For Atheists only!! What happens when one dies.?

Answer 1

Death begins when the heart stops beating. Deprived of oxygen, a cascade of cellular death commences. It begins with brain cells and finishes with the skin cells. Death is therefore a process, rather than an event.

When the heart stops beating

1. Heart stops beating and/or lungs stop breathing.

2. Body cells no longer receive supplies of blood and oxygen.

* Blood drains from capillaries in the upper surfaces and collects in the blood vessels in the lower surfaces.
* Upper surfaces of the body become pale and the lower surfaces become dark.

3. Cells cease aerobic respiration, and are unable to generate the energy molecules needed to maintain normal muscle biochemistry.

* Calcium ions leak into muscle cells preventing muscle relaxation.
* Muscles stiffen and remain stiff (rigor mortis) until they begin to decompose.

4. Cells eventually die and the body loses its capacity to fight off bacteria.

5. The cells' own enzymes and bacterial activity cause the body to decompose - muscles lose their stiffness.

Timing?

* Brain cells can die if deprived of oxygen for more than three minutes. Muscle cells live on for several hours. Bone and skin cells can stay alive for several days.
* It takes around 12 hours for a human body to be cool to the touch and 24 hours to cool to the core.
* Rigor mortis commences after three hours and lasts until 36 hours after death.
* Forensic scientists use clues such as these for estimating the time of death.

What is rigor mortis?

Rigor mortis refers to the state of a body after death, in which the muscles become stiff. It commences after around 3 hours, reaching maximum stiffness after 12 hours, and gradually dissipates until approximately 72 hours after death. Rigor mortis occurs due to changes in the physiology of muscles when aerobic respiration ceases.

Muscles are made up of two types of fibre. These fibres have connections between them that lock and unlock during muscle contraction and relaxation. These connections are controlled by a biochemical pathway within the cell, which is partially driven by the presence of calcium ions. The concentration of calcium ions is higher in the fluid surrounding muscle cells than it is inside the cells, so calcium tends to diffuse into the cell. High calcium levels inside the cell drive the biochemical pathway in the direction that maintains muscle contraction. To relax, muscle cells must expel the calcium ions from the cell and this requires energy molecules to pump them across the cell membrane.

After a body has died, the chemical reaction producing these energy molecules is unable to proceed because of a lack of oxygen. The cells no longer have the energy to pump calcium out of the cell and so the calcium concentration rises, forcing the muscles to remain in a contracted state. This state of muscle stiffening is known as rigor mortis and it remains until the muscle proteins start to decompose.

Answer 2

Seriously? Someone asked this question 40 minutes ago. Alright, I'll cut and paste. Please excuse. Some atheist may believe in reincarnation. Some in a collective consciousness of human minds that form in some ethereal plane of existence. Others feel that when you die, that's it. You simply cease to exist for all eternity and return to the same state of being you had before you were born: nothingness. As to our physical remains, I don't think anyone on Earth disbelieves we don't rot into dirt. That's the thing about atheism that makes it different from religions; We have no central beliefs, or dogmas, that would make us a religion. Religions have central beliefs all followers must adhere to. Atheist have a range of ideas they can choose from. Me, I subscribe to the you die, that's it. It's a bit sad, but what can I do? I'm not scared, though. I won't exist to experience the laying for eternity in a coffin you mention. There is nothing special about me, except to those that love me on THIS Earth. That is why I put so much into living this life. I get only ONE shot. Why would I waste it on the delusion there will be a magical, happy, do-over life in heaven? I'd rather make this life happy.

Answer 3

I consider myself an atheist but at the same time I believe in the existence of a soul & also in reincarnation for the simple reason that there have been many well documented cases throughout the world. I don't find any contradiction between my beliefs and the non existence of god.
Mathematics allows for objects that can exist in higher dimensions than those in our world. For example if an object exists in two dimensions (say length & breadth) then its movement can only be in a flat plane. It cannot "look" up as the dimension of height does not exist for it. However as we exist in three dimensions ie. length, breadth & height we are able to see the two dimensional object & enter its world while it cannot see us.
In a similar fashion some entity existing in a higher dimension than ours would be able to see us & enter our world but we cannot enter its world.
In my view such a higher entity is the soul which exists in a higher dimension than the body.

Answer 4

There is no way to know until you're dead. The ultimate truth of the matter is that people really want there to be an afterlife because they are hesitant to accept that this is all they get. Whether or not there IS an afterlife, the best thing to do is to Actually live this life as if there isn't one. If there isn't, then you'll have no regrets, and if there is, it's a bonus.

Answer 5

nothing. I mean that exactly your heart stops, your brain stops, you stop. After that, nothing, the rest of the world goes on.

OH, you must be asking about the funeral, yes we all get together to remember what the person was like and view the corpse just to be sure that they really died. We usually give them a few days just in case they are trying to fake it.
What a weird question!

Answer 6

Same thing that happens to christians and jews and muslims and...

Ecclesiastes 9:10
10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Religion and paganism has crept into christianity and made people believe you "go to heaven". If ya do, why is there a thing called a RESURRECTION?

It frustrates me to realize atheists have more sense than alot of my christian brethren.

Answer 7

Couldn't resist...I'm not atheist, I don't think, but I am having mixed feelings about religion.

I'm having a hard time buying reincarnation
A hard time buying eternall glory
A hard time believing that we burn in hell

At this point, I have seen no proof that we even have a soul that could "continue" on...

My theory is that our body and brain cease to function and at that point we simply die.
The only thing that may live on is the memory of us that others hold....

Answer 8

The heart stops beating and brain function ceases.

Answer 9

The body decomposes.

Answer 10

thats not a question for atheists!
they dont have an answer for that,
its we dont want to belive in god so if you die its over, the enitire universe was a big mishap and we dont know how that happened either

heres a question i dont want to waste my 5 points on,

why dont athiests have any answers beside the before mentioned stuff?

Answer 11

Either there will be something else or there won't be.
If there is nothing else you'd better make sure you got all the good that life has to offer you.
if not, what is there to worry about if you have lived life totally in harmony with your own deep feelings of honesty and love ?