Me.
Life After Death.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
from Geek & PokeAlmost every culture/religion believes in some form of life after death. Whether it be rebirth, reincarnation, or merely ascending to a higher plane (Heaven/Hell) - these cultures/religions emphasize on the fact that when we die, we're not going to be confined in a buried box forever. Of course, where we go/what we become when we ascend/reincarnate is a different thing altogether.
That's as far as my knowledge goes on life after death. Do good, go to Heaven/reincarnate as a handsome prince. Be bad, have fun in Hell/reincarnate as a dung beetle.
But what if it were different? What if the term "Life after Death" truly meant life after death? To explain further... What if in reality I died tonight, but I lived on in my own reality tomorrow? A reality filled with the same people, the same places, and the same problems that I had when I was alive? The question is...
... What if I continued living tomorrow, as though I never died today?
Is this possible?
The thought occurred to me minutes after my crash, when I calmed myself down. I stood there in disbelief - the amount of damage was insane, and there I was standing with merely a few cuts on my arm. My parents and uncle claimed I was lucky to be alive, and even the chief mechanic was surprised to see me me when I told him I was the one driving the car. Everyone had the same idea: the driver involved in this accident should have died, or at least be lying in some hospital bed.
Let us imagine two realities now. The first reality (A), is the one we currently reside in. The second and third reality, (B) and (C), we will get to shortly. In (A), everything is as it is - having dinner with your friends, watching a movie with a loved one, chatting on the Internet, etc. You are a part of this reality. Now let's pretend that while in (A), you died. This is where reality (B) and (C) comes in.
You die in reality (A), no doubt about it. Your friends and family mourn, and they will forever lead their lives without you beside them.
You, however, continue living in reality (C).
Example: You have a heart attack and die. That's reality (B) for everyone else - a reality where you cease to exist. But to you, you had a heart attack, and you survived. That's reality (C) for you.
What if your mind had the power to create a completely new reality for you upon your death? A reality fabricated from your memory of things, understanding of human behaviour, general perceptions of your surroundings, and from your hopes and fears?
The design of your world will be based on your memory, and advancements in structure would largely depend on harnessing your imagination. The daily barrage of responses from your friends, family, and strangers will depend on your own emotional bond and experience with these people. What responses and when they would be used would depend on a highly complex internal algorithm which would weigh every little detail concerning the situation.
To put it simply, your "new life" is programmed on the day you die, using all the material (experience) you've obtained throughout your actual life. This is sort of a defense mechanism - instinct provokes a reaction out of every living thing when it is threatened. If it were threatened with the ultimate moment - death - what is the body capable of? It has been proven after all - life is far too precious. So what can the mind and body do to keep you "alive"?
I remember telling Kimberley that I may actually be dead, and my conversation with her was merely a part of a pre-programmed situation. She hit me on the hand, stating that if I felt it, I'm definitely not dead. I wasn't convinced - I daresay I know her well enough, and it's quite possible that her very reaction to my question was what I would've expected from her if I truly believed myself to be alive at the time.
Now, the question that arises here is: what will run this "new life"? I asked a few people on their perception of life after death, and Banun said something interesting:-
Energy can't be created or destroyed. So when you, loosely speaking, 'die' - meaning all your organs stop working and your brain stops converting energy to chemical energy (i.e thoughts and stuff), all that energy that was working - involuntary muscles, heartbeats, etc, is just gone. Or at least, converted into some sort of potential energy which is transferred to the ground when we decompose. Right? I mean, we learn about the whole.. food chain thing where 10% of energy is transferred each time an organism is eaten and the other 90% is used up during consumption. So basically, we're just spread around the world.
I had a similar idea. Now what if the human mind had a way of collecting all that energy, using some to create a new reality, then keeping the rest intact someway to sustain the newly created reality?
I know for a fact that the human mind is not fully understood, even with all our advancements in science today. What if this was one of the mind's abilities?
Now, what if we decide to look at it from a spiritual point of view? I was taught as a young boy that when Muslims die, we are destined to wait in our graves for the day of judgement. If we were good in life, our time spent in the grave would feel short, and we'd have a lot of space to move about in our coffins. If we sinned a lot in life, then the walls of our coffins would close on us and judgement day would seem an eternity away.
Try not taking it literally. If you led a good life, it's likely that upon death your "new life" will be programmed to be fairly simple and with problems which you can naturally confront and end. If you led a sinful life, then your "new life" will be programmed for hardships beyond your ability to comprehend. The idea behind here is that in general, our problems lead us to make decisions, for right or wrong, and our methods to making these decisions come to light. Our consciousness determines if what we do is truly acceptable by our standards - if it is, then we are altogether more light-hearted. If it isn't, then we're held down by it (consciously or subconsciously).
** This was particularly difficult to explain. I will edit this section as soon as I find a better way to present it. **
This is my justification (spiritually), based on my knowledge of Islam. I will not make any say on other religions/cultures as I do not know enough about them.
I ask the more open minded ones: what do you think? Is this plausible? This is a very rough idea (of course, largely stemming from the fact that I have no life and too much of an imagination), and I'm keen on expanding it. Death is too mysterious to ignore.
This whole post has been fairly messy - this particular thought of mine hasn't been very easy to put down in words. I apologise. I hope you understand that I'm merely contemplating and in no way insulting any long-believed trends/traditions.
Given a certain level of thought byAdam Dewind at 9:32 PM
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adam, were you smoking anything illegal while writing this?
Not that I recall.
eh, damn interesting ok your argument. but right, damn cibs i dont know how to answer. tapi macam i pernah think like am i the only person alive in this world...macam everyone i meet is just a fragment of my imagination. FAHAM TAK NI. cis, i kena guna finger puppets to demonstrate. cibs. i try again some other day. WHEN DID YOU GET INTO AN ACCIDENT! WAH SO TRAUMA. i ran over a chicken once. that was my worst accident. cibs chicken took too long to cross the road. cis.