Two months ago I wrote this article about the scientific plausibility of life after death. Namely, because if one accepts that we do not have souls and are simply atoms put together in a specific way, it will almost certainly become technologically possible in the future to assemble atoms into that specific configuration again (if desired).
This assumes you have a complete description, down to a subatomic level of detail, of the person you wish to re-create of course. That's not an impassable barrier to this proposal however, on the contrary that's where it gets really interesting.
If it is possible in principle to perfectly extrapolate future states of an indeterminately large set of particles based on their current positions and velocities (aka determinism), it is also possible to extrapolate backwards.
So if you had the means to map out extremely large volumes down to a subatomic level of detail -- say, the entire solar system -- you could "rewind" it, extrapolating backwards from the current position, velocity and other properties of all the constituent particles to any point in time...for example, when someone you care about was alive. You then have the information necessary to reconstitute them if you had the ability to 3D print stuff at the necessary of detail.
This is all much easier if simulationism is true because if it's all in software already, you don't need the ability to scan such large volumes so perfectly, there already exists somewhere in the simulation back end a record of what every particle was doing between big bang and heat death. In which case you can just scrub back in the timeline to find the configuration of atoms (person) you want.
But even if this is a real universe, the technological capability to forensically recreate past states of matter, even on the scale of planets or solar systems, is foreseeable and does not violate known physics.
What cannot be known is whether whoever runs the sim/possesses that technology will have the motivation to reconstitute all deceased intelligent life ever to exist.
If we're in a simulation it would cost very little to do so, as exponential population growth means more people are alive today than have existed in history, so the number is actually very manageable.
And their idyllic paradise habitat does not need to be as large or convincingly realistic as the universe since you no longer need them to believe they are not in a sim.
What encourages me is that the best means of predicting what technologies will exist is #1. is it physically possible? and #2. do lots of people badly want it? If yes to 1 and 2, probably it will exist some day.
Technology is just putting matter together in a way that accomplishes something you want it to. If it is possible to put atoms together into a person, and enough people want that badly enough (who doesn't want their dead loved ones back?) then it will be achieved some day.
In the simulationist model, it really is 'you'. They don't recreate you using different atoms. They actually rewind time in the sim to get you. Software is software.
But critically, it's possible to recreate long deceased persons either way, whether the universe is a simulation or an actual universe. It's just easier if it's simulated.
That's why it's possible from a deterministic, materialist standpoint for an afterlife to exist. This is something I used to discuss at length with Laura. It brought her great comfort with respect to the death of her close friend Bethany by suicide, the largest single causal factor in Laura's suicide.
That makes me nervous. Because before, I had no horse in the race. I had no skin in the game, to emotionally bias me towards belief in this concept. I could be somewhat objective about it and concluded that on its own merits, it was more likely to be true than not.
That's no longer the case. With Laura gone my objectivity is gone too. I now have a strong desire in my heart to see her again which makes it impossible for me to consider a concept like this in a dispassionate and unbiased way.
Does that make it untrue? Does it even make it less likely to be true? I don't think so, but it sure feels that way. It feels like I can't trust myself to evaluate its probability of being correct without my heart putting pressure on me to make a leap of faith that can't be justified.
It makes sense for me of why many find solace in supernatural, religious accounts of life after death. They never brought me the same comfort, because there was no clear way for it to actually work. We are not spirits, we are our brains. I cannot find solace in something which seems unlikely to be true. False hope is worse than none.
I can accept it if she is truly, irretrievably gone. The idea of permanent death no longer pushes my buttons. Those buttons were hammered flat when I was an atheist. I don't take for granted the idea that we may live again, and it's not necessary for me to live a fulfilled life.
Laura was the same way. She made her peace with the idea of death a long time ago. She did not die believing that she was certain to see Bethany again, on the other side of that terrible black curtain (or brick wall). She died simply wanting to escape the horror of a world without Bethany in it.
"Take care not to fool yourself, because you are the easiest one for you to fool", said Richard Feynman. Clever guy. That was an important lesson for me. That if I wanted to get at real truth, not just ideas which appeal to me and are defensible in argument, I have to be as viciously critical of my own reasoning as an opponent would be.
Otherwise I would write myself blank checks to believe certain falsehoods for the sake of my own comfort. I don't want that type of comfort. A beautiful lie is not good enough for me. I want the truth, whether beautiful or ugly.
I am not married to pessimism though, I will not turn away from an apparent truth just because it seems too good to be true, just as I won't turn away from an apparent truth because it is too horrible to accept.
The truth may be better, not worse, than any of us suspected. After so many years of mentally preparing myself to accept oblivion, an afterlife would in some ways be an even harder pill to swallow.
There is still that persistent voice of self-skepticism, though. The human brain is marvelously powerful at rationalization. It exists to solve the problems facing the human organism's survival.
