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Many people seem to be really into their religions. Have you ever thought it could be wrong or you may disagree with it on some things? How then do you view your religion?
Do you believe in afterlife 100%? I want to believe in one, but for some reason I find it hard to do so.
I have these attack because I cannot fathom not existing. Here is something that has bothered me, if we assume that death is nonexistence and we also assume we are the lucky people born. In reality there millions more people that could be made but never will.
Are we better off than the people who were never born? I mean if we die to a state on nonexistence never to be alive again and not being aware….that we ever were alive in the fist place. Are we really better off that we got to born and be alive?.
I mean if die, then we had no idea we existed in first place. So are we that much better than the people that were never born?
We're dead we are unaware that we existed. We're the same as the people never born. We don't exist , are we better for have lived?. Allot of people change the world and have purpose for greater bigger things like Einstein, Mozart, or anyone of the many high achievers in the world etc.
Most of us will never have success/ and genius like that. Or even make or do something at all which will remembered generations down the line .Most of just get by with average abilities and average lives.
Outside of reproduction which is basic idea of Biology, We're our lives worth. I am 34 white guy. I don't think I want kids and likely will never have them. Was my life worth it? I don't think I will have kids or produce anything that people will see like some talented people in humanity do.
I don't think I will leave any kind of mark on the world, was my life worth it? I don't know.Or did I just get by and fade into nonexistence?
I saw today in the paper some guy got hit crossing the street here in Canada. He was 28 and died. Any of us can get killed at any moment every day…. their existence is gone. They never new hey existed in the first place.
I got more time on this planet that he did? was his death random? I struggle thinking that could be me or anyone I know.
I cannot comprehend that one day assuming I live that long I will be on my death bed.And everyone I know will be gone.
I may have anxiety issues yes I will admit panic attacks which cause to lie on the floor and breathe heavily until my body calms down. I feel weak I feel frail.This feels to me the same as passing out like I did once
I do think I have legitimate OCD as well
Are we better of then the never born? I mean we get to experience things, they were never born, and when we die we had no idea that we did exist in some fashion.
I personally don't think we are any better for having been born. If we never existed, we wouldn't know what we were missing out on. And like you stated, if there is no afterlife and we simply fade into non-existence, that's basically the same as having never been born, because at death all of our memories of having lived will vanish. All of our hard work, our toil, our accomplishments, relationships -- all tossed into the nothingness of space. Irrelevant. Meaningless. Gone without a trace.
And that's a sobering thought. And it makes life seem almost comical in the sense that we humans are so arrogant and self-centered that we operate as if we are the center of the universe. We get fancy degrees and jobs, we buy expensive cars and live in big houses; we invest our money and make big future plans even though those things are simply distractions that keep us busy and make us feel important and in control, in control of a life that we all know is indiscriminate, unpredictable, and never fair in the human sense of fairness.
But simply knowing that your life is going to end and that you can't take anything with you (including memories) makes life seem kind of cruel ( besides being comical) because while we are here we have human needs, desires, feelings, emotions, etc., that propel us to chase things we seek or crave, but all the while knowing that that chase is ultimately futile because we can never catch all that we chase, and also because we never know when that chase is going to end.
I view non-existence as inherently neutral: Since it's probably impossible to experience anything at all, it's neither good nor bad. Think of life experiences on a scale of -10 to +10, with -10 being the worst imaginable experience, +10 being the best, and non-existence being 0.
Consequently, I think the answer is personally variable. Those who's lives are mostly enjoyable and satisfying are probably better off because they experience more good than bad; overall, their lives range from +1 to +8. Those who's lives are mostly arduous and wrought with hardship and misery probably would probably have been better off not existing because overall their lives range from -1 to -8.
So, some persons are better off for having been born, while others aren't.
Non-existence is not worse than existence because there is no deprivation of joy in non-existence. Plus people are spared of all suffering, anguish, discomfort, anxiety and pain in non-existence. So I think It's better never to have been born.
I think the worst of all crimes is to bother the non-existent by bringing him into the dreadful state of sentience.
We don't need happiness. If nobody suffers it's what really matters.
All the "people" that you refer to that never became people, never WERE people. It misses out on nothing, as it never was. The people whose lives are cut short miss out on what 'could have been' but they are no longer bothered by it ... only the living still contemplate 'what could have been' for them.
