The closer it gets.

I agree NG. There’s no way we can fathom life after death because, like a child touching fire for the first time, we have nothing to compare it to except what other people tell us what it’s like.

Still, sometimes when you’re close to the end you do get a powerful feeling of “this is it. No more life.”

In my mind, consciousness ends when the brain stops working. Memories end. As with brain damage, alzheimers, lobotomies, etc, when the brain cells die, our memories die and memories are all we are. Sure, our decayed flesh eventually mixes with the soil and feeds a tree. But does that mean we come back as a tree? No our brains are gone forever as well as our memories and identities and personalities. Our molecules might be recycled as something else but that’s no longer you. That’s something else that ate you.

A lot of people are terrified by the concept of complete annihilation, and I guess that’s why humans have come up with all sorts of fancy ideas like heaven and ghosts and reincarnation. But those ideas don’t hold any charm for me. My greatest reward will be when my pain ends, and that’s all I need. Total oblivion.