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Author Topic:   Existence After Death
Phage0070
Inactive Member


Message 14 of 163 (581702)
09-17-2010 12:08 AM
Reply to: Message 12 by Theodoric
09-16-2010 10:53 PM


Theodoric writes:
Why? Why do you want to live forever?
It seems reasonable to assume that almost everyone alive wants to live.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 12 by Theodoric, posted 09-16-2010 10:53 PM Theodoric has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 23 by Theodoric, posted 09-17-2010 12:26 PM Phage0070 has replied

  
Phage0070
Inactive Member


Message 29 of 163 (581776)
09-17-2010 1:09 PM
Reply to: Message 23 by Theodoric
09-17-2010 12:26 PM


Theodoric writes:
I know I will get old and my body will change for none the better.
See, most people who want to live forever assume that aging and such would be halted. They also don't consider boredom at all.
I don't think my statement is ridiculous at all. Most people who are alive have a healthy appreciation for staying that way, so I find it unsurprising that they would express a desire to make it permanent. They may change their minds later, but likely only when they are no longer young and/or healthy.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 23 by Theodoric, posted 09-17-2010 12:26 PM Theodoric has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 30 by hooah212002, posted 09-17-2010 1:11 PM Phage0070 has replied
 Message 31 by Theodoric, posted 09-17-2010 1:14 PM Phage0070 has not replied

  
Phage0070
Inactive Member


Message 33 of 163 (581786)
09-17-2010 2:27 PM
Reply to: Message 30 by hooah212002
09-17-2010 1:11 PM


hooah212002 writes:
But what age would you eternally be? Do you get to pick?
I suspect the desire isn't that well developed, and is instead just a general desire to be alive.

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 Message 30 by hooah212002, posted 09-17-2010 1:11 PM hooah212002 has seen this message but not replied

  
Phage0070
Inactive Member


Message 44 of 163 (581913)
09-18-2010 4:48 AM
Reply to: Message 43 by AricVader
09-18-2010 1:32 AM


As far as I am aware, there is absolutely zero evidence of the preservation of consciousness after death. Every attempt to quantify a soul or something that might carry on after death has failed, leading to the conclusion that the soul some believe *must* exist is immaterial and undetectable. In other words it has been pushed back into the "god of the gaps" position.

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 Message 43 by AricVader, posted 09-18-2010 1:32 AM AricVader has not replied

  
Phage0070
Inactive Member


Message 160 of 163 (586947)
10-15-2010 4:52 PM
Reply to: Message 152 by Species8472
10-15-2010 11:54 AM


Species8472 writes:
I tend to think of myself as more than just my physical body.
Thats called "ego", we all have it. Tell me if you actually find some of that other stuff and you will actually have a reason to think it exists.
Species8472 writes:
But what I am is greater than the collection of the parts.
But isn't that assessment of "greater" a value judgment? Like for instance I would consider my computer's hard drive to be greater than the sum of its parts; giving me a pile of its parts isn't an equivalent. Yet to the universe it is the same stuff.
So what exactly makes you more than the sum of your parts? Is it real, or value assigned by your mind?

This message is a reply to:
 Message 152 by Species8472, posted 10-15-2010 11:54 AM Species8472 has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 161 by Taz, posted 10-16-2010 3:03 AM Phage0070 has replied

  
Phage0070
Inactive Member


Message 163 of 163 (586996)
10-16-2010 3:20 AM
Reply to: Message 161 by Taz
10-16-2010 3:03 AM


Taz writes:
Considering the fact that you seem to imply there is nothing about you-you that makes you greater than the sum of your parts, I would think that you would have no problem if I remove one component of you from the rest of your body.
As I illustrated with the hard drive example, the particular arrangement of things can be assigned greater meaning by minds without there actually being anything special about those parts themselves. For example, I can value the particular arrangement of my hard drive over say someone else's hard drive, or a lump of exactly the same materials in my hard drive in no particular configuration, without positing the existence of some "soul" of my drive on which to assign this worth.
Similarly I can assign greater worth to having my head right where it is rather than being removed without suggesting that there is some intrinsic quality of worth which is objectively created by its fixation and destroyed by its removal. In other words, I can value staying alive without believing that the universe values my staying alive.
My quote you cited I believe conveyed this concept rather concisely. When someone says that they are more than the sum of their parts they are referring to the value they assign to their parts being arranged in a particular manner. Once they admit this "greater summation" is purely conceptual it is easy to see why assumptions of souls to embody this value is unwarranted.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 161 by Taz, posted 10-16-2010 3:03 AM Taz has not replied

  
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