Just my two cents.
- This genesis/god stuff unfortunately sounds pretty absurd to me. But the big bang on the other hand doesn´t seem more convincingly. I mean you and I and the whole rest of this immense universe were just compressed in a tiny mote. And as if that isn't enough, time just didn´t exist. And then all of a sudden time started… And one day it will all contract again.
- Neither do I know nor do I care ;) But maybe you are just a brain in the vet and the only existing organism in the world. Or maybe I am...
- Some kind of simulation sounds more likely to me than e.g. the big bang. VR is making so much progress that I am sure in a few years/decades/centuries you cannot tell the difference between reality and VR, except you know that you entered VR. But if you can suppress that with whatever pill or whatever happens while you are dreaming, it is no longer possible to tell if you are in reality or in VR. And if this will be possible some time in the future, it's just not possible to deny that you may already live in that future/VR.
- Most people I know that believe in an afterlife find solace in that. But then what?! You are immortal or another afterlife follows another? Infinity live sounds good at first but when you think about it, it's much worse than dying and being gone for good. But yeah, it's pretty exciting what is awaiting us. Maybe a happy timeless life like back then before the big bang ;)
Or maybe we are immortal in the “real life”, but are so bored by that, so we invented death for this simulation/VR we are living in right now to make it more precious. - Thought that was clarified, maybe it is not.
You make some really great points! Thanks for writing about how you felt about each thing. :)