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Week 7 (23-29.11) - Afterlife


When we take into account how old the Universe is we have lived on  earth for an nusually short period of time. Some of us will experience retirement and some of us will not, dying sooner because of a deadly disease or just due to being in the wrong place at a wrong time. One thing is clear. Regardless of who we are, our journey is going to end. Here are the main theistic models what is next:


Reincarnation is widely spread in e.g. Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism. According to this belief,  after death our soul/consciousness populates another body. Events in our next life depend on good and bad deeds in a current life. Reincarnation cycle ends when a soul achieves its excellence. After that there is no need to be born again and our soul is ready to merge with the creator again. Depending on different sects, there are additional conditions concerning the migration of souls e.g. humans reincarnate only to humans with the same sex only. According to a survey conducted in 1999-2002, 22% of respondents in Western Europe believe in reincarnation.


Heaven and hell are common in Abrahamic religions – Christianity, Judaism and Islam. According to this belief, after death we are placed in  heaven or hell. Depending on a religion the vision of hell and heaven is different. In Romanian Catholicism you can go to heaven when your deeds are good and you regret your sins. Heaven is a place where angels and the Trinity live and you can live among them. Islam and especially Quran says that heaven consists of wonderful gardens, where you can go when your deeds outweigh sins.
When it comes to hell,  both Christianity and Islam describe it as a place with  fire and eternal punishment. In Christianity you can go to hell when you die with a mortal sin. In Islam not believing in God, disobeying his laws or rejecting his messengers cause a straight way to hell.


Purgatory is present in Catholicism and it’s an intermediate state between hell and heaven. Souls in purgatory are placed when a person dies with God’s grace but he or she is not entirely purified from sins. Therefore, souls in purgatory suffer and stay in purgatory until they finish purification. After that a soul is ready for heaven.

So, what do you think happens when we die? Is there anything or our conscience disappears forever?



Sources:

Comments

Unknown said…
I didn't expect a topic like that on this blog. I don't believe in any kind of afterlife and that's pretty much it.
Also for me it is unexpected subject that should not be published on university’s blog. In general it is mostly connected with out faith.

I believe in an afterlife because it is illogical to assume that we only exist to reproduce. Logic does not necessarily go hand-in-hand with Science, for many scientific theories are proven wrong over time. Science cannot answer any "why" questions unless it has to do with physical matter or physical needs, so it would be silly to turn to Science for the "big" questions like "Why are we here? What is our purpose? What happens after we die?

The only human concept that logic can completely relate to would be mathematics. In mathematics, there is no 'end' number or 'beginning' number because there are an infinite amount of negative numbers before zero, and an infinite amount of positive numbers after zero. There is no end or beginning to mathematics because that would be illogical, wouldn't it? If you really think about it, the chemicals and hormones in our body are just mathematical equations. Every action we take will result in a reaction of some sort.
Unknown said…
My approach to this topic is clearly philosophical. I didn’t write anything to persuade you to stand for a particular side. I wanted you to share your opinion, not to judge you.
Unknown said…
I don't understand why Cezary and Paulina got so defensive about the subject. I didn't take it as an attack on any religion, it's clearly just a question about our points of view, a really interesting question, and a comparison between some options...

I don't believe in afterlife in any form. I know to some it may sound... sad? but that's what I think. We die, we have no consciousness, we just perish, cease to exist. To be honest it terrifies me, the whole concept of non-existence, and I've spent many sleepless night thinking about how much it sucks and I've had those thoughts even back when I was a good Catholic girl.

To think about it the Catholic idea of afterlife isn't that great at all. Maybe if it was only heaven or hell, where decent people go to heaven and bastards end up in hell, but the idea of purgatory makes it a little tricky.

Of course I said I don't believe in afterlife but I also know I might be wrong and I don't want to degrade anyone's opinion on that issue. We don't know what happens after death and we'll only find out when we pass away, so I guess all the stories about it are just a mechanism of coping with the concept, of accepting death.
Unknown said…
I didn't mean to be defensive. It's not inappropriate or anything, I just didn't expect to see a subject like that and that's all. As I mentioned I don't believe in any form of afterlife and I don't really see what more there is to say than "I believe" or "I don't".
Unknown said…
My bad then, I misunderstood your comment. Although I still think there's a lot to say about the subject even if you don't believe in afterlife (neither do I). But if you don't want or whatever then it's none of my business, it's a free country ;)
I think you're wrong. :) Logic doesn't prove the point you've stated; moreover, it proves otherwise. Why would you say it's "illogical to assume that we only exist to reproduce"? There are no logical arguments that it's otherwise.

