I DON'T believe there are souls. So how am I supposed to tell you why I think there are souls? I meant to say I can't prove they don't exist.
My mistake. Something about the phrasing around not being able to prove they exist makes my head start going along lines. Still would like a response from someone on the question.
Although, maybe not. This thread is a religion thread wearing big black rimmed glasses, a bulbous nose, and a corny mustache.
Ehh... Since I'm still Agnostic (leaning towards Atheism or Budhism) I have some half concocted belief that all your memories and experiences are locked in your sub-conscience when you die. When you die you them get re-incarnated as a new born child and you don't remember anything from your past lives, but it's still there.
Still would like a response from someone on the question.
I don't necessarily believe in "souls", but something similar-ish. So I'll explain why I believe and my 'evidence', for you.
I believe that there is a connection among all things, and that all things have a "higher being", if you will, which transcends this perceptual reality.
The basis for this belief is because I "feel", in a way, that connection... I know and understand it as part of me. It is an undeniable aspect of my existence, which I grew to learn and accept as part of me.
It is like how I see, breathe, speak, smell, hear. It is like one of my senses and one of my abilities. It is a natural experience, and if it were taken away from it would impair me greatly, as if one of my others senses or natural abilities were taken away. I would be "blind" in this world, if you will.
Is that a satisfactory explanation, for your curiosity?
Although, maybe not. This thread is a religion thread wearing big black rimmed glasses, a bulbous nose, and a corny mustache.
No, it's not really.
Religion doesn't equate with the beliefs of death. Beliefs about death are only a tiny portion of religion, and you don't have to believe in any religion, or be religious, in order to have beliefs about what happens after you die.
Obviously, even non-religious people, like non-religious atheists, have beliefs about what happens when you die... they believe you stop existing forever. That's a belief. It is based on absolutely nothing but that belief alone. Faith, perhaps.
People should stop equating religion with death. It's a bit morbid, and simply just wrong.
When you die, you're nothing, you don't think about anything because you're not anything. You cease to exist and that's that.
The burden of being a living being has been lifted completely.
Exactly, minus the burden part. While life is a *****, I'm in no hurry to die. I have eternity to be dead, so I'll be damned if I don't somehow squeeze fun out 'dis *****.
I think we go to a place were we can do whatever the hell we want, freely.
Like we can build a universe in a blank room.
Like making Levels for a Video game.
The subject makes me uncomfortable (and it doesn't help that I tend to dwell on uncomfortable subjects... OCD and ADD -> Intrusive thoughts) but I respond nonetheless.
As far as I am aware, if there is any semblence of consciousness after death, then it is unable to interact with the living. All evidence we have suggests that brains are the computers that create the "mind"; the mind is what the brain does. Upon ceasing higher activity, consciousness is lost. Damaged (dead) brain regions have drastic effects on people's personalities. There is no evidence to suggest that human brains are chemically different in functions than the brains of other animals and it it is thus arrogant and conceited to think that we get some special existence after death while other animals do not.
As far as I am concerned, oblivion takes you. The end result is that you stop existing in any meaningful sense. All that remains to the living are their memories of you and the other ways you have affected the universe. The neurochemical and neurophysical patterns in your brain degrade, and with it the continuity of your consciousness from moment to moment. You cease to be you.
You might as well ask the question: What do you think happens to you before you are conceived/born.
It actually is if you click on links and use something that you have set in your head, There called eyes. You know the things used for looking. If you read the accounts many people have DIED on a operating table, have been REVVIVED[sic] and have TOLD people there experiences, There also classed as a NDE so, Be quiet.
Being oxygen deprived is not a state in which the brain is usually accustomed to operating in. It is unsurprising that people would try to rationalize their scrambled memories when/if they are revived by comparing them to things they already know. There is no evidence of NDEs being anything more than the result of a brain being in unfamiliar conditions. NDEs and OBEs fail under scrutiny.
some people just say you don't exist, and I try to think about it and what it would feel like, what you would see, maybe just black. It hurts my brain.
