What happens after death for an atheist?

You've asked some important questions in your threads, LDSdude.As an atheist, I don't know what will happen to after, or as, I die. I do not believe in a heaven or hell because I have seen no reliable evidence for the existence of either. I think that some people may "dream" that they are going to one or the other as they die, but I do not believe they are actually being sent there for all eternity. I do not believe that death will bring anything that will register on my senses, since the brain is known to interpret sensory data.There are many goals and purposes in my life which I have set. For example, I hope to continue learning as long as I live, and I hope to graduate from college and then go on to graduate school. Learning is an important aspect of my life. I enjoy increasing my skills and finding out more about the world around me. I don't expect it to matter to me after I am dead, but I would like to spread what I learn to others while I am alive, and I hope that whatever they learn from me will be of some use.The concept that everything in my brain will be lost when I die is not very important to me. Hopefully, if I find out anything new and useful that others don't already know, I will write it down, publish it, and hopefully it will be preserved for future generations. This won't benefit me after I am dead in any way, but maybe it will benefit me while I am still alive. If I can improve the human situation for future generations, then that would be fine with me. I think that that would be a good legacy.I'd like to know what you think will happen to you, LDSdude, after you die. If you expect to go to Heaven, what will you do there? Are you expected to just praise God forever? You questioned learning as a purpose for life in your post. Is one able to continue learning in Heaven? If so, what about? What purpose would it serve to learn anything here on Earth while you are alive when you have all of eternity to do it later? What good does it do to learn to read or write or do math, if you can do it all after you die, with no foreseeable time constraints? What use would there be for anything we can learn on Earth when we are in Heaven? Surely people don't speak the same language in Heaven as they do on Earth. So anything we learn about reading and writing in English is useless. Does everyone who goes to Heaven immediately know Heavenese? I would imagine that having groups who speak different languages would lead to racism and strife. So if everyone is happy, is everyone granted omniscience, so they know everything anyway and don't have to learn anything? If that is the case, what is the point of existing in Heaven, if you don't need to bother doing anything and nothing good can come out of it? Isn’t it all just a huge waste of your time, which could better be spent on Earth improving things before the Earth is eventually swallowed up by the expanding Sun and the universe slowly becomes too full of entropy to sustain life?If Heaven is all about eternal bliss, is this like some kind of drug-induced bliss, with people just hanging around not doing anything because they are so happy? Would you really want to do that? That also seems like a waste of time. I really don’t understand the concept of Heaven and what good it does to anyone as a reward, if it is real. Among the living, I feel it provides many people with hope that they will eventually go on to a place where things will be better. They may feel that their deceased family members and friends will be in Heaven, since the idea that they are still in some way alive is comforting. However, I don’t get why this would support any facts about the existence of Heaven. I don’t see why I should believe it when I don’t see any evidence for it at this particular moment.

I've actually never heard of it. Looking it up, however, I see that beatific vision is an immediate knowledge of God. Is this what you believe happens? Could you explain better? Does this mean that in Heaven, one immediately learns everything that God knows?

If that is the case, in what way does one go to Heaven, if whatever isn't "pure being" is removed and they are no longer conscious of their own identity? Do they still bear their memories of when they were alive? I am shaped by my memories, thoughts, and experiences, as well as genetic factors, and if these are all taken away, what is left? What would differentiate the soul of a person who lived a virtuous life from a serial murderer?

Can these people who can experience Beatific Vision while still alive do it at will? Are they able to do it in controlled conditions? Is there a difference between earthly experiences of beatific vision and going into a trance? Is it testable in any way?If they can prove that they can do that, James Randi will pay them one million dollars. Even if they aren't interested in the money, they could use it to help others in need, build churches to promote their religion, or just donate it to charity.JREF - HomeThis message has been edited by Gary, 02-04-2005 14:46 AM

"At JREF, we offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event."This would be a supernatural power or event. It apparently defies our understanding of nature. Beatific Vision is outside of the range of normal human abilities. Therefore, if people are capable of Beatific Vision while still alive, they are eligible for the one million dollar prize.

If it is a natural psychological action, have there been any scientific papers written about it? Has anyone studied it in depth from as unbiased a point of view as possible, to better understand it? Or is it just a whole lot of religious mumbo jumbo which makes no sense unless you assume that it is all true?Lots of people who aren't Christians claim to be able to leave their bodies and go into astral planes where they can see and do things which they normally cannot. I do not believe this is possible because they offer no reliable evidence to back up their claims. I see no reason why people who claim to be able to see Beatific Visions are any different.

"ABE: What happens to a characer protrayed by an actor, say Prospero in the Tempest, when the curtain falls and the actor returns to his dressing room? Shakespeare had some very deep insights to this."Okay, this is starting to make sense. The consciousness is the character and the body is the actor. So in a Beatific Vision, the two separate, and the mind realizes that consciousness is just another part of nature?If this is what is meant, I would agree that it is not supernatural. It is what I have believed all along - that the mind came about through natural means. I don't get what this has to do with the concept of Heaven or God though.

Thank you for your responses and for your patience with my questions. This answers many of the questions I had regarding your beliefs. I'd like to say more but I have to leave for a physics test I have at 10:40 today. Thanks again for your response.

I'm going to propose a new thread where we can discuss evolution as it was mentioned earlier in the thread. Other people might want to make their own threads to discuss the other topics mentioned.