Upon death would you rather that be all she wrote and be no more, or would you rather there be eternal torment in what is generally termed as hell (if your fate was either one or the other)? I don't mean talk to God and ask if he'll just delete you rather than send you to Hell either. I know alot of people say that they don't believe in an after life. Alot of what I have seen has been people stating what they believe is going to happen based on what they've been brought up to believe and/or what they've proven to themselves to be almost certainly true... I'm curious about whether or not their answer for what they hope will happen is consistent with what they believe will happen.
a similar example... I can believe that I'm going to fail an exam but hope that isn't the case.
Personally, the idea of nothingness makes my stomache churn. I think I would rather opt for eternal agony over no longer existing... I might say otherwise if that in fact happens... oh btw I'm not counting a dead corpse as still "existing"... at least for my opinion
i termed my question this way because i'm not sure that someone that would opt for Heaven then Oblivion and then Hell is truly hopeful for a continued existence as eternal pleasure just seems like it would win... those that would opt for Hell, imo, seem like they would truly hope for an afterlife regardless of what it was. this is as simple as I've been able to refine my thoughts... sorries
Hmm... a very tough concept. I don't really know what would be more desirable, however I'm pretty certain that nothingness, while not a horrible experience in and of itself, is hard to imagine. If there is a hell, and people get sent there for an eternity, then at least there would be the possibility of seeing our loved ones, albeit in an undesirable situation, while the idea of 'blanking out' upon death means that we will never do, see, or feel anything ever again. That is a weighty concept to grasp, and not one that someone would likely relish.
I think that if I had a choice, and that hell meant still being able to feel and possibly even still be able to see and interact with those I care about, would be a more desirable position to take when viewed from the position of already being alive and conscious. I think that we, as conscious beings, fear a total loss of consciousness more than anything. Perhaps this is why we have so many superstitions about what happens after we physically die.
On the other hand complete nothingness would be the most peaceful way to spend eternity, as it would mean that there are no thoughts, no feelings. Mark Twain once said something about dying as it being like it was before being born and having suffered no ill effects from it. I try to think of it in such terms as well. There was nothing before I was born, and likely there will be nothing after I die.
For me, this is what makes life so precious and meaningful. The thought that it is so fleeting, and that there is nothing to look forward to after, is what drives me to make the most out of my life, my relationships, and my experiences. I hope that when I die that I go to some glorious eternal afterlife where I can see everyone I love and have lost, but the reality is that I will likely just be gone, like before I was born.
even if I wasn't allowed to see my loved ones while I was in hell, given i still have rational thought amidst the immeasurable pain, I would know that they still exist in some form or fashion... and as far as I know I would be ok with just knowing that.
while the idea of 'blanking out' upon death means that we will never do, see, or feel anything ever again
Of course, you wouldn't know. In this world we live in now, we don't know what happens after death, we could just be gone and for the faithful, they would be dreaming to go to heaven or be reincarnated or whatever and then be gone, unaware. Unable to know that they no longer exist, because they no longer exist.
Faced with the choice, which is what I believe this is really about, would be a harder decision. Probably one I could not answer right now, but I'm leaning towards eternal nothingness.
Yeesh, you guys have to think about this? Nothingness - every time. Who wants to spend the rest of eternity burnin' and in pain? I'll take nothingness.
even if I wasn't allowed to see my loved ones while I was in hell, given i still have rational thought amidst the immeasurable pain,
Then it would stand to reason the best way to torture you would be to remove your ability to have any rational thought beyond the knowledge that you one had such an ability, while including the immeasurable pain.
This is a hard question to answer as the terms of hell are ill defined.
Some claim it's inescapable torture beyond any we can imagine. In this case I would opt for oblivion.
Others claim it's just a complete lack of God (going against the idea of God being omnipresent) and this is what cause the torture. I think I could be fine with this existence.
Some say there is a ways out of hell. In which case I could handle going there for a while.
These also the idea that hell really isn't all about torture and such. Again I could go with this option.
Then it would stand to reason the best way to torture you would be to remove your ability to have any rational thought beyond the knowledge that you one had such an ability, while including the immeasurable pain.
for some reason i knew you would say something to that effect. I was thinking the very same thing actually... if hell is supposedly (in one description) the worst possible thing you could ever go through then it would be a reasonable assumption that i would either be blind... a vegetable... both ... or something similar. (as I used to have a fear of being blind... or just in really dark places when i was younger).
Well to be honest, I do not think Oblivion would be so bad. I think it would be similar to a waking dream, with time passing fast and reliving the best parts of our life through our own memories.
Given the choice between nothingness or hell I would choose nothingness. Then again who says that the only two options are the Christian idea of the afterlife or nothingness, perhaps we simply join the universe as spiritual being simply existing with the ebb and flow of all life. Perhaps we are reincarnated as other beings in an eternal cycle of birth and death. Perhaps all life is simply one being that constantly learns with each life it lives in order to achieve a higher state of being.
I prefer to think that after death there's something as opposed to the seeming darkness of nothing, obviously though I can't prove it nor do I subscribe to a specific belief about the afterlife. Only time, or death, will tell.
if you could somehow gain a hierarchy in hell instead of being just an average torture victim it wouldnt be as bad i dont think but i would still choose nothingnesss
