I stumbled upon a fun little video.
Why are humans obsessed with the afterlife?
Humanity has always struggled to get its collective head around the concept of death.
As a result, our fascination with some kind of afterlife - an immortal realm where our souls will live on forever - has taken many forms throughout history.
But why does coming to our natural end feel so very unnatural? What is the science of ageing? And could new technologies offer any hope of keeping some form of ourselves alive forever?
Max Tobin goes in search of what ‘afterlife’ really means.
Presented by Max Tobin
Written, filmed & edited by Dillon Steele
Here again is an example of where I think an explicit recognition that we are evolved biological creature, product of Earth’s processes, would clear away quite of bit of the cob webs of confusion and angst.
as in a filament in Evolution’s Pageant, a creature like all others, if at an altogether different level. Still, as with all animals, our consciousness (awareness…) is the inside reflect of our body/brain getting on with living.
Same as it ever was,
same as it is with all other creatures.
Our biological bodies in the act of living produce consciousness.
Neuroscientists are recording the action with ever increasing detail.
Just like a spinning magnet through a copper coil produces electricity, so long as the magnet keeps spinning, but as soon it comes to a halt production of electricity ceases. So too our consciousness ceases with our death
I grew up fascinated by, and weirded out by the use of “expired” to describe death. Until the morning, my death watch with my Dad ended in a final raspy expulsion of air, that reverberated in the room like the slamming shut of a massive book. Utter finality. “Expired” came to my mind, and I realized it was the most perfect word for what I’d witnessed. The expiration of my dad’s life.
His personal story came to an end.
Of course, he has lived on in all those he touched, and who remember him with a plethora of emotions that always end in knowing smiles.
All that stuff leads me to believing, Life is to be lived, do the best you can, with what you have, and enjoy the ride for all it’s worth. Besides, there’s always consolation, you could have been born a cow, or slug, or . . .