You don't feel. You don't see. If you have ever been unconscious (like by general anaesthesia) you will understand what I mean when I say, "you remember losing consciousness, you remember waking up, there's a gap of nothingness between those events". That nothingness is what it's like; your mind may as well have been paused during that time. It is not something a mind typically can imagine. It's probably about as fightable as well (I tried to fight the anaesthetic the first time I was ever put under, but my eyes just crossed and rolled back, my vision dimmmed and the next thing I knew I was in a bed and the anaesthetic was wearing off... It was a futile attempt to fight it).
If you are a Battletech/Mechwarrior geek you may enjoy my Timberwolf/MADCAT model (the source of my avatar) (warning: image-heavy link target) I will often edit my posts after I have posted them in an attempt to improve their clarity (I value a few high quality posts over several low quality ones; the more lengthy the post, the more time it requires to edit) so you might want to wait for a while if this post is recent and refresh to see if anything has changed before replying to it.
You find yourself being squeezed through a long dark tunnel, alone and afraid. Then you see a light and you move toward it. As you near the light you eventually see a man dressed in all white who then lifts you up and smacks you on the ass. Then, as you dangle in the air screaming, you get handed to your mother.
I have been clinically dead for 40 minutes. I can tell you, there is life after death. What I have seen I have trouble finding the words to describe, even as a writer. The experience changed me. What I saw on the other side, what is waiting for you, believe me, there is much more to life than just death. As a matter of fact, I think death is a door that you walk through when you pass from one life into the next.
I would like very much to think that something happens when you die, but I'm pretty sure that the lights just go out, and that's it, back to void from before you were born.
Mr funny guy, I would like to inform you that the brain is far from perfect. You can be in a desert and think you're swimming in a cool, refreshing lake.
Is that a satisfactory explanation, for your curiosity?
Yes and no. Yes I got a reason for the belief, but feelings rank pretty low in the evidence hierarchy. Everyone has feelings and they don't match up with anything consistently.
No, it's not really.
Religion doesn't equate with the beliefs of death. Beliefs about death are only a tiny portion of religion, and you don't have to believe in any religion, or be religious, in order to have beliefs about what happens after you die.
Most popular religions make assertions about life after death. When asking about the subject, you're almost guaranteed to receive religious views on it. Rarely does someone submit religious views without things following.
Obviously, even non-religious people, like non-religious atheists, have beliefs about what happens when you die... they believe you stop existing forever. That's a belief. It is based on absolutely nothing but that belief alone. Faith, perhaps.
It's not based on nothing. The brain is where your thoughts come from, so when your brain goes you do too. To believe otherwise is to claim that our consciousness isn't a series of reactions of matter.
Yes and no. Yes I got a reason for the belief, but feelings rank pretty low in the evidence hierarchy. Everyone has feelings and they don't match up with anything consistently.
Like I said, it's not really a feeling, but more like one of my senses, or natural abilities like breathing, walking, and etc.
It isn't like an "emotional feeling", even though it can evoke emotions (just like your senses can).
And if you simply just dismiss all observational abilities, which include SIGHT and HEARING, as "pretty low in the evidence hierarchy", then you might as well toss out science... because science is based on 'empirical' evidence, which means it is based on 'observation'.
As I explained to you before, in the religion thread, all evidence comes down to simply just 'observation' in some form. This includes all scientific evidence.
And while science is more accurate, I'd agree... but I think that is because this 'sense' is not typically used, or well understood.
Just like if you were to not use your eyes for 10 years your eyes might become unadjusted and weak... I think this ability does, too. I also think that almost all people are naturally born with this ability... however, some utilize it more than others, and just like with eyesight, hearing, and etc. some are better at it than others.
Like I said, this is an observation, from something that I think is like one of my "senses". And honestly, I don't care at all if you, or anyone else, think that is not good evidence. You asked me for an explanation, not "proof" or "evidence". I never said I could communicate my evidence... Go use your own senses. I'm sure you have it, too. You're just not trying.
When asking about the subject, you're almost guaranteed to receive religious views on it. Rarely does someone submit religious views without things following.
It isn't a religious view or belief, as I already stated. Beliefs in what comes after death are not necessarily part of someone's religious belief... They are simply just commonly found in religions.
Like I said, people can form those beliefs on their own entirely without religion. For example, a non-religious atheist does NOT have to believe "after we dead we are gone forever". It is a bit silly to assume that is an automatic belief of atheism or non-religion.
