I thought this above was well said.

I personally do not believe in an afterlife, not that I don’t hope it’s real, but being that anesthetics, with the right dosage, seem to shut down consciousness – I can only imagine what death does.

It’s tough to make sense of certain things, especially when nowadays scientists seem to inject their views into their findings (Dr. Novella for one).

I have always had trouble making sense of the inner private world we have, even if we sat alone in the dark we are able to bring about thoughts and information without depending on our senses for that moment. Our internal reflective side that can arise seemingly under our own volition. Not like the typical way we interact with the world(external data being filtered by our senses and transmitted to our brain, neurons storing data, proteins solidifying memories).

That is what drives me crazy, what drives the inner world, what moves it. I can accept that our inner world is simply a rearrangement of existing data already stored in our neurons. But I wish we understood more what drives the rearrangement/assessment of that data when we are not depending on our senses to filer in information at that very moment of reflection. It always brings me back to Chalmers. Why aren’t we zombies?

Sorry if this was a bit off topic. You caught me in my ranting mood.

Meditation is definitely good for you, as is prayer. But the bit that gets me is: doens’t prayer spark parts of the brain into action that are usually involved with divine inspiration and stuff…? The temporal lobe maybe? Whatever: the point is, maybe we prayed first, and belief in a god or gods came later…? Maybe, when praying, we open ourselves up to the concept of faith in some kind of almighty being? And those that don’t pray, the atheists and agnostics, never have the brain activity that is conducive to belief…?

Hmmm!

Chase, I think the problem with the ’spiritual world being non-physical’ idea is… well… it just depends on your definition of ‘physical’! If you mean things you can see and touch and GRASP, then yes, of course! Our physical world is almost entirely defined by our tools. For a particle physicist, I assure you atoms are ‘physical’ entities. To you and I, it’s off in the world of ‘things too tiny to think/worry about’.

But soon we’ll have fusion reactors in our home (or in our heads) powering the most amazing devices you can’t begin to contemplate.

And one day, the spiritual world (whatever it forms it takes) will probably be understood enough that we have tools and devices that interact with it. I think EVERYTHING is made of energy. And energy means, ultimately, it’s measurable, comprehensible and one day… physical enough for us to see and touch and play around with!

I tend to believe that being an atheist takes as much faith as anything else. To say nothing became energy became BANG here we are (give or take a few million years) seems to be a heck of a logic jump for me. I just can’t get there. Then again… in my experience, most atheists tend to disengage from that bit of he conversation…

But we’re off topic now. We were talking about the end of life, and here we are bringing up the beginning.

On the soul: I feel as though acknowledging a possible existence for the Spirit World is in fact acknowledging that there is more than the physical/visible world we know. (Yeah, I know, your flashing cop-out alarm is going off right now…but…) the definition of an other-ly/spirit realm is that it is, namely, not physical. It seems to me trying to track/prove/measure/find said spirit-force with physical tools could be somewhat futile. It’s pretty difficult to measure water on a flat spring scale; unless of course you have a cup.

Personally, I don’t believe we will find said tools that will prove or disprove beyond doubt. Part of the struggle of human existence is that there will always be some who believe in “more” than the physical (and the various mythos there in), and some that don’t. Differing opinions. They’ve been around for awhile, and I don’t see us evolving past it any time soon.

That said, science and technology has done some pretty cool stuff lately. And I certainly encourage the exploration and discussion. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong here, and that tool will be found. I’m not very scientifically inclined; philosophically, sure, but science? Not so much. However, if ever I am shown the undoubted proof, I’ll gladly retract that statement in laud of the findings.

In the meantime… I feel what we are (all) left with is faith. What we each choose to put that faith in differs. The only other option is inactive disengagement. And, unfortunately for the thinkers like you and I, good sir, I fear the majority of humanity (the modern western world not in the least) have chosen that option and muddied up the waters for the rest of us.

I’m cool with not knowing. I mean, I will know some day. I’ll know if there is a heaven, a hell, or a Jesus when I die and I see them. And if there’s not, I’ll be too busy not existing anymore to know. So yea, I’m just gonna focus on what I do know and what Dear Science can show/teach me.

Jesus, God, and the afterlife are nice ideas…or not so nice, depending on which peice of literature you’re reading, but logically and rationally they don’t add up for me. (feel free to roast marshmallows over my burning body)

This sentence is why my belief does waver. I’m not one who can place all my faith on a feeling or personal belief. My faith isn’t that storng and there is just isn’t enough belief in this body for that.

Deep Monday topic. My brain hurts.

It’s so interesting, though, to read not only your take on it but also everyone else’s comments. And the article that AGD linked to was really cool!

*Neuroplasticity can of course go the other way. I suppose if your God is vengeful and hate filled (Son of Sam?) it can do awful things to your brain.

You can’t begin to understand how excited I am about the Large Hadron Collider and what it might soon show us. I think a lot of ideas and preconceptions that we’ve had for thousands of years, in some form or another, are about to be shattered. It’s going to be quite exciting