Does sleep/anesthesia disprove the Afterlife?

I have a question that hasn't been addressed by NDE researchers.

During sleep and anesthesia, a person has no consciousness of the passage of time. So if consciousness is eternal, how can it be shut down like that? If consciousness can be shut down, then doesn't it follow that it can be destroyed too?

Also, if only some have NDE's and not others, could it mean that only some will have an afterlife but others won't?

These questions are never asked in interviews.

Thanks,
Winston

reply to post by WWu777


I don't think you completely lose conciousness when you sleep, I think you enter a sort of sub conciousness but you're technically still there.

reply to post by WWu777


A person still has consciousness of the passage of time while sleeping.

I'm not expert with this kind of stuff, but this I do know

reply to post by WWu777


"Does sleep/anesthesia disprove the Afterlife?"

Errm no, because you are not dead! The entire afterlife argument hinges on you being dead or to have experienced death and then been resuscitated.

There was a documentary on recently that explored consciousness and there was a section where they used anesthetics etc in experiments. I will see if I can find a linky for it.

Originally posted by WWu777
I have a question that hasn't been addressed by NDE researchers.

During sleep and anesthesia, a person has no consciousness of the passage of time. So if consciousness is eternal, how can it be shut down like that? If consciousness can be shut down, then doesn't it follow that it can be destroyed too?

Also, if only some have NDE's and not others, could it mean that only some will have an afterlife but others won't?

These questions are never asked in interviews.

Thanks,
Winston

A lot of folks don't belief in an afterlife, however I do. I am no scientist and can only guess/ponder this question. So these are just assumptions on my part.

I would think that during anesthesia consciousness is shut down by artificial means/drugs. When you die, it will not be the same kind of shut down. You will not be under heavy narcotics and or other medicines. A lot of these medicines heavily influence how the brain acts, reacts, etc. I suppose it may also be possible to see things and not remember them because of this or even see things that might not have been there either. I guess it could go either way.

Also, they put you so far under that a ton of patients quit breathing for a time and need help to "come back". Some of those patients have indeed said that they were aware of things going on around them. Sedation is so strong when you are under, and that is the reason you have to be monitored the entire time you are unconscious.

Being dead is also different than being in a coma like sleep. The brain may just be cooperating to keep the body from feeling so much pain. I have actually read in several different instances where patients are fully awake on the inside and can feel everything but are unable to physically show signs to the docs working on them. They had no other choice than to lay there for however long the operation took, feeling every ounce of pain. That is a terrifying thought I think.

It's a good question either way. I can't wait to see what other's think.

Does sleep mode on a computer disprove the concept of reboot? I mean, it seems like a similar question to me. At least, if I'm getting the metaphor right.

A better question is, do you believe in an afterlife? If you've done bad things I can imagine you'd want to say no.

Our bodies are just vehicles. Machines. Our consciousness doesn't feel pain, our bodies do. We don't experience the passage of time, we notice the changes that we associate with the passage of time.

If there is an afterlife, it's not necessarily going to be something we can understand, let alone conceptualise. So when we sleep, it's just the effect of our body resting. It's not a lack of consciousness as such, but only how we perceive it.

If you are thinking about one thing, do you forget all other things? No. We only focus on what we are thinking of at the time. We change perspective and we think of different things. Sleep is just another way our consciousness exists. Dreams, nightmares, lucid dreaming, etc. We're there, but we don't have the same physical ability to comprehend the things we do when we're awake.

I often wake up and feel as if true life has dimmed and slowly disappears, as I remember the waking life... And it's not from watching too much Awake. lol good show btw.

Originally posted by mainidh
Our bodies are just vehicles. Machines. Our consciousness doesn't feel pain, our bodies do. We don't experience the passage of time, we notice the changes that we associate with the passage of time.

If there is an afterlife, it's not necessarily going to be something we can understand, let alone conceptualise. So when we sleep, it's just the effect of our body resting. It's not a lack of consciousness as such, but only how we perceive it.

This topic, and your reply, got me thinking and thinking. Then a thought came and i realized that it reminded me of a Tool song named Parabola:

"We barely remember, who or what came before this precious moment.
We are choosing to be here, right now. Hold on, stay inside...
This holy reality, this holy experience. Choosing to be here in...

This body. This body holding me. Be my reminder here that I am not alone in
This body, this body holding me, feeling eternal all this pain is an illusion."

Just wanted to share that with you fellas. Tool is one of those bands that gets me thinking.