Death

There are a few phrases that people use when trying to comfort someone who has just lost a family member, friend or loved one. They are usually along the lines that the person is in a better place, or is looking down and smiling, or some other such nonsense. Personally, I think that trying to comfort someone by invoking unprovable scenarios is no help at all. Not really.

Death is a part of the human experience. It is the one thing that everyone living on this planet has in common. As hard as it may be for people to accept: we are all going to die. But then what?

Some people say that life is just a precursor to what happens after death; that death is only the beginning. I find it difficult to believe such a proposition. For one thing it undermines human decency.

It may seem like an odd leap but let me explain. If a person is motivated by the idea that once you have died your soul will end up for eternity in either perfect happiness and paradise or everlasting hellfire and torture then they are incapable of acting selflessly by definition. Every act of kindness that person performs is essentially trying to get themselves a golden ticket from the celestial Big Brother.

People should act kindly for no reason other than kindness itself, but this can only be done if people are not seeking a reward at the end. The same applies to those who believe in karma or reincarnation.

On the subject of death, people have often used the argument: What if you're wrong? This is Pascal's Wager in its purest form. The argument states that it is better to believe that there is an afterlife and be wrong than it is to be wrong about not believing. This seems like a supreme act of cowardice and hucksterism. It is the same logic as playing the lottery: What have you got to lose? If I was ever presented to an all powerful, unchallengeable celestial dictator who wanted to know why I did not believe, it would surely be better to be an honest unbeliever than a hypocritical, self-serving believer. Surely such a supreme being would respect intellectual honesty.

But that is the biggest irony of all. There is no way of knowing. By the time we find out there is no way to tell anyone. It is the ultimate mystery. Anyone who describes the afterlife in any sort of detail is either deluded or lying. Possibly both. There is no way for a mere mortal to know what happens after death until we experience it.

I could be wrong, but so could they. At least I admit it.