Big Think
Is there life after death?
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:13 Michelle Thaller
1:10 Sam Harris
3:26 Michael Shermer
5:50 Rob Bell
8:08 Bill Nye
12:43 Michio Kaku
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Death is inevitable for all known living things. However on the question of what, if anything, comes after life, the most honest answer is that no one knows.
So far, there is no scientific evidence to prove or disprove what happens after we die. In this video, astronomer Michelle Thaller, neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris, science educator Bill Nye, and others consider what an afterlife would look like, what the biblical concepts of ‘eternal life’ and ‘hell’ really mean, why so many people around the world choose to believe that death is not the end, and whether or not that belief is ultimately detrimental or beneficial to one’s life.
Life after death is also not relegated to discussions of religion. “Digital and genetic immortality are within reach,” says theoretical physicist Michio Kaku. Kaku shares how, in the future, we may be able to physically talk to the dead thanks to hologram technology and the digitization of our online lives, memories, and connectome.
Read Sam Harri’s “Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion” at https://amzn.to/3r9EevF
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TRANSCRIPT:
MICHELLE THALLER: Einstein thought that the beginning of the universe, the Big Bang, created all of space and all of time at once in a big whole something. So every point in the past and every point in the future are just as real as the point of time you feel yourself in right now. Einstein believed that literally. One of his best friends died and he wrote a letter to this person’s wife, talking about how his friend still exists. Time is a landscape and if you had the right perspective on the universe, you would see all of it laid out in front of you. All past, present, and future as a whole thing. And he said, “Your husband, my friend, is just over the next hill. He’s still there. We can’t see him where we are now, but we are on this landscape with him and he still exists just as much as he ever has.” Einstein believed that you, right now, had been dead for trillions of years, that you haven’t been born yet, that everything that’s happened to you—if you could get the right perspective on the universe—you could see all at once.
SAM HARRIS: Death is in some ways unacceptable. I mean, it’s just an astonishing fact of our being here that we die. But I think, worse than that, is that if we live long enough we lose everyone we love in this world. I mean, the people die and disappear and we’re left with this dark mystery. There’s just the sheer not knowing what happened to them. And into this void, religion comes rushing with a very consoling story, saying nothing happened to them; they’re in a better place and you’re going to meet up with them after you die. You’re going to get everything you want after you die. Death is an illusion. There’s no question that, if you could believe it, that would pay emotional dividends. I mean, there’s no other story you can tell somebody who’s just lost her daughter to cancer, say, to make her feel good. It is consoling to believe that the daughter was just taken up with Jesus and everyone’s going to be reunited in a few short years. There’s no replacement for that. There doesn’t need to be a replacement for that. I think we have to be… We have to just witness the cost of that. I mean, there are many obvious costs of that way of thinking. One is we just don’t teach people how to grieve. Religion is the kind of the antithesis of teaching your children how to grieve. You tell your child that your grandma’s in heaven and there’s nothing to be sad about. That’s religion. It would be better to equip your child for the reality of this life, which is, death is a fact and we don’t know what happens after death. And I’m not pretending to know that you get a dial tone after death. I don’t know what happens after the physical brain dies. I don’t know what the relationship between consciousness and the physical world is. I don’t think anyone does know. Now, I think there are many reasons to be doubtful of naive conceptions about the soul and about this idea that you could just migrate to a better place after death. But I simply don’t know about what… I don’t know what I believe about death. And I don’t think it’s necessary to know in order to live as sanely and ethically and happily as possible.
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Do you believe in an afterlife?
