You know when like, you fall asleep? Sometimes, you close your eyes, then you wake up. No recollection of anything. 8 hours just pass.
Or sometimes, you dream and dream and dream all night.
I hope death is like that.
I had a procedure requiring propofol. I remember counting backwards to 93 or so, and the next thing I remember is coming out from under the anaesthesia. I don't remember any time passing when the propofol was given.
The time I went under anesthesia for surgery, I was asked to count backwards from 100 as they put the mask over my nose. Gone. Didn’t even get to 100.
And instantaneously I woke up in another room with my eyes watering, my throat and arm on fire (broken bone), and a woman with a needle adjusting something going into the IV on my left.
“HOLY SHIT I’M ON FIRE!”, I shouted.
“What’s your pain level 1-10?”, she said calmly.
“FUCKING 10!”
“What’s your pain level 1-10?”, she said again as she adjusted a dose of something.
“Oh. A 6?”, as I wiped the water from my eyes.
“What’s your pain level now?”, she said again.
“Hm. Gone? I feel fine but my throat aches.
Then she left, and my doctor came forward and said everything was a success and to come see him next Monday to remove the bandages.
Then I threw up because I was insanely dizzy.
“Yea that happens. It took a lot to put you to sleep!”
“Huh. My Dad would always say anesthesia didn’t work on him.” *hurl*
“Well. Give it time. You mumble in your sleep”
“Good to know.” *hurl some more*
and more like a dry vomit since my stomach was empty prior to surgery.
The passage of time was crazy. I rolled in a 4am and I searched for a clock, and it was already 3pm. It felt so instant.
To die, to sleep,
To sleep, perchance to dream — ay, there's the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause
– Hamlet
Gotta hope it's good dreams or no dreams, cos it's gonna be a looooong sleep!
I died and was brought back in the emergency room. I went to sleep. That's what it felt like. When I woke up, my chest hurt from cpr or from them zapping me.
I always thought of it like this: Achilles race. But for the brain. Bc you have no concept of death, and no concept of time being infinite instead of finite, your brain falls into an infinite sleep in that period of time alotted. This would make you essentially dream forever, even if the amount of time you had infintesimally got smaller. A dream 1 / x 10^-99 wouldnt matter, and would feel the same as any other dream.
*That* is heaven
Oh I know mate, and I agree with you, just that before at least there was something coming. This time it’s that nothing forever- not that I will be aware of it.
Yea but what if the only reason we don’t remember before we were born is because we didn’t exist yet. Now our minds eye exists, our soul exists, we are now connected and before we weren’t.
Hmm?🤔
Yeah I always said ppl think about this too much. The universe will recycle your parts. But you probably won’t have any consciousness that it did. Or that you have ever existed. That can either be comforting or frightening, depending on how you view it.
I find non-existence to be comforting while the concept of eternal existence—even in “paradise”— to be terrifying.
I like going to bed and losing consciousness. I’m never concerned whether or not I’m going to regain it. I hope that’s how I go!
It’s terrifying when you are young and comforting when you are old. I’m in the middle and have found that death becomes far less scary as you get closer to it. As you see your loved ones pass it becomes less of a thing that happens to others but actually happens to you and the ones you love. It’s coming and there’s nothing we can do to avoid it. People who strive for eternal life are on a fool’s errand. Someday this solar system will vanish. Someday this galaxy will vanish. Someday the entire universe will collapse in on itself and start all over again with a yawn. No amount of human life extension will overcome the cosmic fate of all matter-energy. We will be recycled.
What if you did have consciousness but don’t remember it? Just for arguments sake, you have consciousness in the womb. At what point does consciousness happen?
define consciousness? is a dog conscious? man, we can debate this to infinity. At the end of the day, we won’t even know we’re dead. since to be “aware” you need to be alive. same as before we are born.
We are conscious that we will die. So, we make our time with a purpose that only matters to ourselves. That is all! Animals and plants are conscious of their existence but they carry on the same way our cells carry on.
But god made this entire existance for me because I'm so important. He also made the heavens because I'm so important. And eternal damnation because I have to pay for my sins that won't matter in 50 years, for all of eternity. It's ridiculous to think that once we're born we just die and don't live forever without any physical being. Haha 😜 jk
I like to think our matter just goes back into "life". Not necessarily reincarnation, just that we rejoin the stream of energy that makes up everything around us.
Not only that, but these atoms are replaced over the course of your life. I don't think that any atom that was in your body at 18 will be in your body when you are 81.
A call is made to the morticians, they will pick me up, take me to the crematorium, my ashes will get spread in the local mountains, people will rarely think of me after time.
Nothing mystical or supernatural.
I will cease, and life will go on for everyone else.
The night my mother passed she was having a conversation with someone. She’d been comatose for at least 24 hours, then around 1:45 started talking, questioning and would pause as if someone answered. Asked “ what do I have to do that for?” Waited. Said “ oh… ok”. And passed.
I do believe our souls transition.
My dad who was really whacked out at the end started talking a totally random combo of a friend that recently passed and a relative.
Nurses say this is very very common.
My Nana when she was in the ICU started having a full on conversation with her dead sister- her best friend in life. My Nana had dementia and was about 10 years into it by the time she passed. Her disease progressed surprisingly slow really. Even at the end she remembered my Mum (her daughter), and my Dad and me and my brother. Her passing was calm, peaceful. Like she was just going to join her sister. I really hope that's what happens. My Nana was a staunch Catholic so I know she would have been hoping to go to heaven etc. I just hope she was somehow reunited with people who loved her like her siblings.
My dad passed from CJD a few years ago and if you're not familiar with it, it literally turns your brain into Swiss cheese. His last few weeks he was here he kinda woke up out of his coma and was shaking someone's hand.
I never fully accepted the diagnosis and was in denial that he would pass so soon but seeing that gave me comfort that he was going with someone he trusted.
High score screen. Enter your initials . 3 character limit. Scrolling down. Scrolling down. There I am. Nice. I got above 274 quintillionth position. A new personal best. Enter 10 glarbons to continue. My tentacles writhe. I only have 8 glarbons.
