Yana Yen

Psychology 140

Assumption Paper

Does consciousness cease to be when we die? This is one of those deep questions that

seems to have simultaneously no answer and many different answers. As I watched my

stepfather pass away last October after being sick with cancer for a little more than a year, this

question took on literal meaning. Is my stepfather’s consciousness still out there, somewhere, or

is it gone? Even though I have experienced death of a family member before, my close

relationship with my stepfather and his seemingly unending capacity for reverie and mischief

contribute to me wondering about the meaning of death.

In my opinion, consciousness does not end when we die. I think that we merge with

larger consciousness. It is not necessary to say that we remain as we were in life, but there is a

continuity to one’s consciousness that extends beyond this life. This opinion is informed by a

number of readings I have done on the topic, ranging from psychology to religion to new age

mysticism. I have also considered arguments against this possibility, coming once again from

psychological studies, religious practices and philosophical essays.

One of my favorite movies is called “Defending Your Life” (1991). In the film, Albert

Brooks plays Daniel, a middle aged executive who dies in a car wreck and experiences afterlife.

He learns that we experience multiple lifetimes, with a trial that follows each. Depending on the

outcome of the trial, we encounter conditions of our next lifetime. Daniel learns that defense of

his life proves to be difficult as he missed many opportunities to overcome his fears. It may be a

coincidence, but perhaps not, that my stepfather was a lawyer, and a fearless lawyer at that.

This film, lacking any religious undertones (save the overall purgatory-like feeling of the

afterlife world) does make afterlife accessible – there are restaurants and comedy clubs, and even
 Yana Yen
Psychology 140

opportunities for romance. It draws on popular experience and culture to make afterlife relatable.

It also touches on the big issue that concerns everyone’s life – the issue of fear and overcoming

it. Which brings me to the big question – is eternal life an outcome of overcoming all possible

fears one might adopt within a lifetime or across many lifetimes?

Of course, the film is a comedy and ignores the disorienting depth of fear that can have

common underpinnings for different people (fear of pain) or be completely unique to the

individual (fear of tight spaces, for example) but for me it captures the hope of seeing life as a

learning process. Our consciousness, maybe not even be “ours” per se, is here to deliver us to the

next level, and ultimately to unite us in one collective being. Using this perspective, individual

death is in a way the end of one individual trial but also a beginning of the next.

Now, in regard to general social norms I largely hear and see represented two views of

death – death is a natural, biological consequence of existence of a biological body usually

accompanied by disintegration and decline associated with aging. Continuation of consciousness

and discussion of spirit in this context is inappropriate since they are not directly observable and

cannot be studied scientifically. On the other hand, there is the religious argument where death

bears on moral accomplishments or failings within the lifetime, at least that is the Christian view.

Heaven and hell are appropriate as part of discussion for the latter interpretation but are scorned

and dismissed by the scientific community.

With this in mind, I hope to find popular and scientific articles that discuss perspectives

on death. I would like to see death discussed in terms of cultural norms and interpretations. I

would also like to see any attempts to study death or death-like experiences in the lab. With that I

hope to expand my understanding of what happens to consciousness after the body passes away.