quote:Originally posted by Jumbo Jimbo:
There is NOTHING after death.
It will be just like it was before we were born.
"Nothingness for ever and ever".
Does that concern you, does it make you afraid to die?
quote:Originally posted by Jumbo Jimbo:quote:There is NOTHING after death.
It will be just like it was before we were born.
"Nothingness for ever and ever".
Does that concern you, does it make you afraid to die?
quote:Originally posted by BeerBelle:quote:Originally posted by Artymags:
I think the poem "Aubade", by Philip Larkin really says it all.
he seems to be quite perturbed by death; but if he knows it is just an ending of the stream of conciousness i am unsure as to why he should fear it?? how can you fear nothingness? (and by the way, people of religion think it gives them comfort to think thst there is something after death, whereas for me it gives me comfort to know there is not. who wants to be judged or transported somewhere without all your personal belongings ?!!
quote:Originally posted by Artymags:quote:Originally posted by Suzy:quote:Originally posted by Artymags:quote:Originally posted by Suzy:quote:Originally posted by Artymags:
If you mean "soul" in the religious sense then NO.
But then neither do human beings.
There is no such thing.
And no god or heaven either.
What do you think happens after death then ?
Do you believe we have an "energy force" that is released ?
No, of course not.
Please explain what you do think happens after death as I am genuinely interested.
Well NOTHING!
All our consciousness and "personality" is contained in the brain.
What makes us what we are is purely the way our brain functions.
We know this is true because any damage to the brain can result in the person becoming quite a different personality.
Therefore our personality or "id" - what some people call the "soul" is totally and intrinsically part of the brain, - its pathways, neurons and chemical balance.
Our personality isn't a separate thing perched somewhere behind the eyes and able to migrate into another body or able to survive somewhere apart from the body.
That idea is called "dualism" and is beloved of fiction writers - where two people swap personalities for instance.
It doesn't and CANNOT really happen.
Therefore when a person dies, the brain too dies and decays and with it all consciousness.
There is NOTHING after death.
It will be just like it was before we were born.
"Nothingness for ever and ever".
quote:Originally posted by Artymags:quote:Originally posted by Jumbo Jimbo:quote:There is NOTHING after death.
It will be just like it was before we were born.
"Nothingness for ever and ever".
Does that concern you, does it make you afraid to die?
Yes it does concern me.
Yes I am bothered about the idea of dying but I don't honestly think I would be any LESS bothered if I believed that my consciousness would go on somewhere else - now that idea is REALLY scary.
quote:Originally posted by King Kev:quote:Originally posted by Syd:
I have 'felt' dead people...
Worked in a morgue by any chance lol.
quote:Originally posted by BeerBelle:quote:Originally posted by Artymags:
I think the poem "Aubade", by Philip Larkin really says it all.
he seems to be quite perturbed by death; but if he knows it is just an ending of the stream of conciousness i am unsure as to why he should fear it?? how can you fear nothingness? (and by the way, people of religion think it gives them comfort to think thst there is something after death, whereas for me it gives me comfort to know there is not. who wants to be judged or transported somewhere without all your personal belongings ?!!
quote:And specious stuff that says no rational being
Can fear a thing it cannot feel, not seeing
that this is what we fear most...........
......the total emptiness forever,
The sure extinction that we travel to
And shall be lost in always. Not to be here,
Not to be anywhere,
And soon; nothing more terrible
quote:Originally posted by Syd:quote:Originally posted by BeerBelle:quote:Originally posted by Suzy:quote:Originally posted by Syd:
I have 'felt' dead people...
I think that's against the law but I'm no snitch.
Mocketh my Soul not....see, I bare my soul and you lot laugh...
quote:Originally posted by Artymags:quote:Originally posted by Jumbo Jimbo:quote:There is NOTHING after death.
It will be just like it was before we were born.
"Nothingness for ever and ever".
Does that concern you, does it make you afraid to die?
Yes it does concern me.
