This website offers a summary of an essay written on Nihilism. Nihilism is the belief that human existence is without purpose or higher meaning. It is written by a non-nihilist with the purpose of explaining and arguing against the concept. It relates to my chosen topic "Do We Survive Death" in that life after death would not exist under its pretense. It basically states that the physical death of a human being marks the end of its existence. The author further explains his position by using the theory of relativity coupled with quantum physics to discuss time and space issues. It is a rather difficult essay to understand with the addition of these two highly influential and complicating subjects.
http://www.leaderu.com/truth/1truth28.html
"What about the analogy of the candle? Even in the analogy, the light does not go out; it goes up. It is still traveling through space, observable from other planets. It 'goes out' as a child goes out to play; it is liberated." This quote, taken from the above listed website was used to argue the belief in life after death. I think the authors use of this analogy helps to better understand the law of physics when used to explain existence. We know that we have the choice to either believe in life after death or not. For most of us, we have spent a lot of energy trying to justify our beliefs in the after life outside of our intuition to do so. Angles like these help me to grasp the meaning behind the energy that comprises our being.
"Primitive Man has two cows. One dies. What is the difference between Dead Cow and Live Cow? Primitive man looks. (He's really quite bright.) There appears no material difference in size or weight immediately upon death. Yet there is an enormous difference; something is missing. What? Life, of course. And what is that? The answer is obvious to any intelligent observer whose head is not clouded with theories: life is what makes Live Cow breathe. Life is breath. (The word for 'soul', or 'life', and 'breath' is the same in many ancient languages.) Soul is not air, which is still in Dead Cow's lungs, but the power to move it." This quote, also taken from the same essay, I thought was poignant. Philosophy is becoming more and more to me, a way to tear subject matter into a billion pieces and analyze each piece. This quote is analogous to the process it takes to provide a solid logical argument.
http://lifeafterdeath.info/Philosophical.htm
The following quote was taken from the aforementioned website. "Also, as others have theorized, the past, present, and future may be simultaneously occurring." This same concept was presented in the first website I looked at. Nihilism supports the belief that life ends at death and there is no future self. If there is no future self, how could there have been a past or present self? I believe this is where relativity and physics come into the picture. For me, a better understanding of the sciences is necessary to further weigh this option.
This particular essay was written by Harinder S. Sandhu who's own opinion is that the evidence we are given although arguable lends itself in favor of the belief that life after death does in fact exist. I do not believe that his essay is very explicative but I did find it interesting that the quote above was one of his more convincing statements. The fact that it was also mentioned in the Nihilist essay proves that it is a concept worthy of more in depth understanding on my behalf.
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