Between Mind and Matter: Hypotheses Regarding the Afterlife and Immortality

Edoardo Jacopo Bruno

Abstract


The significance of questions about life after death and immortality and the possibility of deriving answers to these questions has received little attention within the academic community. In this article, I emphasize that questions about life after death and immortality could, one day, be answered through certain methods. I highlight the complexity of the current debate on the afterlife and immortality, which encompasses all living beings in the universe or multiple universes, and has, in recent decades, given rise to new theories, such as quantum immortality and the Omega Point. In contributing to these discussions, I propose that the theory of the existence of an afterlife and immortality may be confirmed or refuted in the future through tools such as artificial intelligence, contact with extraterrestrial civilizations, and in-depth exploration of cosmological mathematics and cosmic information. The significance of this study lies in its demonstration that science and philosophy are both fundamental to definitively clarifying questions about the possibility of an afterlife and immortality.


Keywords


Afterlife; Immortality; Universe; Technology; Philosophy of Science.

Full Text:

PDF

References


A. Aczel. Why Science Does Not Disprove God. New York: William Morrow. 2014.

A. Ashtekar, T. Pawlowski, P. Singh. Quantum nature of the Big Bang. Physical Review Letters, 96(14), 141301. 2006.

S. Bamford. A framework for approaches to transfer of a mind's substrate. International Journal of Machine Consciousness, 4(1), 23–34. 2012.

J.D. Barrow. Impossibility: The Limits of Science and the Science of Limits. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1998.

J.D. Barrow. The Infinite Book: A Short Guide to the Boundless, Timeless and Endless. New York: Pantheon Books. 2005.

E.V. Barsov. Telomerase and primary T cells: biology and immortalization for adoptive immunotherapy. Immunotherapy, 3(3), 407–421. 2011.

L. Baum, P.H. Frampton. Entropy of contracting universe in cyclic cosmology. Modern Physics Letters A, 23(1), 33–36. 2008.

J. Binney, D. Skinner. The Physics of Quantum Mechanics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2008.

D. Bohm. Quantum Theory. New York: Dover Publications. 1989.

A. Bolonkin. Universe, Human Immortality and Future Human Evaluation. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 2011.

N. Bostrom. Are we living in a computer simulation? Philosophical Quarterly, 53(211), 243–255. 2003.

R.S. Brumbaugh, R. Wells. The Plato Manuscripts. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1968.

T.M. Bryan, A. Englezou, J. Gupta, S. Bacchetti, R.R. Reddel. Telomere elongation in immortal human cells without detectable telomerase activity. The EMBO Journal, 14(17), 4240–4248. 1995.

R.R. Caldwell, M. Kamionkowski, N.N. Weinberg. Phantom energy and cosmic doomsday. Physical Review Letters, 91(7), 071301. 2003.

D. Chalmers. Facing up to the problem of consciousness. Journal of Consciousness, 2(3), 200–219. 1995.

D.J. Chalmers. The Conscious Mind: In Search of a Fundamental Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1996.

M. Chester. Primer of Quantum Mechanics. Hoboken: John Wiley. 1987.

Y. Choe, J. Kwon, J.R. Chung. Time, consciousness, and mind uploading. International Journal of Machine Consciousness, 4(1), 257–274. 2012.

A. Clark. Natural-Born Cyborgs. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2004.

S. Cohen, M. Graham, G. Lovrecz, N. Bache, P. Robinson, R. Reddel. Protein composition of catalytically active human telomerase from immortal cells. Science, 315(5820), 1850–1853. 2007.

B. Cox, J. Forshaw. The Quantum Universe: Everything That Can Happen Does Happen. London: Allen Lane. 2011.

P. Davies. The Last Three Minutes: Conjecture about the Ultimate Fate of the Universe. New York: Basic Books. 1994.

P. Davies. How to Build a Time Machine. Westminster: Penguin Books. 2002.

R. Dawkins. The God Delusion. London: Bantam Press. 2006.

T. De Chardin. The Phenomenon of Man. Translated by B. Wall. New York: Harper Collins. 1955/2002.

D. Dennett. Consciousness Explained. New York: Back Bay Books. 1992.

J. Diller, A. Kasher. Models of God and Alternative Ultimate Realities. New York: Springer. 2013.

L. Dysan, M. Kleban, M.L. Susskind. Disturbing implications of a cosmological constant. Journal of High Energy Physics, 6(10), 239–258. 2002.

F.J. Dyson. Disturbing the Universe. New York: Harper & Row. 1979a.

F.J. Dyson. Time without end: Physics and biology in an open universe. Reviews of Modern Physics, 51(3), 447–460. 1979b.

A. Einstein, L. Infeld. The Evolution of Physics. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1938.

A. Einstein, R. Rosen. The particle problem in the general theory of relativity. Physical Review, 48(1), 73–77. 1935.

R. Eisberg R. Resnick. Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles. Hoboken: Wiley. 1985.

G.F.R. Ellis, R. Maartens. The emergent universe: inflationary cosmology with no singularity. Classical and Quantum Gravity 21(1), 223–232. 2003.

