Existence after mortal death...

[mawil1013]

Hi, I'm new, I'm not atheist, at one time thought I was, currently, I'd define myself as a non active Baha'i.

I've have been postulating on an existence after mortal death on a level that is not spiritual. But as a natural state.

From reading layman's articles about particles which appear out of, thin air. Quantum mechanics, string theory, extra dimensions.

That some how our consciousness is linked to another dimension. Not by or through some imagined divine being but through the natural processes of the universe.

The particles which make up our physical bodies is some astounding matter at the quantum level and what happens at the quantum level does so apparently outside of time constraints.

Are they're atheists who feel the same, that they could be an existence after mortal death, completely unconnected to a supernatural being but as a natural act?

[Chas]

(13-01-2013 09:24 PM)mawil1013 Wrote:  Hi, I'm new, I'm not atheist, at one time thought I was, currently, I'd define myself as a non active Baha'i.

I've have been postulating on an existence after mortal death on a level that is not spiritual. But as a natural state.

From reading layman's articles about particles which appear out of, thin air. Quantum mechanics, string theory, extra dimensions.

That some how our consciousness is linked to another dimension. Not by or through some imagined divine being but through the natural processes of the universe.

The particles which make up our physical bodies is some astounding matter at the quantum level and what happens at the quantum level does so apparently outside of time constraints.

Are they're atheists who feel the same, that they could be an existence after mortal death, completely unconnected to a supernatural being but as a natural act?

Yes, there are atheists who have those kinds of ideas.

I'm not one of them. The evidence is that consciousness is solely an emergent property of the brain.

[bemore]

You might find it interesting OP looking into Dimethyltryptamine and the accounts that people give under the influence from smoking or ingesting it.

Check out DMT on youtube.

[Aseptic Skeptic]

Existence after death? Certainly. The atoms in my body used to belong to stars. Some day they will again. Before that, they might belong to any number of things right here on earth as worms eat my corpse, deposit my atoms into soil, plants grow, animals graze, people eat those animals - some of my atoms might find their way into other people. Or not.

Whatever happens to them, those atoms will continue long after I'm dead.

But that's probably not the existence you mean. You're probably looking for some kind of notion that life, soul, spirit, consciousness, thought, etc., something that is uniquely us, something capable of experiencing the universe rather than simply being part of it, will continue after death.

I personally doubt it. I can find no evidence that we have any such part of us that is capable of continued existence after we die, and nothing beyond anecdotal accounts or junk science that anyone else has any evidence for it either.

I want it to exist. I'd like to think that something that is uniquely me will "live" on after my body dies. That would be nice (unless I'm being eternally tortured as a plaything of a sadistic deity).

But I just don't see it, for two reasons:

1. As mentioned above, there is no evidence for it. Believing in something with no evidence for it, just because it sounds nice, makes no sense to me.
2. Even if something continues, there is obviously no way for our "afterlife" to communicate with our current life, no way back, no messages from beyond, no guidance from those who have preceded us into the afterlife. Evidently there is no connection between whatever afterlife we might have and our current life. Given that, it's a fairly futile effort to put much thought or hope into something we cannot detect, experience, or even benefit from during this life.

If it's out there, which seems a really big if to me, then there will be time enough to think about it when I get there.

[Dom]

There is no evidence either way. It seems plausible to me that everything gets recycled. That seems to be the way things work in general.

Whether there is something within us that poofs out as we die, I don't know. If there is we can't see or measure it - yet.

I always make room for the fact that we don't know shit. So, if there is something, it is quite possible that we just don't know about it - yet.

Lets assume there is something - it certainly is not needed by the body anymore after death, so I assume it gets recycled.

Given that we don't know whether there is something, and much less what it might be or what it's properties are, speculations as to how it is recycled are highly - well - speculative.

Does it really matter?

[Momsurroundedbyboys]

My thoughts are similar to Dom's. Are we all eventually recycled? Yes probably -- just as we live on people's memory. Are we transported to another dimension? I'm going to guess not -- there's just not enough evidence to suggest otherwise.

[mawil1013]

Chas Wrote:Yes, there are atheists who have those kinds of ideas.

I'm not one of them. The evidence is that consciousness is solely an emergent property of the brain.

Consciousness, you mention it, that in itself seems implausible. Yes, a rock, yes atom, yes a particle, but consciousness seems to defy the logic of a sterile universe, even the most simplest so called 'life' seems improbable.

[PoolBoyG]

Why are those inclined towards fanciful beliefs always pick "consciousness" as something ethereal? Why not hunger? Or their sense of balance? In any case...

Original poster used some terms that they should define (what do you mean by conciousness, dimensions, etc?) and has used concepts that they should put forward evidence for (dimensions, non mortal deaths?)

A computer shares the same matter as that found in the ground. A computers software, it's "conciousness", is a function of that matter being combined in a certain way. If a computer is reduced back into plastics, gold, silicon, etc. does the computers software still exist? Is it still operating somewhere? Are my Solitaire scores still being kept? No. Not in the slightest.

[Chas]

Quote:

(14-01-2013 01:43 PM)mawil1013 Wrote:  Quote
Yes, there are atheists who have those kinds of ideas.

I'm not one of them. The evidence is that consciousness is solely an emergent property of the brain.

Consciousness, you mention it, that in itself seems implausible. Yes, a rock, yes atom, yes a particle, but consciousness seems to defy the logic of a sterile universe, even the most simplest so called 'life' seems improbable.

And yet, here it is.

[Dom]

I have issues with the way people throw the word "consciousness" around.

So do insects have consciousness? Do dogs? Do gorillas? How do you know?

All of this is just opinions and assumptions.

Nothing wrong with that, but I'd like to know what exactly you mean with "consciousness".