Why Consciousness is Immortal | The Philosophical Proof of Life After Death

What happens when we die? Does all experience end  forever? Or do we live on somehow?

Well over half of all humanity believes that death is not the  true end of life, and that beyond this mysterious threshold, something continues on. The standard  view among secular academics is that these beliefs are no more than wishful thinking - a product of  our fear of death, and our inability to comprehend the ultimate end of experience. I too struggle to  imagine how this vast universe could be organized in a way that preserves all minds at the point  of death, presumably for eternity.

Personally I'm not religious, but nevertheless I don't  believe we can simply dismiss the possibility of survival. Despite the many discoveries of modern  science, reality remains a deeply m mysterious place. There are, for example, respected  philosophers and thinkers who believe that there is a not insignificant possibility that  our entire reality is a simulation created by an advanced civilization, with goals beyond our  comprehension.

It goes without saying that if we do live in a simulation, all bets are off about  what we can expect to experience at death. Many believe that reports like those of near-death  experiences (NDEs) and apparent reincarnation offer possible evidence of survival. In the world  of the paranormal, we find reports of strange phenomena that resist ordinary explanation,  and I've read various cases that strike me as deeply anomalous.

I actually studied psychology  at one of the few universities in the world with a parapsychology department. The University of  Northampton in the UK. And reading about some of these strange cases was on my undergraduate  syllabus.

While ultimately I'm not convinced by these cases, I don't reject the possibility  of life after death. In fact, I'm convinced that it's real. In the end, it was not strange  paranormal phenomena that eventually convinced me that consciousness does survive death.

Instead  it was a philosophical argument that I encountered much later, as postgraduate in philosophy. This  argument, as we will explore today, appears to demonstrate that consciousness is immortal, that  death, as a real end to conscious experience, is an epistemic illusion, and that following  death we should expect not oblivion, but an enduring sense of always having existed albeit  manifest in the form of other conscious beings. This argument, which comes from the philosopher  Thomas Clark, might be seen as a form of impersonal reincarnation, and it is, I think, the  very least we should expect to experience after death.

In spite of this seemingly bold claim,  it is a view that does not rely, as it might at first seem, on some exotic view of consciousness.  This argument, as we will explore, would hold true even if we live in an entirely physical universe,  governed by completely unconscious, directionless physical laws. To be clear, my own view is that  consciousness may well be more fundamental than current materialist science has appreciated.

But  I find it fascinating that a view that makes no such claim offers the most profound argument for  survival that I have heard. It is this argument, together with its extraordinary implications,  that we will explore today. As I mentioned, this argument originates with the philosopher Thomas  Clark, and it can be found in his essay titled, "Death, Nothingness, and Subjectivity.

Clark  begins his essay by pointing out a surprisingly common error made by secular and scientific  thinkers: That if death is the end of experience, then the dying individual should anticipate being  cast into an oblivion of nothingness at death. Clark lists many secular thinkers who replace  religious notions of Heaven and Hell with the concept of nothingness. Clark points out that  many secularists have mistakenly depicted death as though it were a kind of "positive nothing" -  an eternal situation into which the experiencing subject is plunged, as though into a dark ocean,  at the moment of death.

The error, as Clark points out, (quote) ". . .

is to reify nothing - make it  a positive condition or quality, for example of blackness, and then place the individual in  it after death, so that we somehow fall into nothingness, to remain there eternally. " (end  quote) Clark is far from the first to point out this logical fallacy. Over two millennia ago the  Greek philosopher Epicurus wrote, (quote) "Death is nothing to us.

When we exist, death is not, and  when death exists, we are not. " (end quote) Clark argues that when we dispense with this flawed  idea, that a kind of "positive nothing" awaits us at death, a strange and counterintuitive picture  emerges -- a new conception of immortality. (title) Immortal Consciousness We're almost ready to dive into Clark's profound  argument for the immortality of consciousness, but before we do, we first need to understand a  fundamental truth about conscious beings.

Clark calls this truth "personal subjective continuity. "  It refers to the fact that, as conscious beings, we experience our entire lives as one  uninterrupted sequence of experience. While there are many times in life when we are  unconscious, such as during dreamless sleep or while under general anesthetic, these unconscious  moments simply do not exist for us.

