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I can only imagine an atheist or someone who isn't convinced of reincarnation would have this view? I am still afraid of death, but as a Hindu I know that my co

I can only imagine an atheist or someone who isn't convinced of reincarnation would have this view? I am still afraid of death, but as a Hindu I know that my consciousness survives the death of the body and that I will continue to exist in other universes, planets, for many lifetimes until I realize the truth of existence.

echelon 6y ago
> as a Hindu I know A lot of people in this world say that they know with certainty what will happen after death. For all we know we could already be dead, and Skynet has taken the trouble of resurrecting all of our minds. Right now we could be riding some eternal horror simulation, stuck on the roller coaster ride up, just before the plummet into extreme pain and chaos. That's an equally valid guess. Nobody really knows. What I can see with my eyes and reason with my brain leads me to believe my consciousness ends with me. But who knows. Maybe we're all just NPCs in some sufficiently advanced game. All that I know is that in my worldview there is some problem gradient that leads to engineered immortality. I'm not sure how steep that path is, nor where it lies. It might be towering over us higher than Mt. Everest. But it's there, somewhere, a problem waiting for progress.
- xamuel 6y ago
  Here's something fun to think about. Instead of evil Skynet, suppose the entity resurrecting long-dead brains is a benevolent entity. As such, it would avoid resurrecting people against their will. How would it determine which people wanted to be resurrected? One method would be to scan the memories for events such as accepting our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. People who did that would be resurrected because it's obvious they want to be resurrected. Atheists who spent their lives preaching oblivion would be left alone, since resurrection would obviously torment them with cognitive dissonance :)
  - echelon 6y ago
    This is some serious /r/dankchristianmemes Well done. My mind is teeming with sci-fi / fantasy stories where Christianity is real, but it's a program. And we all live in that matrix. Somehow people find out and attempt to break free... Cue Christian angels and demon themes.
    - mrkstu 6y ago
      CoJCoLDS (Mormon) belief is very sci-fi. A progenitor being, first intelligence reaching 'Godhood,' uses the material universe it has come to mastery over to clothe intelligences (those being outside of time and our usual matter) with material bodies and imbue those passing a filter function with more power like unto itself, while those not passing the filter get life without the power. The cosmology is very succinct and was presented by Joseph Smith at a funeral, the sermon has been come to be known as the King Follet Discourse[0]. Smith also preached against the idea of 'ex-nihilo'- creation from nothing. Instead he posited that the universe is material and God is not outside of it: "Now, the word create does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence, we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos-chaotic matter, which is element. Element had an existence from the time [God] had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and reorganized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning and can have no end"[1] Mormonism is the rare religion where there isn't anything incompatible with religiosity and science. Other than the whole no physical proof/requiring faith thing, of course- but the theology itself fits fine within a scientific cosmology. [0]: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1971/04/the-king-follett-sermon?lang=eng https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1971/04/the... [1] https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Matter https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Matter
      - mssundaram 6y ago
        Do you mean Mormonism meets this exclusively? Because Hinduism is also completely compatible in that regard
  - ghostbrainalpha 6y ago
    This is funny but would the pain of "being wrong" ever overcome the joy at getting to see deceased loved ones again? I want it on record for that A.I. that I would like to be resurrected even if I lack specific religious views.
- mssundaram 6y ago
  > A lot of people in this world say that they know with certainty what will happen after death. Well, Hinduism is based on a type of science. Just like scientists and psychedelic enthusiasts document and discover states of being and the mind, so have ancient rishis and sages done without drugs for centuries.
matheist 6y ago
Would you be willing to share more about your fear of death? I'm curious about what that's rooted in alongside a belief in reincarnation. Fear of pain? Of getting a bad lot the next time around? Of the possibility of being wrong? Something else? My own fear of death is fear of nonexistence (I'm atheist), and of the pain of loss (of myself and loved ones). A little bit physical pain too.
- mssundaram 6y ago
  Mostly fear of pain during the transition out of the body and also not wanting to leave my current circumstances. I am not afraid of the next lifetime because I'm doing my best this lifetimr to prepare
mssundaram 6y ago
Do people who downvoted my post find that I have been offensive, or do they just automatically downvote the crazy religious person?
- p1esk 6y ago
  I'm guessing they didn't like you saying "I know". You should have said "I hope".
  - mssundaram 6y ago
    Well I haven't independently verified that the world is round, but I "know" that it is. This is the same with Hinduism - I haven't verified all of the framework it provides, but I still know it
    - p1esk 6y ago
      I guess the difference is that anyone can verify that the world is round (launch a balloon with a camera high enough and you'll see), but I don't see how we can independently verify any religious claims. You could have also used "I believe", but "I know" was the wrong choice of words.
      - mssundaram 6y ago
        Within Hinduism though these things are verifiable. Rishis and yogis have verified reincarnation. Though I realize to anyone outside of Hinduism that it is circular reasoning, or not valid.
        webmaven 6y ago
        > Within Hinduism though these things are verifiable. Rishis and yogis have verified reincarnation. Though I realize to anyone outside of Hinduism that it is circular reasoning, or not valid. By itself that isn't circular reasoning, it is an appeal to authority. It is when you are then asked why you trust what rishis and yogis say that things start to bend in on themselves into a circular argument. A Western (specifically, Judeo-Christian) example: "I believe X, because the Bible says so." "How do you know that what the Bible says is true?" "Because the Bible is the inerrant word of God." "And how do you know that?" "The Bible says so." "And how do you know that what the Bible says is true?" ... etc. By itself, the first statement is only an appeal to authority, but when you dig into the source of the authority, it (rather quickly) turns into a circular argument.