This is something I spend a lot of time thinking about. If this is the only life we have, and after that we fade into oblivion FOREVER the thought is very terrifying and saps the joy out of life. It's like the earth beneath you just crumbles. I was also raised religious, and a part of me does hope for an afterlife, yet the idea that 90% of humans will be condemned to hell to suffer FOREVER is just as disturbing, and in some ways moreso, although the idea of eternal non-existence scared the hell out of me.
Three years ago when visiting America i had panic attacks. Several times I feared, was almost convinced, I would die. I've never forgot the awesomely terrifying feeling that you are going to die (even if I didn't die). I sympathise, and wish I could offer comfort...I've often said I wish I was never born for this reason, and even to my mother, which pained me (I broke down and stuff, once when I thought I was going to die).
Anyway, I still hold hope that there's something more. That our lives aren't meaningless and we don't become recycled atoms, even if the idea of becoming grass or a tree is reassuring for some.
Non-existence is not worse than existence because there is no deprivation of joy in non-existence. Plus people are spared of all suffering, anguish, discomfort, anxiety and pain in non-existence. So I think It's better never to have been born.
I think the worst of all crimes is to bother the non-existent by bringing him into the dreadful state of sentience.
We don't need happiness. If nobody suffers it's what really matters.
In Christian, Muslim and Jewish belief at the end of the age God will resurrect all, some to glory in Heaven and some to eternal suffering/torment/torture in Hell, or death/destruction. Most schools at least.
If we all pass on to nothingness, should we try less? Should I try less I mean why work too hard and even play too hard if it's all going to happen into oblivion anyways.
I mean if you're 34 like me, I have what 50 years or more to go? The first 34 when by quick, I imagine the next 50 plus will be quicker. That is of course assuming that I make it that long. I can ride that out well and just disappear and do what I want to kill time. Why make a big deal of it?
Even if I or any of you do great things…. outside of basically helping others try to get by in this thing we call "existence" is it worth it? I mean in many ways we just have "moments" no definitive future or past, just moment to moment.
Sometimes I think the only thing we can do in many ways in help others get by and handle their "existence" until they die like us. I mean we are all on the planet "existing" that's all we're doing really.
But of course living in biological world there the nature to compete for resources. Peace isn't possible in selfish biological world.
Many of you many not be selfish, or only as selfish as you need to be as an organism. But there are others out there ruthlessly selfish. I don't think peace is possible. As we exist.
I view non-existence as inherently neutral: Since it's probably impossible to experience anything at all, it's neither good nor bad. Think of life experiences on a scale of -10 to +10, with -10 being the worst imaginable experience, +10 being the best, and non-existence being 0.
Consequently, I think the answer is personally variable. Those who's lives are mostly enjoyable and satisfying are probably better off because they experience more good than bad; overall, their lives range from +1 to +8. Those who's lives are mostly arduous and wrought with hardship and misery probably would probably have been better off not existing because overall their lives range from -1 to -8.
So, some persons are better off for having been born, while others aren't.
let's say I have the happiest life that ever was. 80 years of never-ending bliss; no conflict to speak of, no hunger, the absolute minimum of pain that is needed for one to appreciate pleasure, etc. A life that is as close to an unchanging +10 on your scale as any life is.
In all likelihood, such a person is spending zero or essentially time contemplating questions like these, as the mere act of contemplating them is a sign either of present or future discontent. But, as people who are contemplating these questions...like Swan Dive (I think), it amazes me to think of how fleeting even the "best" life ("best" as defined by the Apathizer Scale of Well-Being) is. It's a simple point but once realized I'm not sure it can be forgotten. Appreciation of the fact that both a +8 and a -8 are zeroes in the grand scheme might be enough to make the remainder of anyone's subjective experiences into something approximating a static -8. Or maybe a baseline of -4 subject to fluctuations down into -8 territory. Funny thing is, we probably could make these numbers mean something objectively ("happiness units" given the right brain imaging and whatnot. Of course, that speculation assumes we actually understand what constitutes happiness neuroscientifically, which we don't as of now. Someday it'd be pretty interesting to go into a clinic and get a quantified happiness reading. How would the existence of that technology itself affect people's happiness or lack thereof? I don't know but I am certainly capable of imagining the worst. If any psychological state could be medicated in theory then would any psychological be state be medicable (to coin a word) in practice? If people understood their happiness (or lack thereof) entirely as the composite of factors beyond their control then...
That's enough for now
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