Rebirth: A YouTube Transcript Poem
Is it possible to explain “afterlife”?
…For me, that’s what I think of as the afterlife It's my rebirth In the form of new life far, far away from now.
Recently, I gave a talk entitled "From Analog Environments to Careers in Astrobiology" for the Department of Botany, Zakir Husain Delhi College, University of Delhi.
After the talk, I engaged in a thoroughly enjoyable conversation with the students of the department, answering and discussing their questions about various ideas in astrobiology.
However, one part of that conversation really stood out in my mind, so I went back and watched it again in the YouTube video. From the YouTube transcription, here is roughly the question that was brought up by a young student named Dorji:
“Since my young age I have had
One curiosity in my mind
I believe the main aim of
astrobiology is to study about life
How life originated and how life is processed
But
Is it possible for astrobiologists
To explain about death
I believe that is a very
Important part of our life
So if astrobiologists are able to explain
About the death then is after life
We say like an afterlife
Is it possible to explain afterlife?”
Questions of the afterlife and of reincarnation are not normally brought up in my talks about topics in astrobiology, so I thought I would share here my answer to Dorji, also relayed as a YouTube transcript, which almost makes it feel like a poem taken from spoken word. Note: I edited the transcript slightly to make it more readable (removing filler words like “uh”, for instance).
“You know we humans
Through time
Have wondered
Is there
something after our death
Is there an
Afterlife
And it's certainly a question that
Is not something that we approach scientifically
It's something that we approach
From the standpoint of our belief
And our understanding of our place
In the world
In the universe
I don't personally
Believe in the concept of afterlife
I do think that when I die that I'm gone
But, for me, I think the beauty of it is that
There is a rebirth
Of our elements that is kind of profound
Inside of our bodies we have atoms
Elements that were formed during the Big Bang
You have hydrogen inside of you
That was formed 13.8 billion years ago
In the Big Bang
And we have materials in us
Formed inside of the cores of stars
Through billions of years of stellar evolution
But we also have more recent
Formations of atoms
Things like carbon-14 forming in the atmosphere
Through cosmic ray bombardment
You have atoms inside of your body
As well as do I
As well as do all of us
That were formed through atomic bomb testing
Here on the Earth
By humans
There is a
Technosignature
A sign of technological activity
Even though it's a saddening one
It is the testing of nuclear weapons
We all carry the remnants of that inside of our bodies
Elements of carbon that were formed in that process
And when we do die
When our physical bodies are gone
Those materials go back to the Earth
And I find that to be very beautiful
And maybe even more so
Long from now
Long after our civilization has gone
In hopefully different directions and
Hopefully started to populate the
Universe
Our world cannot survive forever
And so one day our star will grow
Potentially to the size of Earth's orbit
And unless we choose to create
A spaceship the size of the Earth and take it with us
Our Earth will be gone
And so those elements will be scattered
Back to the universe potentially
Creating new life elsewhere
And so not only do we all share the same elements
And, believe it or not, a lot of the elements inside of you
Get cycled back each year into the
Oceans and into the atmosphere
Through various cycles
So that we all end up sharing a lot
Of the same atoms over time
And sometime very, very long from now
Some part of you
Some part of me
Might very well be inside
Of another creature
Who's looking at the stars at night
And wondering what else is possible
So, for me, that’s what I think of
As the afterlife
It's my rebirth
In the form of new life
Far, far away from now.”
What do you think of the concept of an afterlife?
How would you have answered Dorji’s question?
If you’d like to hear my answer spoken, you can watch the recording of the meeting on YouTube. Dorji also followed up after that with a question about reincarnation and what kind of evidence it would take for me to believe in the religious concept of reincarnation.
As always, stay groovy, my friends! And remember, some day, long from now, some part of you might exist within another being becoming aware of itself in the cosmos!