Ever since human beings achieved a sense of consciousness, the species has been trying to decode the mystery surrounding 'death'. Medical experts strongly assure that a human being's life will end once the brain stops functioning. However, spiritualists claim that a human being will continue its journey in a different realm after death. To substantiate these claims, spiritualists often cite the testimonials shared by near-death experience (NDE) survivors where people often claim to have seen weird visuals like tunnels and bright white light.
Is There an Afterlife?
And now, Bill Nye, a popular science communicator best known for his 1993 to 1998 TV series Bill Nye the Science Guy, has talked about the possibility of life after death. According to Nye, most people imagine life after death which involves their own spirits taking on an idealized version of themselves from their past, and he believes that it is practically impossible.
"Now here's the evidence for why I don't believe in an afterlife. People my age have a lot of grandparents and parents who are not as sharp, certainly not as athletically capable or physically capable as they were when they were younger. And so watching ourselves die is to me, overwhelming evidence that there is no life after death. There's certainly no — it doesn't seem to be any reason to think that when you die, you go back to your optimum age at your optimum athletic ability in your optimum intellectual sharpness," said Nye, Express.co.uk reports.
Nye also added that people will continue their lives in the forms of their successors as their genes are passed to them.
"You had your kids, your genes are passed on and you expire. You lose your faculties as you run out of steam and that's just how it is," added Nye.
A Psychiatric Professor Who Believe in Life After Death
However, Dr. Bruce Greyson, professor emeritus in psychiatry at the University of Virginia, believes that a human body is not confined to the physical part, and there could be something spiritual to it.
In a recent interview given to the Observer, Greyson revealed that near-death experiences have brought about surprising changes in the lives of survivors, and it has changed their attitudes, values, beliefs, and behavior.
"I am convinced now, after doing this for 40, 50 years, that there is more to life than just our physical bodies. I recognize that there is a non-physical part of us. Is that spiritual? I'm not sure. Spirituality usually involves a search for something greater than yourself, for meaning and purpose in the universe. Well, I certainly have that," says Greyson.
However, Dr Sam Parnia who has dedicated his entire career to study the phenomenon of death assures that death is not a black and white moment, as it is mainly a process. Dismissing the possibility of life after death, Parnia makes it clear that human life will end when the brain stops functioning.
