From: underdog@leland.Stanford.EDU (Dwight Joe)
Subject: Re-post of my Survey
Organization: Miners for a Heart of Gold
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 92 01:28:11 GMT

I am re-posting this because someone sent e-mail, lamenting that s/he
did not get a chance to see it earlier.  I conducted this informal
poll about 6 months ago.

Happy F*ck*ng New Year!  NOT!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is an updated summary of the poll that I conducted on alt.suicide.holiday.
Basically, I asked the participants to give their opinions on what
they thought about life after death.  I included myself among the
participants.

1.  total participants: 25

2.  participants who did not
    believe in life after death: 14

    notable quotes:  "No.  I bloody well hope not!"
                     "I wouldn't be able to live with the idea of
                      re-living my miserable life over and over again."
                     "No.  What a completely silly concept.  Up
                      there with the tooth fairy."
                     "'We are here to ruin ourselves and to break
                       our hearts and to love the wrong people and
                       to die.'" -- plagiarized from someone else.
                     "I don't beleive [believe] so, and I pray to all the gods
                      I don't beleive [believe] in that there isn't, I couldn't
                      bear to do this again."
                     "That would be real Hell - a Heaven in which you 
                      couldn't commit suicide!"
                     "You came from nothing and will go to nothing.  There is
                      no spirit, god, fate or something like that.  The death
                      is the definitive end."
                     "Perhaps I'm already dead and in hell?  I certainly
                      would prefer to burn over the constant torture of
                      living."

3.  participants who are leaning
    toward not believing in life after death: 1

4.  participants who believe that
    there is life after death: 4

    notable points:  One person was clearly Christian, who typed, "That's
                     about the extent of my opinion at this point. (by the
                     way, I only read a.s.h because it's silly.  sometimes.)
                     Food for thought...."

                     The other person believed in heaven and hell but
                     expressed uncertainty as to what form that they
                     might take.

                     "Yes.  But not for psychologists."  (I wasn't sure
                     how to interpret this, but I assumed that this person
                     did believe in life after death, with the "psychologists"
                     jab added for humor.)

                     "I believe in life after death.  Perhaps that is why
                      death is so attractive and the thought of death such
                      a comfort."

5.  participants who are leaning
    toward believing that there is
    life after death: 3

    notable points:  This person did not specify any preferences
                     for what that life might be and just responded,
                     "Possibly", to both the possibilities of "heaven"
                     and "hell".

                     "maybe, I need to reread my Kubler-Ross etc."  (What is
                     a Kubler-Ross?)

                     "well, is there life BEFORE death?  after death...well,
                      maybe....but on what plane?"

6.  participants who just don't know:  2

    notable quotes:  "We are born.  We suffer for a while.  Then, we die."
                     "I have a 'radical agnostic' view -- I don't know, there's
                      no way I could know, and you don't know either."

7.  participants who were
    hard to categorize:  1

    notable quotes:  "I don't care if there is life after death.  ...
                      I hope so!!! (That's where all my old friends
                      are if there is one [hell].)  ...  repeating
                      the same life without having the option of suicide
                      _ever_ but wanting to desperatly would be much worse
                      in my tainted eyes."  This person did hope that
                      _if_ there were a heaven, that heaven would be
                      a "pleasant and enjoyable" place for the inhabitants.

(Unfortunately, I deleted my mail before I could think of tallying the
countries from which I received the 1st batch of responses.  The following
is from memory.  Besides, deleting mail before it is backed up at this
site provides a better guarantee of anonymity for those who want it. )

Participating countries:  USA, Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland,
Sweden, Germany, Canada, and Japan (response was from a Finlander
living in Japan).  (I assumed that .de refers to Germany.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyhow, I want to thank everyone who participated.  Perhaps, if I have time
later in the year, I can do a more extensive poll, identifying correlations
between culture and thoughts about death.  I'm sure that most people
here on a.s.h. have thought about life after death.

I am still taking responses (by e-mail please) if you haven't yet submitted
your response.  I'll post an update of this summary later in the week or
the following, but the responses are clearly leaning toward the belief that
there is _no_ life after death.  56% of the participants did not believe that
there is life after death.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Seikatsu no imi wa nan desu ka.            \|  |`      | Don't buy from Toyota;
Shitte itara oshiete kuremasen ka.          | -+-      | especially, don't buy
                                           /| / \      | from Capitol Toyota in
Copyright 1992.                                        | San Jose, California.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------