My take on the universe, life and everything
Make your incredibly short life matter. What you do right now is important, probably moreso than you think.
Your choices affect everyone around you so make sure that you treat them right. No, you will not "be" with any of your departed loved ones after death. You will, in fact, never see them again.
And here is why.
WHY THE SOUL DOES NOT EXIST
Through various means of research, I have reached the conclusion that we almost certainly do not have anything as esoteric as a soul.
First of all, there are of course no scientific grounds that support the existence of the immortal soul. We can not see it, we can not touch it. Furthermore, science teaches us that sentience is achieved by that electro- chemical machine inside your skull called a "brain" and it is sustained by chemical reactions and neurons firing within the lobes, making you think, live and breathe. When that machine fails, what you perceive as "you" will ultimately cease to exist.
Secondly, there is the psychological needs and benefits to consider. The belief in a soul is banking a lot on something that is most likely conjured up through human imagination and abstract thinking as a defense mechanism which works to allow us to cope with our very real losses.
Do not misunderstand, if anything, the concept of an afterlife is a true testament to human creativity and imagination and it is a beautiful idea; one that I am in no way attempting to belittle as its beauty or established cultural importance as fictional art cannot be denied. Also, the belief of being reunited with someone after death, coupled with the natural short-sightedness in regards to our own mortality, keeps us going and makes for a more or less comfortable ride.
But as to the realism of the concept itself, I tend to view it the same way as I do any subjective historical forgery; just because you WANT it to be authentic doesn't make it so.
When enough people believe strongly in something, religion comes in to play. For some, this belief of life after life perpetuates a search for meaning. If we WILL be reunited after death, then there has to be some greater purpose behind existence and we nod knowingly in accordance to the belief that we will be taken care of when we go. But taken care of by whom?
That in turn gives rise to creator-myths, the human ability for abstract thinking tells us that there has to be something or someone who created all, who created you and has put you in your station. There has to be a purpose, and purpose needs a thought behind it. And so we give our gods human traits like personalities and creative thinking, in order to make sense of our lives. You come to believe that you are where you are supposed to be because it has been ordained on some higher level.
In this manner, I actually approve the creator-myth because it gives the truly devout a sense of purpose and serenity that I do, in fact, envy. They are quite comfortable believing that they will continue to exist on some level after death, completely ignorant of the obvious truth; that we are simple biological matter that is made to expire, not to mention the fact that everlasting life would almost certainly make for an excrutiating torment and make you irrevocably insane after the first two- or three-hundred years.
Also, there is the matter of logistics to consider; if people keep on living, where would they be? And would this apply to every single person that has lived since the dawn of time? And people who WILL be born? That would entail trillions upon trillions of people.. or, no.. the actual number would be immeasurable. Are they going to exist in the same place? Are they supposed to intermingle? And if there is an afterlife, then what is the purpose of the first life? Is it a waiting-room where you spend some time before moving on to the next place?
This is what makes life so important. In a way, the concept of an afterlife makes life itself pointless. What's the point of life if we simply continue on after death and can resolve any left-over issues beyond our alotted time here on earth? It is in the here and now that we should strive for happiness and contentment, we should not put stock in any belief that there will be more life after life. I mean sure, it would have been awesome to get closure with a lot of dead people that way, but being reassured that you will be reunited, having this safety-net... it's just such a human way of thinking which quite frankly is delusional and unrealistic.
I spoke to my ex about this and she got really upset, stating that she refused to believe that she would never see any of her passed-away loved ones ever again.
And that's exactly my point. The belief in an afterlife, as already stated, seems undeniably to be more of a defense-mechanism than anything else, we "need" to believe in it in order to keep up hope and go on living, to do anything else is too horrifying. And that unfortunately makes people blind to what truly matters, that we should make every choice in life count, for there will be no do-overs. At least not as the person you are right now.
ANOTHER CHANCE AT LIFE
"You live once this eternity. But there is nothing that says it is impossible for you to come into existence again."
- Kent
Contradiction? I don't think so. Let me explain.
