What happens when we die?

[Trilexium]

Death- the inescapable and ultimate fate that every lifeform (except the few organisms deemed to be 'theoretically immortal') has been set on a path to since said lifeform's conception. We know what happens during life, but do we know what happens after life? What do we have to look forward to?

There are many viewpoints depending on which way you look at it. Religious views seem to be more prevalent than their logical, theoretical or scientific explanations, but [being a non-religious person] I doubt the credibility of religious ideas like heaven and reincarnation.

A personal theory of mine relates the so-called afterlife with the sensation and experience associated with dreaming. When we dream, we often perceive the visions, actions and events that take place in that dream to be real- pertinent to the realm of our reality (just some needed clarification for later on). What if the very life we supposedly live right now as you read this post or as I type it is just a dream[-like experience]? My theory is that right now, while we're not aware of it, we are living the afterlife of our previous selves (or 'lives'- yes, this is a paradox). An afterlife where the 'lives' as we call them are related on a global scale, allowing for us to establish reason for why things are. This theory questions and asks to redefine the meaning of life- what is life? Do we have proof anything in 'life' is 'real'? (there's a great Vsauce video on that- highly recommend watching it) So, basically, after this experience ends, another will begin, paradoxically, until the end of the universe when the energy required to coalesce into an experience is no more.
That's some deep stuff. I'm only 15, but this theory I have established greatly interests me.

There's also evidence I read somewhere (forgot where, but it was an incredibly interesting science forum post) that after we've been dead, natural neurological activity in the brain has been observed to continue despite not having any oxygen or nutrients to sustain it. Of course, the brain is flesh and that will eventually decay, so I'm not quite sure where that theory goes.

What are your thoughts on this state-of-mind critical question?

(this thread was started to bring about some quality, thought-provoking stuff that people have been saying is becoming less and less frequent on these forums- I agree, so have fun with this and thank me later)

 

[Dzbs]

In my belief of religion, we reincarnate with fates in our life based on our karma from our previous life.

 

[Lebron12]

Well, I imagine death as our internal beings failing and falling into endless sleep. Not to worry, I always believe that we will take a form of another person upon birth and live their life through to the end. (Of course there is no way in one million years we could replicate our previous selves and how we live - dis maek me cri eritim) However believing this doesn't make death so scary, it allows us to tell ourselves we will live another happy life, under a new mindset and social setting where we will have another shot at life. I don't know how to exactly word what I've just written but I think you get the gist of what I'm saying.

 

[AlgerWaterlow]

I'm a devout Roman Catholic but even I'm starting to believe heaven is more what we perceive. I choose to believe my personal heaven is an uncharted tropical island with all of my loved ones and I get to be with my significant other for as long as I want with no interruptions (even from said loved ones because they apparently don't care about such tomfoolery within the confines of my own mind ).

 

[WilloWizard]

I'd like to believe there's some sort of "heaven", because when I think about just being buried for ever, it's not too pleasant. I know this didn't contribute to the thread much, but the main reason I posted this was to thank you, Dyna, for posting this interesting discussion thread. I hope alot of people answer with lengthier opinions than I did.

 

[Miner9823]

An existential subject such as this does bring me to thought, what does happen when we die? My personal theories or beliefs seem irrational, however this is what I have proposed from my personal thoughts, as I lay there wide awake thinking about such a subject nearly every night.

I would believe that when our bodies physically decay, we will eventually rot, or simply disintegrate. However, possibilities could suggest that despite an individual being within the coffin or not, we will eventually decompose and throughout many years we could simply turn into some sort of resource. Since our bodies have been decompressed within the Earth for so long, hence possibly crushing the remains of the human and simply being soil or resource within the Earth. Yes, in a way it sounds quite odd and a little nasty, however we may not truly know unless we dig the grave of Genghis Khan or something like that right now and see if it is possible.

Our bodies are scientifically proven to be controlled and usually well maintained by the heart, and the brain. The brain has nerve systems to which helps us comprehend what physical actions we make, as well as storing a vast amount of knowledge and can be an extraordinary database within one human being. The heart helps pump blood and circulate it within our system, we also use it for respiration, which helps us breathe along with the aid of the brain to let us know with primal instinct on how to breath at all, which is amazing to how far we have gotten through civilization, and are now reaching the era of technology, and we have started at the very beginning, to where we as fish have probably gotten out of the water for the first time, based on terms of evolution of course.

