Is There a Scientific Basis for an Afterlife?

[BoxxyBabee]

I'm still rather young, and I lack experience, and I have few people to discuss this with in real life.
I hope this hasn't already been discussed, I noticed a "hell" and a "death" thread, I did a cursory read through, and gleaned a good bit of information. (it was a long thread. :p)

I'm still curious, is there a scientific basis for an afterlife?
I mean, according to science, consciousness and sentience is a pattern of chemical reactions taking place in the carbon based blob we call the human brain. The brain is split into various parts, which in turn are made from various proteins, which in turn are composed of carbon, bonded to oxygen, hydrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, and other elements.

During death, this pattern is disrupted and the chemical reactions cease.
Scientifically, there is no afterlife.

The supposed "soul" does not leave the body, because the "soul" is composed of carbon compounds, which are still in the corpse, here on Earth. The mass of a corpse and the mass of a living human is the same. (I assume), and so, if that assumption holds true, then the "soul" has not entered into a foreign realm for punishment nor reward.

Perhaps, I just didnt think of it enough, and there's another answer to it.
I mean, light is a massless particle, so, what if a soul is a massless particle?
This is just hypothetical, but my point is, what if there was something I missed along the line?

I'm really hoping for a christian or any religion which believes in an afterlife to hopefully point out a mistake I made in my reasoning, which is rooted in science, or similar fact.

[Pope Alfred]

I think you summed up the important points in the first part of your post:
No. All the evidence we have says that the death of the brain is the end. My advice (and I'm ever so old and wise ) is, don't search for the unlikely and mysterious without some good reason.
Occam's razor - entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem.

[BoxxyBabee]

Ahhh, Occam's razor.
I like that advice.

The only dissenting information I've encountered is this Doctor from 1901 named Duncan MacDougall.
He stated that the body loses 21 grams when it dies. (I can't post a link. D: )

I don't think that in 1901, that there was sufficient technology to eliminate variables.
The body chemistry also changes after death. (Rigor mortis and similar processes)

So, to me, it doesnt sound very plausible.

[Darwinian]

There can't be an afterlife because if you find yourself still conscious, sentient and aware after the death of your body then you are clearly still alive. It's like saying that something will happen after time.

And it is also true to say that from your own personal perspective that you will never experience death.

[Purple Rabbit]

Ahhh, Occam's razor.
I like that advice.

The only dissenting information I've encountered is this Doctor from 1901 named Duncan MacDougall.
He stated that the body loses 21 grams when it dies. (I can't post a link. D: )

I don't think that in 1901, that there was sufficient technology to eliminate variables.
The body chemistry also changes after death. (Rigor mortis and similar processes)

So, to me, it doesnt sound very plausible.

I've just lost multiple times 21 grams at the gym. I guess my little homonculus and some of his friends staying over for a party must have left the building...

Still it is surprising that a soul should be subject to gravity though...Makes one wonder how much god weighs (after his workout that is, let's be reasonable)

Ah, Occam's Razor. You know there is no scientific basis to that whatsoever, don't you?

[fr0d0]

"the "soul" is composed of carbon compounds" ...where did you see this or evidence of this?

"Souls are immaterial subjects of mental properties."

"Most Christians regard the soul as the immortal essence of a human - the seat or locus of human will, understanding, and personality"

"The soul is apparently the receptacle for the Holy Spirit; the body, which houses the soul, is the tabernacle, or the "temple of the Holy Spirit""

<edit>
"Some investigators have tried to measure the soul, for example by attempting to measure the weight of a person just before and just after death in hopes of determining the weight of a soul. The results of these experiments remained equivocal, especially due to conflicting reports on the findings, and are not well regarded many scientists."

[Tiberius]

Immortal essences or immaterial subjects (as I'm sure fr0d0 will admit) are unscientific, so the answer to your question is no, there isn't a scientific basis for an afterlife.

[Autumnlicious]

Quick answer: No.
Long answer: No.
Longer answer: It violates the concept of entropy if the soul was some for of energy. We know it definitely isn't matter, as there are no inexplicable losses of mass or unaccounted for. What else could it be, if not matter or energy, the only two components this universe works off of?

Protip - coming up with a new substance not only fails in the same way aether, it is thoroughly ridiculous. We don't live in Star Trek (unfortunately), so we cannot go making up new technobabble elements. Soulium sounds like an interesting name for an RTS mineral source...

Hmm, an RTS set in a hellish world, based on a bloody, overkill version of Dante's Inferno, where differing circles of hell vie against each other for dominance. Soulium is extracted from the suffering damned... And the catapults fire babies. /trails off

[BoxxyBabee]

Ah, fr0d0, perhaps I should have said consciousness, instead of soul.
It seems that the definition of soul does go along with what you're saying.

Also, purple rabbit, now that I've thought about it... there really isn't.
So I can see your point, and I agree.

Thanks for the feedback

[fr0d0]

Ok then...

""consciousness" is composed of carbon compounds" ...where did you see this or evidence of this?