# What's after death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 15, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349 "2013-02-15T00:26:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/41 "2013-02-15T08:10:49Z")
\*"This is form 232-694 Afterlife Arrival Notification and Processing. The fields with an asterisk are mandatory. There are approximately 1200 pages to form 232-694 Afterlife Arrival Notification and Processing. You have plenty of time, please do not rush, and make sure you fill the form completely or you will have to start the process again with a new blank form. Please take a seat in the waiting area and complete the form. When you have completed the form, do not remove it from the clipboard, simply place the clipboard and form in the basket to my right and wait for your name to be called. Restrooms are on the corridor to your left. The cafeteria is down the hallway behind you, but it’s closed (it’s always closed). Vending machines can be found one floor below – take the elevator to your left, go down one floor and make an immediate right to the kitchenette. You are number 91,569,832,056. Your approximate waiting time is 1,345 thousand years. Have a good day."\* _ **"NEXT!"** _ At least that’s how I imagine it. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/42 "2013-02-15T12:51:51Z")
> [@IaMoDiNaRy](#): > > I don’t know what comes after our body dies but I’ve always found it very difficult to believe that all that we are ends when our body ceases to function. Who we are, our spirit?, our essence? Or whatever you want to call it is a wondrous thing. I refuse to believe that this is it for us… Nope, this isn’t it for me! Energy persists. Organization fails. Entropy can be held off but not denied. Therefore, any patterns your brain has imposed upon the spirit-force (to form your “personal” identity, memories, self-hood) collapse when the brain no longer functions. A soul may go on but it is no longer a distinguishable part of the cosmic background aura. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/43 "2013-02-15T13:08:27Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > What was before your birth? Best answer! ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/44 "2013-02-15T13:20:53Z")
> [@Biotop](#): > > Also, appropriately enough, an anagram of FATE THREAD. Heated fart? ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/45 "2013-02-15T13:52:18Z")
Might I live more after I die? I know not what where or why. Will forever I dwell in some heaven or hell? Or be reborn as a brown tsetse fly? ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/46 "2013-02-15T13:53:20Z")
They through your clothes and look for loose change… ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/47 "2013-02-15T14:29:17Z")
> [@Mr.Accident](#): > > A shallow grave behind an abandoned house, at the end of seldom used dirt road, on the outskirts of a deserted town, near an old, leaking nuclear reactor. And a lone dog howls in the distance. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/48 "2013-02-15T15:01:05Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Well too bad, that’s what all evidence and logic say happens. Where do the programs on a computer go if you melt it to slag? Do they have magic program souls too like people say our brain’s software has? I roll this thought around a lot but I always seem to come back to a doubt. It’s not that I yearn for an afterlife. Actually I find it somewhat horrifying. I think Id’ much rather meld with the rest of the universe than somehow remain some kind of life force for eternity. I’m guessing boredom alone would make me wish for nonexistence within 1000 years. Evidence, logic and physics seem to point to this universe we live in having at least 11 dimensions though we appear to only perceive 4 of them. Don’t you wonder what might exist within the other two thirds of the dimensions of your universe? When you consider the observation that people from different cultures and religions, some who have been isolated from each other for thousands of years, all have members of these groups that claim to perceive communication with gods, ancestors, etc through prayer, meditation, mental instability etc it tweaks my curiosity. Is it the physical condition of the mind fooling the mediator or have they possibly formed a weak link with some other dimension and got a peek at it? Their perceptions of what they witnessed may be clouded by their own bias but I’m open to the possibility they they were able to get a glimpse of something that the rest of us fail to see. The laws of thermodynamics prove that every thought process, every physical movement of ourselves imprints on to our universe. So what does it do to the other 7 or more dimensions? Is it possible that this thing they call a soul is part of that? Maybe the soul of your computer program continues to exist/ function quite nicely in those other dimensions. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/49 "2013-02-15T15:03:04Z")
