(August 3, 2015 at 2:30 pm)robvalue Wrote: When we die, all our bits break up. What is left to "live on"? The entirely undemonstrated soul/spirit of which there is no evidence whatsoever.
Our bits live on in as much as they will be recycled and will probably end up as parts of other life forms. That's as good as it gets, and you know, I'm very happy with that.
Anything else is not only speculation, but requires ignoring all available evidence to the contrary.
It is more than just that there is no evidence of an immaterial soul or mind; it is, as I stated previously, that we have evidence that the mind is nothing more than the processes of the brain. If your mind were something immaterial, how could alcohol get your mind drunk? Why is it that diseases of the brain damage the mind? Really, it is proven beyond all reasonable doubt that the mind is just brain activity and nothing more. Consequently, it is proven beyond all reasonable doubt that you (as a mind) cease to exist when your brain stops its activity.
That many people don't accept this just means that many people are prejudiced agains the idea and prefer to believe superstitious twaddle instead of basing their beliefs on the best available evidence. That they wish they were immortal and so many believe it is just wishful thinking rather than a reasonable belief.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
