It's a super basic question that never seems to get asked in such general terms. Set religion, spiritual beliefs aside (if you can) and just consider this in todays climate: What if "what happens when I die" was literally just coming right back, to this same world, same timeline. Don't question it's science this is simply a thought experiment.

If we knew we were to return, would this inherently lead to a more sustainable future for humans in general? The incentive to act "now" becomes much more pressing.

In my own experiences, I feel this whole "reality is a simulation" thing is part of whats making the world feel darker these days. I think when people point this out they normally do so in a spiritual context, and it falls on deaf ears. Well, I am very much for Science, and I see both validity in this as a thought experiment as well as just about as likely a theory of afterlife as most, while all remains unproven.

> Set religion, spiritual beliefs aside (if you can)…

> … Don't question it's science …

You’ve been told the “apocalypse is nigh” unless you (and everyone else) change your behavior.

It’s in so many ways just another iteration of ancient religion with a modern twist. The prophets have divined the heavens and can tell you with certainty what will happen in 100 years time, unless you follow the rituals of putting your bottles in a separate disposal container, and ride bikes instead of cars.

But if you’re very rich and want to fly a private jet you can donate money and the priests of climate change will absolve you of your carbon sins.

> "reality is a simulation"

A simulated universe requires everything an ordinary universe requires, plus a simulator.

Absent independent evidence for the simulator, “we are simulated” is a less parsimonious hypothesis than “the world we observe is the world.”

> reality is a simulation"

If simulation theory is compatible with every possible observation, it predicts nothing—and a hypothesis that predicts nothing gives us no reason to believe it.

To me it's evident that consciousness doesn't end with the death of the physical body.

It's foolish to think that in this fractal, endlessly repeating Universe that's billions of years old and unfathomably vast - you only live as tiny organism, not even a small cell, for the blink of an eye.

https://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg.html

It wouldn't change a thing.

People have to live in their bodies. Do they care for them? No.

Buddhists who follow the Lotus Sutra have the idea of a Bodhisattva of the Earth [0]. Very briefly, we are all endowed with Buddha nature, but most do not realize it. Bodhisattvas are people like you and me who realize not only their inherent Buddhahood, but who vow to help others as equals.

So much so that they incur a little karma in order to return to this "mean streets" world in the next trip and do even more good.

Such "mission and purpose" in life is really uplifting, and if you ask people their misson and purpose, their answers might range from "I don't know," to "To go to somewhere else much nicer" to the Silicon Valley goal of "Whoever dies with the most toys wins"

I have no recollection of any past lives :-) but I wish to do good while I am here, and like Pascal's wager [1] I figure that as I strive to do more good in this life, past failures being learning moments, not guilt trips, it wouldn't hurt me to increase my "faith, study and practice" [2] just in case I get to do it all over again. I was gifted with intelligence to seek out truths, and did so as a scientist and engineer. It took me a very long time to find this Lotus Sutra Buddhism, which I finally did when I stumbled upon a book by Richard Causton, "The Buddha in Daily Life" (formerly "Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism") at Half Price Books. So be it. Buddhist concepts are analogous to modern scientific concepts, first made known in "The Tao of Physics", Our understanding of the universe has advanced and harmonizes more over time.

Unfortunately for your premise, we don't seem to remember previous lives, but I am grateful for being so gifted entering this one, and if I or some other person with no recollection of me benefits from my karma, great.

What I find depressing is that notion that life is a zero-sum game, which leads to the insane concentration of wealth, something that you can't "take with you" and the "creative destruction" (or uncreative destruction) that abounds because "It doesn't matter, there's a better world "somewhere else", which is life-denying and the results of such thinking are evident. [3]

I'll keep trying, even if I have only one shot at it.

[0] https://www.manifestwithdaimoku.com/study/topic/who-are-the-...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_wager

[2] http://www.buddhaindailylife.com/

[3] Buddha at the Apocalypse, by Kurt Spellmeyer.