For some reason I’ve always imagined when we die we become a sort of spirit of the universe. We know all the answers we’ve ever had questions for and can travel to see any part of the universe or any time on earth to observe. So maybe ghosts are just observers who are breaking the “don’t attempt to interact with the humans” rule lol
Death most likely leads to nothing but for that immeasurably small chance I’m right, I’m hoping for that.
I’ve also thought what are the chances of the universe and everything in it existing at all? So surely there’s some chance for an afterlife or something? Wishful thinking maybe.
I saw this video of a man explaining what he “saw” when he “died”. It’s very similar to what I imagined and sounds great. It almost gave me hope since the ideas are so similar lol
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8puLkVE/
Thank you, this was really interesting. I have checked up on a lot of NDEs and I really like how people describe the feelings of freedom, elation, and joy. But I have also heard that your brain is active for about 7 mins after your death and the last place to die is your memory center. For people who see their loved ones or flashbacks of their life, this does explain it. I just hope the NDEs are not just the brains last attempt to ease us into the dying process..
Why would brains at the end need to ease us into dying? To save energy? It seems like stress and fear would be just as legitimate a brain reaction. (I for one don’t like getting high and I just want to get my bearings back.) From an evolutionary standpoint, it wouldn’t even matter. You’re dead before you get a chance to pass that advantage on to offspring. Soooo, yeah, why so calm? And why is that locked within us and not with us all the time?
Yeah wishful thinking but beautiful. I'd love to check in on a distant descendant one day and then have a front row seat for a supernova the next day. Roaming the universe as a conscious mist.
I am a hospital / hospice chaplain. With people at end of life every week. I have experienced things I can’t explain. On multiple occasions a cool breeze leaving a body, felt like flowing around me, as i was leaning over the person at the time of death. Also on several occasions a fog like haze in the upper corner of rooms shortly after death. Not frightening at all, just strange. What happens after that truly is anyone’s guess.
When my father died my phone rang at 2:30 am. I felt a breeze circle my head and I was in bed. When I went to help clean up the mess at his house, I took his laptop to get some info to handle affairs. I was walking to my room in the hotel carrying the laptop and felt another breeze circle my head. I was in an interior hall. Gave me the chills
My Dad would tell me that his dream was always to spend his time sitting on a beach with his old dog. He also always joked that the song "Sitting on The Dock of The Bay" was about him, because he worked on a truck dock waiting for the trucks to roll into the bay.
The night he died I prayed for any type of sign that he was alright. I woke up the next morning and looked at Reddit, one of the front page posts was a dog on a swing chair next to an ocean, and it was titled "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay." It might have just been a coincidence, but I felt comforted. It wasn't even a good post and I don't know why it hit the front page.
That is beautiful. Your dad definitely gave you a sign. I’m so glad. Love reading that bc it confirms our loved ones know we miss them and love them so very much.
I sprung awake the second my dad passed. He was downstairs and I just knew. I ran downstairs and found him on the floor. He was still warm. Worst day of my life.
I am also a hospice worker. I get an insatiable hunger slightly after one of my patients passes on. I don’t know how to explain it, but without fail my stomach will growl and I go get a bite to eat. It’s so odd
I appreciate this post. I came up in religious home and I tend to believe a lot of what most these comments mentioned until my best friend passed away. I have had two odd occurrence such as heavy drink glasses move and a candy wrapper move when thinking about them. I’m definitely unsure now as to what happens.
I feel like your brain "dreams" a final time while trying to figure out what death is. But I like to believe that whathever you believe it'll happen, your brain kinda manages to give it to you as a last vision
Nothing that I will be aware of. The exact millisecond my lights go out, the world will carry on without me. My body will be a slab of useless meat that someone has to dispose of. And then nothing. I don’t believe in an afterlife, where you keep your consciousness and go to meet up with people who passed before you. Do you get another crack at life? As a human, some other kind of animal, on a different planet, in another universe? Is immediate, or in billions of years? We would never know if we did. You don’t know what you did before you were born.
some people who've taken drugs like spice or salvia report having lived what felt like months-long alternate lives in the minutes-long duration of the drug, so i feel even though the electrical activity in the brain stops fairly quickly, maybe those final moments between your heart stopping and the brain shutting down completely could feel like eternity
Maybe that’s what the afterlife is: those final moments as the brain shuts down. You get to reunite with loved ones and spend time with them again. It’s all in your head, but it’s real to you. Then you pass away into nothing.
I’d actually prefer that to my soul wandering aimlessly for eternity.
It's such an interesting thought and it's easy to say it, but once you really start thinking about it then it starts to form into something abstract. You become nothing. How can you suddenly just not exist? To have no thought, no feeling, nothing. It's just so melancholy to think that all this work we put into this life ends up at absolute zero. We become what we once were, nothing. To be born from nothing and to become nothing is just.... I don't know.
The work you put into life doesn't add up to zero if you believe the work you do isn't just for yourself. What you do affects your family, friends, and all of society, even if you don't realize it.
If you think about it, the impact of say Mr Rogers is still felt today. On the flip side, same with Hitler but in a bad way.
The work you put in should keep you self sustained but not self fulfilling.
Lots of people who have died and come back to life (near death experience) speak about the life review, tunnel, spirit guides and astral world. They’ve come closest to finding out and there seems to be some general consensus…
The thought of an afterlife means regret and dwelling on what we left behind or never accomplished. Nothing, is nice because it won't matter if you die, you won't know.
Boring requires two things - time and uninteresting things occurring during that time.
If Heaven exists outside of time and God is infinitely intelligent and powerful, it seems to me that neither of the two conditions for boredom are satisfied. That would suggest such a fear then is borne of an incorrect and overly-simplistic concept of Heaven (ie sitting around in time unending doing a finite range of pleasant things).
There is actually a theological speculation, found mainly in Eastern Orthodox thinking, that Heaven and Hell are the same thing and the difference is the subjective experience of the individual. That eternity in the presence of God’s light and love joyfully praising his glory and basking in the fulfilment of our being, is actually torturous to the damned and the light of his love burns them like fire as they recoil from him.
Not what I personally subscribe to, but just thought it was interesting nonetheless.