I know our souls are immortal by our bodies not so much, like the soul will keep living on even if your bodies gone, It would just keep going and going, and you just keep forgetting things, so you literally start over from square one as a newborn baby with no memories of your past life because most people don’t remember it, but some will remember, but then forget as adults
If the skeptics about the afterlife is wrong, they’ll be seeing nothing like they said, I know I said it already but since you don’t believe in anything or afterlife, I don’t think you’ll see anything all I know is he better hope he’s wrong because he might be seeing nothing for forever, when he dies.😅😅😅😅
I know what the afterlife is it’s pretty much a dream that never ends, but you don’t stay there forever. Eventually you’re reborn repeatedly. But hell is different, it’s pretty much an endless nightmare that your mind creates out of guilt. But it depends on your belief if you believe in nothing you see nothing. That’s pretty much how the afterlife works. It shows you images of things you want and things you don’t want. You Affect what it looks like if you don’t believe in the afterlife, I doubt you would see anything but deep down if you believe it will appear. I heard of a monk who died for three days, and he saw hell his version of it of Buddha, and other priests, in hell for worshiping Buddha. Now this is coming from his subconscious deep down he never believed in Buddha, so the hell he saw it’s just how he thought even though he never worship God eventually he came back to life and became Christian. To me what he saw came from his own mind he just saw what he wanted to see that’s how the afterlife works. Your mind affects what it looks like, because if you don’t believe in anything you see nothing.😮😮😮😮
I have a theory that the afterlife, is the dreamworld pretty much an illusion, that our minds created. And when we die our souls going to that illusion, then finds a different body, a newborn body reliving life, over and over again. Some people experience past lives Mostly as children now they remember things and places and know things they shouldn’t, but eventually those memories fade replace find new memories. In my opinion, there is life after death just in a different body.😮😮😮
Video title: "is there life after death?"
"I don't know"
John 14 2 4 my house has many rooms if not I would I tell you he has prepared a place for you there
There's definitely many references of heaven and h*** this guy is definitely not read The Bible and he is completely wrong about Heaven and h*** there's many references how about dying on the cross telling him he will be with him in paradise Revelation talks about it tones How about dead people coming back and spending time talking to them there's all kinds of stories like that in The Bible that's so totally wrong
I believe people you lost come to you in your dreams as well. A visitation dream that is different than just seeing them in the dream. I had one of my great uncle who passed when I was a teen, in the dream he was in his garden gathering vegetables. He smiles happy to see me and we talk for a bit, asking me how I have been. In life he was an elder man in a wheelchair, that's how I had always known him to be but in the dream he was a young man looked to be in his 30s and he was standing and healthy. I woke up and was left with an amazing feeling. Oddly we were never that close, I had come over to his house sometime to clean for him and he was always so nice. Sometime I get angry that I have never had such dreams about my grand-parents, I ask them to visit me in my dreams but they never have 🙁
Energy never disappear, it only presents in a different form. After we die, where the energy that drove our lives gone to? And what form this energy might has became?
15 minutes of wasted time. And the Asian at the end …tell him I already watched that movie.
Donald Hoffman check him out.
If it's death is real so why it's a mistery?
Appreciate the here and now: yes, this is where there is work to be done
Glad you figured it out!
Life- means you are alive. Death-means the opposite, you are not alive. The walking dead are hoping to carry on indefinitely. Don’t try it at home.
I think if you were going to have a practical conversation about life after death you would have to almost disregard most of what we have been brought up to believe. There was quite a lot of things people didn't have access to, too be able to make rational theories or the ability to really even prove them. Granted there was a lot the ancients were right about as well but all of it has been able to be proven. I've lost moat of the people I loved more than anything and I've seen also seen the opposite. I have always enjoyed being a student of history so I wasn't ever able to get into religion really. I've tried doing my best to learn about some of the most popular ones by reading the Quran, Bible, The book of Mormon and the teachings of Buda. None of which fully made sense. I did think that if there was some kinda of a real religion that it would most likely be one that involved a lot of hard work and dedication because that's kinda how life works. If something happens after we die it's almost 100% not going to be anything anyone has thought of yet. I always look to science because of the tangible proof usually associated with it but there have been quite a lot of recent discoveries that were thought to be impossible that in fact are not and it can't be explained. It's convenient to have a simple answer but I think death is going to require some work. If you had eternity you could be every living thing that has ever and will ever exist. Everything good or bad you do, you would do to yourself. Loving and learning would never get old and the universe is endless so time has no meaning. There's quite a bit more to it than that but I've already written to much and nobody is going to read it anyway. I'm not telling anyone anything. I'm just looking for answers
"Is there life after death?" – Yes, after you died, life is just going on.
Whsts crazy is how they ignore how the brain uses chemicals to alter reality and can definitely dilate time drastically. Maybe the afterlife is like some type of ultra vivid forever dream?
