What do you expect will happen to your consciousness when you die?

[utahraptor]

I am just curious.

 

[Arcadio]

It will become part of a bigger, infinitely more complex consciousness that is everlasting.

 

[surfsatwerk]

idunno

 

[highland145]

Aliens.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

same thing that happens to my computer when i unplug it

 

[Sonikku]

I will become one with the Force.





Then prolly haunt the shit out of some major assholes I've encountered in my life.

 

[Markbnj]

same thing that happens to my computer when i unplug it

This, except when I unplug the computer it doesn't rot.

 

[boomerang]

It will become un-conscious.

 

[utahraptor]

I have three guesses:

1. I am simply a simulated entity in a simulation being ran for research or entertainment. I will be erased or archived for later use.

2. My mind is real and I am participating in a simulation with memories from outside of the simulation suppressed until its conclusion.

3. I am real and there is no simulation and will simply cease to exist.

 

[rivan]

I've lived my life on the basis that it's #3.

 

[tommo123]

i will be in the same place as i was before i was born. nothingness. i didn't mind it then and i won't mind it later as i won't be here to experience it

 

[slag]

Interesting question. Seems a shame that all our life experiences, everything we've seen, felt, touched, and have registered in our brains over the years would suddenly cease to matter because our physical body died. Yet, since we aren't plugged into a larger grid or anything, it appears that it would do just that. If all it takes are a series of electrical impulses to keep our brain alive, why can't we simulate a human host yet and hook up to it to keep our consciousness "conscious"? I'm sure it's just a matter of time. If we could freeze our brains when we die, is there a way we could "retrieve" the information that is stored there, or once the power is gone, our ROM also empties?

 

[SMOGZINN]

Well, first you are assuming that we are conscious. Even that might not turn out to be true.

Interesting question. Seems a shame that all our life experiences, everything we've seen, felt, touched, and have registered in our brains over the years would suddenly cease to matter because our physical body died. Yet, since we aren't plugged into a larger grid or anything, it appears that it would do just that.

But we are plugged into a larger grid, that of the universe. Every action I've taken, every word I've uttered, every breath I have taken has changed this world. My presence will be felt though the rest of time and space simple because I existed.

Ever thing you do matters, every action changes the world, even if you can't see how. Try to make each of them make the world a little better.

 

[Slew Foot]

i will spend the entirety of time with Jesus and 72 male virgins.

 

[Shlong]

Converted to dark energy / matter. Nothing but electrical impulses so perhaps it's converted into another unseen form. PC (body), data (brain), transfer data in unseen form (can't see wi-fi / LTE physically with your eyes but data transfer is there).

Or what do you remember before you were born? Nothing.

 

[xBiffx]

:|

 

[JM Aggie08]

Hopefully something other than nothingness.

Didn't quite expect to see so many tin-foil hats in this thread...very interesting views :thumbsup:

 

[edro]

The same as my consciousness before I was born.

 

[Kadarin]

If our consciousness is generated by brain activity, then I would expect that consciousness to dissolve when we die.

 

[BurnItDwn]

This, except when I unplug the computer it doesn't rot.

The rotting is simply called a different thing and happens at a different rate since the computer is made out of different materials vs human bodies.

However, given time, the computer will very clearly decay. Give it 100 years and it'll probably be reduced to a pile of rust, give it 100,000 years and it will be pretty much dirt.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

same thing that happens to my computer when i unplug it

Technically.... When you unplug your computer the energy that was powering it is diverted somewhere else.....

It's really not a great analogy for the point you're trying to make.

 

[Mxylplyx]

I don't believe all the religious BS about some divine afterlife determined by what you do on earth, however I cant accept that I simply cease to exist when I die.

Think about it, those of us that have rejected religious teachings in favor of science, and for good reason, might overlook one thing. The only thing I am 100% completely certain of is my own existence. Everyone around me might be just be a type of vivid dream that doesnt really exist for all I know, ala the Matrix, but while those plugged into the Matrix were living a lie, they still had a conscious. I cannot accept that something as unique and special as self awareness simply ceases to exist. It is something more than the sum of our parts, ie amino acids, proteins, neurons, etc, and I have no doubt that some part of it transcends my death. I like to view my existence as being akin to fish in a fish bowl. We can learn as much as possible about what exists within the confines of our environment, but eventually you reach the edge and can only hypothesize about what exists beyond it. It's not just the edge of your physical existence, it's the edge of your reality, and every end has a new beginning. Attempting to claim with certainly to know what it is is just foolish, and is usually born of fear. I found peace when I chose to let go of all the religious BS, and accept that I have no idea what happens after I die. If it's simply nothingness, that would be a shame, but no sense in being afraid of simply not existing, though if "YOU" could simply cease to exist do "YOU" even exist now?

 

[SlitheryDee]

I have three guesses:

1. I am simply a simulated entity in a simulation being ran for research or entertainment. I will be erased or archived for later use.

2. My mind is real and I am participating in a simulation with memories from outside of the simulation suppressed until its conclusion.

3. I am real and there is no simulation and will simply cease to exist.

That's the only 3 options you have? If we're going to hypothesize shit, you could pick any number of possibilities that are about as likely as the ones you mention. You could be a disembodied spirit on earth. You could go to heaven. You could remain attached to your body and feel everything as it rots away. You could go to hell. You could be reincarnated. You could pass into another dimension and live a new life with all of your memories of the previous life intact. All of these things share the aspect of being unknowable until you experience them, so you can basically pick the one you like best for now. That's not to say that the one you pick will be the result just because you picked it. Odds are against you merely by virtue of the fact that you are picking one out of a virtual infinity of equally possible options.

I think you'll just stop. There's no way to describe what it will be like because you have to do away with the idea of it being "like" anything. It won't be an experience because nothing will be there to experience it. It's horrifying actually, but I think it is the most likely outcome.

 

[akahoovy]

I expect it to cease existing, because the organic machine that is preserving it has ceased running. I don't know if there is anywhere for it to go, as in the consciousness being something related to a soul, but I doubt it. It wouldn't matter regardless, because it's the physical brain that retains the memories and when that dies I won't experience physical reality anymore. Without the body I won't remember anything that I've experienced.

 

[dank69]

It will become part of a bigger, infinitely more complex consciousness that is everlasting.

ATOT?