Would You Want An Afterlife?

And now to make the topic question a bit more complex.  As atheists, do you think that mortality is a necessity for mankind and individuals?  Do you see it as a driving force for world impacting achievements, producing the next generation, and most basically for just living life?  Would immortality, in your opinion, truly nullify any of the benefits you see in mortality?  And to go back to the first question, regardless of needing any kind of proof, would you want an afterlife and what kind would you prefer?

No, in the sense of necessity. We don't necessarily need to die, but we do. Yes though in the sense of inevitability.

Do you see it as a driving force for world impacting achievements, producing the next generation, and most basically for just living life?

Yes, I do. Many people say that this is our only life on Earth, so they try to make it worthwhile.

Would immortality, in your opinion, truly nullify any of the benefits you see in mortality?

Somewhat. If people think that they are immortal, they may try to acquire immortality rather than making the most of their mortal life.

Would you want an afterlife and what kind would you prefer?

I would want heaven.

I would absolutely love it if a benevolent deity had a nice afterlife in store for me. I brush that off as wishful thinking though.

I'm not too sure about the rest of your question. I suppose that immortality might encourage complacency and flaccidity in ones lifestyle though.

Heaven would have to be an amazing place. I would not be happy knowing that I'm going to live the rest of time in a place like this.

Would I like there to be an afterlife? Of course. I think anyone who said he or she would prefer death would be a liar. 

Assuming that all my memories will be intact, yes I would want an afterlife and I would want to be around people I know from this lifetime. But if you tell me I will be able to be happy without my closest ones with me, I'll assume I wouldn't be the same person in my afterlife and I could care less.

If we were immortal, I guess we would be lazier, a lot lazier. But at the same time most of the famous scientists would still be alive which I guess would be a plus point. We could find a higher rate of suicides in the society, I mean, imagine living for 700 years. I know you want to but can you? Even Gandalf didn't live that long, or did he? O_ wait, he doesn't count.  Also, the world would have been be overly populated by now. AND JESUS OR MUHAMMAD COULD STILL BE ALIVE!  I guess the world is best the way it is. Surely it would be very punushing to our dear planet if crusades, jihads and global warming all happened at the same time, right?

O_o and the most important thing of all: we will need eternal youth as well. Imagine some sexy girl you like when she is 666 years old! And imagine the look on her face when she lays her eyes on your 700 year old face! O_LorD I'm horrified.:cry:

I don't think I want to be immortal any more. 

I would still want an afterlife if the above conditions are met.

Sure, eternal hapiness sounds great in theory. Eternal torture and eternal time with god wouldn't be much different, though. Living eternally would be torture regardless of what I'd be doing.

I just don't agree with how religions do things. If it means that I have to convert in order to be accepted then I'll take the lake of fire instead.

Would I want an afterlife? I think so but to be honest I always thought that the Christian idea of heaven was a little boring. And immortality would not be good in my opinion. I'm sure after a while life's great trials would beat me and I would want it to end. I'm sure when the time comes for me to die I'll have a lot of fears about death and I've always wondered what death feels like. Is it just empty nothingness and something that we can't even feel or know about?

Even Gandalf didn't live that long, or did he? O_ wait, he doesn't count. 7guns

First of all Gandalf is a lesser-god, a Maiar, he is immortal. Ever read the Silmarillion?

And answering the question, I believe that the existence of an afterlife may cause people to treat their first life with greater carelessness. I mean, the world may become a less serious place if people were aware that this wasn't their first and last chance. Also I suppose people's attitudes would change depending on the "world" of the next life, much like heaven and hell, elysium and tartarus, and so on.

But would I want an afterlife? Hmm.. Yeah, if this afterlife were, well, pleasant. I don't mean heavenly, just happy, an optimistic place. A joyous place, fitting to my preferences (I'd have a death-star cruise ship). 'Guess that does sound somewhat heavenly, but not divine. Go figure.

First of all Gandalf is a lesser-god, a Maiar, he is immortal. Ever read the Silmarillion?

Stryder1212

You're right, I'm a bit sketchy on the subject.

I wouldn't really enjoy afterlife. Heaven sounds nice and all, but an eternity in a perfect place. It sounds like it would get a little too perfect after a while.cowboymonkey21

Yep, this. Think back to the Futurama episode where Bender becomes a member of the Church of Robotology - where's the fun with no slease? Excitement comes from danger, risk and imperfection.

"Do you believe in immortality?"

"No, and one life is enough for me." - Albert Einstein

As atheists, do you think that mortality is a necessity for mankind and individuals?

No, in the sense of necessity. We don't necessarily need to die, but we do. Yes though in the sense of inevitability.

Do you see it as a driving force for world impacting achievements, producing the next generation, and most basically for just living life?

Yes, I do. Many people say that this is our only life on Earth, so they try to make it worthwhile.

Would immortality, in your opinion, truly nullify any of the benefits you see in mortality?

Somewhat. If people think that they are immortal, they may try to acquire immortality rather than making the most of their mortal life.

Would you want an afterlife and what kind would you prefer?

I would want heaven.

Genetic_Code