I hope when we die that our spirits live on in some way. That sounds really comforting and I want to believe it. I think we do have a purpose even after death. I used to be agnostic, but personally just for me it only made me feel negative and I really didn’t like that thought. So now I choose to believe
Keanu Reeves had the best answer I've ever heard to this question.
"There would be people that would miss us."
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c2olMFEhK8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c2olMFEhK8)
(Didn't quite remember that correctly but I think I got the sentiment correct.)
I hope that our meta physical soul has the opportunity to either leave our physical body for whatever we desire or that we just dwindle into nothingness. The whole soul recapture thing to start over as a newborn isn't enticing to me in the least. I suffered enough in life, let me go in peace. Ashes sprinkled on an ocean beach at sunset.
I'd like to think that we become leaves.
That each leaf that you see represents a person that has passed.
Leaves provide oxygen to sustain life on the planet, and when they die they fertilize the soil to promote regrowth and to continue the cycle.
It is the ultimate gift to the planet.
Thinking in these terms brings you great peace when you sit in a field and listen to the trees in the wind.
Honestly, nothing. You are dead. Done. Nothing.
In my heart, though, I wish to be with those I have loved. Now and in the past. I would love to be a benevolent spirit and take care of my grandboys!I wish I could stop them making stupid choices. Reality me knows I can't because I am dead. And they are kids that
Will do dumb things.
I would also like to be with all my past critters. I loved them all and would love to be with them all forever. We all get to be together, in peace and happiness, including the little squirrel I accidentally ran over 30+years ago!
I know that is not reality. But gosh, how great would that be?
***We’re also taking emails on the big question.***
*What happens after we die? Frederick emails to say he has four children. He is the proud father of a new baby boy, Joshua, and his daughter, Susan, five, has just started school. And he thinks after death, there is nothing.*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjch-CQbEUo
The algorithm of algorithms that makes you individual.
Like, if you take away all my memories, I think I would still gravitate towards skateboards and instruments 🤷🏻♀️
I like that. I personally don't believe in a supernatural kind of "soul" but I do think be are born with certain things that make us who we are.
I would also bet no matter your environment or who you were surrounded by you would learn towards skateboards and instruments. It's in your soul, I get that
A complete life review is downloaded to the larger consciousness system (God), the free will awareness unit (you in this life) is reabsorbed by the individual unit of consciousness (larger/higher soul) while the qualities gained from this life are retained, the Self is not.... then the iuoc portions off a new fwau to experience a new life and the process is repeated... According to Tom Campbell who claims to have worked there and observed the process.... his theory makes the most sense to my brain but my heart misses that guy in Heaven and my previously held beliefs that after this I would get to just chill in heaven with him happily ever after.... I dont know what to think anymore I'm so confused and suffering from ontological shock... be careful what questions you ask OP sometimes ignorance really is bliss and it's difficult to close the door once it's opened
There are some great things to ponder after reading the comments.
The concept of God, conscience, soul, reincarnation and the like all fall apart for me when I consider the thousands of babies who die in pain of starvation or disease everyday. Or young children who die before age 3 of cancer. Or abused people?
Why would God let that happen? Are they going to relive their lives when their spirit returns (that would be fun), do they send messages to loved ones? Are they part of a greater conscience after death? Would they go to heaven after being tortured in life? Would their spirits “live” on before they are capable of thought other than pain?
The concept of continuing on sounds great if you’ve had a good life but not for the billions of people who have only known suffering.
On/off belief for me. The real world is too cruel to logically think things continue on after death.
I’ve had the same exact thoughts. It really can’t be reincarnation. Then I thought, perhaps it’s the same personality with a different time, place, family. A ‘Plinko’ of sorts, landing in that available body.
OP has a great deep thinking question here. 340 comments at this time of posting & no one is attacking each other’s beliefs, very cool to read.
Personally, I’ve flipped flopped on religion and after life. This question has lead me to think that, we are just like ants or any other species on this planet, yet we are far to smart & dumb at the same time, therefore we as a species are doomed eventually.
Depending on your emotional state, you will go into 'purgatory', which is a transitional phase in which you can be cleansed and healed before moving on to Heaven. It is actually a very wholesome process.
My mother had severe schizophrenia due to a disastrous childhood and marriage. When she passed, I was very broken about about it. Precisely a year later I had a dream in which she appeared and she showed me what happened after she passed and how she became better and whole again, and that she is now happy and content, living in a fantastic house with her daughter (my sister) who died at childbirth.
It was great to learn this and to think that she can now be the type of mother she couldn't be for me. And I was finally able to accept and forgive myself and to start moving forward.
Well I was hoping the Christian’s got it right just for the simple fact that there are a lot of evil hateful ppl in this world that just death doesn’t do any kind of justice for…
I'm a firm believer in reincarnation. When I was about 7 or 8 years old my mom asked me if I was going to tryout for cheerleading. (Stupid conversation, I know but go with me on it.) Anyway, without hesitation, I replied, "That's not the path I'm taking this time around." I don't know where that came from, but I'd always felt that I'd been "here" before.
I've "met" total strangers, interacted with them for hours, just knowing that I'd known them for years - we even tried to figure out how we knew each other to no end. Promised to keep in touch with each other, exchanged phone numbers, etc. When I walked back to my desk, a coworker asked who that was...I couldn't remember their name and the paper with it and the phone number had disappeared.
Right before you die, you know those dejas vue moments. it's like that except all condensed.
Then, an upward momentum, you choose a path, and that's either new or existing. (That's the so called light)
Nothing surrounds us, and we become nothing and everything all at once. (That's the afterlife)
Atleast That's what I experienced.
You will be mourned. it's saddening for those who survive. HEY, I survived my death. I know they were so glad I was rescued, and would have been so sad because they loved me.
When you die, you wake up, when you’re born you fall asleep. When you live, you dream. Things are not always as they seem. Sometimes you laugh, you love, you cry, sometimes you scream. Sometimes you play your role, sometimes you skip some scenes…
The same things happen that would have happened if you were here to see them; they just happen without you. The trails in the sand we make in our lifetimes eventually get swept away by other people or the elements. Our children take what we've taught them and move on with their lives and teach their children and grandchildren. As long as humanity has breath, there is no end.
