OK, I have a question. Yesterday, im-worthless made a post called “The other side” asking what people thought about the afterlife. I responded saying no one knows, but there is no logical reason based on what we do know about consciousness to think it’s anything other than eternal oblivion.
Now, I’m sticking by what I said then. That said, this does raise a number of other philosophical questions that have really been troubling me for years.
I’m very evidence minded, and I find the believability of a claim is closely linked to the strength of the evidence supporting it. If there is no evidence for something, it probably doesn’t exist, and if it does, it’s not worth worrying about because it’s obviously not having a very big impact on our world (otherwise, there would be evidence for it). Obviously, there will be scientific revolutions in the future and all, where new things are discovered, but I’ll make up my mind on those things then and not sooner.
First of all, the only evidence we have of a soul is our sense of awareness. And the “soul” really only refers to functions we know the brain is responsible for. So if our “soul” is really only an illusion generated by our brain, then why am I me, and not you?
What I mean is, I could be experiencing life from the perspective of any of the other billions of species on the planet, or the many more that are now extinct, or perhaps even forms of life that may have evolved elsewhere in the universe. But I’m not. I’m me. Is this because the structure of my brain implies the nature of my particular “soul”, or is all of this just an illusion – we are all just self aware molecular robots, who by a constant process of chemical interactions have evolved to question our own existence? Like a soulless computer unknowingly conducting a Turing test on itself?
Neuroscience since the 80’s has shown it is possible to measure a change in “readiness potential” in the brains of test subjects before they even experience a “decision to act”. Can free will really exist in the face of this?
I tried to make this problem as easy to understand as I could, but I’m not always very good with words, especially when trying to convey abstract ideas like the above. Perhaps if you want an example of the problem I’m driving at, look at this short story by Andy Weir called “The Egg“. Obviously, without any evidence, I don’t for a moment believe the premise of this story to be true, but the philosophical proposition at its crux drives at the very problem I’m stuck on.
Does anyone have any ideas? What are your thoughts on this? And why?
9 comments
You are an eternal spirit inhabiting a physical or human vessel so as to experience this dimension. Your soul wants the experience so as to have the journey. Pure & simple. No oblivion. However the journey ends, you return to where you came from which is the non physical or back to spirit.
So there is reincarnation?
Yes CondensedFlesh
I am surprised I would find another such as softsoul here , you are 100% correct good sir or madam
As far as I am concerned, the brain is a product of awareness (mind) before awareness is a product of the brain.
Some people claim we are made out of stardust. I claim stardust is made out of us.
How do you know that, though?
Dear Engie,
See quantum physics or quantum mechanics…or whatever they are calling it this year…that should explain….welll nothing…except that we don’t know anything and that anything is possible…even without empirical evidence. Don’t get left behind…hahaha…we’re all going quantum eh? Ever see the movie or read the book called What the Bleep Do We Know…I believe Marly Matlin is the main character…you should give it a whirl…and catch up eh?…jk
Peace
Amakua
If anyone tells you that they know the answers to these questions, run for the hills. They’re most likely full of shit.
You’re right to demand proof. Without evidence, any claim is just a baseless claim.
“There’s an invisible dinosaur that follows me everywhere I go”.
Prove it.
Heh, there’s that impossible question i keep asking:
“…why am I me, and not you?”
The only reasonable estimation i can invent to connect reality to this question, is the supposition that “we are all the same consciousness, experiencing subjective individuality as separate entities, despite all being either the same source, or offshoots of the same origin.” Or something like that.
To rephrase what i just said: You ARE me, and i AM you.
But in this form, each individual has a “self,” rather than being a consciously integrated collective. Essentially… we are all different physical manifestations of the same “soul,” which inhabits all life. That’s the best i can do on the quoted conundrum above.
Nice necro C4.
Furthermore: “quantum” anything, is all about figuring out the value and functionality, and even the relevance of, the smallest possible measurable amounts of any and/or everything. We actually do know quite a lot, but “know” does not mean what most people think it means.
Additionally:
I suppose, part of what i was getting at, is that the only way i can make any sense of the “why am i me and not you?” problem, leads toward the realization that eternal oblivion and reincarnation are equally likely estimations of what may occur after death.
If we are indeed “all one soul,” then it would seem somewhat reasonable to estimate that this “one soul” would continue filling/activating all subsequent beings. So when a “self” dies, it merely loses its connection to the source… but the source itself remains, and continues to propel more and more newly produced living beings.
So, perhaps, when we die, we merely “awaken” as yet another brand new newborn individual. The “branch” of soul “jumps” to a new biological host, in order for the origin sentience/universe to continue experiencing itself subjectively.
However, i realize just how inconceivable such a thing can be, as i’ve spent many years as an agnostic, atheist, anti-theist, due to how i learned, through what i will call “artificial religion,” about the concepts of “god” and “afterlife.” I still can’t see any reason to believe any of the unsubstantiated stuff in any bible or holy book is true… but even as someone who thinks all theistic religion is inherently farcical, i have to admit that there is something happening here that no one (or very few) seems to understand, and few even approach, from any perspective that has any chance of yielding any potentially valid answer.
But it could totally be just nothingness afterward, and we could indeed be mere biological phenomena, produced entirely by “accident” and/or causal circumstance. Maybe the right pieces just ended up in the right places and we just happened, and there’s nothing more to understand. But if there is… i think my answer at least looks in the right direction, or at least a direction worth further exploring, if any “beyond” is to be explored at all.