[orangecat]

the whole rapture of the nerds thing is more driven by a fear of death

"Being scared of death is like being scared of a great big monster with poisonous fangs. It actually makes a great deal of sense, and does not, in fact, indicate that you have a psychological problem." - Harry Potter (the version from http://hpmor.com)

The various religious have been selling that particular snake oil for thousands of years

True. The difference is that science might actually work.

I think it is a fairly safe bet to say that you'll die a regular death.

Most likely. That doesn't mean we shouldn't try to do something about the annihilation of billions of sentient beings.