I was walking to the Student Center last Monday for breakfast and I got to thinking about stuff, but not the more mundane stuff like academics, extracurriculars, deadlines, friends, songs, SEXUAL INTERCOURSE (or the lack of such), the question of where all the balloons go when they fly into the sky, and Mexican food. On this usual walk to eat some Frosted Flakes (trademark), I was thinking about death. I don’t exactly know why I was thinking about death, but it’s nothing new. I think about it rather randomly regardless of the circumstances that I am in (please note the alliteration).
One of the most puzzling thoughts about mortality is that it is all like when you make this transition. A lot of people and films present that the idea that your life “flashes before your eyes.” That sounds pretty sweet, because time is relative and consciousness is a tricky concept. Does your brain slow down this “flash” so it is as if you (you being your consciousness) are experiencing it all again? If so what is the difference between this real life? Am I experiencing this right now?!?
Whoa. This is a lot to handle before I eat my healthy, well-rounded breakfast of Frosted Flakes (trademark). Consciousness is a difficult thing to think about because consciousness is the only thing we truly know. I’m not totally sure of the science of it all, but when I sleep I don’t have full consciousness. My perception of time and space are either non-existent or oddly formed. The few times I remember my dreams; these memories don’t really fill in all the gaps between the beginning and end of my slumber. But maybe death is like that time when you don’t have any dreams. But how could one understand this concept without the equivalency of waking up after this sleep.
Some people believe in an afterlife. I am not sure what that would be like. But it would help me understand this “waking up without dreams” metaphor. But it kinda makes sense that there is some sort of life after death (uh, oh that was a divisive statement). But the universe tends to favor the idea of recycling and reusing rather than destruction and absolute ends. Matter cannot be created or destroyed. Is the same true about consciousness? Maybe our consciousness goes to some other material being or place or not…?
I’m not sure. Maybe death is like that time before a person was born. I don’t have any recollection of it (because myself, at least how as I know me, wasn’t around) but I don’t view it negatively or positively. I have no idea. Everyone, including myself, have beliefs about what death is. I don’t think anyone really “knows” (knowledge itself is debatable. Does anyone really “know” anything?). Death is a scary thing to think about. Contemplating what it’s like without my consciousness is mind-numbing, scary, self-contradictory, but also a possibility. However, even the most cowardly of beings have died, so if they can do it so can I, I think.
Then I ate my Frosted Flakes (trademark).
No Spitting.