|
Considering the circumstances I think this is a topic that can use discussion, and maybe help us all get to know where we would stand if the poster under us were in charge of what happened to us if we died. Before I get started on some of the views I personally find interesting let me just qualify my outlook. [Might be offensive] Much like many of you gentlegoons, I find religion to be some of the pre-enlightenment baggage mankind has yet to check in on its way up the elevator of life. For me the only true lord is Logic, our saviour Reason and Science, and my prophets are among the likes of Carl Sagan, Bill Nye and Richard Dawkins. Now I understand that there are pleanty of reasonable religious folks out there, and really when it comes down to what justifies our belief regarding the afterlife there isnt a whole lot solid bedrock out there. (I still believe there are correct inferences to be drawn about what will likely happen, but thats for another day). I'm a highschool dropout, but like many of you I came to appreciate the pure and simple beauty of Logic and Science through the internet, Wikipedia, and the wonderfully keen and diverse community we have here on the forums. Youtubes of Neil DeGrasse Tyson guided my mind and the universe was its whetstone. Let that be enough of an introduction for my own personal views regarding the afterlife. There are several I came upon in my cyber-travels that are probably of interest to you guys so I'll lay them out. Quantum Immortality and the Many Worlds Quantum Theory http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantu...and_immortality http://www.damninteresting.com/quan...nd-immortality/ quote:In 1957, a student named Hugh Everett suggested that perhaps the reason that a particle’s outcome can’t be predicted is not because of randomness, but because every possible outcome does occur. This idea led to the “many-worlds interpretation” (MWI) which postulates that at the quantum level, everything that can happen does happen, and that each possible outcome branches the universe into another which is at first identical aside from the alternate outcome. So the seemingly “random” outcome is actually just representative of the one possible outcome one’s current universe happens to be based upon. The overlapping universes, between which no information can pass, would then continue to develop individually, each of them branching endlessly as well. Among physicists worldwide, this “multiverse” idea has become one of the most widely accepted interpretations of quantum physics. This is one I stumbled across a couple years ago and drat near fell in love at first sight. Are you saying Mr. Everette that death is defeated by science in the most Star Trek way possible?  Recently though, while brainstorming some new memes with a fellow intellectual, I began to reflect on the fact that if this were to be true, then my actions in this life have no permanent effect on whatever life I live on as in the multiverse. Being a staunch pragmatist, I decided it was time for a change of views. Now hold onto your boiler tops gentlemen because it may seem like the winds of crazy are turning your way but take a moment and reflect on how something like Christianity may sound to someone who's never heard of it before. Well this one is a lot more fun anyhow. I'm talking about... Norse Mythology  Heres some helpful links for the unfamiliar: http://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/SeidrEng.htm Some insights on Seidr practice (Sorcery and Shamanism) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_rituals (Wikipedia, but of course pleanty of helpful links as well) http://www.viking-mythology.com/ (Great resource on all things norse mythology) As for the afterlife? Well either you go into Valhalla or you go to Hel. Personally the qualifications for getting into Valhalla are a lot more fun, plain and simple badass, than any other mythology I've come across. It has also helped me in my day to day life believe it or not. When I'm feeling unmotivated and just want to sit around putting together more miniatures I think to myself “Is this what Odin would think is worthy of my time here?”. I've made a lot more friends and have just been in general more social and outgoing. Me and my growing group of friends even occasionally gather to have some fun with it. We've also made a pact that if any one of use gets terminally ill we will all do our best they go out gloriously to ensure that they make it to valhalla!
|
| # ? Sep 13, 2012 02:33 |
|
|
|
| # ? May 19, 2013 17:06 |
|