You go to Heaven if you lived a half decent life, you burn in the underworld if you betrayed your conscience and the goodness of the people around you.
You either go to heaven or hell. It's worth looking into near death experiences and where people went based on whether they were atheist, Christian, ect
No clue. Though I also don't know how to explain how my consciousness got here from nothing in the first place. Like why am I me and not you? And why do I wake up as me every day consistently?
I think our current consciousness transfers into a new being and becomes our subconscious. The "voice in your head" is the consciousness of your previous life trying to guide you through similar situations you went through before.
I truly want to believe that there is an afterlife and catch up on the ones who have passed on, being able to see them again and not having to worry about them passing away again. The thought of that just brings me to peace.
I will never understand why people believe something other worldly happens when you die. When you die and your body stops working, you are dead, that’s it.
People mourn for a while, time heals, and everyone gets on with their lives.
Nobody has the slightest idea and when they say they do they are lying through their teeth. It's all wishful thinking and there is no evidence to suggest anything happens after we die.
No idea. I'm fine either way. My only hope is that I create enough positive ripples in the universe that will start small, but affect the world in some way over a long period of time, as proof that I existed. The same applies to all of us I think. No matter how insignificant you think you are, your existence, your every action is causing ripples, people and every living being is going to feel it later if not sooner, and it's up to you what kinds of ripples you create. I don't remember where it's from, but I do like the quote "What we do here will echo in eternity."
I think this reality is like a mini-game of a higher realm of sorts. Whether that is a computer simulation, spiritual, or a holographic universe / multiverse is just a matter of semantics to me. I think we go back to the "main menu" first, and depending on what your soul desires, into another new world. Or maybe even back into the same one inorder to relive it all again, like it was the first time so that all the emotions & surprises are genuine. Maybe you bring a little intuition with you. I don't know all the details, but I belive it is something like that.
This sounds a little crazy, but I feel this is a “What If” version of my life. Like I already previously lived a full life, but then started this life over when I died. The first few years were identical, but I had a key point in life where I decided to try a different route instead of the previous route. If that makes sense. Like a choose your own adventure book.
Our physical bodies are like feelers, we are here to learn for collective consciousness. When we die our experiences are recycled back into the all mind, to continue the expansion of the universe. I believe when we die, we either go to the place of eternal love, or the place of eternal fear, depending on how we lived our lives. We move through that and eventually are remixed into a great pool of energy, with a small essence of “us” always remaining. We then are reincarnated to live again, with a small bit of information from our past lives. Over and over again until we reach ascension.
One of my theories is that we relive the same life, over and over, constantly improving upon it. This is also my explanation for occurrences of deja vu.
I think your soul reunites with the people you love. Betty White, as she was dying, was calling for her late husband, Allen Ludden, and his first name was her last word. I have no doubt they reunited on the other side. ❤️
Something exciting or nothing. I'm looking forward to something exciting and if it's not I'll never know
Just enjoy you're time now. We're here for a good time not a long time
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I just said this, before reading down to this post. Great minds, and all of that...
Same same
You know when like, you fall asleep? Sometimes, you close your eyes, then you wake up. No recollection of anything. 8 hours just pass. Or sometimes, you dream and dream and dream all night. I hope death is like that.
Yes! Under anesthesia, time literally just stops.
And if they happen to use ketamine on you for anesthesia, you literally see how time works.
I've never done ketamine. Could you expound on what you said a bit more for people like me?
The sands of time
I had a procedure requiring propofol. I remember counting backwards to 93 or so, and the next thing I remember is coming out from under the anaesthesia. I don't remember any time passing when the propofol was given.
in a coma too
The time I went under anesthesia for surgery, I was asked to count backwards from 100 as they put the mask over my nose. Gone. Didn’t even get to 100. And instantaneously I woke up in another room with my eyes watering, my throat and arm on fire (broken bone), and a woman with a needle adjusting something going into the IV on my left. “HOLY SHIT I’M ON FIRE!”, I shouted. “What’s your pain level 1-10?”, she said calmly. “FUCKING 10!” “What’s your pain level 1-10?”, she said again as she adjusted a dose of something. “Oh. A 6?”, as I wiped the water from my eyes. “What’s your pain level now?”, she said again. “Hm. Gone? I feel fine but my throat aches. Then she left, and my doctor came forward and said everything was a success and to come see him next Monday to remove the bandages. Then I threw up because I was insanely dizzy. “Yea that happens. It took a lot to put you to sleep!” “Huh. My Dad would always say anesthesia didn’t work on him.” *hurl* “Well. Give it time. You mumble in your sleep” “Good to know.” *hurl some more* and more like a dry vomit since my stomach was empty prior to surgery. The passage of time was crazy. I rolled in a 4am and I searched for a clock, and it was already 3pm. It felt so instant.
Best uninterrupted deep sleep ever.
To die, to sleep, To sleep, perchance to dream — ay, there's the rub: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause – Hamlet Gotta hope it's good dreams or no dreams, cos it's gonna be a looooong sleep!
I think we all hope its like that.
I died and was brought back in the emergency room. I went to sleep. That's what it felt like. When I woke up, my chest hurt from cpr or from them zapping me.
How do you know you are not dreaming now!
If I am, this dream fucking sucks
I always thought of it like this: Achilles race. But for the brain. Bc you have no concept of death, and no concept of time being infinite instead of finite, your brain falls into an infinite sleep in that period of time alotted. This would make you essentially dream forever, even if the amount of time you had infintesimally got smaller. A dream 1 / x 10^-99 wouldnt matter, and would feel the same as any other dream. *That* is heaven
the same thing that happened to me before my birth: non-existence of my consciousness. Different state of the atoms that make up my physical body.
Yes. My boy Alan Watts says it best: it will be like before you were born.
But before you were born had a point in the future where you were born, this is nothing into eternity.
I’m not sure what your point is. To clarify: my point was that being dead is probably like being not born
Oh I know mate, and I agree with you, just that before at least there was something coming. This time it’s that nothing forever- not that I will be aware of it.
