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General Discussion => WHATEVER => Topic started by: SneakySecrets on December 07, 2023, 06:45:15 PM

Title: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: SneakySecrets on December 07, 2023, 06:45:15 PM
Has anyone ever thought about what it would be like to be your disembodied consciousness floating in an infinite black void, forever with no hope of escaping?

I don’t think our brains are even capable of comprehending exactly how awful that would be.

When I was a little kid I’d stay awake in bed all night trying to imagine how it would feel to be in that situation. 

Would you rather go to the endless void or to hell?  At least in Hell there’s some demons to shoot the shit with even if they’re violating your peepee hole with a soldering iron in a sea of boiling bile and blood.



Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: addie pray on December 07, 2023, 07:46:45 PM
we are all going to the endless void. prepare yourself accordingly.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: the_dangery_bois on December 07, 2023, 08:42:01 PM
Speak for yourselves, I’m not going to anywhere.

I’m staying here and becoming a spooky ass ghost.

Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: 4LOM on December 07, 2023, 08:59:51 PM
Without inputs/sensations and no need for outputs/behavior, my thinking would stop and I’d float the endless nothing in a perfect state of enlightenment.

That said, I’ll take hell
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: j....soy..... on December 07, 2023, 10:26:42 PM
The floating part sounds nice….
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: botefdunn on December 07, 2023, 10:55:04 PM
The floating part sounds nice….

agreed. Take out the fomo and that sounds fine. I think I used to get anxious at the thought of infinity, now I get anxious at the prospect of anxiety.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: Síota on December 08, 2023, 12:12:48 AM
Solitary confinement is close enough. I'll take hell, cheers.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: mrselfdestruct on December 08, 2023, 05:17:33 AM
Has anyone ever thought about what it would be like to be your disembodied consciousness floating in an infinite black void, forever with no hope of escaping?

I don’t think our brains are even capable of comprehending exactly how awful that would be.

When I was a little kid I’d stay awake in bed all night trying to imagine how it would feel to be in that situation. 

Would you rather go to the endless void or to hell?  At least in Hell there’s some demons to shoot the shit with even if they’re violating your peepee hole with a soldering iron in a sea of boiling bile and blood.
i like the all tomorrows pfp. this sounds like the worst thing the Qu could do to humans if they tried revolting.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: pugmaster on December 08, 2023, 12:35:59 PM
My choice is contingent upon the presence or absence of eggnog. Since hell would screw it up (e.g., too much or too little eggnog), I have to go with the floating in space for eternity. This choice is tentative. I'll need to think more on this topic.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: Blind Fisherman on December 08, 2023, 01:10:02 PM
I find comfort in the idea of drifting endlessly in the void. It has to be better than the human experience. This shit sucks.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: skippersoldballs on December 08, 2023, 01:11:37 PM
As long as it isn’t cold how bad it could be
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: RCB3 on December 08, 2023, 01:22:02 PM
I grew up in an Evangelical home and when people talked about eternity in heaven as an amazing thing, I'd start trying to think about what eternity is like with no end, and I'd have a panic attack where my stomach would drop like on a roller coaster.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: Jebediah on December 08, 2023, 01:31:49 PM
I watched a episode of black mirror where the void was a punishment for this dude although he was able to bring a girl with him last minute. Would you bring someone with if you could or take your void in solitude?
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: SneakySecrets on December 08, 2023, 02:00:51 PM
Expand Quote
Has anyone ever thought about what it would be like to be your disembodied consciousness floating in an infinite black void, forever with no hope of escaping?

I don’t think our brains are even capable of comprehending exactly how awful that would be.

When I was a little kid I’d stay awake in bed all night trying to imagine how it would feel to be in that situation. 

Would you rather go to the endless void or to hell?  At least in Hell there’s some demons to shoot the shit with even if they’re violating your peepee hole with a soldering iron in a sea of boiling bile and blood.
[close]
i like the all tomorrows pfp. this sounds like the worst thing the Qu could do to humans if they tried revolting.

^I see you have excellent taste.  I’m a few beers away from making an All Tomorrows thread so I can tell everyone my fan theories 🤓
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: Frank and Fred on December 08, 2023, 07:26:38 PM
I grew up in an Evangelical home and when people talked about eternity in heaven as an amazing thing, I'd start trying to think about what eternity is like with no end, and I'd have a panic attack where my stomach would drop like on a roller coaster.

Catholic here... (well not anymore of course) and same shit. Eternity was and remains terrifying. Caused me no end of anxiety when I was a pre-pubescent kid.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: j....soy..... on December 08, 2023, 10:17:18 PM
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The floating part sounds nice….
[close]

agreed. Take out the fomo and that sounds fine. I think I used to get anxious at the thought of infinity, now I get anxious at the prospect of anxiety.

It could be because I can’t swim…..

Disembodied consciousness seems advanced no?  My body is falling apart….this is sounding better by the minute.  Or like a float spa…..

Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: SneakySecrets on December 08, 2023, 10:33:38 PM
Expand Quote
I grew up in an Evangelical home and when people talked about eternity in heaven as an amazing thing, I'd start trying to think about what eternity is like with no end, and I'd have a panic attack where my stomach would drop like on a roller coaster.
[close]

Catholic here... (well not anymore of course) and same shit. Eternity was and remains terrifying. Caused me no end of anxiety when I was a pre-pubescent kid.

I love Catholics in general.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: Uh Oh on December 09, 2023, 08:19:15 AM
Expand Quote
Expand Quote
I grew up in an Evangelical home and when people talked about eternity in heaven as an amazing thing, I'd start trying to think about what eternity is like with no end, and I'd have a panic attack where my stomach would drop like on a roller coaster.
[close]

Catholic here... (well not anymore of course) and same shit. Eternity was and remains terrifying. Caused me no end of anxiety when I was a pre-pubescent kid.
[close]

I love Catholics in general.

A Cathoholic.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: ToySanta on December 09, 2023, 09:51:31 AM
Expand Quote
I grew up in an Evangelical home and when people talked about eternity in heaven as an amazing thing, I'd start trying to think about what eternity is like with no end, and I'd have a panic attack where my stomach would drop like on a roller coaster.
[close]

Catholic here... (well not anymore of course) and same shit. Eternity was and remains terrifying. Caused me no end of anxiety when I was a pre-pubescent kid.

Especially as an introvert, the church made heaven sound like one big hangout and no one could agree on whether or not we’d need sleep. Just endless socializing. The whole thing remains a waking nightmare.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: ToySanta on December 09, 2023, 09:53:48 AM
I prefer to be too hot over too cold, in general, so possibly hell.

Under the influence of my current season of depression, if the void offered me a degree of nihilism/cynicism/unfeeling, I could be into that. But if it’s anything like Get Out.. hell.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: Newphone on December 09, 2023, 10:38:27 AM
I wanna live on an abstract plain
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: SneakySecrets on December 09, 2023, 08:13:42 PM
Expand Quote
Expand Quote
I grew up in an Evangelical home and when people talked about eternity in heaven as an amazing thing, I'd start trying to think about what eternity is like with no end, and I'd have a panic attack where my stomach would drop like on a roller coaster.
[close]

Catholic here... (well not anymore of course) and same shit. Eternity was and remains terrifying. Caused me no end of anxiety when I was a pre-pubescent kid.
[close]

Especially as an introvert, the church made heaven sound like one big hangout and no one could agree on whether or not we’d need sleep. Just endless socializing. The whole thing remains a waking nightmare.

Haha, I know what you mean. 

But wouldn’t you think that in a place like Heaven, you’d be, hopefully, on a little bit of an elevated plane of existence where everyone’s (for lack of a better term) superego has been diminished due to an inexhaustible supply of material resources and time…to the point that souls can freely congregate as they see fit, and an introvert staring into a pond by him or herself would be just as valid a use of time as anything else.

But you’ve caused me to think a new thought: If Heaven is populated by our human souls (and hopefully those of our earthly pets), wouldn’t it be subject to the same forces of human nature that apply here on earth? 

With nothing to do, an ever-increasing population (good people keep dying after all), and an infinite amount of time and resources, we’d for sure fuck it up.  It’s so incompatible with human nature that the best and most noble of us, with enough time and lack of selection pressure could produce seemingly anything.


My guess is something resembling an endless self-constructed Gulag ruled by 3 or 4 souls that hate themselves. 




Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: Clone1984 on December 11, 2023, 10:03:41 AM
I've done time in solitary before. Sometimes felt more lonely as a free man. I'm open minded enough to listen but though it may not be a popular opinion these days or ever, I believe my savior lives. [Insert Kirk timecode quotes here]
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: ThatIsNotCricket on December 11, 2023, 01:31:20 PM

But wouldn’t you think that in a place like Heaven, you’d be, hopefully, on a little bit of an elevated plane of existence where everyone’s (for lack of a better term) superego has been diminished due to an inexhaustible supply of material resources and time…to the point that souls can freely congregate as they see fit, and an introvert staring into a pond by him or herself would be just as valid a use of time as anything else.

But you’ve caused me to think a new thought: If Heaven is populated by our human souls (and hopefully those of our earthly pets), wouldn’t it be subject to the same forces of human nature that apply here on earth? 

With nothing to do, an ever-increasing population (good people keep dying after all), and an infinite amount of time and resources, we’d for sure fuck it up.  It’s so incompatible with human nature that the best and most noble of us, with enough time and lack of selection pressure could produce seemingly anything.


In all seriousness, you're actually touching here on a central point in 'This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom' by Martin Hägglund: without finite time and resources no conception of value (useful to humanity) can ever exist. The religious notion of eternal life and capitalism's notion of transcendental value are two sides of the same coin, for example, that do precisely that. Instead, the key to human freedom lies in a (collective) recognition of, and engagement with, our finite existence in a finite world (enter: democratic socialism).

The title maybe makes it sound like cheap self-help trash from an airport bookstore, and my summary maybe makes it sound like inaccessible and ultimately vacuous academic posturing, but it's a really extraordinary piece of work, and a good read at that.

(I think there's a version of this book with an even shittier title as well; something like 'Why Mortality Sets Us Free'.)

Anyway, I'd take the risk with my disembodied consciousness floating in space, hoping that the lack of stimulation of my brain gives me a warm, colourful, happy psychosis, before eventually shrinking to the size of a peanut and remaining conscious only in the broadest definition possible. Plus, I really really don't want anyone touching my pee hole, not even if Hell uses clean, slightly moist, warm q-tips.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: mrselfdestruct on December 12, 2023, 05:42:01 AM
Expand Quote
Expand Quote
Has anyone ever thought about what it would be like to be your disembodied consciousness floating in an infinite black void, forever with no hope of escaping?

I don’t think our brains are even capable of comprehending exactly how awful that would be.

When I was a little kid I’d stay awake in bed all night trying to imagine how it would feel to be in that situation. 

Would you rather go to the endless void or to hell?  At least in Hell there’s some demons to shoot the shit with even if they’re violating your peepee hole with a soldering iron in a sea of boiling bile and blood.
[close]
i like the all tomorrows pfp. this sounds like the worst thing the Qu could do to humans if they tried revolting.
[close]

^I see you have excellent taste.  I’m a few beers away from making an All Tomorrows thread so I can tell everyone my fan theories 🤓
make thread!!!
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: RichardBarkley on December 12, 2023, 05:57:51 AM
I've done time in solitary before. Sometimes felt more lonely as a free man. I'm open minded enough to listen but though it may not be a popular opinion these days or ever, I believe my savior lives. [Insert Kirk timecode quotes here]

How bad was it
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: Newphone on December 12, 2023, 06:11:29 AM
Expand Quote
I've done time in solitary before. Sometimes felt more lonely as a free man. I'm open minded enough to listen but though it may not be a popular opinion these days or ever, I believe my savior lives. [Insert Kirk timecode quotes here]
[close]

How bad was it

Sounds pretty bad
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: BurgerCop on December 12, 2023, 06:16:06 AM
Things can get pretty wild in your brain when subjected to total darkness and isolation.
You'd lose all touch with reality and be living in a madness induced hallucinated fantasy world within a day or two.

Participants said they experienced “perceptual disturbances, paranoia, and anhedonia” (inability to feel pleasure) after just 15 minutes of sensory deprivation. This supports a theory made over 50 years ago that symptoms of psychosis can be induced by sensory starvation.


https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1468060/1/Mason_439379.pdf
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: let’s go home on December 12, 2023, 11:37:24 AM
Speak for yourselves, I’m not going to anywhere.

I’m staying here and becoming a spooky ass ghost.
Pfft how unoriginal.
(https://i.postimg.cc/RF6NVncB/27988-D8-C-B0-FD-45-C9-9146-A721047-EF532.webp)
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: Clone1984 on December 12, 2023, 04:07:33 PM
It's considered inhumane by most medical professionals. So yeah. Either way. Fortunate to be here
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: HeavyAndExpensive on December 14, 2023, 06:24:54 AM
Has anyone ever thought about what it would be like to be your disembodied consciousness floating in an infinite black void, forever with no hope of escaping?

I don’t think our brains are even capable of comprehending exactly how awful that would be.

When I was a little kid I’d stay awake in bed all night trying to imagine how it would feel to be in that situation. 

Would you rather go to the endless void or to hell?  At least in Hell there’s some demons to shoot the shit with even if they’re violating your peepee hole with a soldering iron in a sea of boiling bile and blood.

Yes and it can be absolutely terrifying. I remember when I was a child I used to try to fathom the concept of "non-existence" and it made my brain reset. A return to a state of nothingness can be a terrifying or comforting thought.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: matt_2993 on December 14, 2023, 06:30:41 AM
Expand Quote
Has anyone ever thought about what it would be like to be your disembodied consciousness floating in an infinite black void, forever with no hope of escaping?

I don’t think our brains are even capable of comprehending exactly how awful that would be.

When I was a little kid I’d stay awake in bed all night trying to imagine how it would feel to be in that situation. 

Would you rather go to the endless void or to hell?  At least in Hell there’s some demons to shoot the shit with even if they’re violating your peepee hole with a soldering iron in a sea of boiling bile and blood.
[close]

Yes and it can be absolutely terrifying. I remember when I was a child I used to try to fathom the concept of "non-existence" and it made my brain reset. A return to a state of nothingness can be a terrifying or comforting thought.

Shit I still do that pretty regular. If I get high my brain goes into panic mode pondering this shit and need to shut the thoughts down immediately lol
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: ToySanta on December 15, 2023, 01:51:54 PM
Expand Quote

But wouldn’t you think that in a place like Heaven, you’d be, hopefully, on a little bit of an elevated plane of existence where everyone’s (for lack of a better term) superego has been diminished due to an inexhaustible supply of material resources and time…to the point that souls can freely congregate as they see fit, and an introvert staring into a pond by him or herself would be just as valid a use of time as anything else.

But you’ve caused me to think a new thought: If Heaven is populated by our human souls (and hopefully those of our earthly pets), wouldn’t it be subject to the same forces of human nature that apply here on earth? 

With nothing to do, an ever-increasing population (good people keep dying after all), and an infinite amount of time and resources, we’d for sure fuck it up.  It’s so incompatible with human nature that the best and most noble of us, with enough time and lack of selection pressure could produce seemingly anything.

[close]

In all seriousness, you're actually touching here on a central point in 'This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom' by Martin Hägglund: without finite time and resources no conception of value (useful to humanity) can ever exist. The religious notion of eternal life and capitalism's notion of transcendental value are two sides of the same coin, for example, that do precisely that. Instead, the key to human freedom lies in a (collective) recognition of, and engagement with, our finite existence in a finite world (enter: democratic socialism).

The title maybe makes it sound like cheap self-help trash from an airport bookstore, and my summary maybe makes it sound like inaccessible and ultimately vacuous academic posturing, but it's a really extraordinary piece of work, and a good read at that.

(I think there's a version of this book with an even shittier title as well; something like 'Why Mortality Sets Us Free'.)

Anyway, I'd take the risk with my disembodied consciousness floating in space, hoping that the lack of stimulation of my brain gives me a warm, colourful, happy psychosis, before eventually shrinking to the size of a peanut and remaining conscious only in the broadest definition possible. Plus, I really really don't want anyone touching my pee hole, not even if Hell uses clean, slightly moist, warm q-tips.

Well, damn, this is some good pondering stuff.

Before I slowly ghosted mostly-conservative-white-american-christianity, I came to believe that heaven was just new Earth. Like, everything restarted and humans lost the option to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Good & Evil.
I kinda figure heaven is life now but without the crimes & sadness & bad stuff. There is still work - food to be grown and prepared, halfpipes to be skated, dogs to be walked, etc.
Like potted plants or fish kept in aquariums, you can move them and their size & reach will increase. Maybe the utopia is kinda like that? The bounty of the planet expands to meet the needs of its inhabitants, instead of what we are experiencing now?

I disagree about the value aspect; I think that’s just how humans attempt to encourage ourselves about the worthiness of life. I love the sun! I don’t need the rain to remind me how much I love the sun!
But I also accept these thoughts are outside of my realm of comprehension. My body & soul work to keep me alive even when I don’t treat them well.

Is the offer to float in space as we know it or just a nothingness? Could be pretty cool either way. Like feet without shoes, they keep growing. The floating could lead to an expansion of consciousness heretofore unknown!

My library has this book. Ima thumb through it. If I read it, I will report back.
Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: SneakySecrets on December 15, 2023, 07:23:28 PM
Expand Quote
Expand Quote

But wouldn’t you think that in a place like Heaven, you’d be, hopefully, on a little bit of an elevated plane of existence where everyone’s (for lack of a better term) superego has been diminished due to an inexhaustible supply of material resources and time…to the point that souls can freely congregate as they see fit, and an introvert staring into a pond by him or herself would be just as valid a use of time as anything else.

