Neither a thought experiment nor one of
my classic philosophical conundrums, but rather a simple question. I want to get as many responses to this as possible, so feel free to chip in with your opinion. If god were to sit down in front of you, with his infinite knowledge and power, and offered you the chance of eternal life, be it in hellfire or ecstasy, as opposed to a finite existence that ended with your death, would you take it? I shan't tell you what I would do for fear of skewing your answer, given the immense psychological influence I hold over you. Read the question again, slowly, and Respond.
5 comments:
Yes, eternal ecstacy.
No, I'd hope for a long life but not eternal, in any form.
I'm surprised by both, it must be said.
If you take that God does hold this transcendental ability to give us eternal ecstacy - which really is transcendental to me - then that. I always used to ask Mr Radcliffe et al, why on earth would you want eternal life? I mean, what could you possibly do, I couldn't imagine being more bored than being in heaven for eternal life.
So if he really can make that eternal ecstatic, then that. And thats assuming you have the choice of the ecstatic over hellfire, as you're question doesn't quite make it clear whether that part would be down to God's whim (why did I auto capitalise God then? I normally at least like to make the conscious decision to respect these peoples fairytales...) chance, or our choice.
Otherwise mortality, obviously. Like the elves say - we're the lucky ones! Immortality is probably just as horrific as death (if not more?) - just that the grass is always greener.
As a side note I'm sure maths could prove eternal ecstacy as an impossiblity, one day. Ecstacy is a relational quantity.
Otherwise, hi Holly!
Our interpretation of eternal ecstacy is at odds here. I don't believe such a thing can exist. Ecstacy exists. Eternity exists, but the two are mutually exclusive. The argument follows that eternal ecstacy, by definition, would be void of our human, linear perception of time, but I don't buy it. Dawkins is interviewed on the BBC website and he's asked this very question - it was uncanny, almost as if the interviewer reads this blog. He's with me, by the way. Give me two hundred years or so of paradise, but eternity would be unbearable.
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