Ok so this came to me yesterday... theists who believe in an afterlife are probably going to pray to their God if they knew they were going to die in a couple of seconds.

So I will present a scenario to atheists and ask them their honest answer (as it's already clear what theists would do).

Assume you were in some country where the death penalty was still legal and they didn't do it with an electric chair but with a guillotine. Let's say no matter what you did or say, you couldn't escape from the guillotine. Your hands etc were tied up.. the only thing you can do is think. How would you prepare for death?

Like, I think the easiest way is to just let it go. Like before you fall asleep, it's over faster if you don't really think about it.

But, I wanted to see if some of you would be interested in trying to be conscious to your best ability, by pumping adrenaline and analyzing each fragment of a second after you are beheaded to see when it's really going to "end".

I think it really lets you to see what death is like. But on the other hand if you make your peace and "let it go", the moment when the guillotine hits, you won't even realize when it's over. You won't even "know" it happened... it all ends....

In before "why would you get the death penalty". This is a serious question cause I know there are atheists who will turn to God right before death, while some will just make their peace with death. I was wondering if anyone is that interested in seeing the passage from death to nothing. Maybe this is stupid but yeah, maybe others have thought about it.

I can't imagine most people could imagine what they would do or plan for it. I'm sure the adrenaline would be out of control. I imagine I would focus on images of my children for comfort.

I honestly don't think I've thought too much about fear of dying until I had kids. And my fear is more about wondering if they would be well cared for and (the selfish side) my sadness at not being able to see what they become.

I imagine death is no different then going to sleep (I don't remember my dreams) and not waking up so that doesn't, in itself, really seem that scary.

I'm having a hard time understanding the point of your question. What do you mean, "to see what death is like"? And what difference would dying by guillotine or electric chair make?

I have no interest in learning of the pain or how long consciousness lasts with having your head lopped off, if that's what you mean. Otherwise, it seems to be a silly question. If you're really an atheist you don't think death will be like anything. You're just not there like before you were born. I don't understand what you're asking.

I'd scream like a little girl.

X2


AND THOSE AROUND ME HAD BETTER HAVE STRONG STOMACHS.

or a terrible sense of smell

Tell me, after my head has been chopped off, will I still be able to hear, a least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump of my neck? ...that would be the pleasure to end all pleasures.

I don't see how what you are getting at is any different than being put under general anesthesia. I was put under for an operation, and do remember attempting to "analyze" my last moments of consciousness. My perception was that I never felt woozy or sleepy; one moment I was lying on the operating table, and the next thing I perceived I was waking up in recovery. If I had died during the surgery I would not have known the difference.

My belief of death is also that it's like before u are born, or like a anasthesia etc. But like, isn't it worth a shot to emotionally scar yourself that somehow triggers you to realize the passage from living to death. What I mean is, in some circumstances you assume time is going very slow. Like when someone gets in a horrible accident he may think it took like an hour when it really took a couple of seconds. Maybe if you really become dedicated to realize what's happening, the the last second will actually last a lot longer in your head.

For confusion sake, my point is that your life WONT actually take longer in reality. But in your mind, time will have a different course where you start analyzing parts of your consciousness dissapearing and u get in touch with parts of death instead of everything happening in a blink of an eye where everything just stops.

On the basis that I am an all-round good guy, I have no doubt that I would have been sentenced to death wrongly, and am in all likelihood going to be protesting my innocence loudly until the last minute.

Failing that, I expect that I might be considering the usual regrets about goals unfulfilled, family moments missed, etc, etc.

I will however be confident about the fact of my pending non-existence once my brain has exhausted whatever reserves of blood and oxygen may remain after the chop.

And if I'm wrong (don't see it as possible, but hypothetically what if) ... God gets it in the neck when I see him, since (as stated elsewhere) I don't appreciate being his little kewpie doll here on earth

Maybe you're speaking of something deeper that I'm still not getting. I can't imagine anyone who would want a slow lingering death. I have no fear of death itself, but I don't relish the thought of dying. The quicker the better as far as I'm concerned.

I would turn to Satan because there are no atheists in foxholes.

Freeroll ftw. With death approaching imminently, Pascal's Wager isn't so terrible.

But yeah, this. Whenever I think about death and I start feeling that bit of dread in the pit of my stomach, I remind myself that I'm not really terrified of sleep or anesthesia, and that if death really is the end, then I won't even know it. I think it's tough to wrap our minds around the idea of permanent unconsciousness because consciousness is so central to our frame of reference.

Scream,
Freeeedooom!!???
before that sucker cuts my neck.

I pondered the issue a little more, and yep, I'm sticking with screaming like a little girl.

On a serious note, i like the question turned around, what if you died and theres is nothing after, but some how you can choose to come back and live a year more on earth?

I think atheist would live this year somewhat the same as they lived their lives to that point,

but on the other hand believers would change their behavior/perspective radically on this year

Although this argument can be turn backwards if there really is a judgement at the end.

Yes, I'm on a hangover, I'm not sure what I'm quite getting at... i know that I'm not explaining it right though. When I thought about it yesterday night before sleeping it seemed very deep.

ANyway i cant get my thoughts across very well... i'll try another shot (for those interested).

I've no fear of death or even the pain of getting my head chopped off. But it sounds intriguing to just relax and go out peacefully. But at the same time, it's your absolute last second of your one and only life... wouldn't it be better to just use it and maybe trigger something inside of your brains that maybe allows you to see something you've never seen before? I mean, when your head is chopped off, you are still going to be alive for couple seconds (maybe minutes?), so like... I think it will have a great impact on you when your head is chopped off.

Maybe the brain doesn't have to be used to control the body parts, as its disconnected from them, and the full brain can be used to fully focus on what you want it to focus on. If you try to burst yourself with adrenaline maybe you can supply yourself with a rapid bloodflow for your brain to be active for a couple of seconds. And the mind might get one of those episodes where a couple seconds look as if they last hours. So like, you try to hold on and analyze every micro second before your death, use the information to build your understanding of death and kinda like "be there until the very last moment".

It's definetly something that needs a lot of gutts. But maybe the consciousness excists of multiple parts. And when the last part remains, you can already have a feeling of how death is like since the rest of consciousness has dissapeared. The very last moment, if you do it right, you know the 1 answer to the question nobody knows.

pascals wager is always terrible

It kinda still is. You're risking pissing off a massive number of gods by putting your faith in one before death. Best thing to do is to keep your mouth shut and hope that if there is a god, he's not an *******.

I'd just sit there silently before saying "Obvious guillotine is obvious" or some equally non-funny but oh so hilarious modified internet meme.

I'd pray to Satan to save me.

I would wonder if I'd still be thinking about stuff for a few seconds after my head was chopped off.

I would sing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlBiL...eature=related

i guess i'd just be screaming the most obscene hurtful things i could think of about the people doing this to me at the top of my lungs until my voicebox was detached. or maybe just screaming as loud as possible in an attempt to hurt their eardrums. never go out without a fight, even if it's futile. singing is not a bad idea either. might do that.

Be really nervous/hate people for being so stupid.

On a more serious note; In dangerous situations over prolonged time with seemingly little room for control...like a hostage situation or a death sentence, what happens to almost all people is that they become apathetic and limp.

In uni we studied pictures of many people in hostage situations, and mostly they just looked resigned and sluggish, not afraid or angry....they didn't really seem aware.

We're also talking about people being held at gunpoint in front of a police crowd and similar situations, not people being held captive in a room...so it certainly wasn't due to the lack of drama.