<p>the energy soul whatever you term it moves on. I have seen many people die, the lights do "go out " This is my opinion.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s all well and good, but one person’s present is not the same person’s future.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No one made that claim. You were asserting that the future did not exist.</p>
<p>Lately I’ve been thinking you just start a new life (you know, reincarnation).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That would make life cyclic, redundant, and repetitive.</p>
<p>What would happen if God divided by zero? o.O</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That post wasn’t addressed to you. AE3141 wrote: Which means that someone’s “future” is another person’s “present.” I was merely pointing out that that doesn’t pertain to the issue at hand. Time may be different for each individual (to a very small degree), but the future for any one person doesn’t exist, nor does the future as a whole.</p>
<p>“Classical logic doesn’t play a helpful role in arguments like this. The simple fact that we haven’t yet observed God, or proved God’s existence using conventional science, is enough to nullify any questions grounded on logic. If we don’t even know if He exists, there is no point in arguing any further details. It is a question of personal belief, and as such, isn’t up for debate. Or rather, it makes debates like this purposeless.”</p>
<p>This is where the thread should have ended. But I do recognize the lucrative nature of discussions like this - it’s similar to the lucrative nature of issues of politics and morality: the inherent human desire to strive for understanding, and, even more powerful, the inherent human desire to make other people come to that same understanding.</p>
<p>Bleh. It’s too late at night to think about stuff like this. I should be spacing out watching TV.</p>
<p>Anyway, I believe in a sort of constant state of “nothingness” for the body (our life is our life, and nothing more), but possible reincarnation (as a cognizant being? an inanimate object? something that exists in another dimension?) for the otherworldly part of us, if it is there. That’s comforting. That’s relaxing.</p>
<p>I’ve also sort of held the belief, or rather, the hope, that whatever one personally believes is what happens to him or her. That would be nice, no?</p>
<p>
So you don’t believe in time as a dimension?</p>
<p>^There is no predetermined future.</p>
<p>I think that there is an inevitable future, but it is impossible to predict. Because of randomness, you cannot create an accurate simulation (for example, at the atomic level where decisions are made in your brain). Same thing philosophically IMO but you won’t get into an argument with a physicist over it.</p>
<p>uh-oh. Please I beg of you- not the debate. No one is right or wrong. I’m starting to froth at the mouth with horror. Errk- I’ve always had an of/on relationship with religion. Can’t we just send in our ideas without commenting on other ones?</p>
<p>I believe after death- our soul/consciousness decides what it wants to do. I believe that reincarnation into other worlds is possible. I believe we are really bacterial organisms living inthe belly of some giant dog.
I could be right :}</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I can see how one would believe that, but I find it difficult to see decisions as an (essentially) arbitrary act of chemistry rather than the result of some consciousness. I guess I also have a problem with how the former idea could lead to some type of atheist antinomianism lol.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Well for what it’s worth, this was more of a proxy debate (whether it’s possible for there to be both free will and omniscience). And I think it’s quite clear that I was right. :D</p>
<p>You just disagreed on the definition of omniscience. IIRC the Bible definitely claims that the Christian god knows the future (but doesn’t actually use the word “omniscient”), so you could use the free will argument in that case.</p>
<p>I think individually we have free will, but a God could predict larger trends based on human nature. </p>
<p>Example: When you add a reactant/product to a chemical system at equilibrium, you may not know which molecules will be used up to bring the system back to equilibrium, but you do know that it will happen.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yeah, because claiming the future doesn’t exist despite evidence to the contrary actually means you were right.</p>
<p>Bump! This is interesting.</p>
<p>Richard dawkins wrote my bible…lol</p>
<p>Eternal nothing-ness?</p>