I think you'll like this:
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php...&id=2431#comic
Quote:
The Who's of whoville cannot see Horton the elephant. They cannot understand the fact that there is more than there world out there. They cannot comprehend what it would look like, or even begin to fathom the size of everything that exists outisde their little spec on that flower, let alone the size of the elephant; gigantic to them, but infinitely tiny within his own Universe. Even if they were to SEE Horton the Elephant, he would be much too large to even be recognized as a thing.
If we were to stare directly into the face of God, would we even know it?
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I'm iffy on the god thing for that reason. If some god did exist, it would surely be incomprehensible to us.
But for there to be an afterlife you would have to assume humans are special compared to all other lifeforms other than our intelligence. (Which I know religious folks have no problem believing but you need to do mental gymnastics to make things work out otherwise.)
Imagine how many insects are always dying. Heaven would be almost entirely beetles. Or do they go to hell? Or does each little beetle soul get reincarnated?
What about one-celled organisms? If one of those die, nothing happens? The human body is made up of trillions of them which are dying as well at different rates. So the distinction is an independent organism then? (Except no creature exists in a vacuum.) Or is size the determining factor? In the grand scheme of things we are itty bitty teeny weeny specks.
Basically you would need to subscribe to the notion that only humans (a very new species) possess a soul (which there is no proof of) for any of this work out (or keep some semblance of yourself in this afterlife). But your memories are all housed in your physical brain...
As far as I'm concerned there can only be an afterlife (how one thinks of one at least where you are still you) by not thinking about how it would actually work.
So much simpler and elegant to think of ourselves as just mass. When we die our form just changes.
I would suggest watching The Invention of Lying. Not the greatest movie and probably offensive if really religious but there are some good ideas, especially about the creation of the afterlife idea.