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Baraka_Guru · 04-03-2011, 10:14 AM

I'm sure this has been touched upon in other threads, but as far as I know, it hasn't been the focus of one.

As an atheist, I don't have any firm beliefs or concerns regarding an afterlife. In my mind there is no heaven or hell. However, I sometimes contemplate what an afterlife could be in an atheistic sense.

Most atheists, I imagine, view death as "lights out"; after which, all else is worm food. That's likely the case; however, I sometimes think of some "what if" situations that vary from that belief. Despite my atheism, I do have an imagination.

One theory of mine---though I'm sure it's not mine per se, in that I'm certain it's not a unique thought----is that an afterlife could exist in the sense that your consciousness could live on intact despite a bodily death.

After all, what is consciousness? What keeps it organized, intact? Is it merely contained in the brain? What if a bodily death means lights out on sensory reception but consciousness lives on? My one theory of an afterlife is one in which we relive, reinterpret, reorganize, and otherwise ponder our experiences over an indefinite period---time itself is irrelevant at this point. Perhaps it no longer exists. The boundaries of the afterlife is the sum of our sensory experiences---the sum of our memories.

What do you think of this? If you think it's impossible, can you move beyond that on a theoretical level and determine how such a consciousness would act?

This is an afterlife perhaps based purely in the physical world. The religious ideas of an afterlife, on the contrary, are necessarily nonphysical. I think that's where atheists get caught up. They believe there is no existence on a nonphysical level.

Philosophically, could there be such a thing as a physical afterlife? Thinking beyond my example, could you possibly load consciousness into a machine? Would that be immortality, or a physical afterlife? Is a machine necessary? Could consciousness remain organized on an atomic level perhaps?

04-03-2011, 10:14 AM	#1 (permalink)
Baraka_Guru warrior bodhisattva Super Moderator Location: East-central Canada	Afterlife without God I'm sure this has been touched upon in other threads, but as far as I know, it hasn't been the focus of one. As an atheist, I don't have any firm beliefs or concerns regarding an afterlife. In my mind there is no heaven or hell. However, I sometimes contemplate what an afterlife could be in an atheistic sense. Most atheists, I imagine, view death as "lights out"; after which, all else is worm food. That's likely the case; however, I sometimes think of some "what if" situations that vary from that belief. Despite my atheism, I do have an imagination. One theory of mine---though I'm sure it's not mine per se, in that I'm certain it's not a unique thought----is that an afterlife could exist in the sense that your consciousness could live on intact despite a bodily death. After all, what is consciousness? What keeps it organized, intact? Is it merely contained in the brain? What if a bodily death means lights out on sensory reception but consciousness lives on? My one theory of an afterlife is one in which we relive, reinterpret, reorganize, and otherwise ponder our experiences over an indefinite period---time itself is irrelevant at this point. Perhaps it no longer exists. The boundaries of the afterlife is the sum of our sensory experiences---the sum of our memories. What do you think of this? If you think it's impossible, can you move beyond that on a theoretical level and determine how such a consciousness would act? This is an afterlife perhaps based purely in the physical world. The religious ideas of an afterlife, on the contrary, are necessarily nonphysical. I think that's where atheists get caught up. They believe there is no existence on a nonphysical level. Philosophically, could there be such a thing as a physical afterlife? Thinking beyond my example, could you possibly load consciousness into a machine? Would that be immortality, or a physical afterlife? Is a machine necessary? Could consciousness remain organized on an atomic level perhaps? __________________ Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing? —Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön Humankind cannot bear very much reality. —From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot Last edited by Baraka_Guru; 04-03-2011 at 10:17 AM..