r/atheism • u/pagan0ne • Jun 26 '12
A friend of mine posted this after losing someone close to him....
http://imgur.com/YREPu10
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Jun 27 '12
For some reason, this is more bittersweet and more thought-provoking than a simple "God is looking over him/her now."
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u/Iazo Jun 27 '12
The problem is that while energy cannot be destroyed, information can.
People are not the energy they contain, but rather, the information they contain.
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Jun 27 '12
I was looking at a river a while back. The water was flowing over the riverbed quickly, but the shape was relatively static (characteristic of the underlying riverbed) with periodic mild ripples in its surface. It seemed interesting for some reason as I watched it, and then it struck me that it reminded me of us. The brain is the riverbed, the water is the energy (in this case) washing over the brain, and the consciousness is the meta-form of the flow as it passes over the underlying structure. The path of a single water molecule takes it across the riverbed once, and then out into the ocean. The water only serves to express the meta-form of the flow, and serves no other purpose. The shape of the flow persists despite the radical change of the particular material that comprises it. Once the water reaches the ocean, it's formless and indistinguishable, carrying no remnant of what the river was. Once the water stops flowing, there is no more form expressed; just a riverbed.
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u/TheOCdisorder Jun 27 '12
I'm not trying to be mean about the idea, but I always wondered about this since hearing of "dark energy".
I have no idea what dark energy is, or how it works, but from what I've heard, it's energy due to the vacuum of space, which cause the accelerating expansion of space, creating more dark energy.
Now, even discounting this dark energy, the acceleration of objects in the universe away from each other makes me think that energy must be created, else what is driving that acceleration.
Anyways, I'm probably missing several important points, and maybe to someone who understands the subject, my thoughts here make no sense, but there they are anyways.
However, I think your point about energy not being destroyed still stands, so it doesn't diminish the idea anyways.
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u/gndn Jun 27 '12
Unfortunately, her energy is being metabolized by worms now.
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u/BlessedHeretic Jun 27 '12
How is that unfortunate? That is life beyond death. True immortality.
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u/Levy_Wilson Jun 27 '12
Earth is a closed system? What about all that solar energy we take in and all those radio wave we're blasting out into space constantly?
That aside, the thought is heartwarming, especially given the situation of a loved one's death.
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u/matchingcapes Jun 27 '12
"wonder what her energy is doing now"
Feeding bacteria and micro organisms, or turned into heat.
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u/Killercroissants Jun 27 '12
That actually was kind of beautiful in its own way. :)
It's like a Heaven concept that one can prove, that one exists forever in another form.
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u/nermid Jun 27 '12
Rather than think about God, I come up with a bunch of woo about magical spirit energies animating the universe.
Not substantially better.
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u/EdricStorm Jun 27 '12
I was going to come up with some rebuttal, but I don't know enough about Physics to make it coherent.
Instead, I post this smarmy comment and downvote you.
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u/Crankfoot Jun 27 '12
Just to clear things up a little. Lost someone close, know they aren't in some fairy tale land with all my ancestors, drank a bottle of Jim Beam, got on the Internet.
Now you know. No scientific theory being presented, just a drunk human dealing with emotion. Lead to a very interesting conversation though.