This creates our personal subjective continuity, in  which subjectivity bridges all gaps, and our entire lives exist to us as one continuous  stream of awareness. As Clark observes, it is our nature as conscious beings that we always exist to  ourselves. This block of experience is bracketed at its beginning and end by our birth and our  death, yet just as we have no memory of the billions of years prior to our birth, nor should  we expect to be plunged into an eternal night after death.

Instead, Clark argues, that death  will not be the end of experience. To understand why we'll now explore a thought experiment which  I've adapted from the one in Clark's essay. Imagine a world where cutting-edge medical  technology allows people to undergo a remarkable process known as "LifePause.

" During LifePause, an  individual's consciousness is temporarily halted and advanced surgeries akin to intricate brain  and body makeovers take place. This technology enables, not only the suspension of time, but also  the customization of memories, personality traits, and even physical appearance. Now meet our  protagonist.

Alex. Disillusioned about his life, Alex decides to undergo LifePause for an extended  period. He also signs over permission to the LifePause technicians to make any changes they  want to his mind and body.

Before the procedure Alex is "Alex Classic" after the transformation  however there are two possible outcomes. The first we'll call "Alex 2. 0.

" In this scenario,  the changes made during LifePause are moderate. Alex 2. 0 wakes up with a refined version of the  original characteristics.

Perhaps a slightly altered personality or some new preferences. Alex  2. 0 for example, finds that he now enjoys coffee, where Alex classic had not.

From the point of  view of Alex 2. 0, the transformation feels like a seamless continuation of the same conscious  journey through life. We now move on to the second scenario.

This time the LifePause procedure  creates "Alex Reborn. " Here LifePause introduces much more radical alterations. Alex Reborn wakes  up with significant changes.

Perhaps a completely different personality, different memories, and  even a different physical appearance. Yet despite these stark differences, the subjective experience  remains unbroken. From Alex classic to Alex Reborn, there is no perceived gap or interruption  in consciousness.

Alex Reborn is significantly different to Alex Classic, and yet it nonetheless  feels to him as though he has always existed. Whether Alex emerges as a refined version, as  in Alex 2. 0, or a radically different persona, as in Alex Reborn, the key Insight is that  subjectively, the thread of awareness persists.

We now move on to the final part of the thought  experiment. Now imagine that instead of undergoing LifePause, Alex is involved in a fatal car  accident on his way to the LifePause clinic, resulting in his irreversible, natural death. Now  imagine that later a new consciousness emerges in the universe, free from any direct causal link  to Alex.

Nevertheless, we will call this new Consciousness "Alex Renewed. " It is here that  we realize the surprising truth. -- There is no difference between that which is taking place  in the LifePause procedure, and the subjective continuity between these distant conscious  beings.

Just as with LifePause, the transition from Alex Classic to Alex Renewed does not entail  a subjective gap. There is no experiential void, no firsthand encounter with nothingness.  Instead, just as in the other scenarios, there is a seamless transition from one subjective  state to another, even if memories, personality, and physicality vastly differ.

We simply  always are this generic subjectivity, wherever and whenever it arises in the universe.  When we really see that every Alex is the same identity, the implications are profound. Alex  is everyone in every scenario.

Alex is you. The key insight is that death and birth can be  seen as identical to that which is occurring in the LifePause scenario. And indeed it is the  same as that which is occurring between every conscious moment of our lives.

As Clark writes,  (quote) “… even if all centers of awareness were extinguished and the next conscious creature  appeared millions of years hence (perhaps in a galaxy far, far away) there would still be no  subjective interregnum. Subjectivity would jump that (objective) gap just as easily as it jumps  the gap from our last experience before sleep to the first upon awakening. All the boring  eons that pass without the existence of a subject will be irrelevant for the subject  that comes into being.

Nor will they count as "nothingness" for all the conscious entities  which ceased to exist. Subjectivity, awareness, consciousness, experience – whatever we call it  – never stops arising as far as it is concerned. ” (end quote) The thought experiment shows that  what we really are, our true enduring identity, is consciousness itself, or what Clark calls  "generic subjectivity.

