[Tapper]

UseOfWeapons, on 14 June 2012 - 08:42 AM, said:

I think more interesting (and certainly more plausible) than any of the various religious afterlives is the possibility (shown in various forms in countless SF novels) of a digital afterlife. Who would choose such a thing? If you're religious, would you choose it, if the possibility existed? If not, would you choose it, and for what reasons? How would affect the religious concept of the 'soul'? What would the legal ramifications be? It's no wonder so many SF authors have tried to work it out; the possibilities are quite literally endless.

The issue for religious people against choosing this option is quite likely the fact that they won't go to religious heaven if they pick this kind of afterlife.

[Use Of Weapons]

Tapper, on 19 June 2012 - 10:16 AM, said:

UseOfWeapons, on 14 June 2012 - 08:42 AM, said:

I think more interesting (and certainly more plausible) than any of the various religious afterlives is the possibility (shown in various forms in countless SF novels) of a digital afterlife. Who would choose such a thing? If you're religious, would you choose it, if the possibility existed? If not, would you choose it, and for what reasons? How would affect the religious concept of the 'soul'? What would the legal ramifications be? It's no wonder so many SF authors have tried to work it out; the possibilities are quite literally endless.

The issue for religious people against choosing this option is quite likely the fact that they won't go to religious heaven if they pick this kind of afterlife.

Why would they think that? If, as most religions have it, we are possessed of a soul which, at the moment of death, either embarks on its journey north or south to whichever destination it deserves, how would that journey be affected by the continuation of any consciousness or mind? Is the soul the mind? If it is, and it were perpetuated by the continuation of consciousness in some digital substrate, would not then the death of _that_ instantiation be the trigger for onward embarkation? (I now have a mental image of angels with signal lights, calling "All aboard, train to Heaven now departing from Platform 666!")

[Tapper]

UseOfWeapons, on 19 June 2012 - 10:40 AM, said:

Tapper, on 19 June 2012 - 10:16 AM, said:

UseOfWeapons, on 14 June 2012 - 08:42 AM, said:

I think more interesting (and certainly more plausible) than any of the various religious afterlives is the possibility (shown in various forms in countless SF novels) of a digital afterlife. Who would choose such a thing? If you're religious, would you choose it, if the possibility existed? If not, would you choose it, and for what reasons? How would affect the religious concept of the 'soul'? What would the legal ramifications be? It's no wonder so many SF authors have tried to work it out; the possibilities are quite literally endless.

The issue for religious people against choosing this option is quite likely the fact that they won't go to religious heaven if they pick this kind of afterlife.

Why would they think that? If, as most religions have it, we are possessed of a soul which, at the moment of death, either embarks on its journey north or south to whichever destination it deserves, how would that journey be affected by the continuation of any consciousness or mind? Is the soul the mind? If it is, and it were perpetuated by the continuation of consciousness in some digital substrate, would not then the death of _that_ instantiation be the trigger for onward embarkation? (I now have a mental image of angels with signal lights, calling "All aboard, train to Heaven now departing from Platform 666!")

Well, I guess to the religious, conciousness/mind and soul are interwoven. If they weren't, why spend all that time in prayer and all that energy on following god's laws - they're a conscious effort after all.

[Use Of Weapons]

Yes, they're interwoven, but they're not the same thing (from the religious mindset, I hasten to reaffirm). Conscious actions affect the state of grace of the soul (in standard Christian theology as far as I remember it), not of the mind.

[The dancing game]

You're right, everything is based on going with the odds, and slimming them down as much as possible, but I really think our concept of reality is just something that has a fair chance of being wrong. there's no reason it should be or shouldnt be, because all our observations are dependent on each other. I know my computer is real because I feel it. How do I know what I feel is real? Because...because...My brother seems to feel things like I do. How do I know that? Because I hear him tell me so, and see him react in a way that would suggest as much. How can I trust what I hear and see...and so on and so forth. So either that cycle is right or its not, but its really irrelevant to live if you think it's not, so I imagine most people who believe that are dead now and therefore can be ignored, as the whole thing really should be. Like I keep saying arbitrary. Now the interesting stuff! Hooray! The digital afterlife I believe would accumulate its own following of corresponding religions, would generally bring a fall in the popularity of religions, and would be probably largely outcast as tapper said by the traditional religions. The point of a religion isnt really what an individual person believes in, its control and order. You tell them what to believe in, not the other way around, in the devout, and remaining cases. The digital reality would be wresting away control and order, and so traditional religions would almost certainly discourage it. And they could too, with their own little closed systems. Nothing ill is meant of that, since everything is a closed and self sustaining system that is rational.



edit- what matters isn't things like if the mind/soul are separate, its rather whether or not this will diminish the power of the church. To read Harry Potter is sinful you know.-tide (im sorry, I'm just doing that because it makes it easier for me to see if that makes sense, it helps it flow somehow...Im sorry, theres no other reason, Im not trying to be an idiot.)

This post has been edited by The dancing game: 20 June 2012 - 02:32 AM