Argument Against the Possibility of an Afterlife

Reductio ad Absurd um:
Telling a religious person that they are wrong is pointless. Instead follow them in there hopes and dreams and illustrate the conclusions. What are the ramifications of eternal life?
Eternal paradise is an individual concept, obviously. But it is always based on the epitome, the peak of happiness in his or her life. If that moment were stretched on into eternity, it would become mundane, meaningless. If it were a single moment stretched to eternity, it would still seem like only a moment.
No matter how varied and imaginative your activities, they are all based on the same governing rules that define the universe, if for no other reason than your mind isn’t capable of experiencing anything else. It is a product of the universe, and as such, is wholly endemic to it, and dependent on it for all experience, function, and even imagination. Say there is suddenly no such thing as gravity, and you can float and fly as you please. This is still based in reality though, because it is only in comparison with a concept, a rule of the universe.
Unfortunately for the religious concept of eternal life, the human mind is geared to operate on the concept of change, of cause/effect, the passing of experiences defines time, and the pace of time. The untrained human mind is trapped between the conscious realization of the unknowable future, and the animalistic tendency toward self-preservation. It naturally tends to seek constancy and eternity as a comfort from the unknown.
Once constancy is found, though, the mind tires of it. There is no change introduced, and the mind stagnates and submits to entropy. The whole world appears from the mind’s perspective to freeze up and lose motion, focus, and meaning. When faced with true eternity the untrained mind begins to understand, and recoils in fear.
I believe that no matter the state of eternity, whether it be heaven or hell, after a billion trillion years of unchanging constancy, the mind will be reduced to a wisp of neutral gray emotionlessness, beyond even the pain of watching all your hopes, dreams, fears, loves, ideas, knowledge; your very existence become meaningless and inconsequential in the infinite halls of heaven or hell.

Eternal life is an individual concept that is incompatible with individuality.

Humans, and Their Foibles

Human beings are essentially mad. Madness defined as a goal which contradicts its own existence. Humans are the essence of conflict. Power corrupts them. They desire power. They are imprisoned by shelter, and terrified of freedom.
They are both social AND individual creatures, and as such are essentially opposed to themselves. Since they operate in a societal form, humans pay attention to other humans, and are blinded by the “human experience” of the universe. They cannot gain a sufficient experience of the world as it is, instead of merely as humans expect it to be. Because of this, they are disillusioned, easily misled, and frightened of a world they struggle to understand only through the avenues of social human perspective. They are often the subject of a vague sense of general unease that arises when they forget for a moment their human conceit, and perceive their insignificance in a world that they suddenly feel is infinitely large and threatening. They forget that it is no more threatening than it was when they saw themselves as an integral part of it.
But the objective viewpoint can only be gained through societal interactions; through communications of other ideas and experiences; therein lies the problem. An individual can only see the world truly as it is through an objective viewpoint. So the only way for an individual to find balance and peace within their self; to start resolving the eternal conflict that up till now has been the very essence of humanity, is to find an objective viewpoint through society. This is a very hard thing to do. This is why the majority of humans suffer from poor education and suffering based on subjectivity of their surroundings. It should be the primary objective of any society to bestow on its individuals a widely educated, objective viewpoint. It could be argued that the primary, or dual purpose of society should be to protect its citizens. It is true, however, that if the majority of humanity were bestowed with a truly objective education, there would be far less need to defend yourself from your neighbors. It would be as the Dalai Lama said; that eventually we would see that there is no such thing as enmity, that everyone is part of a cohesive whole. We should not be warring against one another,  we should be promoting each other to benefit from one another. Like the cells in the human body. And it is also as Alan Watts said, that to rightly describe an individual, you would also have to describe his surroundings, both past and present. So it would be a misconception to separate the individual from his surroundings. So by this reasoning, we as humans, as individuals and as a society, should treat our surroundings, our world and everything in it, as part of our bodies, to be promoted and benefited from.

On Bravery…

Bravery often is a matter of disregarding consequences and focusing on possible positive outcomes. As a result, bravery is often easier for the young, or less experienced; those with little knowledge of circumstances, and their possible outcomes. In this sense bravery is the cousin of ignorance. But being brave doesn’t necessarily describe you as wise or ignorant. The ignorant may be cowardly, and the wise may also be brave.  Notice, however, that these special circumstances breed either the most hated or most revered of society.
The term bravery itself is a bit of an abstraction. Truly there are only your goals, and what you are willing to risk to attain them. Bravery is more of a term used in a social context. An act is most usually brave when it benefits another person, and is only brave when another person is around to deem it so.
Bravery is the term that is often applied to those who risk a great deal to attain their goals, but usually the term is only  used when their goals benefit more than just themselves.
I would only apply the term “brave” to a person who risks a great deal wholly for the benefit of another. But this is a hard thing to determine in anyone but yourself.

A bone to Pick with A.D.D.

When I say that I have trouble concentrating on signs, or when somebody asks if I know a place that I go by every day and I say no, they say “how the hell not?” they tell me I might have A.D.D.
What you call A.D.D. I call a healthy disassociation with symbology.  When your mind is occupied with the symbol of a thing, your attention is taken from the thing which that symbol represents. If your mind is constantly preoccupied with interpreting symbols, such as reading all the signs, talking endlessly,  listening to conversations, or even reading, then you never become truly aware of the world around you; you’re partially blind, and everything only shows up as blurry masses.
This obsession with symbology causes people to feel dissatisfied, hollow, meaningless. The barrier, the middle man, symbols stand betwixt them and the world of indescribable sensation, for to describe it would diminish it. it’s a tendency I’ve noticed in pop culture more and more as time goes by. This sense of dissatisfaction that is reflected in the themes and plots of  the 08’ box office busters. Also I notice it in everyday conversation, especially with the youth. Largely, the older you get the more beaten down and accepting you’ve become, (though no one would ever admit that, surely) and the more willing you are to operate solely in the world of symbology.
Free yourself from the distractions of constant sign reading, word forming and word interpreting. Open yourself to the world that flows into your mind by way of the senses, and break down the barriers of symbology that lie there. Stop thinking of things in terms of what they are called; instead think of them as what they ARE. The apple is red, yes, but the word “red” distracts you from what it represents; that which red IS.

I wrote this the first time i tried shrooms. i think it’s insightful. and funny.

All paths of the mind lead to the unknowable void, for those who are willing and brave enough to walk them. The trouble with words is that in using them you negate the purpose of their being. They are meant to describe something, but in using a symbol that represents  the meaning they are distracting from what the word actually means; that unknowable real moment…you see how all the words I spin around the void weave a web that becomes nothing. Words are words. They are symbols that we have been trained to attach meaning to. Should we take advantage of that tool to build ourselves a certain understanding of the world around us; or do we acknowledge that all attempts at building a web of rationality, of logic… are merely attempts to blind the inner eye to the truth of the darkness; the unknowable void.