And yes, science does in fact answer the question "what happens after we die". The answer is, your body gets decomposed, and, because body and mind are not separate things - the "mind" is a product of your brain's work - your mind ceases to exist as well. It does explain "why are we here" - the whole evolution process is the answer.

The fact that there is an infinite amount of positive numbers doesn't prove anything about afterlife. These two facts are separate. We might as well say that "if there's an infinite amount of numbers, it proves that I'm infinitely smart". These do not imply each other.

I recommend the book 'The God Delusion" by the evolutionist Richard Dawkins, where all these matter are discussed in logical, scientific way.
I share your view, Aleksandra, but I don't think that's depressive at all. I don't know if you're familiar with Epicurean philosophy, but I think his views might be useful to you.

Quoting Wikipedia: "He also believed, contrary to Aristotle,[19] that death was not to be feared. When a man dies, he does not feel the pain of death because he no longer is and therefore feels nothing. Therefore, as Epicurus famously said, "death is nothing to us." When we exist, death is not; and when death exists, we are not. All sensation and consciousness ends with death and therefore in death there is neither pleasure nor pain. The fear of death arises from the belief that in death, there is awareness."
Unknown said…
"The God Delusion" is a great book.
Unknown said…
Thank you, that's what I believe :) Also not the death itself I find depressing, but that idea of not existing, thinking of the lack of awareness makes me somewhat anxious.
Unknown said…
I have to say -it’s very hard topic to discuss and as I see I’m not the only person who didn’t expect to find it here. As I do not want to insult anybody’s feelings nor faith I will try to be objective as possible. I want to write about ”there is no afterlife” approach to the topic – so what if it’s true. We just live and die and there is nothing more – for me the very first question is: what for? Why are we living at all- there could be nothing from the beginning, wouldn’t it be simpler?
Regardless of the views – I think that everyone should find the perpous of his life. Because as William Barclay said “There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why." 
I just realised "The Blind Watchmaker" (also by Dawkins) might be even a better one on that topic - it's not strictly about religion itself, but rather focuses on evolution of human race and shows the lack of conscious "project" behind the origin of a human being.
I think that you're asking the wrong question. It's not "what for", it's "why". Evolution is not a conscious being - an evolutionary scientist Richard Dawkins compared it to a "blind watchmaker" in a book of the same title, which I mentioned earlier. We are not created "for" something, but rather a product of billions and billions of years of different chemical, biological and physical changes. And if we want to find a purpose in our life - we must create it ourselves, just like in the quote you've mentioned. :)
Even though I didn't expect such a subject on the blog, I must also say I think there's nothing wrong with that. Religion and politics are subjects that are generally avoided because they can cause some really turbulent discussions. However, I think that if everyone's polite and defends his point of view while not attacking his opponents personally, there's nothing wrong in discussing anything - even the topics considered taboo in some cultures. I've read it somewhere that it's people who have rights, not ideas. Therefore we should be kind to each other, but if we think there's something wrong (or right) with any idea (religious, political, ethical, etc etc) we should discuss it freely.
Unknown said…
The topic is interesting, and I think that each of us wonders if death is the end or maybe the beginning. My position is dictated by my faith, I am a Christian, but it isn't that I didn't think how it is presented in other religions. I am not reject totally too many scientific explanations. In my opinion it's a hard topic to discuss about it here. Btw. This video is really funny, I laughed pretty up.
Unknown said…
Always I have believed in reincarnation but not this typical where the soul must attain perfection but one where the soul is the breath of life and when a man dies and someone is born at the same moment the soul of first enters into body newborn.