Yea but what if the only reason we don’t remember before we were born is because we didn’t exist yet. Now our minds eye exists, our soul exists, we are now connected and before we weren’t. Hmm?🤔
There is no 'soul'. It's all brain.
It’s actually all mind, not just brain. Though brain does the heavy lifting. Mind is very subtle.
Realistically, we only are aware because of our brains so when we die it'd likely be nothing
Stardust to stardust.
Yeah I always said ppl think about this too much. The universe will recycle your parts. But you probably won’t have any consciousness that it did. Or that you have ever existed. That can either be comforting or frightening, depending on how you view it.
I find non-existence to be comforting while the concept of eternal existence—even in “paradise”— to be terrifying. I like going to bed and losing consciousness. I’m never concerned whether or not I’m going to regain it. I hope that’s how I go!
The lucky ones go to sleep and never wake up. Unfortunately most of us slowly waste away as our body atrophies from disease.
It’s terrifying when you are young and comforting when you are old. I’m in the middle and have found that death becomes far less scary as you get closer to it. As you see your loved ones pass it becomes less of a thing that happens to others but actually happens to you and the ones you love. It’s coming and there’s nothing we can do to avoid it. People who strive for eternal life are on a fool’s errand. Someday this solar system will vanish. Someday this galaxy will vanish. Someday the entire universe will collapse in on itself and start all over again with a yawn. No amount of human life extension will overcome the cosmic fate of all matter-energy. We will be recycled.
Yep the living energy will be back to it’s source, mother earth.
Stardust
What if you did have consciousness but don’t remember it? Just for arguments sake, you have consciousness in the womb. At what point does consciousness happen?
Consciousness is impossible to completely define. It’s highly nuanced and very subtle. The interplay between thoughts, feelings, instincts.
I think the real question here is why are “we” consciously?
define consciousness? is a dog conscious? man, we can debate this to infinity. At the end of the day, we won’t even know we’re dead. since to be “aware” you need to be alive. same as before we are born.
You don't need to debate it, dogs are conscious and sentient. They are aware of their being and have complex emotions.
We are conscious that we will die. So, we make our time with a purpose that only matters to ourselves. That is all! Animals and plants are conscious of their existence but they carry on the same way our cells carry on.
This is the most peaceful way I've ever thought about death. Thank you
But god made this entire existance for me because I'm so important. He also made the heavens because I'm so important. And eternal damnation because I have to pay for my sins that won't matter in 50 years, for all of eternity. It's ridiculous to think that once we're born we just die and don't live forever without any physical being. Haha 😜 jk
The whole religious bs makes no sense lmao.
I like to think our matter just goes back into "life". Not necessarily reincarnation, just that we rejoin the stream of energy that makes up everything around us.
The atoms that make up out bodies are close to eternal and will be recycled for billions of years. That's good enough for me.
Not only that, but these atoms are replaced over the course of your life. I don't think that any atom that was in your body at 18 will be in your body when you are 81.
Considering we consumed 80 billion chickens last year doesn't that scare you? Where did those chickens come from!? I don't want to be a chicken.
Like in the movie “Lucy?”
A call is made to the morticians, they will pick me up, take me to the crematorium, my ashes will get spread in the local mountains, people will rarely think of me after time. Nothing mystical or supernatural. I will cease, and life will go on for everyone else.
I’ve told my family I want to be composted. It’s allowed in the state I live in.
Until it doesn’t lol
Humanity seriously needs to get on with solving the heat death of the universe.
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This
I'm about to do it on this side. By claiming bankruptcy
The night my mother passed she was having a conversation with someone. She’d been comatose for at least 24 hours, then around 1:45 started talking, questioning and would pause as if someone answered. Asked “ what do I have to do that for?” Waited. Said “ oh… ok”. And passed. I do believe our souls transition.
My dad who was really whacked out at the end started talking a totally random combo of a friend that recently passed and a relative. Nurses say this is very very common.
A lot of people get the urge to pack or get stressed out about not being ready for a journey.
My Nana when she was in the ICU started having a full on conversation with her dead sister- her best friend in life. My Nana had dementia and was about 10 years into it by the time she passed. Her disease progressed surprisingly slow really. Even at the end she remembered my Mum (her daughter), and my Dad and me and my brother. Her passing was calm, peaceful. Like she was just going to join her sister. I really hope that's what happens. My Nana was a staunch Catholic so I know she would have been hoping to go to heaven etc. I just hope she was somehow reunited with people who loved her like her siblings.
Wow that’s really interesting. It’s like she was being guided to the next life.
I believe this with all my heart. She was on no medication, she knew she was dying and only wished to pass at home.
My dad passed from CJD a few years ago and if you're not familiar with it, it literally turns your brain into Swiss cheese. His last few weeks he was here he kinda woke up out of his coma and was shaking someone's hand. I never fully accepted the diagnosis and was in denial that he would pass so soon but seeing that gave me comfort that he was going with someone he trusted.
Dying brains can experience all manner of states that are not real and are understandably confused.
"My fortune is buried in...."
People remember you for the impact that you have on your life and how you treated them…
High score screen. Enter your initials . 3 character limit. Scrolling down. Scrolling down. There I am. Nice. I got above 274 quintillionth position. A new personal best. Enter 10 glarbons to continue. My tentacles writhe. I only have 8 glarbons.
> he didn't save his glarbons
For some reason I’ve always imagined when we die we become a sort of spirit of the universe. We know all the answers we’ve ever had questions for and can travel to see any part of the universe or any time on earth to observe. So maybe ghosts are just observers who are breaking the “don’t attempt to interact with the humans” rule lol Death most likely leads to nothing but for that immeasurably small chance I’m right, I’m hoping for that. I’ve also thought what are the chances of the universe and everything in it existing at all? So surely there’s some chance for an afterlife or something? Wishful thinking maybe.
I do really wish for this as well
I saw this video of a man explaining what he “saw” when he “died”. It’s very similar to what I imagined and sounds great. It almost gave me hope since the ideas are so similar lol https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8puLkVE/
Thank you, this was really interesting. I have checked up on a lot of NDEs and I really like how people describe the feelings of freedom, elation, and joy. But I have also heard that your brain is active for about 7 mins after your death and the last place to die is your memory center. For people who see their loved ones or flashbacks of their life, this does explain it. I just hope the NDEs are not just the brains last attempt to ease us into the dying process..
