Death Is Simpler Than It Seems

An objective answer: what happens after death?

In each of our lives, we will ask, and will inevitably be perplexed by one question: what happens when we die?

For hundreds of thousands of years, every intelligent civilization has derived a theory attempting to answer this question. Every civilization has also failed to deliver irrefutable concrete evidence to support their own theory.

However, I am here to inform you that this question is much simpler than it seems. Now, at this point I guarantee you are questioning my credentials, and my expertise on this subject.

I have none.

God has not come down from the Heavens to give me the answers. An advanced species of aliens has not reached out to guide me, and I have interviewed exactly zero dead people.

I do not have any otherworldly information that makes my knowledge on this subject superior to the average Joe, or any Joe. I have merely used logic to deduce that the answer to this question can only be one of three possibilities.

Keep in mind, a “possibility,” is defined as, “An outcome that may happen which also has other more, or less probable alternate outcomes.” Essentially, I am merely passing along the outcomes without arguing that any possibility is more, or less likely than the others.

That is for you to decide.

Now, without further ado, here are the three, and only possibilities for what occurs after death.

Transformation

After we die, we might undergo a transformation.

Foremost, this possibility requires the existence of a soul, spirit, or conscience that is materially different from, and is in control of one’s own Earthly body.

With that being said, a transformation is defined by the Webster Dictionary as, “A thorough and dramatic change in existence.”

Mirroring this definition, a deathly transformation would entail our collective adoption of an unfamiliar environment.

This environment could be better.

This environment could be worse.

This environment could be so peculiar, outlandish, and dissimilar to our current existence that we can not wrap our heads around it.

This environment could be almost identical to our current environment with only minuscule changes.

Maybe, in this transformative reality, everything is the same except because you have one extra toe.

Maybe, in this transformative reality, you actually grow a pair, and ask out that girl.

No matter how much better, worse, bizarre, dissimilar, or similar the transformative afterlife is, the pivotal distinction in this outcome is that the new environment is different.

Seems vague, right?

It is.

Accounting for this vague answer, virtually every legitimate, and not so legitimate religion has constructed their own individual understanding of a transformative afterlife.

Christians, Muslims, and Jews believe that the good-hearted are sent off to the paradise of Heaven, and the wicked suffer in the throes of Hell. (Each denomination and each religion has a somewhat different understanding of what this process entails.)

Buddhists believe that one’s energy reincarnates into different material bodies until they reach Nirvana.

Similarly, Scientologists believe that a person’s spirit, or “thetan” continually reincarnates.

Ultimately, there is no scientific evidence to solidify any of these claims.

One of these religions could be spot on.

Or maybe these religions each espoused completely and absurdly incorrect theories.

Maybe, the transformation entails our spirits floating into a distant dimension where golden turtle-esc aliens enslave humans, and force them to bake cheesecake continuously until they die.

Nobody can be sure what the transformation entails.

The transformation might not even exist.

But, it certainly is an outcome.

Nothing

After we die, there might be nothing.

No joy.

No success.

No rendezvous with family members.

No pain.

No failure.

No body.

No soul.

Nothing.

Often times atheists and agnostics align with this belief.

Similar to devout, and not so devout religious supporters, supporters of this outcome have also failed to provide any concrete evidence to substantiate this claim.

Maybe, this inability to present evidence stems from the fact that if this possibility is correct, there would be no evidence because after death there is nothing.

This outcome might terrify you.

If this possible outcome is true, you might have lost connection to dead loved ones permanently.

This possible outcome could also be seen as relief.

No more existential dread.

No more failing.

No more pain.

Regardless of your feelings and beliefs, this is a plausible possibility.

Maybe, death is the end.

For better, or for worse.

Repetition

The final possibility is quite simple.

If there is no deathly transformation, and a state of nothingness does not occur, death merely results in an exact repetition of one’s own life.

The key factor distinguishing this possible outcome is that the repeated afterlife is the EXACT same as your current life.

You have the exact same number of freckles.

Your hairline recedes at the exact same time.

You break your foot in the second grade in the exact same way in the exact same manner at the exact same time.

Essentially, life is a continuous cycle of repetition.

Your life repeats.

Everyone else’s life repeats.

The past repeats.

The future repeats.

And it is always EXACTLY the same.

Moreover, this repetition would continue for an infinite amount of time because in order for life to repeat in this manner, death, and the afterlife must also repeat.

This might be unnerving.

Under this possible outcome, you will relive the same traumas, and they will invoke the exact same level of suffering.

On the other hand, you will relive the same beautiful moments, and they will feel just as wonderful.

So, you might as well learn to love your life because it might happen again…

Over, and over, and over… again, and again, and again… for eternity.

To reiterate, I have no credentials on this subject; I have had no interactions with omnipotent aliens, God has not reached out to me, and I have interviewed exactly zero dead people.

I merely used simple logic to deduce that death is followed by a transformation, a state of nothingness, or an infinite and exact repetition.

If you disagree, provide an alternate possibility.

I will hear you out, and (almost certainly) demonstrate how your newfound possibility fits into one of the three aforementioned possibilities.

And if any of you die, please reach out to me for an interview. It would make for a great follow-up article.