If We Had Proof Of Life After Death, Would People Change?

For the sake of argument, let’s say tomorrow we are given undeniable, irrefutable proof there is life after death.

For example:
In science labs, all over the world, pens seeming float to boards and start writing.
A name is written. Age, sex, family members names, place where lived, time place and cause of death.
Everything needed to find out whom all these people were.
Everything matches up perfectly, and in every lab is a different name and information for that specific person.
Most of these events are even captured on recording equipment.

So, basically undeniable proof. BUT, NO INFORMATION ON WHAT IT IS LIKE THERE.

So, here is the question, or questions I have.

First, the main one.
Do you think this would make people change their behavior, striving to be better people?

Personally, I think a lot of people would. But I really don’t think it would for people whom are inherently bad. In fact, I think some bad people would try to use this information to control others.

I also wonder, how would religions handle this information?
Would it cause a panic?
Would people just sigh in relief, finally knowing the answer of life after death, or would they still want specifics of what “life” was like over there?

For these questions, I think some religions would of course use this to control their people, while others may not change at all and just have a “see, we told you” attitude and continue on their path.
And I think there would be a bit of everything, people panicking, sighing and questioning.

The pessimist in me says that after all the initial hoopla, everything would die down and life would go back to the way it is, for the most part.

The optimist in me hopes that if it did happen, most people would change for the better, at least striving to be better people, helping others, thinking before acting, worrying about the consequences of their actions, whether out of fear of a deity, having to return to “try again” or just the unknown of what might happen after this life.

Would you change, or feel you needed to?



Just something I’ve been pondering the last couple days.
And thanks to Wildtimes for a great reading referral!

Well I'd say that if what you described as proof of the afterlife would happen, it would completely discount the Christian afterlife account. If there are spirits that are on the planet and we can communicate with them then they certainly aren't in heaven or hell. It would also discount any religion that believed in reincarnation. Actually, now that I think about it, it would discount every religion's description of the afterlife. So I could see this causing quite a stir in just about every religious organization in the world.

For me, I'd be happy because we'd finally have proof for one of the topics considered unknowable to humans.

reply to post by chiefsmom


People shouldn't need this to change!

Embrace what you believe in and strive to be a better person to everyone around you.

reply to post by Chrisfishenstein


LOL I know!
But then reality sets in. When pondering this, I was thinking a lot about politicians, religious leaders, leaders of other countries, and even, sorry to admit, people like, murderer's and really bad people that hurt children.

reply to post by chiefsmom

there'd be a lot more suicides

reply to post by chiefsmom


ok - I will bite - the answer to the blindlingly obvious counter question :

" what is it like "

would do more to influence behavioir than the mere existance of " afterlife "

and of cource if the answer matched the dogma of an extablished religious cult then .............................

reply to post by Krazysh0t

And Ignorant_Ape

See, that is still the conundrum of what happens in the "afterlife". Yes, these people came forward, Yes you survive your death, but they don't speak of what it is like "over there".
So I guess it would still probably cause chaos in organized religion.

reply to post by zedy63


Huh.
Never even thought about that angle, but I have to suspect you would be right. Even without them knowing for sure what it is like "over there".

All of the major religions believe in life after death. Variations of what happens exist but that is the purpose of religion (from accountability to helping people connect, etc.). So no - it would not cause a stir. It would simply strengthen their beliefs.

Would people panic or behave differently - no. There is already a lot of proof of this (not as concrete as most would like but an abundance - phenomenological research may not be good enough for example). People are sensory in nature - they have to experience something in most cases to believe it. Therefore, unless they attempted to transcend to experience a piece of that for themselves it's unlikely we would see a shift. For one - people measure what is "good and bad" in different ways.

I actually think it would cause chaos, and I doubt it would make people change in a fundamental way relating to their character.

Honestly: Would YOU change anything relating to your character if you knew you were coming right back here no matter what with no religious bent to it at all? I'll bet you wouldn't file taxes though and you would wonder WTF you're doing listening to any sort of human governance or authority figure or law enforcement.

And we're talking the same realization for everyone (7 billion people) when generic reincarnation is a fact (in this scenario). Religious communities would lose it when "their" versions of an afterlife turned out to be pure bunk. No pearly gates - no stars and flags (haha). Actually even people that believe in reincarnation would lose it when, according to your OP, karma isn't addressed in any way.

Just plain die and come back and you remember how long it took and what you ate before you went.

People would be mad - very very mad - at any kind of control structure at all on the face of the Earth IMO.

