Discussion Do you think "being reborn" is possible?

[citruslynx]

To preface, I don't mean anything like reincarnation perse. No memory retention from past lives or anything like that malarkey. But in science isn't there the idea that energy cannot be destroyed, just transformed? So wouldn't that mean technically, when one dies, that energy gets transferred and can be "reborn" as another living being?

That thought scares me the most. If I die I want that to be the end. What if I happen to be "born again" but as a person in a SHIT situation/shittier situation? The thought of that keeps me up at night.

What do you think?

 

[Forever Sleep]

If we died in the wild- we would essentially become carrion meat for scavenger animals. So- our energy in the form of fats, proteins etc. would be past on to them. I suppose those who choose to be buried feed worms and insects and those who are cremated are essentially adding fuel to a fire. So- I tend to see the energy transference argument already fulfilled by the transition of our physical bodies back into the earth in some way.

We know that food contains energy- that's why we eat it. To sustain ourselves. It's obviously frowned upon to cannibalize human flesh or, feed it to animals but- deep down- we're no different to them in terms of having edible bodies.

Are we sure the soul, consciousness or whatever you want to call it has it's own energy source- separate from the body? I guess it depends on what you believe. I tend to think our bodies perform very clever transformations between sustaining themselves via food, water, sun light, everything else we need, into the electrical signals that form the bases of our thoughts, emotions, awareness. I suppose I tend to suspect we are thinking sacks of meat and, when we die- that awareness probably does too.

 

[Macedonian1987]

If its possible I would BEG God not to make me be reborn in this world.

 

[Oreki]

I've been wondering about that as well. Especially if the galaxy is infinitely large, then why aren't the possibilities just as limitless? Being here even once is absurd enough, so why not a second time, and maybe even on another planet as an "alien?"
I don't think we're the only form of life in this endless universe anyway

 

[Unbearable Mr. Bear]

Kardecist Spiritism (As well as many similar doctrines) believe that unjust suffering gives you a kind of "credit" (And takes it away when you inflict that suffering onto others) that you can use for benefits in the afterlife, and that you can actually choose to be born in a shitty situation to get more of that "credit", as well as "growing and developing your soul to be of higher light" so you can be reborn on more developed worlds (As in, not shitty ones like ours.)

I've had a short period studying some of its doctrines, and while I don't believe in them anymore, it still amuses me how it compares to a video-game, or more precisely, a roguelike with macrogame progression and a difficulty system that rewards harder levels with more resources.

Man, who knew the gods are just transcendental game devs!

*puts autistic hat on*

Okay, amusing thoughts aside, I believe it is a possibility, but there is no concrete evidence for any kind of incorporeal consciousness, save for some really far fetched string theory jibber-jabber that's been in proverbial beta for over a decade. It's fun to theorycraft, but near-death experiences can not only be described as dying dreams, and as such built from memories and sensory deprivation, but we also have no way to really evaluate if it constitutes enough "death" for it to be reliable as to what the afterlife looks like. (As in, how dead and for how long one has to be to actually experience the afterlife, and what death means in that case?)

In the end, it's just fodder for creative minds, and I think it's neat to build your own fantasies off of it, but in the end they're just that: Fantasies. And until we have a reliable way to rationally see and describe what goes on in the after-life, let's leave it at that, shall we?

 

[Eudaimonic]

Figure out what your consciousness is - what you are - first.