It's not based on nothing. The brain is where your thoughts come from, so when your brain goes you do too. To believe otherwise is to claim that our consciousness isn't a series of reactions of matter.
It is based on nothing. We don't understand how the brain works. Scientists honestly do not know or understand what forms consciousness or "thought". Scientists can be relatively sure some forms of 'thought' come from the brain, but they can not at all provide evidence that 'all thought' comes from the brain.
And yes, to believe that all consciousness is just a "series of reactions of matter" is a belief with no proof. It is a belief based on faith and nothing more.
Agree with it or not, it is still the truth. Science simply does not yet have that information. Everything else is assumption or belief based on faith.
Like I said, it's not really a feeling, but more like one of my senses, or natural abilities like breathing, walking, and etc.
It isn't like an "emotional feeling", even though it can evoke emotions (just like your senses can).
And if you simply just dismiss all observational abilities, which include SIGHT and HEARING, as "pretty low in the evidence hierarchy", then you might as well toss out science... because science is based on 'empirical' evidence, which means it is based on 'observation'.
I would expect a more reliable reading from senses than emotions, but I don't see that. Eyes produce similar accounts from one person to another, as does touch, smell, and hearing. For it to be a reliable sense, it must produce accurate and consistent accounts. Eyes work well enough for that, but this sixth sense you describe doesn't seem to have any consistency.
And while science is more accurate, I'd agree... but I think that is because this 'sense' is not typically used, or well understood.
Just like if you were to not use your eyes for 10 years your eyes might become unadjusted and weak... I think this ability does, too. I also think that almost all people are naturally born with this ability... however, some utilize it more than others, and just like with eyesight, hearing, and etc. some are better at it than others.
Like I said, this is an observation, from something that I think is like one of my "senses". And honestly, I don't care at all if you, or anyone else, think that is not good evidence. You asked me for an explanation, not "proof" or "evidence". I never said I could communicate my evidence... Go use your own senses. I'm sure you have it, too. You're just not trying.
I wasn't always an atheist. I can remember a time when I had absolutely no thoughts on the matter of religion. I sorta knew a few things about the Bible, as my mom had taught me, but I never gave it much thought. I started talking about evolution one day, about how we evolved from monkeys, and my mom responded by asking me the standard "if we evolved from monkeys, how come there aren't more monkeys turning into people?" thing. Then we started going to church regularly. So from a bit after that until I was older, I was a little Christian kid. Jesus is cool, porn is bad, keep christ in christmas, God loves me, all that jazz.
So where does my sixth sense come into this? I prayed when I was smaller. From my mind, I knew God was real, and was listening. Is my sixth sense the feeling I got when I thought my prayer had been answered, or at least considered? The feeling that I got when I reminded myself that it was okay, I was being watched over? After dropping religion, I didn't lose those feelings. I gave them their proper names. For me it certainly seemed like a sixth sense.
So? That doesn't mean religion is equatable to that belief alone, and nothing else.
This sentence was in a really short section, and it was in there for a reason. It doesn't mean what it should mean when you take it alone.
It isn't a religious view or belief, as I already stated. Beliefs in what comes after death are not necessarily part of someone's religious belief... They are simply just commonly found in religions.
Like I said, people can form those beliefs on their own entirely without religion. For example, a non-religious atheist does NOT have to believe "after we dead we are gone forever". It is a bit silly to assume that is an automatic belief of atheism or non-religion.
It doesn't have to fit the definition of a religious belief. I was saying that it was very common for the popular religions to have this sort of belief as part of their religion. In Christianity, you die and go to heaven if you're good. Therefore, Christians responding to this will respond with their religious view. So will all the other big name religions. So asking what happens after death will have a lot of people describing what their religion describes. Like a subtle religion thread.
It is based on nothing. We don't understand how the brain works. Scientists honestly do not know or understand what forms consciousness or "thought". Scientists can be relatively sure some forms of 'thought' come from the brain, but they can not at all provide evidence that 'all thought' comes from the brain.
And yes, to believe that all consciousness is just a "series of reactions of matter" is a belief with no proof. It is a belief based on faith and nothing more.
Agree with it or not, it is still the truth. Science simply does not yet have that information. Everything else is assumption or belief based on faith.