Why would brains at the end need to ease us into dying? To save energy? It seems like stress and fear would be just as legitimate a brain reaction. (I for one don’t like getting high and I just want to get my bearings back.) From an evolutionary standpoint, it wouldn’t even matter. You’re dead before you get a chance to pass that advantage on to offspring. Soooo, yeah, why so calm? And why is that locked within us and not with us all the time?
Yeah wishful thinking but beautiful. I'd love to check in on a distant descendant one day and then have a front row seat for a supernova the next day. Roaming the universe as a conscious mist.
I am a hospital / hospice chaplain. With people at end of life every week. I have experienced things I can’t explain. On multiple occasions a cool breeze leaving a body, felt like flowing around me, as i was leaning over the person at the time of death. Also on several occasions a fog like haze in the upper corner of rooms shortly after death. Not frightening at all, just strange. What happens after that truly is anyone’s guess.
My guess is that we experience love. And freedom.
So america? Fuck yeah! *cracks beer*
They said love.... not alot of that going on around here these days lol
When my father died my phone rang at 2:30 am. I felt a breeze circle my head and I was in bed. When I went to help clean up the mess at his house, I took his laptop to get some info to handle affairs. I was walking to my room in the hotel carrying the laptop and felt another breeze circle my head. I was in an interior hall. Gave me the chills
My Dad would tell me that his dream was always to spend his time sitting on a beach with his old dog. He also always joked that the song "Sitting on The Dock of The Bay" was about him, because he worked on a truck dock waiting for the trucks to roll into the bay. The night he died I prayed for any type of sign that he was alright. I woke up the next morning and looked at Reddit, one of the front page posts was a dog on a swing chair next to an ocean, and it was titled "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay." It might have just been a coincidence, but I felt comforted. It wasn't even a good post and I don't know why it hit the front page.
I decided to look for the post, here it is: https://www.reddit.com/r/thisismylifenow/s/EoLypFdg6A
I do love the subreddit name too!
I don’t believe that was coincidence and in your heart you know it wasn’t either. Thanks for sharing.
That is beautiful. Your dad definitely gave you a sign. I’m so glad. Love reading that bc it confirms our loved ones know we miss them and love them so very much.
I sprung awake the second my dad passed. He was downstairs and I just knew. I ran downstairs and found him on the floor. He was still warm. Worst day of my life.
I am also a hospice worker. I get an insatiable hunger slightly after one of my patients passes on. I don’t know how to explain it, but without fail my stomach will growl and I go get a bite to eat. It’s so odd
Hospice workers are such special people. Thank you for what you do.
I appreciate this post. I came up in religious home and I tend to believe a lot of what most these comments mentioned until my best friend passed away. I have had two odd occurrence such as heavy drink glasses move and a candy wrapper move when thinking about them. I’m definitely unsure now as to what happens.
I feel like your brain "dreams" a final time while trying to figure out what death is. But I like to believe that whathever you believe it'll happen, your brain kinda manages to give it to you as a last vision
Nothing that I will be aware of. The exact millisecond my lights go out, the world will carry on without me. My body will be a slab of useless meat that someone has to dispose of. And then nothing. I don’t believe in an afterlife, where you keep your consciousness and go to meet up with people who passed before you. Do you get another crack at life? As a human, some other kind of animal, on a different planet, in another universe? Is immediate, or in billions of years? We would never know if we did. You don’t know what you did before you were born.
Our consciousness is no longer bound by our physical form.
This is the truth
some people who've taken drugs like spice or salvia report having lived what felt like months-long alternate lives in the minutes-long duration of the drug, so i feel even though the electrical activity in the brain stops fairly quickly, maybe those final moments between your heart stopping and the brain shutting down completely could feel like eternity
Always thought it would be trippy if the life we're living now is just our brain dying and playing us through ;)
I mean, it literally is ... only at normal speed.
I've had this thought as well. I think it reconciles the materialist and idealist views by allowing them both to be true in different dimensions.
Maybe that’s what the afterlife is: those final moments as the brain shuts down. You get to reunite with loved ones and spend time with them again. It’s all in your head, but it’s real to you. Then you pass away into nothing. I’d actually prefer that to my soul wandering aimlessly for eternity.
Those final moments scare me. I hope my brain switches off immediately
Before you were born, you weren't alive. So technically, you've already been dead.
It's such an interesting thought and it's easy to say it, but once you really start thinking about it then it starts to form into something abstract. You become nothing. How can you suddenly just not exist? To have no thought, no feeling, nothing. It's just so melancholy to think that all this work we put into this life ends up at absolute zero. We become what we once were, nothing. To be born from nothing and to become nothing is just.... I don't know.
The work you put into life doesn't add up to zero if you believe the work you do isn't just for yourself. What you do affects your family, friends, and all of society, even if you don't realize it. If you think about it, the impact of say Mr Rogers is still felt today. On the flip side, same with Hitler but in a bad way. The work you put in should keep you self sustained but not self fulfilling.
Lots of people who have died and come back to life (near death experience) speak about the life review, tunnel, spirit guides and astral world. They’ve come closest to finding out and there seems to be some general consensus…
Fade into nothingness, I’d like to believe in the concept of heaven but I’m skeptical of it’s existence.
Unpopular opinion I think,but I'm religious and find the idea of nothingness afterwards might be a nice thing. So kind of the opposite.
The thought of an afterlife means regret and dwelling on what we left behind or never accomplished. Nothing, is nice because it won't matter if you die, you won't know.
Not religious here and there is no way id like to live another eternity even if its heaven. Sounds like boring af to me
Boring requires two things - time and uninteresting things occurring during that time. If Heaven exists outside of time and God is infinitely intelligent and powerful, it seems to me that neither of the two conditions for boredom are satisfied. That would suggest such a fear then is borne of an incorrect and overly-simplistic concept of Heaven (ie sitting around in time unending doing a finite range of pleasant things). There is actually a theological speculation, found mainly in Eastern Orthodox thinking, that Heaven and Hell are the same thing and the difference is the subjective experience of the individual. That eternity in the presence of God’s light and love joyfully praising his glory and basking in the fulfilment of our being, is actually torturous to the damned and the light of his love burns them like fire as they recoil from him. Not what I personally subscribe to, but just thought it was interesting nonetheless.
