Life after death

Imagine someone who is an asshole: selfish, mean, false. At the end of his life, he donates money to charity and expects to be warmly welcomed into the kingdom of heaven when he dies in the same way he expects to be warmly welcomed to a luxury nightclub, just because he is rich.

How can you expect to get good grades if you don't study? If you are a Hindu, how can you expect to get a decent reincarnation if you have been an asshole here in this life?

Maybe it is irrelevant how you live your life. Maybe life isn't a school. Maybe all people go to heaven when they die. Maybe all your deceased relatives in the spirit world will be happy to see you again. Maybe there is no life after death. Who knows?

How do you deal with snake oil salesmen and tricksters?

What do you refuse to realize? What beliefs do you refuse to let go of?

Almost all people are holding on to crazy ideas: political ideas, religious beliefs, weird worldviews, self-images, outdated scientific paradigms. Why is it so painful and hard to question one's misunderstandings? 

In 1945 many Germans refused to see that they had allowed themselves to be bewitched by an idiotic ideology. Today most people refuse to see that there is no future for humankind. Advanced technologies will not save us. We will ruin this planet. We're like drug addicts, addicted to delusions; we simply can't get enough. 

You know that there are plenty of fraudsters, false prophets, and fake gurus in this world. How can you find out if also you have been duped? Which method should you use?

Should you rely on your intuition or gut feeling? (He seems to be reliable. I like him.) Should you rely on reasoning? 

How do you explain that science for many years was convinced that Omega-3 oil is good for preventing heart disease, and then came to the conclusion that it has no such effect at all, etc,?