Is there life after death? | Sam Harris, Bill Nye, Michio Kaku, & more | Big Think

Is there life after death?

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:13 Michelle Thaller
1:10 Sam Harris
3:26 Michael Shermer
5:50 Rob Bell
8:08 Bill Nye
12:43 Michio Kaku

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Death is inevitable for all known living things. However on the question of what, if anything, comes after life, the most honest answer is that no one knows.

So far, there is no scientific evidence to prove or disprove what happens after we die. In this video, astronomer Michelle Thaller, neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris, science educator Bill Nye, and others consider what an afterlife would look like, what the biblical concepts of 'eternal life' and 'hell' really mean, why so many people around the world choose to believe that death is not the end, and whether or not that belief is ultimately detrimental or beneficial to one's life.

Life after death is also not relegated to discussions of religion. "Digital and genetic immortality are within reach," says theoretical physicist Michio Kaku. Kaku shares how, in the future, we may be able to physically talk to the dead thanks to hologram technology and the digitization of our online lives, memories, and connectome.

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TRANSCRIPT:

MICHELLE THALLER: Einstein thought that the beginning of the universe, the Big Bang, created all of space and all of time at once in a big whole something. So every point in the past and every point in the future are just as real as the point of time you feel yourself in right now. Einstein believed that literally. One of his best friends died and he wrote a letter to this person's wife, talking about how his friend still exists. Time is a landscape and if you had the right perspective on the universe, you would see all of it laid out in front of you. All past, present, and future as a whole thing. And he said, "Your husband, my friend, is just over the next hill. He's still there. We can't see him where we are now, but we are on this landscape with him and he still exists just as much as he ever has." Einstein believed that you, right now, had been dead for trillions of years, that you haven't been born yet, that everything that's happened to you—if you could get the right perspective on the universe—you could see all at once.

SAM HARRIS: Death is in some ways unacceptable. I mean, it's just an astonishing fact of our being here that we die. But I think, worse than that, is that if we live long enough we lose everyone we love in this world. I mean, the people die and disappear and we're left with this dark mystery. There's just the sheer not knowing what happened to them. And into this void, religion comes rushing with a very consoling story, saying nothing happened to them; they're in a better place and you're going to meet up with them after you die. You're going to get everything you want after you die. Death is an illusion. There's no question that, if you could believe it, that would pay emotional dividends. I mean, there's no other story you can tell somebody who's just lost her daughter to cancer, say, to make her feel good. It is consoling to believe that the daughter was just taken up with Jesus and everyone's going to be reunited in a few short years. There's no replacement for that. There doesn't need to be a replacement for that. I think we have to be... We have to just witness the cost of that. I mean, there are many obvious costs of that way of thinking. One is we just don't teach people how to grieve. Religion is the kind of the antithesis of teaching your children how to grieve. You tell your child that your grandma's in heaven and there's nothing to be sad about. That's religion. It would be better to equip your child for the reality of this life, which is, death is a fact and we don't know what happens after death. And I'm not pretending to know that you get a dial tone after death. I don't know what happens after the physical brain dies. I don't know what the relationship between consciousness and the physical world is. I don't think anyone does know. Now, I think there are many reasons to be doubtful of naive conceptions about the soul and about this idea that you could just migrate to a better place after death. But I simply don't know about what... I don't know what I believe about death. And I don't think it's necessary to know in order to live as sanely and ethically and happily as possible.

[henryF]

The far more intriguing question is what happened before you were born? It’s easy to think of death as going to sleep and never waking up…but we all woke up having never gone to sleep

[gracekim]

What Einstein said to his friend's wife is intellectually superb and yet deeply comforting as well.

[Kzombie]

Existence of life in itself is just as mysterious as the possibility of life after death.

[buckeyeadventures]

I have a different view of life and death... I believe we are all made up of energy.. and in theory ... "Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be transformed from one form to another." Such is life.

