An Argument For the Afterlife
Phillip Fitzlaff, QMHA, MBA
Saving Ghosts
Abstract This argument is to create a thought about the possibility of consciousness after death. While the idea of the classic ghost has a certain romance about it, there creates an opportunity to explore the idea using - least of all things - a combination of basic science laws to poke at the notion. Biology and Chemistry teach that the Atom is found in everything and, as a result, is the basic building block of life. From that Biology we are created as Carbon based system powered by electricity and creating energy. Thermo Dynamics teaches us that energy does not die, it simply changes form. With that law holding true, it should be difficult to argue that our energy, be it electro magnetic radiation or consciousness, simply does not dissipate into nothing once our carbon base ceases to function.
An Argument For the Afterlife For centuries, the human population has had fascinations, curiosities and skepticism for the afterlife. Belief in ghosts and other examples of beings from beyond the grave date as far back as ancient Mesopotamia.
The Mesopotamians believed that the spirits of loved ones could return to correct a wrong doing, and that sickness was viewed as an outright manifestation of those who had gone before. (Mark, 2014)
All beliefs and religions, from the ancient Druids to modern day, all have their particular beliefs in what happens when we die. But what if one were to remove the dogma and myth from these stories and instead apply science, and not even advanced science, to explain what could feasibly happen once our body dies.
Biology teaches us that all things are made up of Atoms and those Atoms create cells, and that cells are the basic unit of life. (Bailey, 2019) If we were to greatly - and I do mean greatly - simplify the human body, it consists of two systems: Carbon and Electrical.
Approximately 18% of the body’s mass is carbon. Carbon atoms create thousands of carbon molecules in every cell. This creates a building block on which our physical bodies are created. There is also the electrical system. All organisms that can think have a wondrous organ called a brain. While brains are too overly complicated to go over for the purpose of this writing, it is safe to say that most have an electrical network called synapse. This synapse allows for the transmitting and receiving of neurons for the purpose of communication from the brain to the body. This complex system is what allows your body to react and interact with itself and the world around it. That example, in it’s most simplified form, is the basis of the vehicle that is the human body. All aspects of the physical being are created from the atom, and all things (except energy) are created from the Atom. ("What is an atom?," n.d)
Now, as was mentioned moments ago, we are also created from energy. Which, since we are made of matter, and matter is energy, I am sure the previous statement goes without saying. Thermodynamics teaches us that energy has no beginning or end and does not die, it simply changes form. Now, bear with me for a moment, because this is where things become interesting. Centuries of debates over whether consciousness is linked to the brain or separate energy have, in some cases, created a divide within both the science and theological worlds. If one were to do a simple search on the internet asking if consciousness was energy, you would see the scientific equivalent to the presidential debates.
If consciousness is indeed energy, whether linked to the brain or its own independent form, then as we have already stated, thermodynamics states as a law that energy does not die. Now, this author fully understand that most reading this will probably recite that energy must have a biological force powering it to create the energy. But what about Electro Magnetic Radiation which is released through the body as heat?
In 2005 the Czec Republic Military released a paper stating that humans also emanate radiation in the ELF - Extremely Low Frequency band, in addition to Electromagnetic Radiation. (Lipkova & Cechak, 2005)
If we are to take a look at Biology, Thermo Dynamics and Chemistry, it is safe to assume that the carbon part of the human will indeed stop working one day and die. However, if energy cannot die, and it is presumed that consciousness is energy, then by reason of Thermo Dynamic Laws, consciousness must then exist beyond that of the carbon death.
References
Bailey, R. (2019). Biology: The Study of Life. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/biology-meaning-373266
Lipkova, J., & Cechak, J. (2005). Human electromagnetic emission in the ELF band . Retrieved from http://www.measurement.sk/2005/S2/Lipkova.pdf
Mark, J. J. (2014). Ghosts in the Ancient World. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/ghost/
Propulsion. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/propulsion/1-what-is-an-atom.html
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