I don't believe to the end in hell because it is an invention of the Middle Ages where the priests wanted to make money on indulgences of rich people by the their fear of hell.
Tomasz Wojda said…
Too seorius topic for much discusion :) Every one have their own point of view on this and its hard to express your self without hurting anyone! Cool article and nice video!
Tomasz Wojda said…
Too seorius topic for much discusion :) Every one have their own point of view on this and its hard to express your self without hurting anyone! Cool article and nice video!
Unknown said…
Aleksandra, I have the opposite feeling. If I were certain that there is nothing after we die and our consciousness disappears forever I would be more relaxed.
Unknown said…
Very interesting topic and one I didn't expect to see here (but it's a good thing in my opinion). What do I think happens to us when we die? I'm not a very spiritual person and I'm not attached to any concept of afterlife, so I believe we, both our consciousness and body, just cease to exist and that's it, the end. Pretty worrying, but it feels like the plausible vision for me. I also find the concept of reincarnation quite fascinating, perhaps possible, and simply comforting in the way it assures us that after the death there is something more, something new. Maybe there is? We won't know until we die.
Unknown said…
Regardless of who invented the Hell. It was(and I think is still) a great tool to prevent people from making criminal acts.
Unknown said…
I also find reincarnation a fascinating concept. It answers the most of my existential questions. It sounds good as a concept, but I hope it’s not true. It terrifies me, when I take into account how our world is developing.
Kit said…
Those subjects are avoided not because of unreasonable fear people have discussing them, they're avoided because they're strongly linked with the whole idea of meaning of life of individual person you're talking with.
And as some may expect, it's not a good idea to point in somebody's face saying 'your meaning of life is wrong', but it is what we're doing even simply stating sentences like 'I don't believe in god'. it means, that in your opinion there is no god. Otherwise why would you think, that some gods exists yet you were choosing to reject them?
Michal Kulesza said…
People are scared to share their thoughts on this topic - they would prefer to see more cat & fun basic topics - but for me it's fair to have also topic like this. Always you can lie about your preferences and you don't have to answer question taking your faith or lack of faith into account.

Personally I believe that one day I will become some part of supercomputer and forever I will count bits going through this supercomputer's memory ;]
Unknown said…
Cat & fun would be appreciated. But Hell 2.0 is also quite nice. Afterlife is a topic discussed by everybody since thousands of years. And nobody has any answers. And never will have.
Unknown said…
Haha, I really like movies from G.F.Darwin chanel, they are so funny. Back on topic, it is a hard thing to include everyting I could say in such a short form. I don't follow any religion and I don't have any idea what happens with us after we die. Sometimes I think that we are all made of renewable matter, that constantly circulates in nature and maybe we can be reborn again... I know, it's weird.
Here is an interesting video somewhat related to the subject:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOCaacO8wus
Unknown said…
I think it all depends on religion. But i believe in a theory of biological evolution developed by the English naturalist Charles Darwin. So for me there is no afterlife. But i also like watching movies especially SCI-FI and thank's to this little hobby i have little hope that we might have some other world after we die.
Julia Osiak said…
I like the idea of reincarnation, but personally I don't believe in any form of after life. Maybe just the one, in form of memories that other will have of us. I do however enjoy this as a theme in different art works or literature. It's something that humanity has always discussed and wondered about and will always be an intriguing mystery to research.
It’s difficult to say something interesting about this topic. I don’t believe in any of that. I will not try to discuss about belief. This issue is very individual and Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives.
I'm strongly concerned that life is just a part of our being in this universe and that life on Earth doesn't mean much, in fact it could. We as beings exist somewhere else and belong to something bigger than just our body, our body is just a physical representation of our higher selves and functions more or less like a mirror in which we look. I believe that death is just a process like breathing or eating and even though we - humans consider it as something very terrifying and bad it is just a change in our expression of existence, nothing else than that. In my opinion of course :)
Unknown said…
Your concept is not weird. To me it’s possible in the same way as any other. It would be nice if you could elaborate on that.
Aleksander M said…
Religion as a whole is just a tool to control masses. There is always a possibility that there's some kind of force we aren't aware of, but that's exactly the point - we aren't aware of it and we never will.

There's also this belief that everyone is going wherever they feel like going (provided they do in the first place) or where they believe they deserve - this is something that makes the biggest sense to me, to each their own and be done with it, I can imagine this could work sort of like a dream.

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