If you are a scientist who believes in life after death

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I agree with this, but if I'm honest, I'm not truly agnostic on this point. I was raised a certain way, and that influences my beliefs. Like all humans, including other scientists, I'm irrational.

[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.

the key term there is "near death." Ok? Nobody has ever died and come back to talk about it. So we don't know. The question is who made up the idea of an after life and why? There isn't a scintilla of evidence to support it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Why limit afterlife to consciousness? Energy never Ceases to exist. I am Energy. I am not a body. My body will die but my energy Will live on or exist forever.

Where it will land or exist I do not know, but I can’t wait to find out.

[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.

the key term there is "near death." Ok? Nobody has ever died and come back to talk about it. So we don't know. The question is who made up the idea of an after life and why? There isn't a scintilla of evidence to support it.

That is not true. Jesus Christ rose from the dead and walked the earth for another 40 days. He had a lot to say about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

the key term there is "near death." Ok? Nobody has ever died and come back to talk about it. So we don't know. The question is who made up the idea of an after life and why? There isn't a scintilla of evidence to support it.

That is not true. Jesus Christ rose from the dead and walked the earth for another 40 days. He had a lot to say about it.

How do you know he rose from the dead? Because the Bible says so? The Koran says Mohammed pushed a mountain. Does that mean it’s true?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Why limit afterlife to consciousness? Energy never Ceases to exist. I am Energy. I am not a body. My body will die but my energy Will live on or exist forever.

Where it will land or exist I do not know, but I can’t wait to find out.

No, your energy will not live on. It will continue to exist but it will not live on. Energy is not alive to begin with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

the key term there is "near death." Ok? Nobody has ever died and come back to talk about it. So we don't know. The question is who made up the idea of an after life and why? There isn't a scintilla of evidence to support it.

That is not true. Jesus Christ rose from the dead and walked the earth for another 40 days. He had a lot to say about it.

Well the authors of this story, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were not around at the time and didn't actually see it. So they may have passed along some legend, or made it up. We'll never know.

[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.

There was an interesting book a few years ago written by a neurologist studying NDEs, only he looks for those rare episodes when people are truly clinically dead and then are resuscitated. So people with zero brain activity. Rare, but apparently happens. And in some of the episodes of people having no brain activity they are able to recount specific conversations that happened in the room after their brain stopped, or they described things they only could have seen from above. So not the typical NDE tunnel and light. So this scientist has set up studies in trauma bays with images that can only be seen from above. It was an interesting book.

[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

Thanks! The article is a great read: https://futurism.com/the-physics-of-death

Do you believe that consciousness continues after death?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

There was an interesting book a few years ago written by a neurologist studying NDEs, only he looks for those rare episodes when people are truly clinically dead and then are resuscitated. So people with zero brain activity. Rare, but apparently happens. And in some of the episodes of people having no brain activity they are able to recount specific conversations that happened in the room after their brain stopped, or they described things they only could have seen from above. So not the typical NDE tunnel and light. So this scientist has set up studies in trauma bays with images that can only be seen from above. It was an interesting book.

Imagine Heaven

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

There was an interesting book a few years ago written by a neurologist studying NDEs, only he looks for those rare episodes when people are truly clinically dead and then are resuscitated. So people with zero brain activity. Rare, but apparently happens. And in some of the episodes of people having no brain activity they are able to recount specific conversations that happened in the room after their brain stopped, or they described things they only could have seen from above. So not the typical NDE tunnel and light. So this scientist has set up studies in trauma bays with images that can only be seen from above. It was an interesting book.

Nothing leaves our body at death. If it was true, neuroscientists would be able to detect it and they haven't. And if they haven't, you can't say any detectable energy, or soul, leaves our body. Anyone who says so is making this up.

[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.

Sounds as if you'd like to think that some of this stuff is true on some level, but you have no reason to think it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

the key term there is "near death." Ok? Nobody has ever died and come back to talk about it. So we don't know. The question is who made up the idea of an after life and why? There isn't a scintilla of evidence to support it.

That is not true. Jesus Christ rose from the dead and walked the earth for another 40 days. He had a lot to say about it.

this is a religious belief; not a scientific fact.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

the key term there is "near death." Ok? Nobody has ever died and come back to talk about it. So we don't know. The question is who made up the idea of an after life and why? There isn't a scintilla of evidence to support it.

That is not true. Jesus Christ rose from the dead and walked the earth for another 40 days. He had a lot to say about it.

Well the authors of this story, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were not around at the time and didn't actually see it. So they may have passed along some legend, or made it up. We'll never know.

Oh, you'll know all right. You'll know for certain when you die.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

the key term there is "near death." Ok? Nobody has ever died and come back to talk about it. So we don't know. The question is who made up the idea of an after life and why? There isn't a scintilla of evidence to support it.

That is not true. Jesus Christ rose from the dead and walked the earth for another 40 days. He had a lot to say about it.

How do you know he rose from the dead? Because the Bible says so? The Koran says Mohammed pushed a mountain. Does that mean it’s true?

The Koran is not indisputably true through historic fact. The Bible is. And yes, that is one way that I know that Jesus rose from the dead - it's very well detailed in the Bible.