Note: This post was originally a comment in a Facebook thread, the context of which has been totally lost to me. It was written 2-3 years into the my journey into spiritual doubt. While I don’t remember the Facebook thread that provoked the comment, I do remember the origin of the line of thought. Through casual conversations with my boss at work, I came to realize that almost everything I consider ‘me’ is rooted in genetics and circumstance. ‘American.’ ‘Male.’ ‘White.’ ‘Verbal.’ ‘Analytical.’ ‘Nerdy.’ ‘English-speaking.’ Once my brain and body are stripped away and Earth and all its cultures are left behind, what is left of me that is actually ‘me’? Even if we are resurrected after death as the Bible teaches, what would be left of us that was recognizable? This is another item that as I inhabit the life of faith I have to simply set aside as beyond knowing. (DL, June 13, 2023).
Is there any part of your consciousness that will survive the destruction of your brain?
Pointers to the answer:
- What we understand as the “self” has been shown to be so closely linked to the physical brain that we are unable to distinguish one from the other. The effects of drugs, brain trauma, and dementia on personality, consciousness, and the “self” all testify to this assertion.
- It is possible that there exist realms of knowledge and experience that do not exist inside the bounds of space-time and that are not composed of matter.
- There are aspects of observable reality that we are not (yet) able to adequately explain in naturalistic terms. The origin of DNA as an encoding system and (more importantly) the information it contains. The origin of matter and space-time. The origin of human language. In the absence of other criteria, the existence of such complex, purposeful systems would normally indicate the existence of a process of design and engineering. For the sake of argument, it must be admitted that if such things as DNA, matter, and space-time are the products of design, they must have of necessity been designed by something that is not itself composed of DNA or matter and that does not exist inside of space-time.
My own view:
I am presently dissatisfied with all current attempts to explain the entirety of observable reality and of human experience in completely naturalistic terms. There are simply too many gaps.
Our concepts of the “self” and the “soul” wither under close examination. Too much of what we believe about our “self” is simply the product of forces outside our control: our genetics, our upbringing, random experiences. That fact, compounded with the reality that our “self” can be radically rewritten by the simple application of force or chemicals or more experiences or age to our brains makes me believe that our idea of self is much more tenuous and ephemeral than we like to think. Even if our consciousness could survive our brain, what would it look like, stripped of our genetics and culture and the other external circumstances we rely on to help us understand ourselves?
I very much want there to be some part of my consciousness that will survive the destruction of my brain and live on in happiness without it.