Phoenix

And from the ashes, awesome was born.

Speaking of ashes, I was thinking about death the other day. Not because its part of my thesis, but because its part of everyday thought. The objective of every human being on the planet is to a) procreate (or orgasm) and b) to exist for as long as possible. The idea of existence has me constantly wondering not only about purpose, but what happens at the end of our existence. I have a theory in the vein of neuroscience. You know that feeling that one experiences when in a traffic accident, everything slows down, every second that passes seems like an eternity, as if your consciousness is aware of every facet of existence at that particular moment in time. What about the opposing ideal of when time is sped up and hours or days seem to pass quickly. What if how we perceive time is based on how we perceive existence? It is technically impossible for time to slow down or speed up, but our perception of time can change depending on the scenario in which we are experiencing it. This leads me to how we experience death and the concept of afterlife. Every religion has some sort of manifesto regarding what happens to the body/soul/mind once the life is extinguished. In their respective belief systems, some believe that one is transferred into a totally different state of energy, some believe that you will exist in a field of virgins and food, regardless, most of these examples of afterlife living are showered in light and wonder. However, what if the manner in which we have embodied an afterlife is flawed, and the mythological and iconographical existence of an afterlife has less to do with a physical manifestation, but more to do with a physiological effect on the brain from experiencing death. Back to the original statement about the human perception of time and its relationship to environment, perhaps when one is undergoing the final stages of death, our ability to distinguish time is eliminated from the functions of the brain. This would be indicative of how we perceive to exist forever in the timeline of human consciousness. Inevitably, time is passing, at whatever speed those around you experience it, and as such they perceive you as dead. However, what if your experience of time is such that, because the ability to distinguish time is gone, gives one the ability for time to be perceived as forever. As if that singular moment at the end of human life is extended into infinity, without quantification. Not because it does not exist as a quantity of time, but because your ability to comprehend that quantity of time ceases to exist.

Earl and Bob, both obsessed with baseball, never missed their favorite team’s game. They promised, whoever died first, and went to heaven, would come back to earth and tell the other if there was baseball in heaven. One day, Earl died. Bob waited for him to come back. Finally Earl did. He said to Bob. "I have good news and bad news. I'll tell you the good news first. There is baseball in heaven." Bob said, "That’s the best news!" Then Earl said, time for the bad news....”You're pitching tomorrow night."

By the way, this is coming from a straight up atheist. Rock on. And baseball would never exist in heaven, because heaven doesn't exist.