Ryan ChartrandMore than 75 percent of students polled in a survey given by Campus Crusade for Christ members said that they believe in some sort of life after death.
The 10,000 years survey – named for its first question “What do you see yourself doing in 10,000 years?” was given to 637 Cal Poly and Cuesta students.
When asked if they believe in life after death, 480 (76.8 percent of those who responded) chose yes, 123 (19.7 percent) chose no and 12 (3.5 percent) chose maybe. Twelve people skipped the question.
The 10,000 years question was open-ended, with most respondents (226) saying they saw themselves dead. Other popular answers were in heaven (187), don’t know (65) and cease to exist (20).
In response to the question, “Which most closely describes your view on the afterlife?” 59 percent of respondents (365 people) chose the answer Heaven/Hell. After that, 14.4 percent (91 people) chose reincarnation and 5.5 percent (35 people) chose nirvana.
When asked how often they think about death or eternity, 31 percent said they think about it a few times a year, 24 percent said once a month, 23.5 percent said once a week, 12.3 percent said every day, 6.5 percent said never and 2.7 percent said more than once a day.
Seventy-four percent of the respondents replied no when asked if they were fearful of what will happen when they die. The rest, 26 percent, said they were and five people declined to answer the question.
The survey results show that family and religion are the main ways that students develop their views on afterlife. Respondents were able to choose as many influencers as they wanted from the options. Family was the first choice for most students, with 54 percent, and religion was next, with 51.2 percent. Other popular responses were education (26.1 percent) and friends (22 percent).
The full results of the survey are available online at http://slocrusade.com/10000years_2008/index.html.
Rachelle Santucci
Journalism senior