And finally, since we have no data, what can we say about the likelihood of our consciousness returning/remaining after we die? I would say the chances are 50⁄50. For something you have no data on, any outcome is equally likely
I don’t think that’s true. It’s not that we have no data; we still have prior probability. And with that, all of our background knowledge that goes into that prior which function as data. Theories aren’t argued in isolation!
Think about how many things need to be true in order for consciousness to “return” after we die, and if any of those things are false then the entire model fails (this is why Occam’s Razor is a useful heuristic) Where does it go after we die? How does it get there? What contains it? What is the energy source for this non-bodied consciousness? How does this fit in with our current understanding of physics like laws of thermodynamics (most people who posit non-bodied consciousness unwittingly propose that consciousness is a perpetual motion machine)? Is it even accurate to call it “consciousness” if it cannot receive any sensory input? In other words, we need ears to hear, eyes to see, etc. but this consciousness would be without the brain structure necessary to process vibrations in the air into what we know as “sound”. Is this model of consciousness specific to humans or to any of the higher primates (or even other intelligent species like dolphins or elephants), and why?
On the other hand, we don’t need to suggest other laws of physics / theory of evolution for our current model of consciousness, and it has a satisfactory answer for all of the questions I asked above. So Occam’s Razor is the mode of thought until we actually get more evidence in the non-bodied consciousness direction.
I don’t think that’s true. It’s not that we have no data; we still have prior probability. And with that, all of our background knowledge that goes into that prior which function as data. Theories aren’t argued in isolation!
Think about how many things need to be true in order for consciousness to “return” after we die, and if any of those things are false then the entire model fails (this is why Occam’s Razor is a useful heuristic) Where does it go after we die? How does it get there? What contains it? What is the energy source for this non-bodied consciousness? How does this fit in with our current understanding of physics like laws of thermodynamics (most people who posit non-bodied consciousness unwittingly propose that consciousness is a perpetual motion machine)? Is it even accurate to call it “consciousness” if it cannot receive any sensory input? In other words, we need ears to hear, eyes to see, etc. but this consciousness would be without the brain structure necessary to process vibrations in the air into what we know as “sound”. Is this model of consciousness specific to humans or to any of the higher primates (or even other intelligent species like dolphins or elephants), and why?
On the other hand, we don’t need to suggest other laws of physics / theory of evolution for our current model of consciousness, and it has a satisfactory answer for all of the questions I asked above. So Occam’s Razor is the mode of thought until we actually get more evidence in the non-bodied consciousness direction.