What’s left over

I for one believe that mortality is a feature rather than a bug. The depletion of our time keeps us accountable to our futures. I also abhor the idea of living forever, on Earth or in an afterlife. What meaning could my short life hold if it’s merely a trying ground for an eternity of something better…no that eternity is nothing I’ve ever strived for and it’s no way to live. If I awake in a heaven after I die it’ll be disappointing and I’ll politely ask to be put down. All that being said, I don’t believe we disappear when we die any more than we disappear when we walk out of someone’s life. As we get to know someone, sections of our brain become dedicated to predicting their future behavior and simulating their thoughts. The more exposure you get to the subject, the more accurately your mind can emulate theirs. This is why you can finish your mother’s sentences, but a stranger’s next words are more elusive. These snapshots of ourselves in another’s mind, are the closest thing to a soul I’ve ever believed in. Unlike the traditional conception of a soul though which exists as a singe spirit, these snapshots are replicated across the minds of everyone we’ve ever known. The people we were closest too have snapshots of higher fidelity than those of individuals we’ve barely known. The mechanism that powers these copies of you are the same that power your mind — neurons responding to stimuli. So in the truest biological sense, these snapshots are part of YOU. So we do all live on after our deaths and our snapshots can even extend beyond the generation of people we knew by influencing their thoughts and actions long after we’ve passed. Be known, move people, fall in love, and foster the deep relationships that keep you alive in the minds of others.