Illusion of consciousness

We wish/hope that we live beyond death; that is the trick played by the programmed mind. Programmed by millions of years of evolution as one of the key essential elements for survival – that we are something, we come from somewhere, life exists after death. It’s very difficult to digest that we never existed before, and when we die we are gone forever – the very thought itself is unimaginable. When you are lingering in these mysterious thoughts, you hear these comforting words from a few wise men/women – Gurus – that life is eternal, and your soul is special.

Modern-age gurus exploit those weaknesses with their impeccable storytelling abilities. Stories are essential for any invention and thus for human progress, but they should be open to questioning and testing. Otherwise they will end up as sacred scriptures – which are a huge hurdle to human progress.

When you die, your heart stops the blood supply to the brain. Then the brain cells that have simulated and matured consciousness with its amazing complexity since the day you were born will start dying too, due to lack of oxygen. It’s like a computer: it’s dead without electricity, but the computer can, of course, be revived by resupplying electricity. However, the brain can’t be revived after a certain period by resupplying blood. Its electronics (brain cells and their complex connections) cripple within minutes in the absence of oxygen. Even if it is revived (it rarely happens), in many cases, you will live like a vegetable because some of its brain cells are dead. Imagine how dependent consciousness is on the brain.

The human brain is the most mysterious and complex thing humans have ever encountered in the known universe; it’s so complex that scientists are yet to reach its depths. For example, they are yet to see how it simulates consciousness (the so-called self). When you die, you are just dead; your consciousness (or soul) goes nowhere because consciousness can’t survive anywhere outside the brain. No evidence has ever been found of any magical system that can transport petabytes of data from the human brain – for safekeeping somewhere in the universe – to be transported back again into some other mother’s womb.

The reality is you are just a random copy that was implemented using the blueprint (gene pool) by its carriers (parents), with little bits of their own characteristics added by those carriers, sometimes with additional mutations. You are no more special than any other organic life form, except that humans have evolved to be intelligent beings. Life is basically meaningless. The fact is that you should define your own meaning in this only life you have got.

So enjoy your brief moment of time under an average star (the sun).