We know a lot about the brain by now. Still a big item, but not as unprobed as it used to be.
We know that matter exists. We know that all this matter is made up of certain small particles. We know that we are made of these particles. Unless something else is present, it can only be the particles that make up humans. But we haven't seen anything except particles.
The reason we can't prove spiritual evidence is because it is in a different dimension or some sort, or something. In my belief, we cannot prove spiritual things using physical science. And the reason why many people don't believe in spirits and stuff, is because we have no evidence about it.
To let you know, I'm christian (just christian, not catholic). In my own personal non-flaming anti-troll opinion, I will be resurrected by Jesus and he will give me knowledge so I can remember Earth and stuff, he'll tell me in simple words about this world and I'll go to heaven and all.
But seriously, what's the reason of living if you die and lose all your memories anyway?
When your brain shuts down, you're totally, completely dead. We never find people with brain damage who act the same, seeing as there are no intelligence/conciousness backups.
I would expect a more reliable reading from senses than emotions, but I don't see that. Eyes produce similar accounts from one person to another, as does touch, smell, and hearing. For it to be a reliable sense, it must produce accurate and consistent accounts. Eyes work well enough for that, but this sixth sense you describe doesn't seem to have any consistency.
I thought you'd mention consistency.
We all see widely varying images, depending on our placement in the world, yes? But there are many similarities, like grass, dirt, and trees, right?
Well, look at religions. Most of them acknowledge a unity to the world. Almost all of them acknowledge a 'spirit', and many acknowledge a higher God. Most consider being a "good person" an ideal to uphold, while performing "evil" or malicious deeds to profoundly upset the world as well as your "spirit".
And blah blah blah.
There are TONS of similarities relating to religion and the 'human spirit'... and while there are many differences, they are not unlike the many differences we all experience in our SIGHT, our HEARING, our TASTE, and etc.
I think religion, as a whole, is already a consistent enough example and evidence of this sense. The massive amounts of people throughout the world, the majority of the world, all believing in "souls" and/or religion all support that this "sense" is as consistent as pretty much any other sense... As well as prove it is fallible.
How many other ways can you explain so many people believing in these things? I'm not saying there are not other explanations, but what makes those explanations any more valid than mine? *shrug*
Seeing as how I've studied this for quite a few years personally, I don't find any other explanations to hold more validity. Others might disagree... but I honestly don't really care. Everyone has their own opinions and beliefs. I choose to respect everyone's beliefs, as long as they don't state they are "right" in any way... that's when I tend to disagree. :wink.gif:
I wasn't always an atheist. I can remember a time when I had absolutely no thoughts on the matter of religion. I sorta knew a few things about the Bible, as my mom had taught me, but I never gave it much thought. I started talking about evolution one day, about how we evolved from monkeys, and my mom responded by asking me the standard "if we evolved from monkeys, how come there aren't more monkeys turning into people?" thing. Then we started going to church regularly. So from a bit after that until I was older, I was a little Christian kid. Jesus is cool, porn is bad, keep christ in christmas, God loves me, all that jazz.
So where does my sixth sense come into this? I prayed when I was smaller. From my mind, I knew God was real, and was listening. Is my sixth sense the feeling I got when I thought my prayer had been answered, or at least considered? The feeling that I got when I reminded myself that it was okay, I was being watched over? After dropping religion, I didn't lose those feelings. I gave them their proper names. For me it certainly seemed like a sixth sense.
Okay, well, umm... I can't qualify your experiences and tell you what those "feelings" were, or if they were or were not the same.
But I really don't think we are talking about the same thing at all. I don't think that what I'm talking about is comparable to what you are stating. I think your "sixth sense" was probably clouded by beliefs which were given to you, but weren't your own.
Perhaps your "sixth sense" was somewhat at work there, but... it was probably very clouded by what you were told to believe.
I've found it is pretty easy to "close your eyes" on this sense, and it is harder to "open your eyes" to it. I use eyes as a metaphor, because it is like a sense... we somewhat have the ability to control it, and can even lose it entirely.
We can close our eyes to not look at things we don't want to see. We can also open our eyes to see the beauty of the world. We can also be blinded by the world and our circumstances, and never see again.
