Why do people find comfort in the notion of an afterlife?

**Ristaron** · #1 (**permalink**) 01-01-2008, 11:51 PM

Let's consider this for a minute. You are this average Joe with an average life... be it a farmer in 2,000 B.C., a Roman aristocrat in 10 A.D., or an educated middle-class working person in 2,000 A.D. who holds a good job, with your hands full doing your job to pay the bills and support your four kids. Why do you take comfort in believing there is something beyond all this?

The farmer: your life is one of speculation. You don't actually understand how the world works. You know how to manipulate the soil and irrigate and plant and harvest -- survival skills. You don't know why they work, but you can guess. Likewise, you can guess at the nature of the world, based on your experiences. But what experience could possibly make you think that there is something more than surviving?

The Roman aristocrat: your life is one of luxury. You enjoy your patrician privileges and participate in the senate. In your down-time, you have ample philosophical manuscripts at your disposal, including Socrates, Plato, and Aristarchus. Sure, it happens that you have been raised to believe in personified supernatural forces, but those ancient Greeks had some smashing ideas. All the same, Heliocentrism is a laughable claim that only pagans like Martianus Capella support. And, likewise, the belief that the endless pantheon of gods controls the fate of every mortal and every event that shapes the world is far more likely in accordance with Occam's Razor. Thereby you also follow their teachings and believe in such places as the Elysian fields, where the good go to die.

The modern worker: though you studied geography in university when Plate Tectonics was just emerging as the newest, most sensible explanation for the planet's superstructure, you don't have the time to seriously question the lessons you were taught growing up in Sunday school. You have your favourite quote from the Bible, a common one you once heard the minister use as you drifted back and forth between concentrating on the sermon and the fact that the dirty old man keeps letting his gaze fall on the young altar boy, meanwhile simultaneously listing off all the things you have to do in your busy life. When it comes down to it, the images of eternal bliss that were indoctrinated into you as a child are all you can think of when Aunt Betty kicks off.

Why are these notions comforting?
The farmer: projecting your beliefs onto the world can provide you a sense of security in that you can manipulate them.
The Roman: you feel these notions provide you a sense of morality that you can feel good fulfilling.
The modern person: you cling to these notions because they mean that even if you fail in this life you can still earn your way to paradise, or that loved ones are in good company.

As you can probably tell, all of these are arguments people use today to justify their faith. My question is: why? The world is indifferent to the farmer's beliefs, and I would rather know the truth than simply imagine that I'm correct. I would rather be the Roman who donated out of charitable interest instead of an ulterior motive such as earning my way to paradise, as it makes me feel it was worth the effort and I wasn't simply thinking just about myself and what my peers think of my philosophical standing. And I would rather assume that what I do in this life matters, unlike the typical modern person who would simultaneously fear death and be willing to accept a terminal sentence as a ticket to Heaven, thus cheapening the value of what we have the power to do.

People believe in the afterlife for the same reason people believe in fate: it's something out of their control, inexplicable, and yet an easy escape. The notion of dying is something that shakes people to the core, and the only way people can accept it is by accepting that it is inevitable. Therefore, they must elaborate on it through various means. "Fate", "the Divine Plan", "Reincarnation", "Afterlife"... all creative ideas... and all contrary to the greatest part about being alive... living your life.

So I ask... why do people find the notion of an afterlife comforting, when all it represents is a robbery of our fundamental joy?

Chase_the_Bass · 01-02-2008, 12:04 AM

Imagine a poor family. Dad working 3 jobs and Mom is too sick to work. She has some disease or another. They have kids. They live in the bad side of town in a bad neighborhood. They hear gunshots and sirens at night and walk to school surrounded by graffiti. They pay attention in class, but the other students make it hard. Disruptions and talking back take away from the kids education. They can't go anywhere else. And after school they don't have the money to go to college. Can't get loans because they have bad credit. They are just stuck in this cycle their entire lives. Maybe doing just a little bit better. All in all, they live sad, depressing lives. They live right. Don't join a gang, don't steal, don't do drugs. It's hard to not do those when you grow up like that. All the time they grow up knowing that they are living right. They know that they are going to a better place when they die. They know that if they can stick it through this rough patch they can have eternal bliss. Tell them their God is fake. Tell them of the plethora of religions that have the exact same story of someone dying and resurrecting on the third day. Tell them it's all in the stars. They don't care because they know happiness awaits them for living right. They die not fearing, but welcoming.

