[Eternal Nothingness] Anyone else scared of the afterlife being nothing?

[1] Thinking about becoming nothing forever after I die really freaks me out.

[2] Anyone get what I mean?

[3] Sometimes I overthink it so much I can’t sleep.

• [4] Don’t worry, they say the moment of death is so painful you’ll think ‘death is better than this’.
• [5] I’m scared thinking this world will just keep going on after I die.
• [10] >>5 It won’t. When you die, this world ends.
• [7] Wouldn’t an actual afterlife be scarier? You can’t perceive nothingness, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.
• [8] It’s nothingness, so what’s the big deal? Like, if I went back in time and killed your mom so you were never born, you wouldn’t exist, right? You’d be nothing. That’s not scary, is it?
• [12] But hey, tons of people have already died in this world, so relax. Billions have been through it, you’ll be fine.
• [13] What’s the afterlife like, anyway? Are people from B.C. there?
• [16] >>13 It’s nothing. This world is only the world you’re seeing right now. It’s just like the power gets turned off for this world.
• [14] Religion was basically born from exploiting that concept, you know.
• [15] That’s why you should do whatever you want while you’re alive.
• [17] I can’t imagine this consciousness just disappearing. It’s terrifying.
• [26] >>17 Isn’t it just like being asleep? 😓
• [18] Isn’t the afterlife just a fiction made up to make people live better in this life?
• [19] If anything, this world is scarier. What does it even mean to be alive?
• [20] This world is just consciousness. Time and space don’t exist; there are as many worlds as there are consciousnesses.
• [21] I grew up as a half-assed Christian, so it’s scary for me. I’m not devout enough to be sure I’ll go to heaven, but the concept of an afterlife is ingrained in me.
• [23] The moment you die, you can’t perceive anything, so it’s pointless to even think about it.
• [24] When consciousnesses happen to overlap, people call that ‘the world’. The 7 billion of us just happen to have overlapping consciousnesses, so we create and share space and time.
• [25] There are infinite consciousnesses, they just don’t overlap. People call the non-overlapping consciousnesses and worlds higher-dimensional beings or higher-dimensional worlds.
• [27] If I’m gonna die anyway, I kinda want to suffer immensely. Anyone get that?
• [29] When you die, that world becomes nothing. That’s all there is to it.
• [31] Does a world outside of what I’m observing really exist?
• [39] >>31 If you can’t observe it, it’s basically the same as not existing, right?
• [48] >>31 If a world without an observer doesn’t exist, that contradicts the theory of evolution.
• [32] We don’t usually think about death, but apparently, people diagnosed with cancer intensely confront it the moment they’re told. Btw, a million people get diagnosed each year.
• [33] Matter gets recycled, right? Maybe we get reconstituted somewhere as bugs or something? Idk though.
• [34] There’s no way consciousness exists after death. When you die, everything is ‘nothing’. Same as any matter lying around. Nothing to be scared of 😓
• [35] Also, the thought of my parents dying is scary.
• [49] >>35 I get this. What will I do when my parents die??
• [36] You’ll understand when you die, but spirits, past lives, and the spirit world all exist.

[38] People say you won’t feel fear after you die because your brain is gone, I get that. But I’m still scared.

• [40] I want to die suddenly without any warning.
• [41] If before birth was nothingness, why was I born from nothing? …That means it wasn’t nothing, right?
• [42] You can’t keep saying it’s scary. What happens, happens. You just have to accept the natural order of things.

[44] But living forever and ever would be scary too, wouldn’t it?

