What are ALL the afterlife options (Heaven/Hell, Reincarnation, No Afterlife...)

[Blue3]

Out of the afterlife options, I can think of...

1. Heaven or Hell (sometimes Limbo or Purgatory added in here)

2. Reincarnation

3. Becoming one with the Supreme Force/God/Brahman/etc. (usually the end of reincarnation in those belief systems)

4. Hades/Sheol ... just a moderate, still, quiet place... no pain, but no great joy

5. "Sleep" until Resurrection

6. Resurrection

7. Spirit but still in physical world

8. Spirit world... not this world, but more varied than Hades, like a dreamworld

9. Monopsychism - we never had separate souls, we are all one soul divided into many bodies and have forgotten, and we live on as long as others live ... and the similar belief that "you are the universe"

10. Oblivion (either there is no afterlife... or, in some religions/denominations, the chance that your soul could be destroyed)




Am I forgetting any?

Despite the myriad of religious beliefs, the beliefs in what happen after death seem quite limited in number, with most usually coming to one of the above conclusions.

[Mopsus]

How about this one: "An hallucination, projected out of the mind's waning moments, infinite in duration."

[Blue3]

Thoughts? I want to make a poll including all the options, and don't want to forget any.

[SingingAnalyst]

Thoughts? I want to make a poll including all the options, and don't want to forget any.

Great idea. I'd take the preceding comment, add "12. other" and be done with it.

Personally I find some Christian interpretations of Hell very problematic. Since it is difficult if not impossible to empirically, scientifically, or historically verify the Resurrection of Christ, depending on how severely the preacher comes on with "you must hate your life in this world", "you must hate your father and mother", etc. the would-be believer is left in a quandary no one should be in: do I accept this on the off chance it might be true (and surrender my life to religious authority) or do I fail to accept it, and possibly wind up in a horrible state/place?

[Blue3]

Thoughts? I want to make a poll including all the options, and don't want to forget any.

Great idea. I'd take the preceding comment, add "12. other" and be done with it.

I don't want "other" as an option. That's why I created this thread.

And the option above about it being a "hallucination" is not an option. I'm talking about what people believe actually happens after death. If you don't think there's any form of an afterlife, then that's what the oblivion option is for.

[Mopsus]

And the option above about it being a "hallucination" is not an option.

Rude.

[Blue3]

And the option above about it being a "hallucination" is not an option.

Rude.

Well, it's not. It's a list of what actually might happen after you die. Not what might happen as you're dying but not after you're dead.

[Mopsus]

Well, it's not. It's a list of what actually might happen after you die. Not what might happen as you're dying but not after you're dead.

If the hallucinations of the dying can subjectively persist even when the subject is legally dead, then that counts as an afterlife.

[Blue3]

Well, it's not. It's a list of what actually might happen after you die. Not what might happen as you're dying but not after you're dead.

If the hallucinations of the dying can subjectively persist even when the subject is legally dead, then that counts as an afterlife.

?

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. You're saying people eternally "hallucinate" an afterlife after they're brain-dead?

[Mopsus]

?

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. You're saying people eternally "hallucinate" an afterlife after they're brain-dead?

I'm saying that the afterlife is a hallucination, generated before we die, which we perceive to last forever. For proof that we can subjectively prolong the duration of time, ask anyone who's smoked weed or taken psychedelic drugs; for proof that we can subjectively live on even after our brain has died, consult one of the many accounts of man's near-death experiences.

[Blue3]

?

I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. You're saying people eternally "hallucinate" an afterlife after they're brain-dead?

I'm saying that the afterlife is a hallucination, generated before we die, which we perceive to last forever. For proof that we can subjectively prolong the duration of time, ask anyone who's smoked weed or taken psychedelic drugs; for proof that we can subjectively live on even after our brain has died, consult one of the many accounts of man's near-death experiences.

So are you saying or not saying that the human mind continues forever after death in this explanation?

[Mopsus]

So are you saying or not saying that the human mind continues forever after death in this explanation?

Yes. Subjectively.

[Blue3]

So are you saying or not saying that the human mind continues forever after death in this explanation?

Yes. Subjectively.

