Why ask the living people what happen after death, since non of them had this experience before? Let's wait for one who goes there and return and tell us the story, shall we. Note that out of body experience or near death experience is not technically death, and the testimonials often contradicting and inconclusive.

On this topic, what we have is speculation and belief. However, cognitive science tends to provide us with a better understanding or at least show us a better direction where we should be looking for when touches this "grey area".

Let's look at hardware and software. A few line of programming syntax (line of codes) is considered a program. Taking a computer virus program as an example, when we look into "each" lines, there are merely if, then, else and some actions. However when "combine" these individual lines together, it exhibits a new behavior called "consciousness". Holism creates consciousness. This is what analogy to "live".

Let's talk about the opposite of "live", death.

If you burn your PC because it is infected by computer virus, after the burning, is the computer virus death to you???

Yes, maybe you could say that, that is the end of the computer virus.

Food for thought:

If the computer virus (I mean the same syntax and line of codes) is now rerun on a new PC, it is the "same computer virus" that you burned just now or is it a entirely new "computer virus"???

Since it exhibits the same syntax, we would say that it is the same computer virus.

As such, if we want that "computer virus" program to be run in a new PC, we "need not" salvage the original burned computer part or even need not to replicate the original machine. Any active mediums (PC, laptop, handphone, music player, even write it down using pencil and paper) which gave the same syntax could in principle embody the "same virus".

The analogy used here:
PC - A body
Computer Virus - Consciousness
Active mediums - Another body, animal

This conclusion leaves open to the question of whether the "computer program" is rerun in another body at a later date, is it the idea of reincarnation.
Or
In a realm that is not part of the physical universe.

Note: cognitive science tells us that the "meaning, purpose" of the computer virus can only attach to the flow of time, which is during the "running" of the program, as far as the perception of time is concerned. Meaning, purpose is ties to "running" of the program within the flow of time.

However, the existence of the program is essentially timeless as it could exist indefinitely (In the PC, laptop, in a paper (writing it down using a pen, so that 1000 years later someone picks this lines of code up, and put it in a says PC again)).

We can argue that cognitive science tends to emphasize the similarities between "mind/consciousness" in human and machine. While leaves little room for the traditional idea of the soul, it leaves open the possibility of survival of the personality indefinitely.

This post has been edited by nice.rider: Oct 17 2010, 11:32 AM