What if that's what I'm doing now? What if all this is simply my brain rationalizing away its own suffering? How could I make that determination about myself impartially?
That's what keeps me from believing with any real certainty that I will see her again. I am satisfied only that it is possible, based on foreseeable technological improvements and the currently known laws of physics. For all I know, I've only discovered the crudest, most difficult way to do it.
After all, it's not like we're still flying around in Wright Brothers style biplanes. They discovered the solution to heavier than air flight, but we've found better and better ways to do it since then.
Maybe the method of resurrection I've described here is like the earliest flying machines, in that respect. Wrong only in the sense that better methods will quickly replace it.
The other thing that troubles me is, while I feel it can be safely assumed that the technological capability to resurrect long deceased persons will exist, what can possibly be known about the motives of whoever (or whatever) will be in possession of that technology?
What if they are not benevolent? What if they bring us back only to torture us, for amusement purposes? That seems unlikely, as it's been repeatedly shown by game theorists that competition between individuals/groups over long periods eventually results in the domination of pro-social groups over anti-social ones.
Basically unless there's one individual or group that is vastly more powerful than the rest, and unfortunately for them, he/it's determined to be sadistic, then over the long haul you eventually wind up with more and more gentle, civilized groups on average (which mirrors the development of human civilizations on Earth, up to the present day, small anomalies like North Korea notwithstanding)
This convinces me that if ever there is a single over-arching, dominant hegemonic power in the universe, it will be more or less good natured. Why it is that we should expect a single hegemonic power to one day dominate the universe is a topic explored here, and here.
This is still no guarantee of anything. No reasonable person believes total certainty of any idea is possible. I can say with some confidence that there will someday exist the technological means to resurrect us, if whoever controls that technology desires it. I can say we are more likely to be in a simulation than not, which makes reviving the long deceased much easier.
Finally I can say with about the same degree of confidence that any power sufficiently advanced to possess that technology is more likely to be benign than malicious. All together, this is why it will not surprise me if I wake up someplace pleasant after I die. I will have at least some inkling of how it was achieved, by whom, and why.
I don't imagine I'll much care about any of that, if indeed there is an afterlife. The only thing on my mind at that point will be to find Laura. To scold her, first, for leaving us all behind before her time.
...But then to rejoice that I can finally see her again. Touch her face, hear her laughter and mock the black curtain of death which I once feared had separated us forever.
It actually would make more sense to create a different simulation. Every time it runs to get more data. Of course, that's from the perspective of a human, not a super programmer.
There's comfort in the idea of an afterlife but even if the painful evidence points towards this being all we have, and enjoying it while it lasts seems like our only choice one can only wish.
Sure, but nothing prevents keeping your little paradise habitat separate so you can start a new universe sim without destroying it.
Indeed, even the worst case scenario is at least tolerable.
I was actually thinking about this sort of thing last night, trying to come up with a better way for the universe to run so we wouldn't have to deal with this kind of pain. I started writing it out in this comment, but it got so it was almost as long as your post. Rather than monopolize your comment section, I think I'll just edit it into an article and put it up next week.
I was trying to figure out how immortality could work logistically, and I kept running into pain and grief and problems no matter how I arranged it. Maybe I'll come up with something workable by the time I'm done writing it. Then if you can put that together with the "how" needed to make it work with the laws of physics, we'll be good to go. ;-)
I am not going to lie the first thing I thought about was bringing dinosaurs back.
Ok, now in all seriousness ,the future possibilities are endless and I believe that in the not too distant future, that we will be so entwined with technology that up and downloading our memories and consciousness into a database will be possible. Cloning is already done so the organic part is there.
However, now you have to think about the ethics of bringing back someone that didn't want to be here in the first place.
Very thought provoking.
Have you seen the Battlestar Galactica spinoff called 'Caprica'?
It explores these themes of post humanism well, placing consciousness inside a mechanical form; simulated to some extent by a Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep 'box'.
Its a very interesting topic, touching on a broad range of disciplines, science, philosophy, psychology, and ethics.
Yeah, shame it was canceled.
It would be great to have an afterlife but sadly that might not happen I guess.
Maybe. The article described how it could be possible.
What about if it is a computer simulation?
The article addresses that.
I personally believe on the afterlife and I believe that if we are good in this life , the heavens of the earth are meant for us and we will unite with our friends , family . Sometimes I even have dreams where I meet the people that have passed making me know it's possible
That sounds beautiful and comforting. But for me, dreams would not be enough to convince me that it's true.
Of course not dreams , but my Religion makes me believe in the afterlife . This life is just temporary happiness , the afterlife is true happiness
Maybe. But I have what I feel are good reasons to doubt the supernatural, religious version of life after death.