But we haven't truly concluded to this specific theory, do we truly have souls? Because that has been a spiritual, or a superstitiously known aspect towards general human life, spirituality has gotten my interest for a while now, because of how many possibilities that could occur when we die. Maybe we would wonder about the Earth as a force and simply observe the activity to what happens in our globe, as we watch as time may go by as so much changes. We wonder around as ghosts if that is so the case... But imagine a catastrophic event while we are merely a consciousness that wonders around in the world, what would happen? What would happen if the Earth blows up, or a black hole sucks us all in, or the sun then dies out?

My theory on this would be that our consciousness is able to wonder around the universe freely, exploring different planets, maybe looking in to different places that could possibly sustain life, or even surf through a meteor shower! These sort of things seem like a wonderful fantasy that I would love to live in when I perish. However I do not believe in spirituality to physically be true, as how will we sustain a full, stable consciousness to which we contain all the memory of our past lives, without the brain physically existing and remaining within a spirit form would seem quite impossible, as it will not have the physical environment and requirements to properly function within a human soul. But wondering around the endless universe, feeling no pain whatsoever while retain proper thoughts and memory would be something I dream every day for happening.

Imagine if we do somehow successfully achieve immortality, simply live on but however be killed through different causes, just not ageing. But I could imagine how miserable it would be like, simply living on as you watch as the world and time go by you like nothing, your friends, family and loved ones age and live their lives and make the most out of it because of how precious a mortal life could be, while you have all the time you wish and do whatever fits your needs without having the worry of running out of time. I would think that something like that would not be something I would wish to live by, I do not wish to have immortality if given the opportunity.

Coming towards religious terms, I would indeed imagine a heaven, a hell, and a purgatory. Although purgatory may be believed by Catholics, I unfortunately do not strongly follow any religion, or truly believe it. However, I would always be ambitious to having the knowledge to having a great being, being from an alien or simply a god that does watch over us, and tries to protect us from worse situations in life as it is. But imagine reincarnation...

My largest theory of rebirth is that we remain as forces from our death until the universe has the theoretical "Big bounce" to occur. To where the universe can begin once again, hence possibly meaning that all the particles within our bodies are now different, we could be different people, or even different species. Yet again, what if we live within the same lives after the big bounce? Similar occurrences, same looks, same birth, same family, but yet again, no recollection of our past lives or experiences...

Overall, I would believe that death is an incredible phenomenon. Death is a beautiful thing to experience, although it may be painful, just imagine the vast possibilities that could possibly happen after our death, or how our existence will remain within history or people's memories, imagine that after our death, imagine how much goes by after it. And imagine what journeys that lie ahead of us when we die, but yet again, the mystery itself is what truly makes me afraid of death.

 

[powdski]

I believe we will go to heaven when you die. I believe in God.

 

[smashmaster]

I have a hard time believing in it due to all the bad and hard things happening to me in life but I believe we will either go to Heaven or hell if you accept God or not

 

[OhFancy]

When we die, something definitely happens; I remember having this conversation with myself when I was 11, I asked myself that when we die, what do we see? Darkness? Blackness? What happens to our minds- just thing really deeply on this for a long time and I got really deep.

I have two theories; one being that when we die we manifest into something else, like a tree for instance, and go through life living as a tree, then once the tree dies we manifest into something else and so on.

My second theory is that we become a paranormal presence or a ghost- moving around just as we do in real life but with some differences, and eventually when we have been a Ghost for a long period of time there comes a judgement day; where something analyses what you have been doing, if what you have been doing is good- you get sent to Heaven, if it is bad, you stay on Earth, roaming around without a purpose.

Overall I think it all comes down to religion- me being Catholic or Christian my second theory was revolving around God, Heaven and Hell.

 

[julniko]

I think we will just die. In my opinion there is no heaven or something else. When you're dead , you're dead, thats it, nothing else.
Sounds a little harsh, I know, but that's what I believe in ^^

 

[TheFlyingBoatman]

I have 2 theories on what could possibly happen when you die:

1. You simply just, disappear: That's to me the most logical one, I don't believe that when you die you go to heaven or hell based on what you've done. You just simply disappear, but then it also brings to me the idea of what happens inside the mind of a dead person, does he see anything at all. The only one I can think of is when it comes to a natural death, you go into a never ending dream. And that's about it...
2. Go into the body of another person: That to me seems something that is a bit idiotic, but I thought of maybe when you die, your personality and who you pretty much are go into another body which was just born, and you just move on from that point without remembering what you've passed before in the other body you've been in.

#yayfirstpost

 

[xExterminate]

this: