Home / Life After Death (October 2026)

At risk of massive oversimplification, religions can be grouped into three broad buckets when it comes to what they believe happens after death: nothing, permanent heaven/hell or reincarnation. It's interesting to think about how these beliefs could influence my decisions in everyday life.

If I believe nothing happens after death, it would push me toward prioritizing day-to-day happiness. On good days that could manifest as going surfing, because I'm going to be dead soon. On bad days that could manifest as moral lazyness, because why waste energy caring about my impact on the world when we'll all be nothing soon. In the limit, the risk of athiesm is hedonism and Nihilism.

If I believe in a permanent afterlife, like heaven or hell, it would push me toward prioritizing my impact on the world. On good days that could manifest as trying to help others. On bad days that could manifest as martyrdom or self-sacrifice - why care about my happiness in this life when it's just a warmup for eternity. In the limit, the risk of an afterlife is martyrdom.

If I believe in reincarnation, it would push me toward balancing day-to-day happiness and my impact on the world. On one hand, this would be the only time I get to be this person at this time, so maybe I should go surfing. On the other, my actions in this life will impact all of our many future lives, so I'd better leave a positive impact. In the limit, the risk of reincarnation is indecision.

Obviously everyone will be influenced by beliefs in the afterlife differently. Perhaps you're an athiest who spends their entire life helping others and the planet, because you care deeply about future generations even if we'll be dead and nothing for nearly all of eternity. In a sense, you'd be the top candidate for heaven, because you helped people without any expectation of reward. "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."

I've started to realize that what I believe doesn't matter as much as what I do. Instead of choosing "the right" religion first, then doing what it says second, I prefer to first figure out what values matter to me, then pick a belief system that nudges me in that direction. I've come to view religion less as an answer to everything, and more as a tool to help me become a better version of myself.

For my particular psychology, Daoism has been the most helpful. I'm prone to extremes, binary thinking, and overthinking (as evidenced here!), so a lighthearted reminder to trust the universe and balance purpose and play has been helpful in nudging me toward the person I want to become. However, I'd never argue all of Daoism is true or prescribe it to anyone else, because the universe gave us all the freedom to believe what we want, and I choose to believe that's exactly the way it's supposed to be.