[SEQ RERUN] Third Alternatives for Afterlife-ism

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Today's post, Third Alternatives for Afterlife-ism was originally published on May 8, 2007. A summary (from the LW wiki):

One source of hope against death is Afterlife-ism. Some say that this justifies it as a Noble Lie. But there are better (because more plausible) Third Alternatives, including nanotech, actuarial escape velocity, cryonics, and the Singularity. If supplying hope were the real goal of the Noble Lie, advocates would prefer these alternatives. But the real goal is to excuse a fixed belief from criticism, not to supply hope.

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Today's post, Third Alternatives for Afterlife-ism was originally published on May 8, 2007. A summary (from the LW wiki):

One source of hope against death is Afterlife-ism. Some say that this justifies it as a Noble Lie. But there are better (because more plausible) Third Alternatives, including nanotech, actuarial escape velocity, cryonics, and the Singularity. If supplying hope were the real goal of the Noble Lie, advocates would prefer these alternatives. But the real goal is to excuse a fixed belief from criticism, not to supply hope.

I'm not so sure, from the testimonies of the deconverted. As I noted recently: this Reddit article notes that there is considerable pain in giving up theism, and says that a lot of this pain is realising there is no afterlife. So even if theists lack much of a theory on what happens to you when you die, at least some seem to think something does - it's not just a thought-stopper.

there is considerable pain in giving up theism

It varies a lot from person to person. Some people find it a joyful liberation. Some people find it depressing and painful. Some people find it emotionally neutral and get on with their lives.

(I deconverted from Christianity at age ~36. It was a long and careful process -- I don't make big probably-irreversible changes in a hurry -- but not, in my case, at all painful or upsetting.)

9lsparrish15y

I have to say, giving up theism and the heaven belief is a painful process even if you are embracing cryonics. Here are some of the sources of discomfort: * Cryonics is not certain to work, even to a person who embraces the idea -- their suspension might not be good enough, or they could be thawed by accident. * The afterlife supposed to be granted is not eternal by nature, it is a finite extension of life -- unbounded by aging but not proof against accident. * Cryonics violates societal norms, practically forcing one to adapt to a rebellious (or arrogant) narrative for self-descriptive purposes. * Most people you know are not going to sign up for this, so you will be separated from them even if it works. * People who do sign up may get an inferior preservation than you or suffer premature thawing, so fellow cryonicists are not guaranteed to be there with you in the future. * Ideas like whether you are okay with uploading take on new significance as you may easily find yourself in a situation where copy-and-paste is the only available survival mechanism. * Reproduction -- and all that grand circle of life stuff -- loses some of its significance as you can no longer claim it is necessary to replace old generations with new ones. * People will think your decision was made in ignorance of any or all of the above, and pattern-match you as delusional or foolish. * Even if it's cheap, you still do have to think about money (and how much less of it remains for your heirs) in this context.

4hairyfigment15y

Sounds exactly like a thought-stopper to me. I believe in retrospect that I spent a long while trying to avoid all thought of reality, with a good bit of success, in order to avoid facing my mortality. My vaguely Christian beliefs during that time seem of a piece with this.

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