People on TikTok are freaking out after one woman suggested that we might not ever truly pass on - and that the world could have ended many times before without our knowledge. The theory is that our consciousness goes into an alternate reality, where we exist without the memories of the world we lived in prior, except for some details that don’t seem right.
If the theory of quantum immortality - which suggests that people never really die - is accurate, then humanity might have been ended many times by apocalyptic events similar to the asteroids “taking out the dinosaurs” 65 million years ago. We would essentially have no recollection because our consciousness would endure it, and we’d awake in a parallel world where that hasn’t occurred
Although I do believe we die in the sense we’ve always understood that word, I also believe there is more to us than that which dies. I wouldn’t call it an afterlife and I don’t know that calling what doesn’t die “me” makes much sense.
Many people hold a bias that consciousness is something the brain churns out but there is no evidence that is true. Of course without our brain we could not maintain consciousness as we know it but that is a far cry from showing consciousness is a product of brains. The hard problem of consciousness can not be bullied into silence.
From:
Where Does Consciousness Come From?.
“Despite advances in our understanding of the brain, explaining how consciousness is derived remains an open question in science and philosophy. It is even referred to as the "hard problem" of consciousness, a term coined by philosopher David Chalmers.
"Why should there be a certain way to experience being a human when we are conscious that vanishes in a coma or dreamless sleep and is entirely absent in inanimate objects like chairs or jackets?" says Ralph Adolphs, Bren Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Biology. "This contrast underscores a deep mystery."
Chalmers also identified the "easy problem" of consciousness: understanding brain functions like perception, attention, and memory. Neuroscientists and psychologists have made significant progress in these areas, revealing much about how neural circuits and information processing work. However, these explanations do not address what it is like to
be that brain, leaving the hard problem unresolved.
The Mind–Body Problem
This question ties into a long-standing philosophical debate known as the mind–body problem, which considers the relationship between the mental and the physical. Dualism, one view within this debate, suggests that consciousness arises from nonphysical substances or properties, such as the soul or the mind, rather than solely from brain activity. In contrast, materialist or physicalist views argue that consciousness is a product of the brain and can be fully explained by physical processes.
"Consider this example: Philosopher Gottfried Leibniz asked us to imagine miniaturizing ourselves and walking into someone's brain. Despite seeing all the molecules, neurons, and electrical potentials, we would not have any clue that there is conscious experience in that brain," Adolphs says. "Similarly, if intelligent aliens were to visit Earth and observe humans and animals from a distance, would they ever stumble upon the idea that any of these are conscious? No, how could they?"
Neuroscientists and philosophers alike continue to work toward a more comprehensive understanding of how the brain gives rise to our subjective experiences. This work calls for an interdisciplinary approach spanning the fields of neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and computer science, with each contributing unique observations and perspectives to this complex question.”