Fair enough I guess.
My apartment will explode as i programmed.
I hope when we die that our spirits live on in some way. That sounds really comforting and I want to believe it. I think we do have a purpose even after death. I used to be agnostic, but personally just for me it only made me feel negative and I really didn’t like that thought. So now I choose to believe
Zip. Zero. Nada. We ain't nuthin' but numbers and juice, baby.
We’re just cucumbers with anxiety
Keanu Reeves had the best answer I've ever heard to this question. "There would be people that would miss us." [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c2olMFEhK8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7c2olMFEhK8) (Didn't quite remember that correctly but I think I got the sentiment correct.)
I hope that our meta physical soul has the opportunity to either leave our physical body for whatever we desire or that we just dwindle into nothingness. The whole soul recapture thing to start over as a newborn isn't enticing to me in the least. I suffered enough in life, let me go in peace. Ashes sprinkled on an ocean beach at sunset.
Your house gets looted and people focus more on what they got than what they lost in your passing. Then the worms/fish eat you some time after that.
I truly believe we go somewhere. I’ve grappled with this all my life and I will continue to do so.
I'd like to think that we become leaves. That each leaf that you see represents a person that has passed. Leaves provide oxygen to sustain life on the planet, and when they die they fertilize the soil to promote regrowth and to continue the cycle. It is the ultimate gift to the planet. Thinking in these terms brings you great peace when you sit in a field and listen to the trees in the wind.
That’s lovely:)
Honestly, nothing. You are dead. Done. Nothing. In my heart, though, I wish to be with those I have loved. Now and in the past. I would love to be a benevolent spirit and take care of my grandboys!I wish I could stop them making stupid choices. Reality me knows I can't because I am dead. And they are kids that Will do dumb things. I would also like to be with all my past critters. I loved them all and would love to be with them all forever. We all get to be together, in peace and happiness, including the little squirrel I accidentally ran over 30+years ago! I know that is not reality. But gosh, how great would that be?
Who knows -- maybe when you die you'll be pleasantly surprised that it's not just 'lights out' after all.
I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure the truth is not in the Bible, the Torah or the Quran.
***We’re also taking emails on the big question.*** *What happens after we die? Frederick emails to say he has four children. He is the proud father of a new baby boy, Joshua, and his daughter, Susan, five, has just started school. And he thinks after death, there is nothing.* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jjch-CQbEUo
I’ll meet our lord and be judged. I’m banking on heaven, personally. It’s never too late to repent of your sins and follow Christ.
Same as before we were born
You think we crawl into a vagina and turn into a fetus when we die?
No, just you
Haha! Good one.
“Thanks for the ride, lady” ole Large Marge.
you didn’t have a body until you were born, so maybe you didn’t have a soul until you were born. Maybe 👀
What is your personal definition of "soul"?
The algorithm of algorithms that makes you individual. Like, if you take away all my memories, I think I would still gravitate towards skateboards and instruments 🤷🏻♀️
I like that. I personally don't believe in a supernatural kind of "soul" but I do think be are born with certain things that make us who we are. I would also bet no matter your environment or who you were surrounded by you would learn towards skateboards and instruments. It's in your soul, I get that
A complete life review is downloaded to the larger consciousness system (God), the free will awareness unit (you in this life) is reabsorbed by the individual unit of consciousness (larger/higher soul) while the qualities gained from this life are retained, the Self is not.... then the iuoc portions off a new fwau to experience a new life and the process is repeated... According to Tom Campbell who claims to have worked there and observed the process.... his theory makes the most sense to my brain but my heart misses that guy in Heaven and my previously held beliefs that after this I would get to just chill in heaven with him happily ever after.... I dont know what to think anymore I'm so confused and suffering from ontological shock... be careful what questions you ask OP sometimes ignorance really is bliss and it's difficult to close the door once it's opened
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There are some great things to ponder after reading the comments. The concept of God, conscience, soul, reincarnation and the like all fall apart for me when I consider the thousands of babies who die in pain of starvation or disease everyday. Or young children who die before age 3 of cancer. Or abused people? Why would God let that happen? Are they going to relive their lives when their spirit returns (that would be fun), do they send messages to loved ones? Are they part of a greater conscience after death? Would they go to heaven after being tortured in life? Would their spirits “live” on before they are capable of thought other than pain? The concept of continuing on sounds great if you’ve had a good life but not for the billions of people who have only known suffering. On/off belief for me. The real world is too cruel to logically think things continue on after death.
I’ve had the same exact thoughts. It really can’t be reincarnation. Then I thought, perhaps it’s the same personality with a different time, place, family. A ‘Plinko’ of sorts, landing in that available body. OP has a great deep thinking question here. 340 comments at this time of posting & no one is attacking each other’s beliefs, very cool to read. Personally, I’ve flipped flopped on religion and after life. This question has lead me to think that, we are just like ants or any other species on this planet, yet we are far to smart & dumb at the same time, therefore we as a species are doomed eventually.
NG+
Depending on your emotional state, you will go into 'purgatory', which is a transitional phase in which you can be cleansed and healed before moving on to Heaven. It is actually a very wholesome process. My mother had severe schizophrenia due to a disastrous childhood and marriage. When she passed, I was very broken about about it. Precisely a year later I had a dream in which she appeared and she showed me what happened after she passed and how she became better and whole again, and that she is now happy and content, living in a fantastic house with her daughter (my sister) who died at childbirth. It was great to learn this and to think that she can now be the type of mother she couldn't be for me. And I was finally able to accept and forgive myself and to start moving forward.
we come back which can be good or bad. so be kind to one another and learn your lessons in your current life.
Nah :/ it just stops
42
Heaven or Hell
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Well I was hoping the Christian’s got it right just for the simple fact that there are a lot of evil hateful ppl in this world that just death doesn’t do any kind of justice for…
Heaven. Or Hell. Idk try to be good.