H. Everett. “Relative state” formulation of quantum mechanics. Reviews of Modern Physics, 29, 454–462. 1957.

A.A. Farad, S. Das. Cosmology from quantum potential. Physics Letters B, 741, 276–279. 2015.

R.P. Feynman, R.B. Leighton, M. Sands. The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. 1–3. Reading: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company. 1965.

D. Fontana. Is There an Afterlife? A Comprehensive Overview of the Evidence. Ropley: O Books 2005.

A. Friedman. Über die Krümmung des Raumes. Zeitschrift für Physik, 10(1), 377–386. 1922.

I.J. Good. Chinese universes. Physics Today, 25(7), 15. 1972.

A. Goswami. Physics of the Soul: The Quantum Book of Living, Dying, Reincarnation, and Immortality. Massachusetts: Hampton Roads Publishing Company. 2013.

C.H. Gray. The Cyborg Handbook. New York: Routledge.

D.K. Greenberger, K.F. Hentschel, F. Weinert. Compendium of Quantum Physics: Concepts, Experiments, History and Philosophy. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. 2009.

B. Greene. The Hidden Reality: Parallel Universes and the Deep Laws of the Cosmos. New York: Vintage Books. 2011.

D.J. Griffiths. Introduction to Quantum Mechanics. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. 2004.

A. Guth. Eternal inflation and its implications. Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical, 40(25), 6811–6826. 2007.

K. Gödel. Collected Works, Vol. 2, Publications 1938–1974. Edited by Solomon Feferman. New York: Oxford University Press. 1990.

S. Hameroff, D. Chopra. The quantum soul: A scientific hypothesis. In Exploring Frontiers of the Mind-Brain Relationship. Edited by A. Moreira-Almeida, F. Santana Santos. New York: Springer-Verlag, pp. 79–93. 2012.

S. Hameroff, R. Penrose. Consciousness in the universe. Physics of Life Reviews, 11(1), 39–78. 2014.

E.R. Harrison. The natural selection of universes containing intelligent life. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society, 36(3), 193–203. 1995.

J. Hartle, S. Hawking. Wave function of the universe. Physical Review D, 28(12), 2960–2975. 1983.

S. Hawking. Brief Answers to the Big Questions. New York: Bantam Books. 2018.

M. Heller, W. Hugh Woodin. Infinity: New Research Frontiers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2011.

T. Hertog. On the Origin of Time: Stephen Hawking’s Final Theory. London: Bantam Press 2023.

F. Hoyle, G.R. Burbidge, J. Narlikar. A quasi-steady state cosmological model with creation of matter. The Astrophysical Journal, 410(2), 437–457. 1993.

P. Hulsroj. What If We Don't Die? The Morality of Immortality. New York: Springer. 2015.

M. Kaku. Strings, Conformal Fields, and M-Theory. New York: Springer. 1999.

M. Kaku. Parallel Worlds: The Science of Alternative Universes and Our Future in the Cosmos. London: Allen Lane. 2004.

N.S. Kardašëv. Transmission of information by extraterrestrial civilizations. Soviet Astronomy, 8(2), 217–221. 1964.

C. Kiefer, H.D. Zeh. Arrow of time in a recollapsing quantum universe. Physical Review D, 51(8), 4145–4153. 1995.

N.W. Kim, M.A. Piatyszek, K.R. Prowse, C.B. Harley, M.D. West, P.L. Ho, G.M. Coviello, W.E. Wright, S.L. Weinrich, J.W. Shay. Specific association of human telomerase activity with immortal cells and cancer. Science, 266(5193), 2011–2015. 1994.

R. Kurzweil. Live forever—uploading the human brain ... closer than you think. Psychology Today. 2000. Accessible at https://www.thekurzweillibrary.com/live-forever-uploading-the-human-braincloser-than-you-think.

R. Kurzweil. The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology. New York: Viking Press. 2005.

R. Lanza, B. Berman. Biocentrism: How Life and Consciousness Are the Keys to Understanding the True Nature of the Universe. Dallas: BenBella Books. 2009.

R. Lanza, B. Berman. Beyond Biocentrism: Rethinking Time, Space, Consciousness, and the Illusion of Death. Dallas: BenBella Books. 2016.

R. Lanza, B. Berman, M. Pavšič. The Grand Biocentric Design: How Life Creates Reality. Dallas: BenBella Books. 2020.

J. Leslie. The End of the World: The Science and the Ethics of Human Extinction. London and New York: Routledge. 1996.

S. Lloyd. Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos. New York: Knopf. 2006.

V.P. Lommel. Consciousness Beyond Life: The Science of the Near-Death Experience. San Francisco: HarperOne. 2011.

G. Luger, W. Stubblefield. Artificial Intelligence: Structures and Strategies for Complex Problem Solving. San Francisco: Benjamin/Cummings. 2004.

K. Mack. The End of Everything: (Astrophysically Speaking). New York: Scribner. 2020.

S. Mann, H. Niedzviecki. Cyborg: Digital Destiny and Human Possibility in the Age of the Wearable Computer. Toronto: Doubleday Canada. 2001.

