Six Feet Under (part one)

Time to stick our toes in some philosophical waters, and on the occasion of Gerald Ford’s and Denver Bronco Darrent Williams’ demises, we turn our attention to the taboo subject of death. We know what happens to other people when they die – they are no more, their bodies perish leaving only their records and our memories of them. But what’s it like to die – what will happen when I die, we may each ask of ourselves. And there seem only 3 possibilities:

1. I am no more, my body will perish leaving behind…, etc. My stream of consciousness, my experiences all come to an end and that’s that. Life goes on, but only for others.

2. I start having “religious experiences”, depending perhaps on one’s religion or maybe even on which religion is correct. Perhaps I walk with God, enter purgatory, rise from the dead later this millennium or reincarnate into some other life, according to how the scoring went during this one.

3. Something else, we know not what (but maybe the fledgling science of consciousness will have some clues as it matures).

Well leave the latter two for a later time (death permitting). Think about 1. for a moment. The universe is born and chugs along for 14 billion years without so much as a how-do-you-do from me, and then suddenly I pop into existence. I last a few decades and pop out of existence, only to experience nothing more for at least another 14 billion years. Raises some questions, doesn’t it? Why at that moment, in that place, of those parents did I pop? Why at all? Do I really only get one chance at existence? What of the poor sods who pop out mere minutes after pooping in? That was a long time to wait for such a short show. Maybe 1. is right, but it’s rather glum and boring. Let’s just leave it there and go on to the other 2 possibilities…