• [45] Sleepless nights are scary.
• [47] It feels like there was nothing before I was born, but since I was born, maybe I’ll be born again somewhere else.
• [54] A 100-year lifespan is too short. I’d want to live for 500 years.
• [89] >>54 Yeah, but when you get old, your hair turns white, your heart, joints, muscles all deteriorate. Just imagining becoming an old man is scary. You can’t even walk around town properly without a cane.
• [55] What is death, really? Is it truly the end? Isn’t it just that life here ends and you move on to the next stage?
• [62] >>55 It’s the end. That’s why everyone lives the ‘now’ so desperately, so they have no regrets.
• [65] >>55 That’s reincarnation thinking. But since you don’t have memories of past lives, it doesn’t feel real, kinda fake.
• [57] You only die once in your life anyway, so there’s nothing to be scared of. Plus, you won’t even remember it.
• [58] Sorry, but what is consciousness? Is it really in the brain?
• [59] What is ‘nothingness’? I can’t even imagine it.
• [69] >>59 It’s the same as before you were born. Billions of years have passed since the universe began, but you don’t remember any of it, right? After you die, you’ll feel nothing for billions, trillions of years.
• [60] If there were an afterlife, I’d be looking forward to it. The reality is there’s nothing, and that’s what’s scary.
• [63] If I die, I wanna die drunk.
• [64] What happens when we die? Even if it’s nothingness, the organ to feel nothingness is also dead… So, is living now and fearing death a reward or a punishment?
• [71] Rather than imagining the afterlife, I prefer thinking about why this world exists. I like that feeling of ‘Whoa!’ when faced with something absolutely unsolvable.
• [74] What really pisses me off is that even after I die, the trains will still run, everyone will go to work, and the internet will still be full of pointless crap.
• [77] It’ll probably be like sleeping forever.
• [79] But you’re conscious during sleep, aren’t you? Apparently, people who’ve had general anesthesia understand something about death.
• [91] You won’t know what happens after death until you die, right? My take is ‘It’s something to look forward to after dying!’
• [102] A baby born this year wasn’t scared last year about being in eternal nothingness, right?
• [103] That’s probably true for people without faith. That’s why non-religious people have more stress and lower birth rates.
• [106] Now I can’t sleep.
• [116] Everything for us is this universe, but we can’t rule out other universes existing. Maybe there are countless universes like ‘Universe N’, and when we die, we get sent to another one. Repeating this, relying on records left by beings from previous cycles, the overall level of life rises.
• [117] After death, there’s nothing, and honestly, thinking about whether reincarnation is real or not is starting to scare me more.
• [118] Buddhism is basically about a loop, anyway. Escaping that loop is the goal.

[123] Right when I’m falling asleep, I think, ‘What if I fall asleep here and never wake up?’ and then I can’t sleep every time.

• [124] What is the universe, anyway? What’s outside the universe? That seems like a bigger problem than the afterlife.
• [133] >>124 If we could figure that out, immortality wouldn’t be just a dream.
• [129] While you’re alive, you gotta have fun with girls. Let’s enjoy life until we die.
• [131] In any case, we can’t get an answer no matter how hard we try, so isn’t it more fun to just imagine hopeful things?
• [132] Since you can’t prove anything about the afterlife, it’s best to just believe whatever convenient theory you like, right?
• [138] Live fast, die young is better. People who live seriously are the ones with lingering attachments to this world.
• [142] I’m not scared of dying, but I hate the idea of being murdered. Those videos from overseas of people being tortured and killed are too terrifying.
• [145] I like that story about how the structure of space closely resembles brain cells. We’re living inside God’s brain.
• [153] My guess is that whatever you’re thinking at the moment of death continues forever. If you imagine heaven, it’s heaven. If you think, ‘I’m going to hell,’ you go to the hell you imagined. Maybe that’s the true nature of religion?
• [154] It’s just circulation, so eventually, you change form and become something. This ‘me’ right now is just one specific state in that cycle, so there’s nothing to fear… Of course, I’m scared!
• [156] What are ghosts? I want to become a ghost too.
• [157] I saw it somewhere, but you’re forced to drink soup, your memory gets erased, and then you’re reincarnated.

[158] They say you see a life review (soumatou) at the moment of death, but maybe you just keep watching that forever, living the same life eternally?

Soumatou (Revolving Lantern): A Japanese metaphorical expression for the phenomenon, said to occur at the time of death, where events of one’s life flash before the mind’s eye.

