in posthuman visions of the future, uploading also seems like a techno-utopian vision of the afterlife, so in a sense, "dying" and "going to digital "heaven" is possible in the setting (why digital substrates will let uploads actually "live forever", as kurzweil fans say, I don't know).
(this is distinct from any metaphysical sense of the afterlife)
in addition, engenerators
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/4a3d78dc77e6f
allow reincarnation, in a sense, so death and selfhood don't have quite the same meaning in some OA societies as we do. In some OA societies, there can be both a technologically possible "afterlife" through uploading and engenerated re-incarnation, as well as the unconfirmed afterlife beliefs we've always had.
Orion's arm has a pretty optimistic stance on this technology, of course.
(this is distinct from any metaphysical sense of the afterlife)
in addition, engenerators
http://www.orionsarm.com/eg-article/4a3d78dc77e6f
allow reincarnation, in a sense, so death and selfhood don't have quite the same meaning in some OA societies as we do. In some OA societies, there can be both a technologically possible "afterlife" through uploading and engenerated re-incarnation, as well as the unconfirmed afterlife beliefs we've always had.
Orion's arm has a pretty optimistic stance on this technology, of course.