**Ristaron** · 01-02-2008, 01:08 AM

Which brings us to argument #4, which I tried to cover but didn't quite word well enough.

Faith as a consolation for the world being fucked up.

Guess what: it doesn't change the world being fucked up.

I'd rather not delude myself with visions of a pleasant afterlife and further remove any commitment I have to actually doing something with my life.

Chase_the_Bass · 01-02-2008, 01:12 AM

But how is it preventing you from doing anything? All I see it preventing is a couple hours every Sunday which can just be taken out of TV time for most people.

Stossel · 01-02-2008, 01:14 AM

Came in a little late...

Because while living your life is part of a fundamental joy, it is equally a part of a great suffering. It is the escape from the suffering that is thought for a pure state of joy.

The farmer: his crops may not grow, but he can pray to the appropriate entity that they will. While he might not quite grasp the concept of an afterlife, he knows that his ultimate joy will come when he can get a bountiful harvest and live a happy life.

The Roman aristocrat, and the modern man: simply for the fact that the both have their own shares of sorrow in this world, and they seek something blissful, something they believe is in the next.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ristaron

Which brings us to argument #4, which I tried to cover but didn't quite word well enough.

Faith as a consolation for the world being fucked up.

Guess what: it doesn't change the world being fucked up.

I'd rather not delude myself with visions of a pleasant afterlife and further remove any commitment I have to actually doing something with my life.

Yeah, but that's you.

krnjason · 01-02-2008, 01:27 AM

in my opinion, religion/afterlife just seems like a scape goat to the fact that no one alive knows the real answer to why were are here. Everybody has their own individual lives with problems of their own. Different goals. Different definitions of happiness and content. If it makes a person's day brighter in believing in unproven notions then by all means im for it. As long as they dont bring destruction with their convictions, i dont think there is any harm.

Static · 01-02-2008, 05:30 AM

I think it all boils down to the fact that you already stated, people are afraid of death. And it's as simple as that. Knowing you are at the end of your life and you will not exist (in the human sense) anymore is terrifying to some people, and I personally feel that the idea of "Hell" is a huge part of that, and that idea is engraved into most peoples minds when they are really young, and as we all know young children are the easiest to manipulate and once it's done, they're the toughest to recover, which is why there are so many people out there who just refuse to ask a question or two. I think it's stupid to find comfort in something that might be there in the end. That's like getting beaten to a bloody pulp and finding comfort in the idea that the police might come and save you before you die...

**Ristaron** · 01-02-2008, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stossel

The farmer: his crops may not grow, but he can pray to the appropriate entity that they will. While he might not quite grasp the concept of an afterlife, he knows that his ultimate joy will come when he can get a bountiful harvest and live a happy life.

And when the drought from the river having been diverted hundreds of miles upstream continues, when his entity fails to live up to expectations? Does he stubbornly continue, or does he think that maybe he's just an idiot?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Static

I think it's stupid to find comfort in something that might be there in the end. That's like getting beaten to a bloody pulp and finding comfort in the idea that the police might come and save you before you die...

Or that you might win the lottery. I don't base my future plans on a possibility (especially not windfall), I base it on what I know for sure.

Chase_the_Bass · 01-02-2008, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Static

I think it's stupid to find comfort in something that might be there in the end. That's like getting beaten to a bloody pulp and finding comfort in the idea that the police might come and save you before you die...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ristaron

Or that you might win the lottery. I don't base my future plans on a possibility (especially not windfall), I base it on what I know for sure.

But Christians know that they are going to Heaven. It's not a maybe, or a might. It's a definite. To compare it to winning the lottery isn't accurate. It's more like inheriting millions of dollars, not winning it.

Stossel · 01-02-2008, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ristaron

And when the drought from the river having been diverted hundreds of miles upstream continues, when his entity fails to live up to expectations? Does he stubbornly continue, or does he think that maybe he's just an idiot?

He might continue. Or he may doubt. It depends from person to person, and since you're using an stereotype...it's a little hard to figure.