Death and an introduction

I am not religious, but I used to be a fundamentalist Christian: I believed the Bible to be the infallible word of God and read it literally. There was no significant event in my life that changed this for me; I just gradually realised that I didn’t have any good reason to believe what I did. Naturally, the beliefs gradually faded as well. This transition had several effects on me, though none were as powerful as you might expect. The one I wish to discuss here is that I no longer believe in life after death.

I don't know what will happen when I die. I do, however, think I have a reasonable idea of what won't happen: I will not retain the sense of self I possess in life. As neuroscientist and popular author Sam Harris said*,

“… you damage areas of the brain and faculties are lost… You can cease to recognize faces, you can cease to know the names of animals but you still know the names of tools… what we’re being asked to consider is that you damage one part of the brain and something about the mind and subjectivity is lost. You damage another and yet more is lost… you damage the whole thing at death, and we can rise off the brain with all our faculties intact, recognizing grandma and speaking English.”

I do not think this view is very sensible.

The result of this is that my efforts in this life are wholly focused on this life, and not what may or may not come after. I find this view of death as “the end” very freeing: the fact that the actions I take throughout my life are colossally insignificant on a universal scale is liberating. But it is also very scary. What I have come to realise is that I do want to contribute something. Not on a huge scale, and maybe not at all, but I do want to try.

The question that therefore remains is simply “what do I have to contribute?” and the only answer I can come up with is my thoughts, however valueless they may be. And so, given the time constraints that life currently places on me, I plan to develop this blog with small, easy-to-read entries that I hope will have some positive impact on any readers. Please forgive me if I fail!

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6iHe0ra_UM&feature=player_embedded