The most supported theory of creation is that in the beginning, the Big Bang ocurred; the creation of all life as we know it. The universe supposedly began as a massive explosion resulting in a shockwave of existence that is, in fact, still ongoing. We are living inside this massive bubble of unfathomable dimensions, whilst the building-blocks of life are still expanding the borders of the material universe even now at uncalculable distances.
Likewise in the beginning, the universe favoured matter over anti- matter and thus gave rise to every possible form of matter in existence. And this is what it boils down to; everything, you, me, animals, the trees, the ground, air, plastics, the asteroids on the other side of the known universe... we are all made up of the same celestial matter.
Your personality, while certainly unique, is not with you at birth, when you are born you are a blank slate. Who you are is determined by your memories of past experiences which has shaped and moulded you because of choices you have made in life. So your personality is developed during your lifetime.
The only thing given to you at birth is sentience. But where did that come from? Well, it is bestowed on you by the incredible properties of your father's sperm joining with your mom's egg, a process that has evolved from the very beginnings of material creation.
And here comes the kicker. Scientists have theorized that at some point, the constantly expanding universe will reverse itself, forming what is being called the "Big Crunch". Everything will revert back to the base-property of matter, cascading back into one single atom in order to renew everything by once again cascading outward in another Big Bang.
And then the whole circus starts all over again... another "eternity", if you will. In this way, I choose to use the word "eternity" not as a concept for unlimited time, but the SEEMINGLY endless flow of linear time within the confines of existence as we experience it.
That is why, while I do not believe we will ever exist in the same form ever again (kind of like how a glass of water can never be filled with the exact same water molecules in the exact same fashion twice), it is quite possible that we will coalesce once again after an incomprehensible amount of time has passed into completely different beings during the "next eternity", i.e the next time around when another Big Bang has created a new universe.
Hell, it is even quite possible, not to mention probable, that this process has happened before and we have indeed already existed in previous eternity-cycles as other, completely different incarnations.
The time-scale of this is of course extraordinary. The time it takes for a universe to explode and implode again is beyond any reliable means of measure. And while the popular idea of reincarnation has the concept of your incorporeal soul somehow transferred into a new body during the same eternity-cycle, my theory supports a more scientific belief that we are recycled and might live again, but only once during every eternity and also, only once as the same individual. Your body does not revert to celestial matter immediately after death, it takes an incredible amount of time to reach that state where every particle is reformed and new life is possible.
We would also, quite naturally, be completely oblivious to this ongoing process of constant renewing cycles.
Firstly, to just imagine this is beyond the scope of the major population; most are content with just living their every-day lives not even wondering about the grand scale of creation.
Secondly, we would actually be incapable of remembering this as our lives are insignificantly short in comparison and our brains are physically unable to remember anything before the point in time of their creation, when their memory-storing capabilities came into being in the first place. You would not remember your previous life at all, you would not remember who you were before or any details. None of it. You would be a completely new being with a completely new personality, nothing of your old identity would remain.
It is the same thing with our planet. The earth is projected to exist for another 1.75 billion years, but on the universal scale, that amount of time is just as inconsequential as our individual lifespans. This earth will die one day and never again exist as it does now. Our sun will swallow it and beyond that, it will have played out its role.
However, as we are celestial matter which is recycled in the next Big Crunch, we might find ourselves called into existence once again the next time around as completely different lifeforms, either sentient or non-sentient, with completely different living conditions on a wildly alien planet.
Beyond any doubt is the fact that humanity will never exist again and that is taking into account all of its past, present and future evolved forms. As humanity goes extinct at some point (which it will, even if we manage to create massive stellar empires and rule the galaxy at some point, sooner or later, entropy consumes everything), the universe will use our matter and create new lifeforms the next eternity-cycle.
And THAT, my dear reader, is why it is vital that you enjoy every single moment that you have the unimaginable privilege of existing during. This earth, this sky, your life, your friends, your family... when death claims you all, you will never see them or experience their company again. So cherish their presence here and now.
Make sure they know how you feel about them.
Make sure you see what you need to see and do what you need to do before you die.
Make sure you enjoy the life you have been given to the fullest, for it will never come again; at least not in any way resembling the way or form of life that we know and find ourselves in today.