echelon 6y ago

> as a Hindu I know A lot of people in this world say that they know with certainty what will happen after death. For all we know we could already be dead, and Skynet has taken the trouble of resurrecting all of our minds. Right now we could be riding some eternal horror simulation, stuck on the roller coaster ride up, just before the plummet into extreme pain and chaos. That's an equally valid guess. Nobody really knows. What I can see with my eyes and reason with my brain leads me to believe my consciousness ends with me. But who knows. Maybe we're all just NPCs in some sufficiently advanced game. All that I know is that in my worldview there is some problem gradient that leads to engineered immortality. I'm not sure how steep that path is, nor where it lies. It might be towering over us higher than Mt. Everest. But it's there, somewhere, a problem waiting for progress.

xamuel 6y ago
Here's something fun to think about. Instead of evil Skynet, suppose the entity resurrecting long-dead brains is a benevolent entity. As such, it would avoid resurrecting people against their will. How would it determine which people wanted to be resurrected? One method would be to scan the memories for events such as accepting our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. People who did that would be resurrected because it's obvious they want to be resurrected. Atheists who spent their lives preaching oblivion would be left alone, since resurrection would obviously torment them with cognitive dissonance :)
- echelon 6y ago
  This is some serious /r/dankchristianmemes Well done. My mind is teeming with sci-fi / fantasy stories where Christianity is real, but it's a program. And we all live in that matrix. Somehow people find out and attempt to break free... Cue Christian angels and demon themes.
  - mrkstu 6y ago
    CoJCoLDS (Mormon) belief is very sci-fi. A progenitor being, first intelligence reaching 'Godhood,' uses the material universe it has come to mastery over to clothe intelligences (those being outside of time and our usual matter) with material bodies and imbue those passing a filter function with more power like unto itself, while those not passing the filter get life without the power. The cosmology is very succinct and was presented by Joseph Smith at a funeral, the sermon has been come to be known as the King Follet Discourse[0]. Smith also preached against the idea of 'ex-nihilo'- creation from nothing. Instead he posited that the universe is material and God is not outside of it: "Now, the word create does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence, we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos-chaotic matter, which is element. Element had an existence from the time [God] had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and reorganized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning and can have no end"[1] Mormonism is the rare religion where there isn't anything incompatible with religiosity and science. Other than the whole no physical proof/requiring faith thing, of course- but the theology itself fits fine within a scientific cosmology. [0]: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1971/04/the-king-follett-sermon?lang=eng https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1971/04/the... [1] https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Matter https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Matter
    - mssundaram 6y ago
      Do you mean Mormonism meets this exclusively? Because Hinduism is also completely compatible in that regard
- ghostbrainalpha 6y ago
  This is funny but would the pain of "being wrong" ever overcome the joy at getting to see deceased loved ones again? I want it on record for that A.I. that I would like to be resurrected even if I lack specific religious views.
mssundaram 6y ago
> A lot of people in this world say that they know with certainty what will happen after death. Well, Hinduism is based on a type of science. Just like scientists and psychedelic enthusiasts document and discover states of being and the mind, so have ancient rishis and sages done without drugs for centuries.

matheist 6y ago

Would you be willing to share more about your fear of death? I'm curious about what that's rooted in alongside a belief in reincarnation. Fear of pain? Of getting a bad lot the next time around? Of the possibility of being wrong? Something else? My own fear of death is fear of nonexistence (I'm atheist), and of the pain of loss (of myself and loved ones). A little bit physical pain too.

mssundaram 6y ago
Mostly fear of pain during the transition out of the body and also not wanting to leave my current circumstances. I am not afraid of the next lifetime because I'm doing my best this lifetimr to prepare

mssundaram 6y ago

Do people who downvoted my post find that I have been offensive, or do they just automatically downvote the crazy religious person?

p1esk 6y ago
I'm guessing they didn't like you saying "I know". You should have said "I hope".
- mssundaram 6y ago
  Well I haven't independently verified that the world is round, but I "know" that it is. This is the same with Hinduism - I haven't verified all of the framework it provides, but I still know it
  - p1esk 6y ago
    I guess the difference is that anyone can verify that the world is round (launch a balloon with a camera high enough and you'll see), but I don't see how we can independently verify any religious claims. You could have also used "I believe", but "I know" was the wrong choice of words.
    - mssundaram 6y ago
      Within Hinduism though these things are verifiable. Rishis and yogis have verified reincarnation. Though I realize to anyone outside of Hinduism that it is circular reasoning, or not valid.
      - webmaven 6y ago
        > Within Hinduism though these things are verifiable. Rishis and yogis have verified reincarnation. Though I realize to anyone outside of Hinduism that it is circular reasoning, or not valid. By itself that isn't circular reasoning, it is an appeal to authority. It is when you are then asked why you trust what rishis and yogis say that things start to bend in on themselves into a circular argument. A Western (specifically, Judeo-Christian) example: "I believe X, because the Bible says so." "How do you know that what the Bible says is true?" "Because the Bible is the inerrant word of God." "And how do you know that?" "The Bible says so." "And how do you know that what the Bible says is true?" ... etc. By itself, the first statement is only an appeal to authority, but when you dig into the source of the authority, it (rather quickly) turns into a circular argument.