That's not an answer.
1. the human mind literally continues after death and hallucinates for eternity (an afterlife of eternal hallucination)
2. there's a hallucination when dying that makes a person feel like they're going to live forever, then they die (no afterlife, option 10 in my list)

Which one?

[SingingAnalyst]

So are you saying or not saying that the human mind continues forever after death in this explanation?

Yes. Subjectively.

That's not an answer.
1. the human mind literally continues after death and hallucinates for eternity (an afterlife of eternal hallucination)
2. there's a hallucination when dying that makes a person feel like they're going to live forever, then they die (no afterlife, option 10 in my list)

Which one?

Wow, I wish Descartes were here to answer that.

[Mopsus]

That's not an answer.
1. the human mind literally continues after death and hallucinates for eternity (an afterlife of eternal hallucination)
2. there's a hallucination when dying that makes a person feel like they're going to live forever, then they die (no afterlife, option 10 in my list)

Which one?

A cross between the two.

I don't know how I can make myself any clearer.

[Blue3]

That's not an answer.
1. the human mind literally continues after death and hallucinates for eternity (an afterlife of eternal hallucination)
2. there's a hallucination when dying that makes a person feel like they're going to live forever, then they die (no afterlife, option 10 in my list)

Which one?

A cross between the two.

I don't know how I can make myself any clearer.

It's the opposite of clear, it just becomes more and more obscure.

You either survive death, or you don't.

[Mopsus]

It's the opposite of clear, it just becomes more and more obscure.

You either survive death, or you don't.

From others' perspective, you die; from your own perspective, you live on.

[Blue3]

It's the opposite of clear, it just becomes more and more obscure.

You either survive death, or you don't.

From others' perspective, you die; from your own perspective, you live on.

That's like most other afterlife options... the living don't know if the dead are really dead or not, but the dead all appear, well, dead. It still feels like you aren't giving a clear answer.

What is "life" like in this? What do you think? What do you do? How can you tell that time is going by, that it's "forever"?

Or is it like I originally thought you were describing... you "see the light," it's the last thing you perceive, and then you're dead, that's it.

I'd also like to point out that not all people who are "dead" for a little while and come back actually have near-death-experiences. Also, for some people who die, like in an explosion, there's no time for the brain to process what's happening.

[Mopsus]

That's like most other afterlife options... the living don't know if the dead are really dead or not, but the dead all appear, well, dead.

Proof that it belongs on your list, no?

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I imagine that it will be like our life in the world, except true instead of false.

I also possess the persistent fantasy that when humanity wakes from its collective dream, Adam will again find himself in paradise.

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In Catholic theology, "eternity" is said to be an attribute to the mind of God, where all things happen simultaneously. That sounds right.

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Nah, that can't possibly be it: if our consciousness were at any point to be erased, life should be to us a memory that we forgot. Which is, of course, no memory at all.

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If some people aren't cut out to live forever, that hardly invalidates my hypothesis.

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There's time enough for the brain to die, isn't there?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

MOP, you're amazing.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

There is inconclusive evidence about the astrophysical plane. I've had dreams about my deceased relatives and how they want to come back to Earth in another form.

[jate88]

You could go to Valhalla if you died a noble death in battle.

[FairBol]

IDK.  Sometimes I think that I'm in my second life, because the preceding years were so different.  :: shrugs ::

[°Leprechaun]

One critical idea is missing: those who believe that only the present exist or only the past and present exist. If the future doesn't exist, there is no afterlife, because there is no "after" because the future isn't real. This is not the same as saying that when you die you won't exist, because that statement is based on the idea of the future.
If that sounds paradoxical, maybe it is, I can't explain it, but it seems to be the logical conclusion of saying that the future does not exist. From our point of view it doesn't. There are different possible time lines for the future, but since we can't know the future, no hypothetical time line exists. Also, one could speculate that it is possible to live forever, which means that a question of an afterlife is moot. My key belief is that the survival instinct is basic to all living things.
Because death seems inevitable, people speculate about an afterlife.

[°Leprechaun]

Another concept is Buddha's belief in "no self". Not only did I not exist a trillion years ago, or a trillion years from now, but I don't exist right now. (if Buddha was right, although if there is no self, how could he be, since he didn't exist if he had no self)

confusing isn't it?

However, if I don't really exist right now, how will I exist in a future which itself doesn't exist.