Yes I am bothered about the idea of dying but I don't honestly think I would be any LESS bothered if I believed that my consciousness would go on somewhere else - now that idea is REALLY scary.
quote:Originally posted by Artymags:quote:Originally posted by BeerBelle:quote:Originally posted by Artymags:
I think the poem "Aubade", by Philip Larkin really says it all.
he seems to be quite perturbed by death; but if he knows it is just an ending of the stream of conciousness i am unsure as to why he should fear it?? how can you fear nothingness? (and by the way, people of religion think it gives them comfort to think thst there is something after death, whereas for me it gives me comfort to know there is not. who wants to be judged or transported somewhere without all your personal belongings ?!!
Yes he was very afraid of death (He's dead now).
He answers that question "How can you fear nothingness" by saying that it's the idea of nothingness that he fears most.quote:And specious stuff that says no rational being
Can fear a thing it cannot feel, not seeing
that this is what we fear most...........
......the total emptiness forever,
The sure extinction that we travel to
And shall be lost in always. Not to be here,
Not to be anywhere,
And soon; nothing more terrible
quote:Originally posted by Jumbo Jimbo:quote:Originally posted by Artymags:quote:Originally posted by Jumbo Jimbo:quote:There is NOTHING after death.
It will be just like it was before we were born.
"Nothingness for ever and ever".
Does that concern you, does it make you afraid to die?
Yes it does concern me.
Yes I am bothered about the idea of dying but I don't honestly think I would be any LESS bothered if I believed that my consciousness would go on somewhere else - now that idea is REALLY scary.
Why though for you would be travelling but without your vessel (body). Surely like walking into another room or someother dimension?
quote:Originally posted by Suzy:
I lost a very dear friend to suicide recently and he wanted "nothingness" but always engaged me in conversations about religion.
He was a poet and I wonder if he ever read that poem.
)quote:Originally posted by Artymags:quote:Originally posted by Suzy:
I lost a very dear friend to suicide recently and he wanted "nothingness" but always engaged me in conversations about religion.
He was a poet and I wonder if he ever read that poem.
I should think that MOST people have read it really and I cannot imagine any poet NOT being familiar with it.
It must be Philip Larkin's most famous poem (After "This Be the Verse" of course.
If you want to read the whole thing, it's here....
http://www.poemhunter.com/best...hilip-larkin/aubade/
quote:Originally posted by King Kev:
If I am completely honest (and I'm glad I can feel that here) if I didn't believe in something else being out there, absolutely nothing to do with the way most people think about religeon, I wouldn't be here.
Suicidal thoughts plagued my mind throghout my teenage years.
My beliefs most closely resemble that of the Buddhists, but really my beliefs are my own I dont usually share them, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were unique.
quote:Originally posted by Syd:
Poems are written by Man, the Bible and other Religious books were written by Man......
It is up to us to write our own poems, live as we would want others to live around us....
Be happy xxxxx
quote:Originally posted by BeerBelle:
what if the room is hell?
quote:Originally posted by Jumbo Jimbo:quote:Originally posted by BeerBelle:
what if the room is hell?
Ya Im not so convinced about a Heaven and Hell, more a spirital world. Think if there is such a place it will be harder than people realise. Sort of convinced as had several people telling me they believe they have had encounters with the other side. The people that have come out with this have never been ones for making up stories. That said if there is a spirital world what is the point of life as here we are around for a few years, in death as we understand it it is forever.
quote:Originally posted by Suzy:
Thank you I have read it and it is so good.I have sent it to another friend.I find it amazing sometimes that my friends in America have not read some British Poets and are totally unaware of their work.I do learn a lot from them though...
quote:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
quote:Originally posted by Artymags:quote:Originally posted by Suzy:
Thank you I have read it and it is so good.I have sent it to another friend.I find it amazing sometimes that my friends in America have not read some British Poets and are totally unaware of their work.I do learn a lot from them though...
Conversely though, many people in Britain are not so familiar with the great American poets such as Walt Whitman and Robert Frost.
"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is my favourite poems of all time.
To me it is talking about my life so far.
I want it read out at my funeral.quote:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that, the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
quote:Originally posted by BeerBelle:
nice poem. sliding doors. i love the whole concept and would love some parallel universes to play out a few decisions!
quote:Originally posted by Artymags:
"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is my favourite poems of all time.