M. Mars, J. Senovilla, R. Vera. Accelerating expansion and change of signature. EAS Publications Series, 30, 307–310. 2007.

M. Martin, K. Augustine. The Myth of an Afterlife: The Case against Life After Death. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. 2015.

M.B. Mensky. Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics: Life in Parallel Worlds – Miracles of Consciousness from Quantum Reality. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Company. 2010.

S. Montebugnoli, A. Melis, N. Antonietti. The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. In Proceedings of the 2nd SETI-INAF Meeting 2019 (Springer Proceedings in Physics). New York: Springer. 2022.

J.P. Murnane, L. Sabatier, B.A. Marder, W.F. Morgan. Telomere dynamics in an immortal human cell line. The EMBO Journal, 13(20), 4953–4962. 1994.

R. Penrose. The Emperor's New Mind: Concerning Computers, Minds, and the Laws of Physics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1989.

R. Penrose. Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1994.

R. Penrose. Cycles of Time: An Extraordinary New View of the Universe. London: The Bodley Head. 2010.

R.M. Perry. Forever for All: Moral Philosophy, Cryonics, and the Scientific Prospects for Immortality. New York: Universal Publishers. 2000.

C. Pickover. A Beginner's Guide to Immortality: Extraordinary People, Alien Brains, and Quantum Resurrection. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press. 2007.

H. Putnam. Reason, Truth, and History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1981.

E. Rich, K. Knight, B.N. Shivashankar. Artificial Intelligence. New Delhi: McGraw Hill India. 2010.

R. Rucker. Infinity and the Mind: The Science and Philosophy of the Infinite. London: Paladin. 1984.

B. Russell. What I Believe. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner. 1925.

S.J. Russell, P. Norvig. Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach. Hoboken: Pearson. 2021.

C. Sagan, The Cosmic Connection. New York: Anchor Books. 1973.

A. Sandberg, N. Bostrom Whole Brain Emulation: A Roadmap. Technical Report #2008-3, Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University. 2008. Accessible at https://www.fhi.ox.ac.uk/brain-emulation-roadmap-report.pdf.

S. Schneider, M. Velmans. The Blackwell Companion to Consciousness. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell. 2017.

J.R. Searle. The Mystery of Consciousness. London: Granta Books. 1997.

C. Seife. Decoding the Universe: How the New Science of Information Is Explaining Everything in the Cosmos, from Our Brains to Black Holes. New York: Penguin Random House. 2007.

A. Seth. Being You: A New Science of Consciousness. New York: Penguin Random House. 2021.

J.M. Smart. The transcension hypothesis: sufficiently advanced civilizations invariably leave our universe, and implications for METI and SETI. Acta Astronautica, 78, 55–68. 2012.

L. Smolin. The Life of the Cosmos. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1997.

K. Sotala, H. Valpola. Coalescing minds: Brain uploading-related group mind scenarios. International Journal of Machine Consciousness, 4(1), 293–312. 2021.

R.J. Spitzer. New Proofs for the Existence of God: Contributions of Contemporary Physics and Philosophy. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing. 2010.

E. Squires. The Mystery of the Quantum World. Bristol: Hilger. 1986.

H.P. Stapp. Compatibility of contemporary physical theory with personality survival. 2009. Accessible at https://www-physics.lbl.gov/~stapp/Compatibility.pdf.

A. Starobinsky. Future and origin of our universe: modern view. In The Future of the Universe and the Future of Our Civilization. Edited by V. Burdyuzha, G. Khozin. Singapore: World Scientific, pp. 71–84. 2000.

P.J. Steinhardt, N. Turok. Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang. New York: Doubleday. 2007.

V.J. Stenger. God: The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist. Amherst: Prometheus Books. 2007.

M. Tegmark. Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality. New York: Vintage Books. 2014.

W. Thomson. On a universal tendency in nature to the dissipation of mechanical energy. Mathematical and Physical Papers, 1, 511–514. 1852.

F.J. Tipler. The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God, and the Resurrection of the Dead. New York: Anchor. 1995.

F.J. Tipler. The Physics of Christianity. New York: Doubleday. 2007.

E. Tryon. Is the universe a quantum fluctuation? Nature, 246(5433), 396–397. 1973.

R. Vaas. Beyond the Big Bang: Competing Scenarios for an Eternal Universe. Berlin: Springer. 2011.

V. Vinge. The coming technological singularity: how to survive in the post-human era. Whole Earth Review (Winter), 11. 1993.

S. Webb. If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens … Where Is Everybody?: Seventy-Five Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life. New York: Springer. 2015.

J.A. Wheeler. Information, physics, quantum: the search for links. In Complexity, Entropy, and the Physics of Information. Edited by W.H. Zurek. Redwood City: Addison-Wesley, pp. 354–368. 1990.

M.D. West. The Immortal Cell: One Scientist's Quest to Solve the Mystery of Human Aging. New York: Doubleday. 2003.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23756/sp.v14i2.1699

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2026 Edoardo Jacopo Bruno

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Science & Philosophy - Journal of Epistemology, Science and Philosophy. ISSN 2282-7757; eISSN  2282-7765.