How about a film on the physics of individual consciousness and what happens to it in the afterlife. Does individual identity survive entropy after all? I think "I" never go away completely.
Thursday, August 02, 2012
Decade-old documentary looks at our need to believe in immortality
What happens to us when we pass? It will happen to every single one of
us. The subject was covered in a recent
ABC 20-20 documentary on Heaven (July 7, TV Blog).
An earlier film (2003) by Patrick Shen, written with Greg
Bennick, from Transcendental Media, titled “Flight from Death: The Quest for
Immortality” takes a more down-to-earth view of the subject, particularly the
cultural pressure to prolong life absolutely as long as possible.
A frequent speaker in the documentary is Professor Sheldon
Solomon at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY – although he speaks near
the Golden Gate Bridge, which may seem ironic.
Much of the material in the film comes from the book “The
Denial of Death” (1973) by Ernest Becker, with link here.
The film presents research in which subjects behave less kindly when reminded of their own mortality.
In some cases, after major catastrophes, people become interested in having more children in order to achieve "vicarious immortality."
The film also presents the concept of “social death”, where
people, destitute or homeless, become powerless to affect others and become
helplessly dependent on them. Social
equality becomes a relevant concept. For
example, sometimes unmarried and childless people are expected to stick around
and become “family slaves”.
The film can be rented at Youtube for $2.99. The official
site is here.
The trailer from Orchard Films is on YouTube.
Remember that Wordsworth poem from high school?
How about a film on the physics of individual consciousness and what happens to it in the afterlife. Does individual identity survive entropy after all? I think "I" never go away completely.
How about a film on the physics of individual consciousness and what happens to it in the afterlife. Does individual identity survive entropy after all? I think "I" never go away completely.
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