Hi friend good morning , in my opinion I don't believe in after life. I am a single mom as I have been suffering everything from 2010,but never get any signal of like that. We are the greatest believer of god and ghost, but didn't had any experience with the two. At least six months I had lived in tranquility, thinking about him, I am sharing one thing with you, in my life, I had thought about suicide at least about 100000 times. But every time my two sons, become my life I thought about them, I am only their support. So Friend I suggest you forget everything, come out from the thought, if you want without hagitation you can share with me at any time. Life is so beautiful to live, so be positive and keep living it. Think like that if she had loved you she would not left you in this way. Become practical .
You're very brave and strong to hang on for the sake of your sons. This must be the same determination that has made mothers in every generation from the dawn of humanity fight so hard to survive, because their love for their offspring is stronger than death. That is the power of mothers.
@alexbeyman,
Yesterday I was having a discussion with my wife about 3D printer and how it works. I told her it's a great invention and we can make things similar to the given image!
Actually, I was thinking if it can print a smart phone, because I saw my wifes' smart phone while we are discussing about it! Today early in the morning you are talking about something beyond the reef technological advanced from 3D printer type of technology! Personally I don't think it might work! Sorry, that's how I feel it!
If it's possible, then we can build one and the one we built is not the previous person! Why I am saying it? According to my religion "Buddhism" we believe in after life. Our soul will leave us when we die! So, if that technology can build the same person it might capture that soul as well. But the problem is this soul will not stay at "Ganddhabba" (I don't know the English word for this one) stage for a long time. So, it will find an another place to birth, don't know where it will go :/
That's why I said this technology is a beyond the reef technology for my viewpoint! Anyway, until today we all have a limited time frame and we all must go. If scientists can follow the concept of yours, sometimes it might work. But until now, it's just a fiction :/
Therefore, the best thing is forget what happened at that day, cure your heart, know it's not an easy task, but you must do my dear friend :)
Indeed, I'm aware Buddhists believe in supernatural spirits/souls. So it's not surprising we disagree. But I don't think there's good reasons, scientifically speaking, to believe in such things. Neuroscience so far has only further and further confirmed that all of the attributes once associated with the 'soul' are instead produced by the brain. Memory, emotion, personality, etc.
@alexbeyman,
Then it is very possible :O Actually I didn't aware about such high level neuroscience!
Anyway I wish you will cure your pain soon friend! We need full functioning @alexbeyman back :D
Very informative post. Thank you for sharing your knowledge. please upvote and follow me i really need help growing on steemit..
Congratulations @alexbeyman
MinnowsPower listed your post "Will I Ever See Her Warm, Smiling Face Again? Ruminations on the Possibility of an Afterlife" as one of the top 10 posts of the day...!!!
You are suffering from death of a close friend and trying to bring her back by using modern technologies. A concept maker
100% Upvoted by @MinnowsPower
MinnowsPower is not a bot, I am a Crowdfunding Hybrid
Great photography of looking place. :)
amigo #resteemia at your service
the advanced science techs can make it possible. impressive thinking @alexbeyman
ReSteemia
'UpVote ReSteem Comment'
is that place where you and she met???
Even though logic tells me the odds are staggeringly in favour of this being a simulation, my gut feeling is always going back and forth on the idea, so It feels more like the odds are 50/50. Maybe it's a case of lack of information. Maybe we don't know enough about the universe yet to make a call either way.
sidenote: You mention that more people are alive today than have lived in history. I've also heard this before but it isn't true. About 100 billion people have lived in total, and as you know the current world population is over 7 billion.
Well I can tell you from first hand experience that there is afterlife.
My own experience comes from 2 sources one of them is the fact that I can leave my physical body and do travels in my spirit form i.e. OBE. But I'm not very experienced with OBEs so at first I wasn't sure if I was really doing travels in the spirit realm or was just lucid dreaming inside my own mind, however I was convinced after I found from external source that I am indeed able to do travels in the spirit realm.
This second source of information for me at least is an undeniable proof that life exist after death. This proof comes from the many Shamans of my country (Mongolia) that I have met in the past several years. For those not familiar with Shamans, they are people who have connection with their ancestral spirits. A shamanism is considered the root of all religions since it dates back to 100s of thousand years.
Our country has one of the longest history of worshiping Shamanism also it was the main religion in my country since the age of recorded history.
Although I'm not a shaman myself but I have many shaman friends who have told my that they ancestral spirits told them that I was indeed a spirit traveler. My own father passed away only a year ago. However I was able make contact with him after his death through my own travels as well as through my shaman friends whose ancestors could commune with my father in the next world.
I'm writing this because I know how hard it can be to lose someone dear. But for me since I was able to communicate with my father after his death, I was able to get over my loss much quickly. Although I will always miss him but I know that he is "Alive" at least in the spirit realm.
You can find out more from my own blog that I have started recently.
Btw I upvoted your post!