It doesn't have to fit the definition of a religious belief. I was saying that it was very common for the popular religions to have this sort of belief as part of their religion. In Christianity, you die and go to heaven if you're good. Therefore, Christians responding to this will respond with their religious view. So will all the other big name religions. So asking what happens after death will have a lot of people describing what their religion describes. Like a subtle religion thread.
Well, while that might be true... there are many people who don't conform to the mainstream religion's beliefs, yet still agree with most of the religion.
Some religions don't even really explain or try to explain what happens after death, like forms of Judaism, Taoism, and some other religions.
As well, this is focusing specifically on people's beliefs about one thing, and not necessarily about their religion or other beliefs. So we can still get a wide range of responses here.... it's not JUST a religion thread.
We know a lot about the brain by now. Still a big item, but not as unprobed as it used to be.
We know that matter exists. We know that all this matter is made up of certain small particles. We know that we are made of these particles. Unless something else is present, it can only be the particles that make up humans. But we haven't seen anything except particles.
You even admitted, "unless something else is present"... And that is currently an unknown. Through logic, you must admit that the belief that something else does not exist is a belief established on no grounds, on faith, or assumptions.
Simply because we don't have enough evidence to logically make that conclusion yet.
Uh... when you die... you're dead. And things eat you. And your consciousness is no more. We have no reason to believe otherwise.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Powers are for the weak. I have no powers. I mean - unless you count the power to blow minds with my weapons-grade philosophical insights. I'm a thought-o-coaster, I'm the conundrummer in a band called Life Puzzler.
My mistake. Something about the phrasing around not being able to prove they exist makes my head start going along lines. Still would like a response from someone on the question.
Although, maybe not. This thread is a religion thread wearing big black rimmed glasses, a bulbous nose, and a corny mustache.
Imagine nothing, and nothing. Seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling nothing, even thinking nothing. Its like sleeping forever.
I wish I was in this :C
The burden of being a living being has been lifted completely.
I don't necessarily believe in "souls", but something similar-ish. So I'll explain why I believe and my 'evidence', for you.
I believe that there is a connection among all things, and that all things have a "higher being", if you will, which transcends this perceptual reality.
The basis for this belief is because I "feel", in a way, that connection... I know and understand it as part of me. It is an undeniable aspect of my existence, which I grew to learn and accept as part of me.
It is like how I see, breathe, speak, smell, hear. It is like one of my senses and one of my abilities. It is a natural experience, and if it were taken away from it would impair me greatly, as if one of my others senses or natural abilities were taken away. I would be "blind" in this world, if you will.
Is that a satisfactory explanation, for your curiosity?
No, it's not really.
Religion doesn't equate with the beliefs of death. Beliefs about death are only a tiny portion of religion, and you don't have to believe in any religion, or be religious, in order to have beliefs about what happens after you die.
Obviously, even non-religious people, like non-religious atheists, have beliefs about what happens when you die... they believe you stop existing forever. That's a belief. It is based on absolutely nothing but that belief alone. Faith, perhaps.
People should stop equating religion with death. It's a bit morbid, and simply just wrong.
Exactly, minus the burden part. While life is a *****, I'm in no hurry to die. I have eternity to be dead, so I'll be damned if I don't somehow squeeze fun out 'dis *****.
Like we can build a universe in a blank room.
Like making Levels for a Video game.
As far as I am aware, if there is any semblence of consciousness after death, then it is unable to interact with the living. All evidence we have suggests that brains are the computers that create the "mind"; the mind is what the brain does. Upon ceasing higher activity, consciousness is lost. Damaged (dead) brain regions have drastic effects on people's personalities. There is no evidence to suggest that human brains are chemically different in functions than the brains of other animals and it it is thus arrogant and conceited to think that we get some special existence after death while other animals do not.
As far as I am concerned, oblivion takes you. The end result is that you stop existing in any meaningful sense. All that remains to the living are their memories of you and the other ways you have affected the universe. The neurochemical and neurophysical patterns in your brain degrade, and with it the continuity of your consciousness from moment to moment. You cease to be you.
You might as well ask the question: What do you think happens to you before you are conceived/born.
