"The idea of life extending beyond death is the realm of philosophy, religion, and fantasy. Not science." Philosophim.

Thank you, Philosophim. We may actually be saying the same thing - i.e. science can confirm that the machine has stopped functioning - i.e. death has occurred. What is beyond death, if anything (and I am not proposing or denying anything, I simply don't know) is merely speculation.

I don't deny that I like to believe there is the possibility of something after life (functioning) has ceased; thus the suggestion that when my father was passing away, yet at least his body was still functioning to some very limited degree (he was in a coma); I felt that he was still 'present'. After his body had ceased functioning, my impression was that he was gone. His mortal remains were there, but the essence (the unspecified, perhaps unspecifiable thing) that I would describe as my father was no longer there.

If the material is the only part of this reality that is 'real', then I was simply in a delusional state caused by the emotions, the grief I was experiencing due to the ceasing of functioning of this physical thing I referred to as my father. However, and on a digression, if one looks at the maths involved in astrophysics, it implies that what we take to be the 'real world' - the world in which physical items exist in with height, width and length; plus time - is simply a delusion experienced by the two dimensional creatures that live in this existence. And, that is the result of the practical and testable aspects of a process that we refer to as the scientific method - i.e. science.

Why do I make this comment? Because I think if we limit ourselves to only what has been proposed by those whom work as 'scientists' - use the scientific method to test and speculate on what the results indicate - we may be missing out on a much richer domain of existence. I don't want to be limited by science. I do value science, and I value much of the technology that scientific research has enabled to subsequently be invented. However, when we get down to concepts of what is 'right and wrong', how does one live a 'good life' (read the works of Plato and Aristotle), and other such untestable non-physical things; science has nothing to give us. Equally, if there is a existence after the ceasing of functioning of the physical form, science is not in a position to be able to speculate.

My suggestion is to encourage everyone to live as fulfilling and rich a life as you can while in this physical existence, and don't hold too tightly to any construct that we can not possibly actually 'know' while in this life. I would definitely support people being as liberal minded and tolerant as they can be. Still, this is merely a concept that I hope is beneficial to all, and which I can not possibly know whether it is 'morally' right or wrong. Again, morals are probably outside the scope of what science can speculate on.

Regards, Andrew

Hello Philosophim.

Can I please have any articles written by accredited scientists that state that death is final, there is nothing afterwards? Of course, I have my doubts that there are any such published studies that put this point; although there may well be accredited scientists whom proffer an opinion.

Why do I put this to you? I am not trying to offend you, but your comment seems to indicate a distinct lack of understanding of what science is. I would propose that what we refer to as science is an established set of procedures of undertaking empirical and repeatable experiments and then speculating about what the results may mean. The only variable I can think of may be the pursuit of astrophysics, where because experiments are extremely hard to undertake there appears to be a distinct leaning on mathematical analyses. Off course, the maths is well beyond my understanding; but I have listened avidly to people like deGrasse-Tyson on his public documentaries.

How can science experiment in a repeatable and testable fashion with things that fundamentally are outside of matter - or at least quantifiable and testable substances? Certainly once the machine (the body of a living organism) stops functioning, we can perceive it as 'dead'. What happens after death is only ever speculation and opinion. I've never (to this point) experienced death; an when I do I don't think I will be reanimating my body just so I can tell everyone what happens on the other side of it; if anything does. Science can not tell us anything more about death than what we ourselves can see and feel. We won't know whether there is or isn't any sort of afterlife, or even the wonderful ideas of Buddhism where one can return and experience another life until one lives it so well (accumulates enough karma) to be able to not come back, rejoining the all being that is one idea of how we got to be here in the first place.

I don't know what there is after the stopping of functioning of the machine I call my body. One day I will find out, or not. But it is not going to happen while I am alive.

Yes, one can find comfort or despair, or any other sort of emotional state in taking on a belief system, a hope for the future regarding what happens after our bodies cease to function. Only those whom have transversed from one state (life) to the other (death) know, if there is anything to know. Science is not the method to ascertain certainty of knowledge on this matter.

Hello all.
I find this series of posts quite interesting. It seems that some of the ideas expressed are perhaps driven by religious concepts - ie. 'man' (as in a concept including all the different varieties, genders, etc of human beings) is mortal; and as such either faces oblivion when we die, or a potential existence that is outside of time (eternity). I can't say which is the absolute end point, as I have not experienced death. From what limited experience I have had of others, including loved ones, dying leaves me with an impression that there is something that is intrinsic to life that is more than the merely physical. For example, when my father was alive, yet in a coma just before his death (he died of cancer), it appeared to me that I still felt a presence that I would describe as my father. However, once he had actually died - his physical body had stopped functioning - all I felt from the presence of the physical form was that of a mechanism; an empty mechanism - my father was gone.

Now, these were impressions. I can not tell you whether I was experiencing fact or personal fiction. My father was a strong Christian (perhaps, one can suggest a 'true believer'), and yet before his last conscious moments he expressed a fear of death. If his belief system was correct (and I don't know), he had nothing to be afraid of because he was just about to start the journey of eternity with a purportedly loving God. I personally feel that if his belief system was wrong, then he equally had no reason to fear death because he would no longer be aware of anything - the machine was about to stop functioning and presumably(?!) that would be it. (Yes, I am aware that I am stating things as a dichotomy. I am sure it is much more complicated than that.)

Obviously, there are many philosophical and religious beliefs about death and what may follow. I have absolutely no idea if any of them is right or wrong; and I would not have the audacity to demand anyone follow any particular belief system. No matter that I have been raised in the Western (white) world as a person of privilege (a man); and hope that I behave as what I conceive to be a 'decent' person to be treated 'decently' by others. Yes, I have a moral code; which is in part to do with how I was raised and what privileges I have experienced, and partly what makes sense to me because of my raising and experiences.

I can say what I would like to occur after death - I would love to have the chance to be reacquainted with the ones I have loved, whom have been very dear to me, whether animal or human. I hope my beloved pets whom have passed on are experiencing an existence that is far greater and better than any they had on this level of existence (in this 'reality'). But, if they are simply gone, I hope I treated them in a way that meant they were happy while here. Unfortunately, I know I failed them more than they deserved.

I suspect that death is a certainty in this form of 'reality'. What follows doesn't cause me fear, at least not yet; it just raises my curiosity. Still, not enough to be motivated to find out until I absolutely have to - until the machine that is my body stops.