[joelombrdo]

You can be sad--that's human nature. Before my Dad passed I asked if he would let me know he was okay after he passed. My Dad said "you have your beliefs and I have mine.". But twice after he passed I heard him call my name. The second time my right ear and the right side of my head vibrated intensely when he said "Joey." I also saw my Mother after she passed. She looked young and so happy. They still exist. I don't care what anyone says.

[meandyouagainstthealgorith]

No one ever complains about having died.

[thesign]

Knowing that im going to die one day kind of humbles me and really just makes me slow things down and not worry so much about this materialistic life and let things take its course

[lucibjlb]

Approximately 2 weeks before my dad died, I had a dream that me and my family were at a funeral home planning his funeral. My dream was so vivid I actually thought it was a memory, and not a dream. I woke up in tears, thinking that my dad had died only to realize that it was just a dream.
I felt very disturbed, however. I couldn't get it out of my head. Two weeks later, I received a phone call from my brother telling my that dad had a massive heart attack and was rushed to the hospital. He was going there now to meet the ambulance. He asked that I would bring our mother there. I knew then that dad was actually dead.
The next day, the entire family met at the funeral home to plan the funeral. I had never been to the funeral home before. When I walked in and we all sat down I realized it was exactly as my dream two weeks prior. I was completely freaked out. Everything was exactly as the dream including the colors of the walls, the furniture, the placement of the furniture, even where we sat.
Since then, my life has changed. I could tell you more but it would be too long to describe. Regardless, I know without a doubt there's something more, I just don't know how it works. We somehow continue. What happens to us, where we go, who knows?

[WillofDmusic]

“I know that the ones who love us will miss us.” - Keanu Reeves

[earthian]

This should have been a 20 second video with all of the speakers just saying "I don't know"

[buddhalovechild]

True story. I am a retired ob gyn. 20 years ago I was practicing in a small town in nc. One night at 2 am I was managing a difficult labor and was trying to decide about doing a c section. The labor room had more than 5 family members who were anxious and angry and making threats so I went out to the nurses station to think. I was there alone when an elderly man with the kindest most intense eyes I have ever seen walked up, leaned on the counter and said "I just want you know everything is going to be OK". He said he was her grandfather. He told me about an nde he had when he was 25. He survived and his wife died when their car stalled on a train track. He described his nde as suddenly being in a vast field of flowers with colors too beautiful to descibe. He walked until he came to a stone wall. His wife was on the other side and told him he had to go back. He had already been pronounced dead and was laying on a gurney under a sheet when someone saw him move. We talked for at least 30 minutes. His granddaughter had a healthy baby 3 hours later and I never saw the man again. At her postpartum visit 6 weeks later I asked her to tell her grandfather that I appreciated his talking with me that night. She looked at me like I was insane and said he had died 5 years earlier. She confirmed that her grandmother had been killed by a train when she was young. Wierd don't you think?

[akanksha]

Idk if life exists after death or maybe they go to another universe or are born as a different person in this world but I believe the people you love will never leave you. I lost a friend two years back and still whenever I remember him, I can feel him. I can feel him in the corner of my room or looking at me when I'm crying and seeing his pictures. They say that people leave and memories fade. No, neither people leave nor do the memories fade. Both stay with you till your end, you just need to change your perspective and they're always here, always:)

[yequalsemexplusbee]

Honestly I don’t know what happens after death

But hopefully, when I die I want all my atoms to wander the universe I never got to see.

[smallstudiodesign]

I’m not afraid of death. I’m afraid of how I’m going to die.

[MB-glbl]

After my NDE, I absolutely believe there's more to this universe than we can even begin to comprehend. I believe there's something, and I wish people wouldn't get so hung up on religion.