But you’ve caused me to think a new thought: If Heaven is populated by our human souls (and hopefully those of our earthly pets), wouldn’t it be subject to the same forces of human nature that apply here on earth? 

With nothing to do, an ever-increasing population (good people keep dying after all), and an infinite amount of time and resources, we’d for sure fuck it up.  It’s so incompatible with human nature that the best and most noble of us, with enough time and lack of selection pressure could produce seemingly anything.

[close]

In all seriousness, you're actually touching here on a central point in 'This Life: Secular Faith and Spiritual Freedom' by Martin Hägglund: without finite time and resources no conception of value (useful to humanity) can ever exist. The religious notion of eternal life and capitalism's notion of transcendental value are two sides of the same coin, for example, that do precisely that. Instead, the key to human freedom lies in a (collective) recognition of, and engagement with, our finite existence in a finite world (enter: democratic socialism).

The title maybe makes it sound like cheap self-help trash from an airport bookstore, and my summary maybe makes it sound like inaccessible and ultimately vacuous academic posturing, but it's a really extraordinary piece of work, and a good read at that.

(I think there's a version of this book with an even shittier title as well; something like 'Why Mortality Sets Us Free'.)

Anyway, I'd take the risk with my disembodied consciousness floating in space, hoping that the lack of stimulation of my brain gives me a warm, colourful, happy psychosis, before eventually shrinking to the size of a peanut and remaining conscious only in the broadest definition possible. Plus, I really really don't want anyone touching my pee hole, not even if Hell uses clean, slightly moist, warm q-tips.
[close]

Well, damn, this is some good pondering stuff.

Before I slowly ghosted mostly-conservative-white-american-christianity, I came to believe that heaven was just new Earth. Like, everything restarted and humans lost the option to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Good & Evil.
I kinda figure heaven is life now but without the crimes & sadness & bad stuff. There is still work - food to be grown and prepared, halfpipes to be skated, dogs to be walked, etc.
Like potted plants or fish kept in aquariums, you can move them and their size & reach will increase. Maybe the utopia is kinda like that? The bounty of the planet expands to meet the needs of its inhabitants, instead of what we are experiencing now?

I disagree about the value aspect; I think that’s just how humans attempt to encourage ourselves about the worthiness of life. I love the sun! I don’t need the rain to remind me how much I love the sun!
But I also accept these thoughts are outside of my realm of comprehension. My body & soul work to keep me alive even when I don’t treat them well.

Is the offer to float in space as we know it or just a nothingness? Could be pretty cool either way. Like feet without shoes, they keep growing. The floating could lead to an expansion of consciousness heretofore unknown!

My library has this book. Ima thumb through it. If I read it, I will report back.

It’s not really an “offer”, I just had the specific fear of existing in an endless, featureless void without any hope of contacting another living soul for the rest of eternity.  It’s just so scary.

Getting to float as a ghost through actual space would be sick as  fuck though.  Maybe if you were a really good person they give you a big map of all the coolest stuff to check out.  Trillions of habitable planets to explore.  Think of all the crazy alien life forms, gargantuan space worms swallowing up whole star systems, worlds populated by only adorable coo-ing little tennis-ball looking things rolling around bouncing into each other, fucking demon zombie dragons made of pure diamonds having an intergalactic space war with a race of super technologically advanced sea slugs… it’s all out there man.  Maybe some planets are particularly tuned-in to the spirit realm and you can communicate with them.  That would be great, sign me up.  But only if I can have the option to ultimately die so I wouldn’t have to witness the heat death of the universe.

In your view of heaven, you said there will still be work to do.  That’s probably a good thing because I think we need something to give us some purpose whether we actively acknowledge it or not.  But like, would all work exist?  But like, are there going to be people scrubbing toilets in heaven?  How’d it feel like heaven if you’re doing that all day?  Maybe part of the whole heaven-package is that we are our fully-manifested selves, capable of finding deep and profound joy in even the most unpleasant jobs.

without finite time and resources no conception of value (useful to humanity) can ever exist.

I don’t think that’s too radical of a take.  It would be fascinating to somehow test that out even though we never could.

Title: Re: Stuck in an Infinite Void
Post by: addie pray on December 15, 2023, 08:18:29 PM
im more afraid of living forever