(May 18, 2021 at 9:45 am)Irreligious Atheist Wrote: I have no clue whether a simulation of an entire universe is possible. I'm not bright enough to have a clue about that as it's way over my head. I need to know whether the afterlife is possible though. Please let me down gently. If the simulation is played back again, will that be the current me, or just a copy of me? I know my name is irreligious, and I wouldn't really say that I fear death, but still, it would be nice to be immortal.
There is no way to definitely answer your questions. It requires an explanation of what "you" are. I feel this is the fundamental question surrounding religion.
I can only give you my personal answer.
I think that consciousness is a process. Wherever there is consciousness, there is the experience of an individual. I feel that the "self" is created by the combination of persistent memory (which reminds you of just who you are), and the fact that the entire brain/programming is also a persistent and unique thing. What separates "us" from nature and others is the barrier of communication. If we were all Borg, the communication would blur the concept of "me" vs. "we".
I see the "self" like a bubble in a stream. It comes from nowhere, persists for a moment, and then disappears.
I also view each moment as equally important as every other moment. Death is a tragedy only in that it ends the possibility of experiencing more moments. However, the life lived is somehow a persistent feature of the universe, and does not lose its importance because it has ended.
I also see "others" as no different than myself. We are separated by an ocean compared to the connections within my own brain, but each "bubble" is the universe becoming aware of itself. What seems like a short existence isn't so bad when I realize that while I am unique in my isolation from other minds, I am otherwise identical to them, and minds will exist for many more "moments".
A replay of a simulation might be "you", or it might not. I prefer to think that "me" is an illusion, and that we are all just part of the same type of process.
