James Warren
2024-04-12 11:56:01 UTC
Barry Goldberg
Author of the "Common Sense Atheism" series of booksMar 25
Is there any scientific proof that after life, there is no heaven
or hell?
Well, yes. In fact there is a simple and blindingly-obvious
proof, but it’s not the sort of proof that many people are willing
to accept since it contradicts with their childhood indoctrination
and/or conflicts with what they really, really want to be true.
Before I present the proof, however, there are two important
things that you need to keep in mind:
The complete and utter lack of any consistent, objective evidence
for an afterlife is, in and of itself, evidence against an afterlife.
Not proof mind, you, but certainly evidence.
Seriously, if you don’t have any good evidence for an afterlife
in the first place, why would it matter if nobody can prove
that there isn’t an afterlife? At best, asking somebody to provide
evidence that an afterlife doesn’t exist is an admission that
you don’t have any evidence to support your belief in an afterlife
in the first place and are relying entirely on wishful thinking.
Still with me? All right, here is your proof:
In order for there to be an afterlife, our consciousness must
be capable of surviving apart from our physical bodies (call
it a “soul” or a “spirit” or what have you).
And if our consciousness is capable of surviving apart from
our physical bodies, it can’t be generated by or produced by
or be wholly dependent on our physical bodies (and certainly
not by any one particular part of our bodies). We should, for
example, be able to damage or even replace a toe or an arm or
a lung or a heart and not have our consciousness be affected
(assuming we don’t die in the process).
And this is generally what we find to be the case, with one
glaring exception — our brains. Every other part of our body
can be damaged or even replaced without our consciousness being
affected, but not our brain. If our brains are damaged, our
entire personality can change. We become, in effect, completely
different persons. And, while practically any organ in the body
can be replaced without changing who we are (they can even transplant
faces now), does anybody imagine that if it were possible to
receive a brain transplant that our consciousness with the new
brain would match that of the previous brain?
Therefore, since it appears that our consciousness is inextricably
and indelibly linked to our physical brains, that would indicate
that our consciousness cannot exist independent of our bodies
and therefore cannot survive the death of our bodies. And if
our consciousnesses cannot exist without our bodies, then there
cannot be any such thing as an “afterlife.” Q.E.D.
And, there you go! What further proof could you possibly want?
OK, OK, so maybe this isn’t an absolute proof that there is
no such thing as an afterlife. After all, I suppose one could
come up with all sorts of ridiculous hypotheticals to explain
the known facts while still preserving the possibility of an
afterlife, such as, oh, I dunno, that our brains are just “receivers”
for our consciousness that is being broadcast from some other
dimensional plane (whatever the heck that means) and brain damage
is like what happens when a radio has a damaged antenna and
the signal gets all static-y or something. Or maybe there exists
some sort of all-powerful “immaterial pure spirit” (whatever
the heck that actually means) that somehow exists “outside of
time and space” (whatever the heck that actually means) that
for some unknown reason wants to make it seem as though our
brains create our consciousness for reasons of its own. You
get the idea. But the thing is, if you have to go to such ridiculous
lengths to provide for the mere possibility of an afterlife,
you’ve already abandoned rationality to such extent that you
might as well just throw in the towel and admit defeat anyway.
Author of the "Common Sense Atheism" series of booksMar 25
Is there any scientific proof that after life, there is no heaven
or hell?
Well, yes. In fact there is a simple and blindingly-obvious
proof, but it’s not the sort of proof that many people are willing
to accept since it contradicts with their childhood indoctrination
and/or conflicts with what they really, really want to be true.
Before I present the proof, however, there are two important
things that you need to keep in mind:
The complete and utter lack of any consistent, objective evidence
for an afterlife is, in and of itself, evidence against an afterlife.
Not proof mind, you, but certainly evidence.
Seriously, if you don’t have any good evidence for an afterlife
in the first place, why would it matter if nobody can prove
that there isn’t an afterlife? At best, asking somebody to provide
evidence that an afterlife doesn’t exist is an admission that
you don’t have any evidence to support your belief in an afterlife
in the first place and are relying entirely on wishful thinking.
Still with me? All right, here is your proof:
In order for there to be an afterlife, our consciousness must
be capable of surviving apart from our physical bodies (call
it a “soul” or a “spirit” or what have you).
And if our consciousness is capable of surviving apart from
our physical bodies, it can’t be generated by or produced by
or be wholly dependent on our physical bodies (and certainly
not by any one particular part of our bodies). We should, for
example, be able to damage or even replace a toe or an arm or
a lung or a heart and not have our consciousness be affected
(assuming we don’t die in the process).
And this is generally what we find to be the case, with one
glaring exception — our brains. Every other part of our body
can be damaged or even replaced without our consciousness being
affected, but not our brain. If our brains are damaged, our
entire personality can change. We become, in effect, completely
different persons. And, while practically any organ in the body
can be replaced without changing who we are (they can even transplant
faces now), does anybody imagine that if it were possible to
receive a brain transplant that our consciousness with the new
brain would match that of the previous brain?
Therefore, since it appears that our consciousness is inextricably
and indelibly linked to our physical brains, that would indicate
that our consciousness cannot exist independent of our bodies
and therefore cannot survive the death of our bodies. And if
our consciousnesses cannot exist without our bodies, then there
cannot be any such thing as an “afterlife.” Q.E.D.
And, there you go! What further proof could you possibly want?
OK, OK, so maybe this isn’t an absolute proof that there is
no such thing as an afterlife. After all, I suppose one could
come up with all sorts of ridiculous hypotheticals to explain
the known facts while still preserving the possibility of an
afterlife, such as, oh, I dunno, that our brains are just “receivers”
for our consciousness that is being broadcast from some other
dimensional plane (whatever the heck that means) and brain damage
is like what happens when a radio has a damaged antenna and
the signal gets all static-y or something. Or maybe there exists
some sort of all-powerful “immaterial pure spirit” (whatever
the heck that actually means) that somehow exists “outside of
time and space” (whatever the heck that actually means) that
for some unknown reason wants to make it seem as though our
brains create our consciousness for reasons of its own. You
get the idea. But the thing is, if you have to go to such ridiculous
lengths to provide for the mere possibility of an afterlife,
you’ve already abandoned rationality to such extent that you
might as well just throw in the towel and admit defeat anyway.