On life after death
Roadwalker
DrChip
Liechty, Daniel
He gives us a good summary of the materialist, matter-n-energy-is-all-there-is view. But you don’t really need Becker to arrive at that, nor does Becker’s analysis add anything particularly to this view. I agree that Becker’s ideas are very compatible with this view, but his ideas are also very compatible with other views as well. Dan
From: Roadwalker [mailto:wp...@ATT.NET]
Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2016 9:21 AM
To: generative-death-anxiety-l <generative-de...@listserv.ilstu.edu>
Subject: On life after death
Becker scholars,
The director of the Hayden Planetarium on life after death. Seems to me right down Becker's alley.
Comments, anyone?
/ Bill Penner /
An old retired codger...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndj5KjKyr3E
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Gordon Shephard
DrChip
-------- Original message --------
From: "Liechty, Daniel" <dli...@ILSTU.EDU>
Date: 10/22/2016 6:17 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: GENERATIVE-DE...@LISTSERV.ILSTU.EDU
Liechty, Daniel
Well, just for example, one could posit that after death there is some modicum of consciousness that continues on even as the body decays from which it emerged and with which it was for the lifespan of that body intimately and intricately (but not inextricably – cf. reports of out-of-body conscious experience) associated in manner that we cannot fully explain. I am not saying that is my view (it isn’t, I would be much closer to Tyson’s view) but I am saying it would be fully compatible with the ideas of Ernest Becker.
Liechty, Daniel
Yes, Gordon, that is the point I was trying to make but you did so much more succinctly! Thanks!
From: Gordon Shephard [mailto:gordon.m...@GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2016 5:35 PM
To: generative-death-anxiety-l <generative-de...@listserv.ilstu.edu>
Subject: Re: On life after death
One of the things I appreciate about Becker, at least in Denial of Death, is that he doesn't deal with the "life after death" question at all. It is, rather, an investigation of why a person might choose such a belief. Or any belief at all with regard to what death "means." Becker says our belief systems are there to help us deal with the anxiety of feeling ourselves to be an infinite consciousness in a finite body. He doesn't ring in on whether or not any of those beliefs might reflect a truth exclusive of our belief in them.
Howard Garrett
Well, I'm happy to lunge after that morsel of a question.
"Are there any other animals that make up "meanings"? (And could we tell if they did?)"
This is taboo talk in any crowd, but my answer is yes, and yes.
The short explanation is the species known as Orcinus orca behaves every minute of every day according to meanings learned from elders beginning in infancy. There is an abundance of supportive evidence to that effect, but the overriding observation is that each animal is a member of a cohesive and unique cultural community with it's own specialized diet, acoustic communication system, social system, and rituals. A salmon means one thing to a salmon-eating orca, for example, and something entirely different to a mammal-eating orca. The rules of behavior are rigid and are followed throughout life. The distinctions are not geographic or environmental, they are purely cultural.
I find this fascinating because with this level of highly evolved self-awareness and conscious construction of cultural identities over many millions of years, orcas have devised answers to universal problems, like how to relate to foreign cultures, that humans are still incapable of.
Below is a video of a talk I gave in July on that topic. The
first 8+ minutes are an update on our campaign to return a captive
orca to her family, the rest describes how the theory of symbolic
interactionism, with all the accompanying implications, applies to
orcas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrdKpKC5-H0
Howard
-- Howard Garrett Orca Network in...@orcanetwork.org www.orcanetwork.org 1-866-ORCANET Orca Network - Connecting whales and people in the Pacific Northwest. Orca Network is dedicated to raising awareness about the whales of the Pacific Northwest, and the importance of providing them healthy and safe habitats. Projects include the Whale Sighting Network and Education Programs, the Free Lolita Campaign, The Langley Whale Center, and the Central Puget Sound Marine Mammal Stranding Network.
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DrChip
-------- Original message --------
From: "Liechty, Daniel" <dli...@ILSTU.EDU>
Date: 10/22/2016 6:51 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: GENERATIVE-DE...@LISTSERV.ILSTU.EDU
Well, just for example, one could posit that after death there is some modicum of consciousness that continues on even as the body decays from which it emerged and with which it was for the lifespan of that body intimately and intricately (but not inextricably – cf. reports of out-of-body conscious experience) associated in manner that we cannot fully explain. I am not saying that is my view (it isn’t, I would be much closer to Tyson’s view) but I am saying it would be fully compatible with the ideas of Ernest Becker.
From: DrChip [mailto:cpart...@CHIPEVAL.ORG]
Sent: Saturday, October 22, 2016 5:37 PM
To: generative-death-anxiety-l <generative-de...@listserv.ilstu.edu>
Subject: Re: On life after death
Agreed on your 1st point. Interested in the hearing more about the other views.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone
-------- Original message --------
From: "Liechty, Daniel" <dli...@ILSTU.EDU>
Date: 10/22/2016 6:17 PM (GMT-05:00)
To: GENERATIVE-DE...@LISTSERV.ILSTU.EDU
Subject: Re: On life after death