Saturday, March 7, 2015

Non-Existence and Why We Shouldn't Be Afraid of it

The fear of death is most probably the biggest trigger out there for religion and faith.
Humans fear death, mostly because of the unknown element attached to it:
Without religion, we don't know what happens to us after death.
What do we feel? Where do we "go"? Do we keep our memories? Are we accountable for our deeds in life? So on and so forth.

The fear of death is also the most common "last stand" fallback position that theists go to when the foundations of their faith are rattled.

I can't even count the number of times theists brought this issue up when they seem to have run out of arguments and counter-arguments:
"So what happens after you die?", "You just stop existing and that's it?", "What's the point of living if it's all for nothing?", etc.

Well, there are several ways to approach this issue.
The most common answer that I've seen used by atheists is that after you die, you don't necessarily "disappear" into non-existence. You still exist in the memories of your loved ones and next of kin. And if you were truly a remarkable person, then you might even gain "immortality" by being remembered for untold generations to come.
Some "immortal" men for example: Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, William Shakespeare, Ludwig Van Beethoven and so on, you get the idea. These people, although long dead, still "exist" in our everyday lives by the very fact of us remembering them and their achievements and lives.

Obviously, it's not a very 'satisfying' type of "immortality", because you're not there to enjoy it in person. So naturally, theists, selfish as they are, usually don't accept this kind of answer.

Another common answer atheists give is that the very fact that we are bound to die and stop existing at some point, only makes this life we have ever more precious and priceless.
It's an invitation to enjoy this one life we have and make the best you can out of it, because we have absolutely no other chance.

Theists usually don't seem to accept this answer either, although from my experience they don't really give a reason why. They just can't seem to wrap their heads around the notion of "one chance only". It's like automatically a reason for them to commit suicide and end the one life they have. It really boggles my mind why would anyone want to do that.

Personally, I agree with both of those common answers described above.
Yes, this life is precious because there's no other, and yes, we can achieve "immortality" by living in the memories of future generations (although it's an impersonal kind of "immortality"). Both of these notions together can push us to make the absolute best we can out of this life, as well as positively influence the world to make it better for future generations.

But there is another type of answer which is not so common. And here, although already more than halfway through this post, we reach the actual crux of the matter and the whole reason why I'm writing this.

We need to wrap our heads around an amazing fact. A mind-boggling, mind-blowing and yet a staggeringly simple fact:

We shouldn't be afraid of non-existence. Because we already passed it:
WE DID NOT ALWAYS EXIST.

What? You forgot? Where do you think you were before you were born, sugar?
You did not exist.

Do you remember this "non-existence"? You have memories of your experiences? Your feelings? Your ambitions? Obviously not. Because you did not exist.
And yet, the world existed all the same without you.

People lived. People died. People did this and that. Built things. Destroyed things. Killed each other. Saved each other. The rain was dropping. The sun was rising. The birds were singing. The dogs were humping. Life just... Went on.

So... Do you care about that, dear believer? Are you not upset about the fact that before you were born you did not exist? No? Why not? Isn't this fact just as disturbing as the fact that one day you'll be going back to that kind of state of non-existence?

Consider the following:
Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that before you were born you existed in some other form. Perhaps in some other dimension, perhaps as a completely different person. You had thoughts, memories, ambitions, and so on. But you don't remember any of that now, of course. All you remember is what you learned since after you were born into this life. Think for a second what that means. All those thoughts and memories of the person you were before... Everything that person went through... All of that was gone the moment you were born and started from scratch as a new person. How is that different from that other person... Stopping to exist? They stopped existing, and then you started existing as a whole other person with new memories and experiences.



This is, of course, a hypothetical scenario assuming there's such a thing as reincarnation or whatever.
But, as we already established, you don't really remember who or what you were before you were born, right? So... How is it different from the FACT that after you die, somewhere out there in the world, a new person is going to be born... A whole new person from scratch... Without any memories of what they were before they were born, but with new memories to gain in their new life? Who can say for sure that that new person will not be you? But since that "new" person won't have your memories anyway, does it really matter if it really is you or not?

How is it different?

So if you fear of nonexistence, get over yourself, champ.
You've already been there, done that.
Make the best of what you have.

Just remember one important thing:
After you're gone, the world will keep on living.
Humans will keep on being born.
So why not do what you can to make this world a better place for them?
For all you know, those "future" humans are...

You.