Hey people, want an update

[lucia_tanaka]

I have no idea who's even out there anymore? Hello? Is this microphone live

Comments

[dancinbutterfly]

The laws of thermodynamics really helped me with this. Matter and energy cannot be created nor destroyed. They just shift from one form to the next. THAT is science. So something will happen to the energy and matter that makes you you. It may not be an afterlife as you understand it - it may be a dispersal into the cosmos but human beings are made of stardust and there are worse things to be a part of than the greater universe arent there?

Anyway,that helped me alot until I actually found faith which is a whole other thing. But you asked so...just throwing that out there.

[lucia_tanaka]

That used to comfort me too, but the lack of consciousness makes the entire thing feel pointless to me, sadly.

[sunflower1343]

So you'd walk down the street and ignore someone in need on the sidewalk because you die one day and nothing matters? That's a cop-out, and one I have no respect for. You touch people every day, and each time you do you make a difference in their lives, be it positive or negative. You have a moral choice in your life, one not driven by God or gods or anything supernatural, but just by the fact of your existence.

Will you make a positive or negative difference? You can't choose neutral, it's impossible. So decide. Will you help or harm?

That's what matters.

[lucia_tanaka]

So um, no, I don't remember implying that I use my existential crisis to justify being an apathetic waste of space. In fact, the opposite is true-- everyone has one life and no do-overs, and I want their lives to be as fair and just as we can make them.

But in the end, how much can it matter once consciousness is over? Like, one of the things that makes me cry the most is that my mother is the most amazing person I know and I love her so much, but eventually she will die and I'll be the only person who knows how wonderful she was. And when I die, that legacy's gone forever. That fills me with a deep, pitch black despair I cannot handle.

[sunflower1343]

Other people live on, and if you make a difference in their lives they will influence others, and so on

[athenemiranda]

I was going to type a grimface orphan comment but I deleted it for being too fucking grim even though it wasn't meant to be. Suffice it to say that human beings have evolved to deal with the stress of immediate-family bereavement, and when it happens you have exactly two options; a) put one foot in front of the other, deal with it one day at a time, or b) become a wizard and learn to stop time. Death is way more banal than its existential shadow.

Rationalism

[b0b3rt]

Study rationalism. Specifically lesswrong.com. Gives me hope for an eventual singularity. Beyond that, medicine has been improving fast enough that within 25 years we should have developed something that significantly expands our lifespans.

Hold to hope.

[raveninthewind]

I too do not believe in the afterlife, and in an interesting way, that makes me hold on to each moment and try to squeeze the best out of it rather than feel like I need to end it all. I try my best to leave only positive influences in my interactions with others/the world. It often seems like the universe is a cold, painful place, but there are rays of light.

I wouldn't consider myself happy by any stretch of the words. I aim at a calm acceptance mostly. But I can enjoy the good moments, short though they can seem.

I look on death as peaceful destination, with some gratitude that one day the struggle will be over, although I am not rushing towards it. I still have people I love who are alive, and I want to be here to remember the ones who have passed, as long as I can.