What do you think of the fact that there is a lack of evidence for life/consciousness after death?

[Homo Insapiens]

How much does it frighten you?
That the latest scientific evidence suggests that once we die, the best analogy for what our experience will be like is that of an eternal endless dreamless sleep? We’re probably even much more conscious when we’re in a deep dreamless sleep than when we’re dead, the former our nervous system is just shut down, the latter is when it’s completely destroyed, rotting, and no longer existing.

[TrueIndepence]

How much does it frighten you?
That the latest scientific evidence suggests that once we die, the best analogy for what our experience will be like is that of an eternal endless dreamless sleep? We’re probably even much more conscious when we’re in a deep dreamless sleep than when we’re dead, the former our nervous system is just shut down, the latter is when it’s completely destroyed, rotting, and no longer existing.

I don't worry about it too much. I am kind of agnostic and I believe that if there is a God out there, He would not allow humans to know there is an afterlife, no matter how advanced our scientific discoveries are. If there is no God or no afterlife, I don't worry about it either since I will not realize it anyway. I don't believe in the religious interpretations on the afterlife, but I also can't be completely convinced there isn't one since I believe there may be a god whose existence is supernatural. Considering that, we will never know for sure about his existence or if he granted us an afterlife by our own natural means. I just live my life as I see fit and do not worry about death even if I take precautions to avoid it like any normal human being does. The way I see things, I think that God may have, by his own will, prevented us from knowing the fate of our souls so that we could live our lives without trying to please him, not taking care of ourselves or not living to the fullest because we would be guaranteed another life (again, if God exists to begin with).

[sean]

Death means the end of our existence. Death exists for a individual only after it's happened. How can we fear something that doesn't exist until the moment we don't?

Sense of self and consciousness are two different things. I've seen others allude to self-awareness, which is also a separate thing.

The area of the brain that's responsible for sense of self is called the Ventromedial prefrontal cortex. When that area of the brain is damaged, the person perceives everything as one in the same. It causes them to enter a dream or trance-like state. These patients are also prone to confabulation.

Another part of the brain called the extended reticular thalamic activating system which is located in the Periaqueductal gray of the upper brainstem, is a prerequisite for consciousness in any organism. If that part of the brain is damaged, the result is a permanent loss of consciousness, i.e. coma.

Nietzsche came up with this thought experiment where you are suddenly told that you will live your life an infinite amount of times, without any deviation. The reasoning is that time is infinite, therefore, after we die the occurrence that is our life will come about again, exactly the same, over and over again.

The real point of the thought experiment is how you would react to the hypothetical knowledge of the “eternal recurrence”. Would it freak you out, because you are actually counting on an afterlife to justify all the shit you put up with in your current life?

Or, would it freak you out because you are counting on that nothingness bringing relief from a life full of suffering? Or would you actually celebrate the knowledge because you know your life is something you would want to live exactly the same way every time?

We know we are all destined to the void. There is nothing to suggest our consciousness is special or will live on. The void of consciousness was pretty comfortable during the billions of years before my birth, I imagine it will be just as comfortable after I die.

Anyway, if you live long enough, you might be able to have your mind uploaded and achieve digital immortality (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_uploading) after biological death.

[rothaer]

How much does it frighten you?

Not at all.


That the latest scientific evidence suggests that once we die, the best analogy for what our experience will be like is that of an eternal endless dreamless sleep?

No, I've a much better analogy: After our life it will "feel" exactly like before our life.

It's funny that there is so much excitement about the first question, but hardly anyone cares about the very resembling latter one.