Imagine...

[kim]

I'll definitely be curious as to where my consciousness will go in the last few seconds - how it will stop being me.

Will any part of my consciousness be recycled? Will my consciousness drift off in an electron particle and go into something else to make it work? Will it all be just completely worn out? Will it just wink out - like a light flickering, ready to go off for good?

I'm not worried about it or even afraid of it, I don't wonder too often but when I do, I just wonder what will be going on. It's not something I think I'll thoroughly anticipate, until I'm at that point when I'm ready to go.

Ha - then I'll probably be impatient; I'll think, come on - let's get this show on the road!!!

[Dom]

(23-10-2012 04:37 PM)Chas Wrote:  

(23-10-2012 04:33 PM)Dom Wrote:  Lol, you guys really have troubles visualizing that the world as you know it is irrelevant at some point. You have done the preparing to die while conscious of the world, you had your regrets and wishes and apologies and providing for your family and dogs and whatever you needed to settle before you go.

Then there is a point where you are not aware of it, and you don't give a shit.

You look comatose to those around you, but your brain is trying to deal with how to process your present and future (if any).

People say you are "unconscious" because you don't make any attempt to connect with the world around you. But you are not actually unconscious, because your brain is still working, it is just not concerned with the past or the world around your body.

It is that window, shortly before passing, that I was trying to talk about. When there is only the present, and what you anticipate next. You have already closed the book on the world.

So there are no regrets and no worries about things and people from your world, you already went through that stage and it has passed. It matters no more.

Will you be afraid of what's "on the other side"? Will you be curious? Will you be ready to go to sleep? Will you worry if god is waiting to cuss you out? Will you wait for that "bright light" people talk about? Or do you think that's bogus?

Boy, I really didn't think so many of you would be unable to get past the world as you know it and imagine those actual last moments (or even hours as the case may be) where you have left this world but you are thinking, your brain is working....

I don't imagine forgetting my life in my last hours/minutes; I imagine feeling sad that it's about to be over.

There is that stage, yes. But before you go, there is a time when you detach.

Lots of other stages lead up to that detachment, that is, if you go "naturally". Your nerves are not transmitting to the brain, the room you are in and the people in it do not register, parts of your brain are idle, you have ceased to receive or process any stimuli. Your brain is slowly shutting down. It is the last thing that shuts down completely, even after you have stopped breathing and you have stopped processing any external things, there are still some brain waves.

This is where people who "have come back from death" (whose bodies responded to some medical procedure that was administered before the brain actually shut down all the way) report their bright lights and dead relatives and such. The angels appear and carry you off to eternal bliss. The devil shows up with horns and a pitch fork. Is that what you would imagine? Or do you sink back into complete comfort with a big sigh of relief?

[Rahn127]

I think both theists and atheists will be focused on family and loved ones until the last breath is
drawn.

I'm sure there is a passing curiosity to wonder if you will awaken elsewhere but I really think that it won't be a major focus in your last minutes.

[Julius]

(23-10-2012 04:54 PM)kim Wrote:  I'll definitely be curious as to where my consciousness will go in the last few seconds - how it will stop being me.

Your conciousness goes nowhere. As digestion is a function of the stomach and intestines, conciousness is a function of the brain and nervous system. When you die your stomach and intestines no longer digest food, and your brain ceases to facilitate conciousness. I mean, when have you ever heard anyone ask..."Where does my digestion go when I die?"

[Cardinal Smurf]

(23-10-2012 05:06 PM)Dom Wrote:  This is where people who "have come back from death" (whose bodies responded to some medical procedure that was administered before the brain actually shut down all the way) report their bright lights and dead relatives and such. The angels appear and carry you off to eternal bliss. The devil shows up with horns and a pitch fork. Is that what you would imagine? Or do you sink back into complete comfort with a big sigh of relief?

Why are these the only options?? Why are you describing such a narrow view of death? Do you genuinely believe everyone who does of natural causes dies exactly the same way? Or am I just not understanding you?

Further, who knows what they will do on their death bed? Who can genuinely predict such a thing?

[Dom]

(24-10-2012 01:23 AM)Cardinal Smurf Wrote:  

(23-10-2012 05:06 PM)Dom Wrote:  This is where people who "have come back from death" (whose bodies responded to some medical procedure that was administered before the brain actually shut down all the way) report their bright lights and dead relatives and such. The angels appear and carry you off to eternal bliss. The devil shows up with horns and a pitch fork. Is that what you would imagine? Or do you sink back into complete comfort with a big sigh of relief?

Why are these the only options?? Why are you describing such a narrow view of death? Do you genuinely believe everyone who does of natural causes dies exactly the same way? Or am I just not understanding you?

Further, who knows what they will do on their death bed? Who can genuinely predict such a thing?

ROFLMAO, I give up.

No, these are the most outrageous options I could think of, so your mind would go: "No, that is ridiculous, I imagine I would....."

I guess this thread, while it brought up a lot of interesting comments, isn't going to work the way I thought.

But now I wonder, how much imagination does atheism allow? Are we too fact bound to let the mind drift into the imaginary?

Do we need imagination? I think we do. Imagination creates scenarios that then may or may not be proven with facts.

Maybe I should start a thread about imagnation. Dunno why I find this interesting, but I do.

[GirlyMan]

Did I remember to turn the coffee pot off?

[Vosur]

(24-10-2012 05:33 AM)Dom Wrote:  But now I wonder, how much imagination does atheism allow? Are we too fact bound to let the mind drift into the imaginary?

Considering that atheism only adresses the question of whether or not god(s) exist, it shouldn't restrict your imagination all that much. In fact, atheism and a belief in an afterlife and dualism are not mutually exclusive. Think of reincarnation, for instance.

[Cardinal Smurf]

(24-10-2012 05:33 AM)Dom Wrote:  

(24-10-2012 01:23 AM)Cardinal Smurf Wrote:  Why are these the only options?? Why are you describing such a narrow view of death? Do you genuinely believe everyone who does of natural causes dies exactly the same way? Or am I just not understanding you?

Further, who knows what they will do on their death bed? Who can genuinely predict such a thing?

ROFLMAO, I give up.

No, these are the most outrageous options I could think of, so your mind would go: "No, that is ridiculous, I imagine I would....."

I guess this thread, while it brought up a lot of interesting comments, isn't going to work the way I thought.

But now I wonder, how much imagination does atheism allow? Are we too fact bound to let the mind drift into the imaginary?

Do we need imagination? I think we do. Imagination creates scenarios that then may or may not be proven with facts.

Maybe I should start a thread about imagnation. Dunno why I find this interesting, but I do.

What had you been hoping for to begin with?