Being oxygen deprived is not a state in which the brain is usually accustomed to operating in. It is unsurprising that people would try to rationalize their scrambled memories when/if they are revived by comparing them to things they already know. There is no evidence of NDEs being anything more than the result of a brain being in unfamiliar conditions. NDEs and OBEs fail under scrutiny.
You don't feel. You don't see. If you have ever been unconscious (like by general anaesthesia) you will understand what I mean when I say, "you remember losing consciousness, you remember waking up, there's a gap of nothingness between those events". That nothingness is what it's like; your mind may as well have been paused during that time. It is not something a mind typically can imagine. It's probably about as fightable as well (I tried to fight the anaesthetic the first time I was ever put under, but my eyes just crossed and rolled back, my vision dimmmed and the next thing I knew I was in a bed and the anaesthetic was wearing off... It was a futile attempt to fight it).
I will often edit my posts after I have posted them in an attempt to improve their clarity (I value a few high quality posts over several low quality ones; the more lengthy the post, the more time it requires to edit) so you might want to wait for a while if this post is recent and refresh to see if anything has changed before replying to it.
Yes and no. Yes I got a reason for the belief, but feelings rank pretty low in the evidence hierarchy. Everyone has feelings and they don't match up with anything consistently.
Most popular religions make assertions about life after death. When asking about the subject, you're almost guaranteed to receive religious views on it. Rarely does someone submit religious views without things following.
It's not based on nothing. The brain is where your thoughts come from, so when your brain goes you do too. To believe otherwise is to claim that our consciousness isn't a series of reactions of matter.
Like I said, it's not really a feeling, but more like one of my senses, or natural abilities like breathing, walking, and etc.
It isn't like an "emotional feeling", even though it can evoke emotions (just like your senses can).
And if you simply just dismiss all observational abilities, which include SIGHT and HEARING, as "pretty low in the evidence hierarchy", then you might as well toss out science... because science is based on 'empirical' evidence, which means it is based on 'observation'.
As I explained to you before, in the religion thread, all evidence comes down to simply just 'observation' in some form. This includes all scientific evidence.
And while science is more accurate, I'd agree... but I think that is because this 'sense' is not typically used, or well understood.
Just like if you were to not use your eyes for 10 years your eyes might become unadjusted and weak... I think this ability does, too. I also think that almost all people are naturally born with this ability... however, some utilize it more than others, and just like with eyesight, hearing, and etc. some are better at it than others.
Like I said, this is an observation, from something that I think is like one of my "senses". And honestly, I don't care at all if you, or anyone else, think that is not good evidence. You asked me for an explanation, not "proof" or "evidence". I never said I could communicate my evidence... Go use your own senses. I'm sure you have it, too. You're just not trying.
So? That doesn't mean religion is equatable to that belief alone, and nothing else.
It isn't a religious view or belief, as I already stated. Beliefs in what comes after death are not necessarily part of someone's religious belief... They are simply just commonly found in religions.
Like I said, people can form those beliefs on their own entirely without religion. For example, a non-religious atheist does NOT have to believe "after we dead we are gone forever". It is a bit silly to assume that is an automatic belief of atheism or non-religion.
It is based on nothing. We don't understand how the brain works. Scientists honestly do not know or understand what forms consciousness or "thought". Scientists can be relatively sure some forms of 'thought' come from the brain, but they can not at all provide evidence that 'all thought' comes from the brain.
And yes, to believe that all consciousness is just a "series of reactions of matter" is a belief with no proof. It is a belief based on faith and nothing more.
Agree with it or not, it is still the truth. Science simply does not yet have that information. Everything else is assumption or belief based on faith.
I would expect a more reliable reading from senses than emotions, but I don't see that. Eyes produce similar accounts from one person to another, as does touch, smell, and hearing. For it to be a reliable sense, it must produce accurate and consistent accounts. Eyes work well enough for that, but this sixth sense you describe doesn't seem to have any consistency.
I wasn't always an atheist. I can remember a time when I had absolutely no thoughts on the matter of religion. I sorta knew a few things about the Bible, as my mom had taught me, but I never gave it much thought. I started talking about evolution one day, about how we evolved from monkeys, and my mom responded by asking me the standard "if we evolved from monkeys, how come there aren't more monkeys turning into people?" thing. Then we started going to church regularly. So from a bit after that until I was older, I was a little Christian kid. Jesus is cool, porn is bad, keep christ in christmas, God loves me, all that jazz.
