What if there’s nothing after this life?
What if there’s no God?
What if there is a God and I go to Hell?
What if I reincarnate into a worse life?
A lot of philosophy can be really abstract and esoteric, and really not ask the big questions that can keep people up at night. They can get there by a pretty round about way, but a lot of times, the philosopher assumes the answer, and reasons their philosophy from there. So a believer, an Aquinas, reasons from the starting point of a God, and a particular God. A non-believer, or anti-believer, a Nietzsche, begins from the emptiness.
You won’t arrive at a Truth in a book. You might find something that resonates, that enriches, and inspires. But there will be someone else out there, lurking, waiting to tear it all down, and replace it with an entirely different vision.
I think it’s important to peruse these visions, the beautiful, the scary, and the weird. Think about you would lead your life if you knew we were in a multi-verse, or Midgard, or were a hologram. If Yahweh ruled, but never had any kids. Or just one lone universe, otherwise quiet outside of Us.
Because in the end, here we are. We may never know just how strange or boring this universe is, but we’ve got ourselves, and no matter what, we will be here until the end of the show. So it’s good to think about the possibilities for a time. Most importantly to think what impact they have on how you live, if any impact at all. Since you at least have a say in that.