Interesting to think about.

reply to post by chiefsmom

See, that is still the conundrum of what happens in the "afterlife". Yes, these people came forward, Yes you survive your death, but they don't speak of what it is like "over there".
So I guess it would still probably cause chaos in organized religion.

Probably this is an accurate assessment. Islam may have a meltdown denying the blasphemy and behead more people, Christians may pronounce an attack of demons and restart an inquisition. (Note: these are extreme estimates.)

ATS would spawn a whole new series of threads in the religious conspiracy and paranormal forums. So at least something would remain consistent.

reply to post by Floydshayvious


Actually you bring up a good moral dilemma. On one hand, you MAY try to be a good person, help others, hoping for a good afterlife. But does not paying your taxes make you a "bad" person? Wouldn't the government be an "entity", not a human, as far as your kindness?

Wow, seeing everyone's response just makes my brain go off in 20 different directions about this.
So thank you all!

I'd say some people might change, but a lot of people wouldn't care. They would set their sights on competing for a management job in the new life, after all they are happy controlling others here. They would believe they could change the afterlife so they could make it better, using every trick in the book to accomplish it. They would make sure their resume was sent in advance showing how superior they are.

It would probably make it worse here.

chiefsmom

First, the main one.
Do you think this would make people change their behavior, striving to be better people?

Hard to say for sure what I think people would do. People would still be the same people, nothing about the mechanisms of human behavior is likely to change with knowing a single piece of information. Just because the 'afterlife' has been confirmed would not make anyone know for sure what the experience is or would be like.
I think people would have less fear of death but that doesn't automatically translate into respectful behavior in my opinion. That would require constant and repetitious programming.

I also wonder, how would religions handle this information?
Would it cause a panic?
Would people just sigh in relief, finally knowing the answer of life after death, or would they still want specifics of what “life” was like over there?

I think religious institutions would ride this knowledge to further their agendas. All of a sudden the fear of death is replaced by the fear of judgment.
I think they would benefit from this knowledge and not panic. As I have said it fits nicely into the stories they peddle.
I would not sigh in relief. I can only guess that many people would though without first giving thought to the implications of this. Eternity is a long time without the "big sleep". What if people found out the afterlife was just like when they were alive but with slightly different scenery, there would be many I suspect that would not enjoy it.

Would you change, or feel you needed to?

Not because of this specific knowledge. This would be a part of the overall big picture but I like to change all the time, experiment with attitudes and try to avoid repeating cycles that serve no more benefit.

Only if there was a way to experience it for yourself could such imperical knowledge move anyone.

reply to post by chiefsmom


NO!

doesn't matter what people know...
people know smoking is bag, they smoke
people know heavy drinking is bad, they drink
people know they go to jail for stealing or killing, they still kill and steal

NO!

We would immediately begin to descend back to the medieval dark ages where life was considered worthless and expendable.
There would be global chaos and power struggles like the world has never seen. Wars and fires would engulf the earth and all of life would cease to exist in a New York minute.

There's a reason why it's kept a secret.

reply to post by chiefsmom


Even if there was something as obvious as the writing on the wall, as you stated it still wouldn't prove life after death.

People would still argue that it's demons or something else causing the writing on the wall and not actual people being dead and existing in the afterlife.

The only true way to know if there is or is not an afterlife is to die.

Nothing will change that reality.

reply to post by chiefsmom


No people would become even worse!

Those who exploit others would be "emboldened" by the fact that their exploitation is only temporary. No one really gets hurt, right? (i.e. the Bad can justify much worse.)

Those who regularly take chances with their lives to feel that excitement may have to go to more extreme actions. Consider the suicide hobbyist who shuffles off mortal coils every Friday to see what comes next.

I definitely agree that religions would find a way to integrate it into a control scheme. "This is absolute proof that Hell means being forced to haunt a pen for all of eternity, and only have control over your actions every 2000 years or so!!"

I also agree that suicides would increase, and likely by a lot. Fear of death holds us back from a lot of rash actions... but it doesn't seem quite as rash if there's definitely something else to look forward. If there's a chance for that life to be better than this, then why not take the plunge? All I'm doing here is racking up debt, moving to shadier and shadier neighbourhoods and working longer and longer hours just to make sure my family can eat.

There would also be an increase in murder-suicides, just as an extension of the same logic.

We humans sometimes skate on a thin line. You may be surprised at how many of us are one bad run of events away from offing ourselves, even with the fear of the total nothingness of death. Imagine if death was an opportunity.