The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #106685   Message #2213378
Posted By: GUEST,282RA
11-Dec-07 - 05:15 PM
Thread Name: BS: There aren't any Gods (not even Jesus)
Subject: RE: BS: There aren't any Gods (not even Jesus)
>>Oh, yes, and evidence for the non-survival of the psyche lies in brain-dead people. By destroying the BRAIN, you can destroy the self and leave the body alive. There is no way to destroy the body and leave the self alive, though, and it takes faith, not reason, to believe that the self survives the death of the body/brain.<<

Not at all. There is a reason to suppose that consciousness (I prefer not to use the term "self") survives the death of the body.

To be conscious at a bare minimum, I have to be able to recall experiences. If I was unconscious during an event then I cannot recall and so it cannot be an experience.

If I cannot recall an event at the moment then nothing can be known of the state of my consciousness when that event occurred. I may, for example, recall it later, in which case, it is an experience. If I can never recall it, then I was not conscious during that event and so it is not an experience.

But I was conscious at all the events I recall even if my recall is not perfect (and whose is?).

I must be able to remember events in order for them to have been experiences and I must be able to remember them as often as I want to. I must also be able to remember remembering them. Theoretically, I can remember experiences an infinite number of times.

NOW, suppose I am born at time T0, live a full life and then die at time T1. Further suppse that my consciousness is extinguished at time T1. How would I ever know I was conscious? The time interval from T0 to T1 has been reduced to zero. It becomes missing time.

BUT, I must be able to remember all my experiences in order to be conscious and must be able to remember them an infinite number of times if I choose to. Since I am conscious now (because I meet all the above requirements for consciousness), death cannot extinguish my consciousness. If it does, then I cannot be conscious now, which is a contradiction. So the conclusion is, death does not extinguish consciousness.

Now I'm not saying this is necessarily true but I am saying that to believe that consciousness survives the death of the body is not merely an act of faith opposed to reason.

However, this same argument also proves there is no eternal reward or punishment.