The rest of the world just keeps rolling on. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/50 "2013-02-15T15:16:13Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > I roll this thought around a lot but I always seem to come back to a doubt. It’s not that I yearn for an afterlife. Actually I find it somewhat horrifying. I think Id’ much rather meld with the rest of the universe than somehow remain some kind of life force for eternity. I’m guessing boredom alone would make me wish for nonexistence within 1000 years. > > Evidence, logic and physics seem to point to this universe we live in having at least 11 dimensions though we appear to only perceive 4 of them. Don’t you wonder what might exist within the other two thirds of the dimensions of your universe? > > When you consider the observation that people from different cultures and religions, some who have been isolated from each other for thousands of years, all have members of these groups that claim to perceive communication with gods, ancestors, etc through prayer, meditation, mental instability etc it tweaks my curiosity. > > Is it the physical condition of the mind fooling the mediator or have they possibly formed a weak link with some other dimension and got a peek at it? Their perceptions of what they witnessed may be clouded by their own bias but I’m open to the possibility they they were able to get a glimpse of something that the rest of us fail to see. > > The laws of thermodynamics prove that every thought process, every physical movement of ourselves imprints on to our universe. So what does it do to the other 7 or more dimensions? Is it possible that this thing they call a soul is part of that? Maybe the soul of your computer program continues to exist/ function quite nicely in those other dimensions. See above. We’re just animals with more developed brains. We’re nothing special. When we die we become a bag of fertilizer. That’s it. You can wish and hope and get as curious as you want, but unless you think that there’s an afterlife for gerbils and armadillos you’re just fooling yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/51 "2013-02-15T15:58:10Z")
Live album by Iron Maiden. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/52 "2013-02-15T16:23:41Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Heated fart? **Feared that!** ---
**Author:** ![Labtrash](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/labtrash/32/528_2.png) [@Labtrash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labtrash)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/53 "2013-02-15T16:51:41Z")
Probably more taxes… ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/54 "2013-02-15T17:08:21Z")
Decay. That’s why you want to make a splash while you’re still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/55 "2013-02-15T17:28:27Z")
And yet you were always here, in this time. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/56 "2013-02-15T18:15:39Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Well too bad, that’s what all evidence and logic say happens. Where do the programs on a computer go if you melt it to slag? Do they have magic program souls too like people say our brain’s software has? You mean you’re not saving your work? What’s after death? Cloud computing! ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/57 "2013-02-15T18:21:17Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > See above. We’re just animals with more developed brains. We’re nothing special. When we die we become a bag of fertilizer. That’s it. You can wish and hope and get as curious as you want, but unless you think that there’s an afterlife for gerbils and armadillos you’re just fooling yourself. And being more developed we appear to be the only life form that contemplates our own mortality. I’m not saying that is any proof. I’m just considering the possibility that this (much) higher brain function has capabilities that approach cognizance of other dimensions. How those dimensions function could be part of what has been referred to in the history of man as spiritual. You refute the afterlife based on physics. We are merely calculating machines that work within the physical universe. So when the machine fails so does the program. I submit that without a true knowledge of our universe (multiple dimensions) I won’t rule out the possibility that our soul may exist within those dimensions. You still have a very strong argument. You say - Haven’t seen it Can’t detect it. So no afterlife. My argument is weaker but not refutable. I haven’t seen it either but I also understand that I don’t have enough evidence to prove a negative. Does the body die? Yep Does the program stop? Yep Does a soul exist? - Don’t know - lots of very weak evidence though. All these people from different walks of culture and capabilities have been jabbering about making some kind of connection for thousands of years. I can’t prove that they are true nor can I prove that they are fooling themselves. I can only wonder why they seem to have the same basic story. Does the essence of a soul continue? - don’t know Does it remember experiencing life? - maybe - much as you can experience a thought in 3D after reading a 2D paper ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/58 "2013-02-15T18:30:13Z")
According to Merriam-Webster, the answer is Death Adder By the way, it appears that deasil comes just before death. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/59 "2013-02-15T18:40:53Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > When you consider the observation that people from different cultures and religions, some who have been isolated from each other for thousands of years, all have members of these groups that claim to perceive communication with gods, ancestors, etc through prayer, meditation, mental instability etc it tweaks my curiosity. It could also be pointed out that peoples all around the world who never had contact with one another somehow independently came up with similar concepts around organization and community structure, relationships, hate, war, etc. Perhaps these perceptions are just part of being human? ---
**Author:** ![IaMoDiNaRy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@IaMoDiNaRy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IaMoDiNaRy)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349/60 "2013-02-15T18:45:05Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Well too bad, that’s what all evidence and logic say happens. Where do the programs on a computer go if you melt it to slag? Do they have magic program souls too like people say our brain’s software has? What evidence? Please cite your evidence… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-after-death/650349.md?page=4)