What happens when we die?

Post Reply New Topic

I'll let you know when I find out

We go to the morgue and then we likely get cremated or rot in the ground.

send me a postcard.

False analogies? The wiring in the house is a MUCH larger part than any individual atom or cell in our bodies. Also, by pouring something in to a bottle, a minute amount will seep in to the glass, changing the glass.

So... your personality has changed... but not your conscious? Your personality is *part* of your conscious. So are your memories.

Wait. Better example. If the brain is so irrelevant to our conscious, explain amnesia. Brain damage can make it so that you can longer form any new memories. Your conscious is then damaged, you are no longer the same person. You constantly revert back to who you were before. I await your explanation for this...

I'll get back to you when I know.

I love the idea of reincarnation. But I do not limit the possibilities to other animals. I think its possible to become part of a plant, or a bacterium. Or even a molecule or particle.

Either way I think our consciousness is like a subset or all possible consciousness so when we die our current consciousness is saved somewhere and we start again as something else.

Your body really does become part of plants and bacteria, since its carbon compounds serve as fertilizer and food for those organisms. But since your brain tissue is no longer alive and functional at that point, your consciousness, which is a product of your brain, will no longer be around.

This works both ways btw. If you eat a salad or a piece of dead cow, a part of this organism lives on in your body. Of course it's no longer alive after you digest it (or after it is slaughtered, in case of the cow; the salad leafs are still alive until you chew and digest them to death, which I find a little disturbing). But some of this organic material will be used as building blocks for new cells. So in a way, you are part salad

You made a thread about this before, and it was throughly debunked. Physical structure contains information and the structure does not change. Atoms are irrelevant in that case. Structure remains a physical thing. And structure gets screwed whenever you die.

People's personality can't even survive brain damage. If brain damage can alter people's personality and skills that much, then I doubt there is any reason to believe that something like that is a spiritual non-physical trait.

We don't really know what consciousness is or whether it is a product of the brain. I often think that single celled organisims have a consciousness and they don't have a brain. If we say that consciousness is a product of the brain then we are saying that only animals can have consciousness. I don't think its as simple as that.

But we do know what happens to people if their brain is damaged or on drugs. Drugs that affect the brain can alter our entire personality. So can brain tumors, neurodegenerative diseases, or brain injuries.

An injury of the temporal lobe may increase aggressiveness, cause memory loss, and can render people unable to recognize faces and objects. If the right temporal lobe is damaged, they may also become uninhibited and engage in greatly inappropriate behavior such as public masturbation. Frontal lobe injury can completely change someone's social behavior. People may become less spontaneous, have trouble expressing language or completely lose their ability to speak, and may no longer be able to solve complex problems.

If the parietal lobe is damaged, people may lose their ability to read and write, can no longer tell left from right, can't draw anymore and become unable to focus on more than one item at a time. And so on. When we look at these injuries, we can tell exactly which part of the brain is responsible for which part of our thought, memory, personality and cognitive abilities. Now, what do you think happens if the entire brain shuts down?

If our ability to do simple math or recognize faces can't exist independently from our brain -- which is evident in the fact that we lose these abilities and parts of our personality when the corresponding brain area is destroyed -- we can conclude that our consciousness and personality in its entirety is a product of the brain and cannot exist without it either.

hmmmmm I didn't realize someone did my joke before I did last night

dang, not as clever as I thought <_<

Just resurrect me after I die, and I'll tell you.

We rot. Our molecules and atoms go on to bigger and better things. Memories of us fade over the generations and eventually we shall all be forgotten. We are temporary beings.

ruveyn

If someone loses an arm, or a leg, their personality can change. I once got very angry because I had to lose a tooth. If someone has a new hairstyle it can change them. Viruses and infections can affect our sensory abilities. Drugs seem to give an enhancement to perception. But we still don't know what we mean when we talk about being conscious. I don't doubt the brain is important in consciousness but I don't reckon its the only contributor.

When I turn off my FM radio, I no longer hear 'Call Me Maybe' by Carly Rae Jepsen. Does that mean that my radio created that song?

I think the brain is an amplifier and a receiver of consciousness, but not the actual source of it. It's relevant yes, but it's not necessarily the source of consciousness itself.

When you die, everyone rummages through your stuff without washing their hands.