand setting at god's feet worshiping him forever and forever and forever and forever and forever and forever. Just let me die.
Don't be deceived. You don't have to worship God at his feet forever and ever in Heaven. If God created a beautiful world like the one you are in and have you living freely for over a long time, how could He subject you to worshipping him only?
That's a lie from the pits of Hell to make you hate to go to heaven because worshipping God is what pagans hate to do.
Oh, give me a break. In you own bible it says, you will worship god and only god. Over yourself, your mother, you dad, your wife your children. Over everything. Why don't your read your bible more closely. If you did you would think more like me. Now go drink a glass of holy water. Hahaha.
Nothing done for eternity can ever be good. Eternity is unthinkable torture, regardless of the circumstances. Things have value because they are finite.
Hahahaha me either
@@ozijay3000
I you wanna believe, fine. You have absolutely no justification for it because you have not one shred of evidence of the veracity of any of our outlandish claims, but hey, no law against making a fool of yourself.
But whilst you sit there childishly believing....whatever it is you believe, please give us all a break and leave off telling us you know something that the rest of us don't just because you've been indoctrinated into some cult.
Just go away.
he seems like a respectful guy just trying to find answers after being brainwashed for his whole life.
This reminds me off the vet telling me my cat's lack of appetite wasn't due to an abscessed tooth and instead he was dying of complete kidney failure.
I was young and i also thought that was unacceptable. I was sure i could nurse him back to health.... After around 14 hours of laying there too weak to even blink he passed away and it was really rough, he seized and kicked for so long. Not having him put down is one of my biggest regrets.
Some things are completely beyond our control and sadly accepting the situation doesn't matter at all, it is what it is.
I was born of my parents , before that I did not exist anywhere, when I die I will return to that same nothingness from which I came .
Adam and Eve our first parents Do you have any evidence of this?
"Not being a millionaire is unacceptable to me" It's the same kind of logic. If you never had a million dollars secretly stashed away to begin with and someone told you that there's some magical plan to obtain a million dollars, why would it inconvenience you if someone told you that the million dollars wasn't real after all? Wanting a million dollars is irrelevant, just like wanting to live forever. Reality is the way it is whether or not you like it which is exactly why scientists should be finding ways to extend the human lifespan and possibly transporting our consciousness into an artificially intelligent robot so that we can live forever.
To someone who is expecting an afterlife the thought of no afterlife is terrifying. In fact thats why it took me so long to be atheist. Dont rub it in their face that they are gonna die one day.
The most reasonable explanation is that, despite the fact that her eyes do not work due to a miscommunication from damaged optic nerves, her visual cortex is still perfectly intact. This part of the brain still functions, even if her eyes don't. Who knows how this part of the brain might react, while hyperactive, in a blind person.
A report on the topic is entitled "Near-death experiences are 'electrical surge in dying brain'" on the BBC news site; the article has a link to the actual report.
I'm only 32 and I've already become jaded in so many ways. In other words, things that used to make me happy no longer do, the magic is no longer there. The novelty has clearly worn off. What do you think it would be like 900 trillion years old???? THAT is terrfying.....
You'd be so done with life that you wouldnt even care if you got send to the shadow realm.
Yugioh is a prick, he sends everybody he doesnt like to the shadow realm where their in darkness forever, quite sadistic dont you think?
@@youtubestudiosucks978 A man of culture! Greetings fellow duelist!
There is loads of evidence that consciousness exists outside the body with people having out of body experiences and accurately describing what was going on in the hospital room when they were clinically dead.
+Bill Hicks
Although there are ongoing studies attempting to validate these experiences, no credible data has been presented to verify that consciousness can exist outside a living brain. All the "evidence" for which you speak is anecdotal; however, if you have a peer-reviewed study refuting my objections, please cite.
The fact is the brain is a complicated organ, and science simply does not have all the answers. We do know that mere speculation does not a proper conclusion make.
When death is present, you are not. When you are present, death is not.
I like the idea that the elements that make up my body will be used again & again & again & again. But I don't consider that an afterlife.
I like it 2
There is an implicit assumption in the desire for an afterlife that is often overlooked: What makes anyone think they can maintain psychological coherence for eternity? Existing for eternity would be a recipe for insanity. What would you do with a 14 billion year lifetime of experiences? How would you store all those memories? Distinguish between thought life and a material reality? Consciousness may not be the ultimate reality, simply a byproduct of impersonal forces at work.
Afterlife is like leaving the Xmas up. It wears thin after a while. The joy is life is temporary. The thing I experience with life is you move to the next step just before you get good at where you are.
My mother was a catholic, my Dad was agnostic. They both died 3 years ago and promised to contact me if there was an afterlife. They havent.
You go to sleep at night, and don't worry about those hours when you didn't experience a thing. I fully expect dying to be "lights out".