Is There An Afterlife?

More Than Likely -- No

(logical conclusion, unknown)

Who Are You?

What makes you who you are; what gives you your unique personality, your memories, how you think, how you react, what makes you --- You? All those reside in the unique patterns in your brain. Neurons, electrical and chemical synapses shape your brain in ways unique to you, your experiences, and memories. Like a incredibly powerful, living computer, powered by 20 watts of energy from your body. This is your consciousness, that part of you that thinks, reasons, makes good and bad choices, and wonders what the future holds.

What happens when the power is turned off?

Is This My Soul?

As humans, we are aware of our own mortality which often produces intense anxiety. To cope with and ease this anxiety, we tend to pursue some form of -- well -- immortality, an immortal soul. There are ideas concerning the interplay of fear and religion: that fear motivates religious belief, and that religious belief mitigates fear. Many religions claim to provide different forms of immortality. So, it's easy to see how some people who deeply fear the absolute elimination of one's self or consciousness, begin to gravitate toward a religion which offers an escape from such a fate. Let's skip the part where if you don't follow their rules, your soul will spend eternity in thoroughly unhappy places.

We're not sure about a soul but your consciousness, that part of your brain that you're listening to all the time, will come to a complete end. When your body dies, the power to this biological computer is turned off and those electrical and chemical processes stop functioning -- so -- the end. Nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to feel. No Heaven, no Hell, no Purgatory, no Valhalla. Nothing. However, if you can get your head around what death of the consciousness would be like, it's really not that bad. The ironic part of death anxiety is only the living worry about it. Just consider -- your consciousness no longer exists so you would feel no pain, no longing, no remorse, no anxiety. You would not miss anybody, not long to be with anyone, not wish you could see how your grandchildren turn out. You wouldn't worry about the bills you have to pay, the stresses of your job, your home life, what's happening to the country, the pressures of everyday living. All these go away because there is NOTHING thinking about it anymore. You won't even know you don't know. If you aren't there to observe and make judgments or decisions, how is that going to possibly feel bad? It won't, it can't, you're gone.

And if you think about it, do you really want a life beyond death -- for eternity? Think about that for a moment -- heaven if you like. Once you've reunited with your loved ones, hugged an shared stories with those close to you, met those whose names you barely remember, met those related to you who you've never heard of, discovered who actually fired from the grassy knoll, identified the name of Jack the Ripper, found the killer of the Black Dahlia, communicated with your favorite movie and sports stars, historical figures, met Jesus (who wasn't anything like you thought), you've spent three -- four months? Now what? Do you have a job, something meaningful to do? Whatever it is, can you imagine doing it forever? We're reminded of the end of Meatloaf's Paradise by the Dashboard Light;

Started swearing to my god and on my mother's grave
That I would love you to the end of time
I swore that I would love you to the end of time!

So now I'm praying for the end of time
To hurry up and arrive
'Cause if I gotta spend another minute with you
I don't think that I can really survive

Traditionally, the soul is thought of as an immaterial aspect or essence of a living being that is believed to be able to survive physical death. The soul is a living essence, uncomplicated, incorporeal, invisible to the eyes of the body, immortal, reasoning, intelligent, formless, making use of an organic body and being the source of its powers of life, growth, sensation, and generation.

We can't imagine how a physical process, that is your consciousness, turns into an immaterial, unembodied construct that continues processing information as you would after you die. However, many of us want to imagine a life after death. But to do so would require more than hope and wishes. It would somehow have to incorporate the physical embodiment of the conscious, not an imaginary one. It would have to mimic the physical makeup of your brain, duplicate the mapping and synapses perfectly. While we can conceive of any possible way that could happen? Sure -- However, it's pure speculation and not based in fact. Probably nothing more than an interesting thought experiment. For more details see An Afterlife Reimagined in the blog.

Anyway, to know for sure, we'll have to wait until that final day happens, so make the best out of life while you can.

Life is Precious

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