If you are a scientist who believes in life after death

[Anonymous]

Why?

[Anonymous]

If the soul just disappears when the brain’s on propofol, where could the soul possibly be when the brain’s dead?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the soul just disappears when the brain’s on propofol, where could the soul possibly be when the brain’s dead?

Answer: there is no soul. Consciousness ("soul") stops with brain activity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the soul just disappears when the brain’s on propofol, where could the soul possibly be when the brain’s dead?

Answer: there is no soul. Consciousness ("soul") stops with brain activity.

I agree, but the question was whether there are any scientists who believe in life after death. I'd like to hear from them, and hear why they think that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the soul just disappears when the brain’s on propofol, where could the soul possibly be when the brain’s dead?

Answer: there is no soul. Consciousness ("soul") stops with brain activity.

Thanks. That’s the point. I was asking a rhetorical question.

[Anonymous]

I’m a mathematician and now computer scientist so I’m not sure if I qualify but I believe Energy never dies and we have energy. It’s neither created nor does it die.

I don’t think I can explain my thoughts so I found this article that somewhat explains my thoughts.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/futurism.com/the-physics-of-death/amp

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a mathematician and now computer scientist so I’m not sure if I qualify but I believe Energy never dies and we have energy. It’s neither created nor does it die.

I don’t think I can explain my thoughts so I found this article that somewhat explains my thoughts.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/futurism.com/the-physics-of-death/amp

Energy never dies? Energy was never alive to begin with. Energy cannot cease to exist. But that in no way, shape or form means consciousness is immortal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a mathematician and now computer scientist so I’m not sure if I qualify but I believe Energy never dies and we have energy. It’s neither created nor does it die.

I don’t think I can explain my thoughts so I found this article that somewhat explains my thoughts.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/futurism.com/the-physics-of-death/amp

This link requires a password to view the article.

[Anonymous]

I’ve read a lot about near death experiences and people’s experiences around death. There’s a remarkable consistency in the stories. There’s so much to this world we don’t know, and I think it’s somewhat arrogant to assume what we can see, touch, feel, hear and taste comprise all of what exists in the universe. Dog’s hear things we can’t. Birds see things we can’t. We have this small life, we come and we go. I believe there’s something more than what we can understand and I’m open to learning as much as I can about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the soul just disappears when the brain’s on propofol, where could the soul possibly be when the brain’s dead?

Answer: there is no soul. Consciousness ("soul") stops with brain activity.

Consciousness =/= soul

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read a lot about near death experiences and people’s experiences around death. There’s a remarkable consistency in the stories. There’s so much to this world we don’t know, and I think it’s somewhat arrogant to assume what we can see, touch, feel, hear and taste comprise all of what exists in the universe. Dog’s hear things we can’t. Birds see things we can’t. We have this small life, we come and we go. I believe there’s something more than what we can understand and I’m open to learning as much as I can about it.

There are scientific explanations to why dogs and birds can hear and see things that humans can't. There are many things we still do not know: science is working on them. Supernatural explanations are simply made up by humans, like everything else that is supernatural.

[Anonymous]

I'm a physicist. I wouldn't say that I believe for sure there is life after death, but I would say that there are many, many things that we don't know about the universe. There are also many, many things we don't understand about intelligence and "consciousness" (which isn't a well-defined term scientifically, though philosophically I think it is better-defined).

As a result, I can't rule out the possibility that there is some allegorical truth to religious beliefs (I can rule out that there is literal truth to many/most of them). I grew up in a pretty religious (not Christian) household, so it's hard to take a completely agnostic approach to these ideas. Somewhere I probably do believe things on balance lean toward some kind of larger order than what the laws of physics explain. But there is no scientific basis for these beliefs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read a lot about near death experiences and people’s experiences around death. There’s a remarkable consistency in the stories. There’s so much to this world we don’t know, and I think it’s somewhat arrogant to assume what we can see, touch, feel, hear and taste comprise all of what exists in the universe. Dog’s hear things we can’t. Birds see things we can’t. We have this small life, we come and we go. I believe there’s something more than what we can understand and I’m open to learning as much as I can about it.

A lot of the NDE stories have been tentatively explained by neurologists who say the brain's sensory functions under stress can produce imagery that feels like tunnel vision and floating above one's body. Even seeing dead loved ones and feeling drawn to a bright light. Who knows.

My mother was in a car accident when she was 18 and had a NDE. She swears she floated above her body in the hospital room and heard the doctor telling her parents she was not likely to live. She says she knew she had a choice, and she chose to live -- although she says she did it only to stop her parents' pain. She says the alternative (dying) at the time seemed much better somehow. She knew she was giving up something wonderful to go back to living.

She isn't remotely religious, but she doesn't fear death. She says she knows it will be painless and "wonderful" in some way. But not in the sense of living another life as who she is now. More like becoming something new.

I think that goes to the conservation of energy model -- our "soul" is the energy that makes us alive. When we die, it leaves our body and dissipates, eventually becoming part of something else. So, in a sense, yes. There is life after death.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve read a lot about near death experiences and people’s experiences around death. There’s a remarkable consistency in the stories. There’s so much to this world we don’t know, and I think it’s somewhat arrogant to assume what we can see, touch, feel, hear and taste comprise all of what exists in the universe. Dog’s hear things we can’t. Birds see things we can’t. We have this small life, we come and we go. I believe there’s something more than what we can understand and I’m open to learning as much as I can about it.

A lot of the NDE stories have been tentatively explained by neurologists who say the brain's sensory functions under stress can produce imagery that feels like tunnel vision and floating above one's body. Even seeing dead loved ones and feeling drawn to a bright light. Who knows.

My mother was in a car accident when she was 18 and had a NDE. She swears she floated above her body in the hospital room and heard the doctor telling her parents she was not likely to live. She says she knew she had a choice, and she chose to live -- although she says she did it only to stop her parents' pain. She says the alternative (dying) at the time seemed much better somehow. She knew she was giving up something wonderful to go back to living.

She isn't remotely religious, but she doesn't fear death. She says she knows it will be painless and "wonderful" in some way. But not in the sense of living another life as who she is now. More like becoming something new.

I think that goes to the conservation of energy model -- our "soul" is the energy that makes us alive. When we die, it leaves our body and dissipates, eventually becoming part of something else. So, in a sense, yes. There is life after death.

I’ve had ketamine infusions where I’ve believed I was floating above my body. But obviously my consciousness wasn’t actually floating above my body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a physicist. I wouldn't say that I believe for sure there is life after death, but I would say that there are many, many things that we don't know about the universe. There are also many, many things we don't understand about intelligence and "consciousness" (which isn't a well-defined term scientifically, though philosophically I think it is better-defined).

As a result, I can't rule out the possibility that there is some allegorical truth to religious beliefs (I can rule out that there is literal truth to many/most of them). I grew up in a pretty religious (not Christian) household, so it's hard to take a completely agnostic approach to these ideas. Somewhere I probably do believe things on balance lean toward some kind of larger order than what the laws of physics explain. But there is no scientific basis for these beliefs.

I can’t disprove that a cosmic tea cup orbits the Earth but that’s no reason to think there might actually be one.