" We should clarify that this is quite different to the traditional  idea of reincarnation, in which your specific consciousness will, after death, suddenly discover  itself inhabiting some new being. Instead, the continuum of consciousness transcends  individual identity. It is more accurate to say that you continue as consciousness itself.

And  while this may sound like a familiar platitude, the thought experiment shows just how  intimately we share in the subjective identity with all conscious beings. Reflecting on Clark's  argument, the neuroscientist Sam Harris remarks, (quote) "The birth of any conscious being after  your death, is in some sense deeply analogous to your own rebirth. Given your identity as  consciousness, your survival of death is more or less assured as long as consciousness persists  anywhere.

" (end quote) Both Clark and Harris offer this idea of a continued consciousness beyond  death as offering some comfort to those who fear the end of life. And yet others might see  that such a view brings the varied conscious experiences on offer in reality far too close  for comfort. Consider all of the conscious experiences taking place in the natural world --  both beautiful and terrifying.

Or of alien forms of mind that might emerge in the future, or in  distant reaches of the cosmos. As consciousness, ours is the experience of the greatest and most  serene enlightenment, as well as all of those actual experiences that exist and will exist, of  terrible suffering, loss, and frustrated desires. Several philosophers have argued that  our primary identity is consciousness, and that this fact carries profound ethical  implications.

In his fascinating book, You Are Them, the philosopher Magnus  Vinding challenges his readers, asking, (quote) "Why are you the same person when  you wake up in the morning as the you who went to sleep the night before? Why don't  you instead wake up as a scared rabbit in a dark forest in the middle of the night?  Well, who says that you don't?

" (end quote) It's a view that resonates with both both ancient  and contemporary ideas. One in particular is "open individualism" put forward by the contemporary  philosopher Daniel Kolak. In open individualism, there exists only one numerically identical  subject who is everyone at all times.

In open individualism there isn't a distinct entity that  is the owner of first-person experiences. Instead, wherever there is awareness, there is . .

. you.  Every conscious being that has ever existed or will exist in the future, is experienced  by the same principle of awareness.

By analogy we can think of this awareness  principle as similar to the process of nuclear fusion taking place in stars. There  are trillions of stars in the universe, and they are all powered by nuclear fusion,  but we don't say that there are billions of nuclear fusions. Rather it is more accurate to  say that there is just one process of nuclear fusion which powers all stars in existence. 

Similarly there is just one principle of awareness that underlies the innumerable minds in  existence. In this view there is no separate self or soul navigating through experiences. There  is only consciousness, experiencing itself in an innumerable variety of forms.

Whether or not we  live in a purely physical universe, consciousness, by its nature, transcends individuality and binds  us in a shared continuous experience of existence. The New Age slogan, "We are all one. " is often  accompanied with naive platitudes of peace and love.

In truth, facing the unfettered  reality of consciousness as our primary identity is deeply sobering. We see that there  is, in truth, no escape for conscious beings, regardless of their circumstances. We are for  all time, and to the last conscious being, in this together.

In this sense, the recognition  that our ultimate identity is consciousness is more than a salve for the fear of death. --It is  an ethical revelation. There is ultimately nothing for us to do other than to try to improve  the available experiences of all conscious beings within the reach of our influence.

I and  others have argued that this will require the systematic reduction, wherever possible, of all  avoidable states of agony and suffering. Another, perhaps secondary imperative, is the general  facilitation of conscious states which all beings might consider to be worth having such  as happiness, joy, and bliss. The emerging view profoundly challenges many of our human norms and  practices.

For example, it negates all rationale for retributive punishment or what we might call  "violence to consciousness. " Speciesism, outgroup aggression, and selfish prejudice are seen for  what they are: a product of mistaken identity. Death is not an escape from reality.

Instead  dying, as Clark writes, is more accurately seen (quote) ". . .

more like the radical refreshment  of subjectivity than its extinction. " In the end, we are that part of reality that becomes  aware of its existence. For better or worse, we are truly immortal.

We can experience death,  but only as an abstraction -- from the outside. But it is an illusion. There is no life  after death, because there is no death.

Hello, me again. I hope you found that  interesting. I'm very curious to know what you think about this argument or what  if anything you think might happen after we die.

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That is about it from me. Thank you for  watching. I'm Adrian Nelson.