This is what people wish to believe about death is that it's not the very end..It's not a black void…It is not totality..It's not infinite…But the fact is that I myself had died almost two years ago now and whatever you believe and whatever you say still doesn't change that in the very same minutes that I was officially announced dead,it was nothing but a massive pitch black void..There was absolutely nothing there,no this,no that,no afterlife what so ever..Just as if you had closed your eyes and had fell asleep but had not had any dreams…In fact the best way to put it was that it was an absolute existence of nothingness…..Sorry to disappoint.
I think of death as a permanent, dreamless sleep, and the older I get the more I think that doesn't sound bad at all.
six months ago i was in a coma for a week, there was nothing, no thought, no brain activity at all that i can remember, death will be the same thing, when you die "you are dead and gone' only darkness as your conscience dwindles and peters out
Michael Shermer: If you died in order to experience your own funeral, you would need more than consciousness. You would need sense organs like ears and eyes.
Bill Nye: Good question about digitizing your brain. I've read about experiments of depriving people of sensory input and they begin having mental breakdowns. The info would have to be kept in storage until some type of robot is developed.
Dr. Michio Kaku: Imagine a man goes once a week to have his brain scanned. He's been shown a robot body that looks like his but it's almost indestructible. When he dies, the robot will be activated. At that time, he will know he has died because he would feel like he just woke up in the facility where he saw the robot and had his brain scanned. Now, suppose something went wrong and the robot is awakened before the man dies. The robot rushes home to tell his wife and children that he's still alive. At his house, his wife is eating dinner with her husband and children. They hear a knock at the door and she gets up to answer it. As soon as she opens the door, she says: "Oh, crap!".
😄
I tend to side with the guy who died and lived to tell the tale
I believe we are living in a video game. There is a Game Developer in the sky, and when we die we may meet him. If you were suddenly thrust into a game like GTA, COD, or even Mario Bros., what would you do? Have some fun, explore, collect coins, rise to higher levels, save the Princess, and go for the high score. Stop thinking about the end of the game, and just play the game as best you can, having fun along the way.
I think we can assume what happens sadly or happily or whatever
Don't know but likely nothing. Your physical form rots in the ground that's a guarantee though. Just because we want to feel like there is more, there is absolutely no evidence to suggest there is. I'm not sure why that is scary.. those who suffered in life are not suffering anymore.
You pay tax
Uh guess what, Bill Nye, or any of the otheres don't have a clue about what happens after death!
All of the views from everyone one this video was amazing . thank you for sharing. enjoyed it.
Einstein right now is dead and he's dealing with the devil, Hitler, Nixon, and even Stephen Hopkins!!! Why because their brains went overdrive! (Extreme imaginations) if you did listen to Einstein then why didn't he point out in the galaxy to show us where to meet the other people. Yes he was smart yes he was fine but it went overdrive in the brain. Or under the table they paid him to brainwash the people that listens. For my own opinion I will never believe it until I'll see it. If you believe in it you achieve it right? But after that you have to PROVE IT!!!!! BUT TODAY'S WORLD IT'S NONSENSE ALL YOU HEAR IS LALALALALA LALALALALA!
I have had family and an ex girlfriend pass away, their being gone comes with no more communication or anything else for that matter.
I feel that with the few dozen people I do associate with quite honestly.
As for me dying while insisting on living forever, I won't be missed or remembered after a few short months. Nobody can literally confirm what's possible or otherwise what happens when we die, I consider your minds greatest desire will put you in that scenario.
You have to understand I'm good either way.
This video should be titled "What do wealthy, anti-religious, atheists think about the idea of an afterlife."
I wish there is something, but I don't think so. It doesn't make sense to me. Where were we before we were born? Where do animals go when they die? Bacteria? We as humans are so egotistical. Everything dies in nature, including planets and stars etc. And we think we will live forever? nah man. But don't get me wrong. I am jealous of people who actually believe in something after this life, I think it will give them a lot of peace.
We become worm food
Probably more taxes. Internet bills will definitely get more expensive, too.
The most valuable point of view that can be learned from these wise people… Afterlife is a comforting concept. Since afterlife is a comforting theory… live life to the fullest while you are here… do onto others as you would have them do unto you and pass on in peace. The most important thing on your tombstone is the hyphen between the two dates. Asking forgiveness on your death bed is a hypocritical concept that wouldn't fly if there was life after death.
ur spirit gets to travel the universe at multiple-times-the speed of light witnessing each galaxy's greatness… all answers revealed
Weird to see no mention of the oldest civilization still thriving called Hinduism 🕉️ here.