[Doom]

On November 7th of 2014, the mother of my son and my best friend was murdered by a deranged ex boyfriend who she had recently left. He shot and killed her and then immediately took his own life while my 5 year old son and his older sister and brother watched in horror as their mother bled to death.
A month before this took place, I had met my soul mate, my lover, the mother of my now three beautiful teenage daughters, but most importantly, my best friend.
She was diagnosed colon cancer in October of 2020 and on October 1st of 2021 shortly after completing Radiation and Chemotherapy treatments, she passed away during a surgery to basically hook her colon back up.
I don't normally leave comments and it's difficult for me to speak of these never-ending nightmares that have destroyed so many lives and that have become my reality.
My apologies for dumping this on everyone and I can assure everyone reading that it's not an attention seeking comment nor am I looking for sympathy and compassion from random strangers on a comment thread.
I only wanted to state that no matter what happens in our lives and in this reality, I have to believe in an afterlife because other than now being a single father of four wonderful and truly amazing children, holding onto to the belief that one day in the future we will all meet again in an afterlife is the only thing that keeps me going.
We have to keep the faith that we all meet again, one fine day.
Time doesn't heal all wounds and I am sorry to disappoint those of you who believe that it does.
Death becomes apart of you that you have to learn how to incorporate into daily life structure and routine or else the guilt and regret will eat you alive and take whatever is left of you.
Two very small words, Regret and Guilt, but believe me when I say this and take it from someone who truly understands, they are by far, the two heaviest emotions that a person can feel and carry around with them each and every single day.
It honestly takes everything inside of me just to make it through most days.

-When the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them. Buildings burn and people die but real love is forever.

It's October 8th, 2022 - 1:38am
and you all see what I am doing.
Watching afterlife videos on YouTube.
There has to be something after this life.
This just can't be all that there is.
Humans are very unique and we are the only species in the known universe that understands from an early age that we are going to die. That alone has to count for so much!
But these are just humble opinions and thoughts of a lonely and cursed man.
I wish I could be the one to confirm that there is indeed, more to life than what we can currently perceive and attest to and that we will get to see the ones we love and miss again in another life but unfortunately, all I can do I share my story and to let others out there who have lost family and friends that you're not alone and that you have to keep going.
Humans are very resilient and we're certainty stronger than we give ourselves credit for.
In the last seven years alone, me and my children lost everything!
It scared me and kept me awake at night for what seems like countess nights worrying about how am I now going to raise four kids and provide for them and get them all the help that they needed.
It was so overwhelming and nerve-wracking but as the days pass, I found that all you can really do is take each day as it comes and just make the most of it and the time that we have left with the people that we love and care for and to always try to be the best version of you that you can possibly be so that you have no regrets and you have the satisfaction of knowing that no matter what ends up happening when the time comes, we can all leave this place knowing that we gave it everything we had and that we never gave up....or in.
My apologies again and for this message being all over the place at times...but that's just how bad and fast my mind now races and never really seems to stop.

PTSD is pure Hell.

[liselottenormannsrensen]

I think being dead feels exactly as before you were born. Death is only sad for the people left behind❤️

[ifeanyiforchu]

These men talk with so much confidence for people who fundamentally are saying " I don't know"

[realman]

Just wanted to share a quick story of a death experience I had as a child. When I was 6 years old, I had a vivid and realistic dream that my grandfather died. I was pretty close with him growing up even though he lived about 5 hours away. In the dream, we were at a water park at the top of the slide. He told me he had to leave. I was sad and told him I didn’t want him to leave. He then said goodbye and pushed me down the water slide. When I hit the water, I awoke from the dream. It was in the middle of the night and I was sad and crying. My father heard me and woke up and came to check on me. I was telling him I wanted to call “grandpa”, but he said it was too late in night and we could call him tomorrow. I then started asking my father questions about heaven, hell, and where people go when they die. Fast forward to later that day around noon, and my mother gets a call that “grandpa died”. Both of my parents were very surprised about the foretelling dream. I can’t explain it, maybe it was just a coincidence, but unlikely. I wonder if it was spiritual communication indicating there is life after death or that human brains send off remote communication signals in ways we do not yet understand. I would love to hear people’s thoughts on this or from those with similar experiences.

[abiyyilmasaddistv]

I experienced a death in my life for more than 4 hours. Some name it a near-death-experience. Before that day, I used to believe that there was no life after death. But now, I strongly believe THERE IS REAL LIFE AFTER DEATH. I am preparing my life for that.