So where does my sixth sense come into this? I prayed when I was smaller. From my mind, I knew God was real, and was listening. Is my sixth sense the feeling I got when I thought my prayer had been answered, or at least considered? The feeling that I got when I reminded myself that it was okay, I was being watched over? After dropping religion, I didn't lose those feelings. I gave them their proper names. For me it certainly seemed like a sixth sense.
This sentence was in a really short section, and it was in there for a reason. It doesn't mean what it should mean when you take it alone.
It doesn't have to fit the definition of a religious belief. I was saying that it was very common for the popular religions to have this sort of belief as part of their religion. In Christianity, you die and go to heaven if you're good. Therefore, Christians responding to this will respond with their religious view. So will all the other big name religions. So asking what happens after death will have a lot of people describing what their religion describes. Like a subtle religion thread.
We know a lot about the brain by now. Still a big item, but not as unprobed as it used to be.
We know that matter exists. We know that all this matter is made up of certain small particles. We know that we are made of these particles. Unless something else is present, it can only be the particles that make up humans. But we haven't seen anything except particles.
Probably.
To let you know, I'm christian (just christian, not catholic). In my own personal non-flaming anti-troll opinion, I will be resurrected by Jesus and he will give me knowledge so I can remember Earth and stuff, he'll tell me in simple words about this world and I'll go to heaven and all.
But seriously, what's the reason of living if you die and lose all your memories anyway?
Might as well suicide or something. Jk.
YUM YUM YUM!
I thought you'd mention consistency.
We all see widely varying images, depending on our placement in the world, yes? But there are many similarities, like grass, dirt, and trees, right?
Well, look at religions. Most of them acknowledge a unity to the world. Almost all of them acknowledge a 'spirit', and many acknowledge a higher God. Most consider being a "good person" an ideal to uphold, while performing "evil" or malicious deeds to profoundly upset the world as well as your "spirit".
And blah blah blah.
There are TONS of similarities relating to religion and the 'human spirit'... and while there are many differences, they are not unlike the many differences we all experience in our SIGHT, our HEARING, our TASTE, and etc.
I think religion, as a whole, is already a consistent enough example and evidence of this sense. The massive amounts of people throughout the world, the majority of the world, all believing in "souls" and/or religion all support that this "sense" is as consistent as pretty much any other sense... As well as prove it is fallible.
How many other ways can you explain so many people believing in these things? I'm not saying there are not other explanations, but what makes those explanations any more valid than mine? *shrug*
Seeing as how I've studied this for quite a few years personally, I don't find any other explanations to hold more validity. Others might disagree... but I honestly don't really care. Everyone has their own opinions and beliefs. I choose to respect everyone's beliefs, as long as they don't state they are "right" in any way... that's when I tend to disagree. :wink.gif:
Okay, well, umm... I can't qualify your experiences and tell you what those "feelings" were, or if they were or were not the same.
But I really don't think we are talking about the same thing at all. I don't think that what I'm talking about is comparable to what you are stating. I think your "sixth sense" was probably clouded by beliefs which were given to you, but weren't your own.
Perhaps your "sixth sense" was somewhat at work there, but... it was probably very clouded by what you were told to believe.
I've found it is pretty easy to "close your eyes" on this sense, and it is harder to "open your eyes" to it. I use eyes as a metaphor, because it is like a sense... we somewhat have the ability to control it, and can even lose it entirely.
We can close our eyes to not look at things we don't want to see. We can also open our eyes to see the beauty of the world. We can also be blinded by the world and our circumstances, and never see again.
Well, while that might be true... there are many people who don't conform to the mainstream religion's beliefs, yet still agree with most of the religion.
Some religions don't even really explain or try to explain what happens after death, like forms of Judaism, Taoism, and some other religions.
As well, this is focusing specifically on people's beliefs about one thing, and not necessarily about their religion or other beliefs. So we can still get a wide range of responses here.... it's not JUST a religion thread.
You even admitted, "unless something else is present"... And that is currently an unknown. Through logic, you must admit that the belief that something else does not exist is a belief established on no grounds, on faith, or assumptions.
Simply because we don't have enough evidence to logically make that conclusion yet.