• [167] >>158 Apparently, that happens because the limiter on the brain’s processing speed comes off. It’s the same reason things look like they’re in slow motion during an accident.
• [161] Evolving into humans, getting smarter, brought a lot of fun things, but the amount of suffering definitely increased more, right?
• [163] I’m not scared of what happens after death at all. The pain before death is way scarier.
• [168] Feels like consciousness might remain until cremation. It probably just switches off abruptly like in Terminator.
• [169] But hey, isn’t the structure of the universe and the structure of the brain almost identical? Since the fundamental structure itself seems to be a loop, it’s obviously endless, so thinking about it is a waste of time. Though I still want to think about it. Seriously, what could be the ultimate source from which everything emerged?
• [173] >>169 Maybe we’re living in a world we ourselves created?
• [174] >>169 They’re not the same. Just kinda similar.
• [177] Having some terrifying world that isn’t nothingness would probably be scarier.
• [184] It’s like thinking about before you were born. Too meaningless.
• [189] The world I see is the world I created! Internet forums exist because I wanted them!
• [191] But it’d suck if I reincarnated as a cockroach.
• [197] Where was my consciousness before I was born?
• [198] God: ‘Time to spin the reincarnation gacha!’ Me: ‘Okay.’ Clatter clatter God: ‘Yup! You’re reincarnating as euglena!’ God: ‘Do your best!’ Me: ‘Huh?!’
• [208] >>198 (Former celebrity Shimada) Shinsuke said this too, and apparently, it’s true. The cockroaches, flies, and ants around us were human in their past lives.
• [201] I don’t really get the concept of time. Past, present, future… isn’t that just something humans decided on?
• [209] Dying and sleeping are the same. When you die, you start over as a baby again. That’s why we have to cherish the world that remains.
• [210] If you chant Namu Amida Butsu, everyone can go to the Pure Land (Gokuraku Jodo)! The Pure Land has no exploitative companies or noisy neighbors, just constant music, beautiful birds, and lots of jewels. It’s a fun place. (This contains religious expressions, so the original tone is intentionally preserved)

Namu Amida Butsu: A phrase chanted in Pure Land Buddhism, a school of Buddhism, to show devotion to Amitabha Buddha.

Gokuraku Jōdo (Pure Land): In Buddhism (especially Pure Land Buddhism), the ideal world where Amitabha Buddha resides. It is said to be free from suffering and filled with bliss.

• [211] Well, I think me being alive is just a kind of phenomenon. Like the moon orbiting the Earth.
• [213] There’s no reincarnation, so you gotta burn bright and live this life to the fullest!
• [216] Even if you live through suffering, when you die, it all becomes nothing.
• [227] If you want to live longer in reality, I guess you have no choice but to cut down on sleep, huh? Btw, I always sleep 9+ hours…
• [241] >>227 Just increase the density of your waking hours. Health is essential for that.
• [245] >>227 Better not. Short sleepers have shorter lifespans.
• [238] Not so much the afterlife, but I do worry if the human brain can still feel pain after biological death.
• [239] Seriously, what happens when you die? Does it just go black, and then you realize you’ve been born again as a baby? I hope so.
• [262] There’s also just the simple desire to know how the future develops.
• [264] >>262 I get that.
• [273] The afterlife in Dragon Ball is the kind of afterlife I long for the most.
• [276] I’m okay with dying, but I want to observe humanity until it goes extinct.
• [285] Knowing that while living, we’re slowly heading towards death is scary, isn’t it?
• [293] >>285 You can stop aging if you stop eating and breathing.
• [289] Honestly, this current life is scarier and harder.
• [300] Whether humanity perishes or the Earth ends, this world continues infinitely. It drives you crazy.
• [309] >>300 ‘This world’? The universe has a lifespan too.
• [317] >>309 The universe has a lifespan? When that time comes, will this world disappear?
• [301] Let’s just stop breathing oxygen already.
• [302] If there’s a beginning, there’s an end.
• [303] I think I’m living in order to die.