After death

This question has been brought up too many times by too many people, but here it is again.

Setting all religious bias aside, what happens when you die? Scientifically, your bodily processes cease to work, which is the focal point of this question; does your entire conscience basically go dark? It's logical to assume that you can't see, hear, or feel anything when you're dead. All evidence basically points to your mind going to nothing. I guess the main question here is: Where does your conscience actually go? Whenever I think of an answer to this question I end up repeating myself over and over again (And I've done that already here).

Then there's the possibility of there actually being an alternate reality of sorts that isn't measurable by any physical means--an afterlife. It's pretty much impossible to elaborate on this.

Then, I read this: "If consciousness is energy, then I suppose you don't need proof that it survives death, because proof already exists: the First Law of Thermodynamics - energy is neither created or destroyed."

Discuss.

Well for me personally it's quite easy, after death your consciousness "returns" to the same state is was in -before- you were alive, as before you were born.

Have you ever wondered what happened to your consciousness all those billions of years before you came alive? It wasn't really boring as far as I can remember. Just eternal peaceful nothingness!

Also yeah, all the atoms and energy of your body will remain in the universe, they will never go away. You're correct about that! Matter and energy can never be destroyed, they can only switch states (matter <-> energy).

The only possibility of "rebirth" is that the universe will one day be pulled together again by dark matter / dark energy and during another "big bang" some of your atoms / energy will end up on a planet that can sustain life, and those atoms / energy become part of a living organism once again... Since this (in theory) can happen infinite times, you will become alive one day... but saying that, it's also possible that we have been alive already, some infinite times ago! .

This theory only works when the universe will collapse on itself again somehow, the problem is that at this moment it seems that the universe is expanding at an expanding rate, so there is no sign that it will ever collapse on itself again... If that is the case, and the universe will never collapse on itself again, we only have one life, and when we die, there is this eternal peaceful nothingness, just like we remember it from -before- we were born...

It's the best I can come up with, as a "technical" explanation.

The only possibility of "rebirth" is that the universe will one day be pulled together again by dark matter / dark energy and during another "big bang" some of your atoms / energy will end up on a planet that can sustain life, and those atoms / energy become part of a living organism once again... Since this (in theory) can happen infinite times, you will become alive one day... but saying that, it's also possible that we have been alive already, some infinite times ago! .

That doesn't really even mean anything though. The atoms in your body aren't you:

http://www.scienceofidentityfoundation.o...page=0%2C1

Recent studies at the Oak Ridge Atomic Research Center have revealed that about 98 percent of all the atoms in a human body are replaced every year. You get a new suit of skin every month and a new liver every six weeks. The lining of your stomach lasts only five days before it’s replaced. Even your bones are not the solid, stable, concrete-like things you might have thought them to be: They are undergoing constant change. The bones you have today are different from the bones you had a year ago. Experts in this area of research have concluded that there is a complete, 100 percent turnover of atoms in the body at least every five years. In other words, not one single atom present in your body today was there five years ago.

So even if this were to happen, it wouldn't really mean anything.

http://www.scienceofidentityfoundation.o...page=0%2C1

So even if this were to happen, it wouldn't really mean anything.

Hmmm very interesting!

But still, the atoms (or better molecules) in your body aren't simply replaced by random other ones, but are cloned from the original (and with it, there are some malfunctions, this leads to aging, and "lower body quality") ones. So your body only "duplicates / enlarges" itself, while destroying the old parts. That would mean the form of atoms / molecules stay nearly the same, even though they get replaced during life.

When you die, energy replenishment stops, duplications stops, cells die, body dies, remaining body energy is absorbed by the surrounding air / gound, body cells are absorbed by microorganisms and transformed into other molecules or transferred into energy if your body is burned after death.

Still, your energy / body molecule atoms / DNA/RNA molecule atoms remain in the same universe, they can't get destroyed.

Conscious is a process in the brain. It exist as long as electronic signals pass between the cells in a pattern that allows the organism to be self aware. Those signals stop, so does consciousness. It's not a physical object that has to go anywhere.
A flowing river can be moved, but once it stops flowing it doesn't "go" anywhere, it just becomes a pond.

Conscious is a process in the brain. It exist as long as electronic signals pass between the cells in a pattern that allows the organism to be self aware. Those signals stop, so does consciousness. It's not a physical object that has to go anywhere.
A flowing river can be moved, but once it stops flowing it doesn't "go" anywhere, it just becomes a pond.

Right. I think he's referring to "soul", which would be different than consciousness. I don't believe in the soul in a literal sense. It's more of a concept, to me. A soul is everything that you are mentally. It's all of the factors that make you up as a being. I don' t think of the soul as an actual object that's intangible and trapped within your physical body.

As Devil stated, I believe thane when you die, you simply get back to the state you were before you were born. There is just...nothing. You die and that's the end of your story. There is no more after. You can't think anymore or reflect upon your past. But you wouldn't even know you were dead anyway. If you got sniped unexpectingly directly in the head, I'd imagine your last seconds would be spent trying to process what the hell just happened before you just "stop". That is, there isn't even darkness, for you cannot percieve dark and light.


Simply put, when you die you simply reach oblivion.

Then, I read this: "If consciousness is energy, then I suppose you don't need proof that it survives death, because proof already exists: the First Law of Thermodynamics - energy is neither created or destroyed."

But that's the thing that many people don't realize, you can't use our modern day science-laws in situations that are immeasurable. If we were to find out that our consciousness completely ceases to exist, and our consciences were energy, then the First Law of Thermodynamics would not be the same, correct?
There are many things that both religion and science can be applied to that we can't 100% prove, and if we were to, one or the other would be, for the lack of a better term (I know one, just can't think of it right now. >.>) moot.