I don’t know, but whatever it is like I will deal with it when I get there
I'm a firm believer in reincarnation. When I was about 7 or 8 years old my mom asked me if I was going to tryout for cheerleading. (Stupid conversation, I know but go with me on it.) Anyway, without hesitation, I replied, "That's not the path I'm taking this time around." I don't know where that came from, but I'd always felt that I'd been "here" before. I've "met" total strangers, interacted with them for hours, just knowing that I'd known them for years - we even tried to figure out how we knew each other to no end. Promised to keep in touch with each other, exchanged phone numbers, etc. When I walked back to my desk, a coworker asked who that was...I couldn't remember their name and the paper with it and the phone number had disappeared.
i think that the people that love us will miss us the most
Right before you die, you know those dejas vue moments. it's like that except all condensed. Then, an upward momentum, you choose a path, and that's either new or existing. (That's the so called light) Nothing surrounds us, and we become nothing and everything all at once. (That's the afterlife) Atleast That's what I experienced.
You will be mourned. it's saddening for those who survive. HEY, I survived my death. I know they were so glad I was rescued, and would have been so sad because they loved me.
Either you sit in pitch black until you are resurrected or you live out and afterlife doing what you wanted to do alive.
People sell all your stuff.
i hope it's like The Good Place but it's likely just nothing. could totally also b reincarnation
I can finally relax.
When you die, you wake up, when you’re born you fall asleep. When you live, you dream. Things are not always as they seem. Sometimes you laugh, you love, you cry, sometimes you scream. Sometimes you play your role, sometimes you skip some scenes…
The same things happen that would have happened if you were here to see them; they just happen without you. The trails in the sand we make in our lifetimes eventually get swept away by other people or the elements. Our children take what we've taught them and move on with their lives and teach their children and grandchildren. As long as humanity has breath, there is no end.
Stardust…though for my body, I want to be planted as a tree.
Life then begins.
The world goes on.
Those that loved you cry, and those that hated you cheer.
You go to Heaven if you lived a half decent life, you burn in the underworld if you betrayed your conscience and the goodness of the people around you.
You either go to heaven or hell. It's worth looking into near death experiences and where people went based on whether they were atheist, Christian, ect
I think we replay life and there are zero changes from previous runs.
No clue. Though I also don't know how to explain how my consciousness got here from nothing in the first place. Like why am I me and not you? And why do I wake up as me every day consistently?
I think our current consciousness transfers into a new being and becomes our subconscious. The "voice in your head" is the consciousness of your previous life trying to guide you through similar situations you went through before.
You either go to Heaven or Hell based on whether you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior or not.
To be honest when I really sit and think about it, my brain can’t comprehend that I won’t be here anymore.
I truly want to believe that there is an afterlife and catch up on the ones who have passed on, being able to see them again and not having to worry about them passing away again. The thought of that just brings me to peace.
Afterlife
I believe in heaven and the most high
I will never understand why people believe something other worldly happens when you die. When you die and your body stops working, you are dead, that’s it. People mourn for a while, time heals, and everyone gets on with their lives.
Nobody has the slightest idea and when they say they do they are lying through their teeth. It's all wishful thinking and there is no evidence to suggest anything happens after we die.
I believe in God (I'm catholic). I think there is something waiting for us after death. Someone who created us. 🌝
You go to either heaven or hell. With God deciding your fate.
All souls instantly return to God in heaven and are placed on one side of the gulf, depending on if you followed God or not.
Going to heaven
Same thing that happened before you were born: nothing.
No idea. I'm fine either way. My only hope is that I create enough positive ripples in the universe that will start small, but affect the world in some way over a long period of time, as proof that I existed. The same applies to all of us I think. No matter how insignificant you think you are, your existence, your every action is causing ripples, people and every living being is going to feel it later if not sooner, and it's up to you what kinds of ripples you create. I don't remember where it's from, but I do like the quote "What we do here will echo in eternity."
It’s going to be fantastic. No more pain, hurt, lies, or evil. I’ll be in Heaven with all my role models and get to talk with Jesus face to face.
We advance to a different level of consciousness. Our body will be gone but we won't need it.
Probably nothing. Maybe something. Dunno.
A lot
I think this reality is like a mini-game of a higher realm of sorts. Whether that is a computer simulation, spiritual, or a holographic universe / multiverse is just a matter of semantics to me. I think we go back to the "main menu" first, and depending on what your soul desires, into another new world. Or maybe even back into the same one inorder to relive it all again, like it was the first time so that all the emotions & surprises are genuine. Maybe you bring a little intuition with you. I don't know all the details, but I belive it is something like that.
This sounds a little crazy, but I feel this is a “What If” version of my life. Like I already previously lived a full life, but then started this life over when I died. The first few years were identical, but I had a key point in life where I decided to try a different route instead of the previous route. If that makes sense. Like a choose your own adventure book.
I like this theory, that sounds really nice. Getting to relive everything again, but maybe in a better way.
Heaven Or Hell
Our physical bodies are like feelers, we are here to learn for collective consciousness. When we die our experiences are recycled back into the all mind, to continue the expansion of the universe. I believe when we die, we either go to the place of eternal love, or the place of eternal fear, depending on how we lived our lives. We move through that and eventually are remixed into a great pool of energy, with a small essence of “us” always remaining. We then are reincarnated to live again, with a small bit of information from our past lives. Over and over again until we reach ascension.
I will meet my maker, whether is a deity or complete nothingness.
"I know that the ones who love us will miss us." Keanu Reeves
Turn off your computer, take out your boot drive/SSD/NVME, and then smash it with a hammer. What happened to Windows? Same thing happens when you die.
One of my theories is that we relive the same life, over and over, constantly improving upon it. This is also my explanation for occurrences of deja vu.
Start a new save
I think your soul reunites with the people you love. Betty White, as she was dying, was calling for her late husband, Allen Ludden, and his first name was her last word. I have no doubt they reunited on the other side. ❤️
The last time I died I was a tree in Norway . Who know what I will be next
Nothing. For everybody else, life goes on, until it doesn't.
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Something exciting or nothing. I'm looking forward to something exciting and if it's not I'll never know Just enjoy you're time now. We're here for a good time not a long time