# Proof that there is no life after death **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 13, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834 "2013-11-13T17:17:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rain\_Soaked](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rain\_Soaked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rain_Soaked)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/21 "2013-11-14T00:18:30Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > I died in 2005. > [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > I realize this is meant as a joke, but seriously . . . _would_ it? What would be the point? _Nobody would believe you_. What evidence could you provide that you were dead? You’d be mocked as a troll, pitted, and banned. > . Or apparently just ignored. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/22 "2013-11-14T00:20:22Z")
I have experienced the self beyond the self, beyond the ego that is this person typing this message. I can safely say that if I pass beyond into that greater eternity, of which this person is only a mere fleeting moment, the need to communicate that fact to existing fleeting mortal moments will be humorously pointless. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/23 "2013-11-14T00:28:41Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > I assume they’re actively posting here, but only in the threads that have been disappeared. If there was an afterlife, Isaac Asimov would have already written a book about it by now. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/24 "2013-11-14T00:38:04Z")
I like you guys and all. But when I wake up and find myself dead, ya’ll will be the furthest thing from my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/25 "2013-11-14T01:00:51Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > If that consciousness doesn’t have my memories then it isn’t me, any more than a bear is me if it eats me and digests my flesh making my atoms part of itself. You’ll be fine if you avoid Churchill. > **[Man attacked by polar bear in Churchill recovering | CBC News](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/man-attacked-by-polar-bear-in-churchill-recovering-1.2356235)** > > The family of a Manitoba man seriously injured in a polar bear attack in Churchill says he hopes that he will be able to return home to recuperate once he is well enough. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/26 "2013-11-14T03:02:07Z")
Perhaps you have to wait 41 years before coming back… ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/27 "2013-11-14T03:21:04Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > That isn’t an afterlife; that’s just a fancy way of saying that you’re dead. If that consciousness doesn’t have my memories then it isn’t me, any more than a bear is me if it eats me and digests my flesh making my atoms part of itself. But as the saying goes: A bear _is_ what it eats. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/28 "2013-11-14T03:57:12Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > And of course, it doesn’t settle the idea that there may indeed may be an afterlife, but communicating with the formerlife is, for some magical reason, impossible. Why would you be able to communicate with the afterlife? Isn’t the idea that religion sells us is that a good afterlife (heaven) is only obtainable if you live a good life and follow the rules; hell awaits those that ignore those rules. If God were to set up some sort of a communications network between the here and now and the great beyond, the mystery would be gone. You will be able to get the answers to the surprise quiz before your class meets. That would ruin the system for everyone. Especially if you find out that heaven and hell are just bullshit, and when you die, you just enter another world with more problems. Maybe you find yourself with that ex-sweetheart of yours that you didn’t marry, and you are living in a house in Detroit. God wouldn’t want that news to get out. > [@snowthx](#): > > This is the same line of reasoning for disproving time travel - if it were possible, someone from the future would have already visited us. Actually, there is a bit of merit to this train of thought. If Einstein is correct, the only time travel that would actually be possible would be travel into the future. But there would be no going back, so in essence, you are stuck. And my guess is no one would believe you and you’d be thrown into a rubber room anyway, so what’d be the point? So if someone shows up at your doorstep, odds are he’s from the past… And he can’t go home. Give him a meal and send him on his way. But be nice. He’ll be very depressed. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/29 "2013-11-14T04:12:44Z")
> [@Karen\_Lingel](#): > > They probably have their own boards where they mock the possibility of a fore-life. Reincarnation. I’m sure it’s been mocked on _this_ board. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/30 "2013-11-14T13:59:41Z")
What if, after you die, your consciousness ends up inside a Black Hole, from which no signals can proceed? Makes as much sense as detecting ghosts with voice recordings or infrared cameras. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/31 "2013-11-14T14:13:11Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > I was solemnly pondering the ever-growing memorial thread. I realized that if there was such thing as an afterlife, and if there was any way at all for the dead to communicate with the living, a Doper would surely figure out how to do it. Given that most Doper’s appear to have a difficult enough time communicating with the living, what is the basis of this statement? A more serious response is what does “life after death” mean in any real sense? That you move to some other plane of existence where you maintain some recognizable form as if you were moving to a new, really really nice town? That any of the information that could be considered “you” (i.e. memories, thoughts, personality, etc) is retained somewhere or passed along in some way that other people can access it? ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/32 "2013-11-14T16:12:49Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I’ve got this one: baked chicken, broccoli, cucumber slices, and cheesy pasta. You’re welcome. 😃 Thanks, Mom! My favorite! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/33 "2013-11-14T16:24:43Z")
Well, when I had my bypass surgery I was out (And I mean OUT) for about 6 hours. I don’t remember a thing. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero. A total blank! I think this is what death is like. Not too bad I thought when I regained consciousness.There was no “I”, no “Being” just… _Nothing_. People shouldn’t worry about dying, you’re just going back to where you were before you were born. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/34 "2013-11-14T16:56:20Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > That isn’t an afterlife; that’s just a fancy way of saying that you’re dead. If that consciousness doesn’t have my memories then it isn’t me, any more than a bear is me if it eats me and digests my flesh making my atoms part of itself. There’s two different camps on this one. If we were to take you, and wipe every single memory from your brain, is the conscious person that remains, still _you?_ Camp 1) No, since you are the composite of all your memories and experiences. Consciousness is not, in and of itself, a fundamental state of being. It is a bucket that requires to be filled with a human experience and perspective. The blank, awoken _you,_ is now a new being ready for new installments, using your former body. Camp 2) Yes, as you are who you are whether you remember anything or not. Your consciousness remains intrinsically tied to your brain and body, and despite have zero memories, you’ll awake a confused being in the same body, no matter how many times we wipe your brain. Your consciousness is a fundamental state if being. Apparently you fall in camp 1. ---
**Author:** ![Twoflower](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/twoflower/32/22_2.png) [@Twoflower](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Twoflower)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/35 "2013-11-14T17:06:32Z")
It would be truly fascinating if we could get a detailed explanation of how the afterlife works from **Polycarp** , or a report on how all the other late dopers are doing from **Norinew** , or even just a Hi from **Opal** … ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/36 "2013-11-14T17:13:00Z")
> [@Twoflower](#): > > It would be truly fascinating if we could get a detailed explanation of how the afterlife works from **Polycarp** , or a report on how all the other late dopers are doing from **Norinew** , or even just a Hi from **Opal** … They’ve all got better things to do. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/37 "2013-11-14T17:52:24Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > I died in 2005. 🙂 I knew that was coming. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/38 "2013-11-14T18:27:38Z")
> [@Trans Fat Og](#): > > 🙂 I knew that was coming. Psychic **and** a Speaker for the Dead ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/39 "2013-11-14T18:33:22Z")
> [@standingwave](#): > > If there was an afterlife, Isaac Asimov would have already written a book about it by now. Presumably, in the form of a shaggy zombie dog story. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834/40 "2013-11-14T18:36:00Z")
Asimov will be reincarnated as a robot with a positronic brain at some point in the future. Everyone knows this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proof-that-there-is-no-life-after-death/673834.md?page=1)