Atheists: What happens when we die?

Question

I’ve read enough posts by the R&S atheists to make the fair generalization that *most* say there is nothing after death. A common phrase you use is ‘worm food’.

So, what’s the difference between someone certain of a ‘heaven’ compared to someone certain of ‘nothing’?

How can you be certain that no part of your consciousness exists after you die, when you aren’t aware of every aspect of your consciousness?

Sam Harris says we should listen to what the Buddhists have to say about the levels of our consciousness since they have been studying it for 2600 years. This is a tradition of millions of hours of meditation and they tell us a subtle part of our consciousness *does* continue.

They tell us this subtle consciousness will have horrific and/or delightful experiences during death… so what if this is the Christian ‘heaven’ and ‘hell’…?

But I guess my main question is this; isn’t ‘knowing’ we are worm food just another dogma?

Phoenix, not to push Buddhist thoughts only, but they say your monkey brain (the thing you're describing) *is* dependant on your body... this is why they also say it is an illusion to think this is really you.... that there are subtler part of your consciousness then this.

They would say (I think) that what you describe is true, but it is not the full truth.

Answer 1

Can you not observe nature? Or accept the facts that are before your eyes? Like it or not, our final state is as food for worms, insects, bacteria, or similar beasties.

Answer 2

Wow, this is actually a well thought out question, unlike most of the religious babble that goes on here.
My answer will reflect my beliefs only, I cannot speak for others.
I only believe what can be proved and i cannot believe what cannot be proved (yet). So far science has not proved that we are anything but "worm food", so that is why I believe that. If one day science proves that there is a god and a heaven then I will believe. Whether or not that can be defined as dogma, I don't know, nor do I really care. Dogma is irrelevant.

def. dogma, tenet
a religious doctrine that is proclaimed as true without proof

i don't think your statement about dogma applies to atheist beliefs for two reasons:
1. atheism is not a religion
2. they believe something because either there is proof of it or because there is no proof to the alternative, thus it is a belief in the alternative of dogma
one thing I do know is that science has proved that electrical energy does not disappear, it only changes form, they also proved that humans are made up of this energy, so it is likely that there is a part of us that lives on after we die, but in what form we do not yet know. So that is what I believe.
Don't get me wrong, it is quite possible that there is nothing, and it is a fact that our bodies are "worm food" but if our consiousness does carry on, there is no way for us to know in what way until we actually experience it (and not near death but actual death).
However, that does not mean there is a heaven. Since heaven goes against every universal law that exists it is most likely that our energy just is and thats it.
So i guess the bottom line is that I am anti-dogma, I need science.....
-and in response to My Brain Hurts answer, I would rather have faith in myself than faith in a supernatural non-existent, contradictory deity.

Answer 3

<>

2600 years to arrive back where you began? It's really a waste of 2600 years if you don't at least craft some sort of answer, now isn't it? While I respect many tenets of Buddhism...like most disciplines, they should know when to simply leave some questions unanswered, IMO.

<>

Well? If you equate reality with dogma, then I guess it would be?

So many questions, so little time....

Answer 4

I buy an afterlife of some sort. I don't buy it having anything to do with whether or not I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savious, however.

If I had to speculate, I suspect that the last instant of life lasts an enterity and so we relive our life which is why its worthwhile to do good by others so you have no shames to recall over and over. or .....

I suspect that our conciousness resides in someone else but that we never know it so I expect, when I die to either feel like my life lasts forever or to be some 2 or 3 year old who lives a full life until I die again. I am, as you can see, quite uncertain of what lies beyond and I know its the single biggest question I can probably ask but its too big a question to get any meaningful answers to. I can't see how 2600 or 10,000 years could help understand the question unless you spend it researching near death experiences.

Answer 5

No one ‘knows’ because there is no way to observe or gather data and, contrary to various mythological tales, no one has ever returned from the dead to provide even a first-person account (near-death experiences do not count because those people are not really dead). Everything we do know about the physical universe and biological life, both practically and theoretically, argues against dead being anything other than dead.

There is no objective reason to believe that death is any different from what we observe; and that is – when anything or anyone dies, they are dead and gone. There is no evidence for any: supernatural beings, ghosts, spirits, etc., or for the religious/mystical/spiritual belief systems that claim the existence of such creatures.

Mostly, it is pointless to ponder the afterlife. It is unknowable and, in any event, there is nothing anyone can do about it, anyway. So, no, it is not dogma; it is just the most reasonable conclusion that can be drawn from the available evidence.

Answer 6

Worm food-maybe.
I heard one idea that I liked. We were spirits that eventually developed into souls as humans developed (evolved).
There is no evidence that can not be refuted for or against whether there is life after death. I've always 'felt' reincarnation was involved but that's hardly proof. I saw a program on the Hell/The Devil and it went a little into Buddhism and stated that when a person dies, they go through a series of 'worlds' with different gods/goddesses and their choices/experiences determine what kind of life they reincarnate to.
But, I do kinda agree that insistence on there be nothing after death is it's own sort of dogma but it could be right.

Answer 7

We die. But it's not that simple.

You ask a complex question and I don't think many people have really thought it through other than to say, we go to heaven/hell or we simply cease to exist.

I do believe there is something like reincarnation in that we are conscious once again, but that consciousness is not OUR consciousness, it is another one where we once again become aware.

Our spirit/energy/consciousness or whatever does not transcend space and time. It dies with our bodies. But, there will come a time when, once again, we will be aware.

Answer 8

There's a quote someone posted when there were a string of identical questions before.

I'm afraid I don't know the source, but here you are.

"Do you remember what it was like before you were born? Death is exactly like that."

And technically, we're all worm-food. Or would be without coffins made the way they are these days...and cremations. But in our most natural state of death, we become a host for all sorts of happy little insects to nest in.

Spiritually, I don't think anything happens. But hey, I'd be pleased to find out otherwise.

Answer 9

Yes, nip and pick what the Buddhist have to say to insert it into your text ....... what are the rest the Buddhist have to say? They say your consciousness will pass on and you will be reincarnated into another being, may it be human or other sentient beings, so, did you conveniently left of this part?

Atheists cannot be certain that no part of our consciousness exists after we die, but we certainly do not claim certainty to imaginative paradise or imaginative fire pit and call it real either.

We will know after we we die what will happen.

Answer 10

According to your outline, this question is directed towards atheists although I see it as a question anyone can answer. The only thing we know about death is that we physically decompose just like any other creature that dies. Claiming to say nothing or something exists after we die is unknowable.

Answer 11

How can I be certain? Because we ultimately die because oxygen is stopped from entering our brains, which is why our consciousness exists in physical form. When our physical brain dies, as does our consciousness, which is also physical matter. It decays along with the rest of our bodies.

Now I don't see how believing in scientific fact and refusing to believe in superstition is "dogma" in any stretch of the word. With all due respect to Buddhists and their culture, they're not scientists and their beliefs regarding consciousness take the same leap of faith as any other religion. We die, we decompose, there's no evidence to suggest otherwise, the end.