Origins of Death's Meaning

[Aletheia]

It's been a while since I've shared any psychological musings with this community, and since I've recently become unemployed (again! yay ;p) and have the time, I feel motivated to post ^^
I've been preoccupied lately with the topic of death, not so much as in the fact of it or existential dread, but in why we think about it the way we do. I wrote down these ramblings earlier in attempt to make sense of this question..

A Hypothesis of Afterlife

I'm not certain that there is any existence of the self after death, in fact I believe the contrary is most likely. But Jung had an interesting concept that I think may have some truth to it, at least as far as how it effects the way we conceive of the topic of 'afterlife'. Essentially, he believed we live on as the collective memory of ourselves that exists in other's minds. But we are no longer a whole entity, may not have a conscious experience, and would fade away when we are no longer remembered. It's interesting though how this aligns with what we see in religions - the heaven/hell dichotomy and earning paradise via moral integrity and works. If we exist as memories, then the way we treated people and how they remember us becomes the defining factor of our afterlife experience.
The way we venerate the dead alludes to this notion. Funerary procedures often include declarations of what the person meant to their familiars, how much they are missed and what traits made them wonderful. Often times remembrance of any negative feelings toward them is discouraged, and we pray for them to have a positive experience 'on the other side'.

Ghosts

If we do have some form of existence as memories, this could also explain reports of 'ghosts' haunting certain places. If someone was remembered to have lived somewhere, for example, perhaps that would induce visions of a vague effigy of them to appear to those who weren't actually familiar with the person, but who pick up on the idea of their existence.
It could also be a case of psychic projection in a literal sense. Jung described projection as the conflation of external people, objects and circumstances with internal psychological processes. But he also describes how projection often manifests in a literal manner in the world around us through synchronicity. He says "When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." In jungian terms, something becomes conscious when it is identified as part of the self, and so something such as the memory of a loved one would lend itself to projection because they would be thought of as a separate individual from the self. If projection could effect the material world in a direct way, ghosts may be an actual phenomenon of this sort. (the former hypothesis seems more likely to me tho :P)

Pseudo-Creatures

But this line of thought brings me to an interesting notion. Perhaps the dead are the same thing as gods and fairies: psychological constructs which are held by many people and believed to be external entities. Perhaps we, either in our imaginations or literally, manifest 'pseudo-creatures' which then become an influence on others who perpetuate their existence by belief in them.
It'd be interesting if we exist in a world where  people live along side psychic entities which they perceive on some level and accommodate. Perhaps that's part of the richness and depth of mystery of life's experience..

But Why Paradise?

It's curious that we happen to idealize the state of 'afterlife' as euphoric. Thinking about why that might be, it's interesting to note the possible role of neurology in the idea of 'heaven' and death experiences. Reports from some people who have had strokes in the left frontal lobe describe the experience of timelessness, expansiveness and bliss. Of course one of the most famous people to have this experience is Jill Bolte Taylor, who wrote “I felt like a genie liberated from its bottle. The energy of my spirit seemed to flow like a great whale gliding through a sea of silent euphoria.”
This is due to how the processing of the right side of the brain works, it is strongly linked to empathy and the unconscious state. It is the left brain that is most involved in quantifying/separating things and structuring the ego, i.e. generating the state of conscious awareness. Without delineation and context, what we're left with is an amorphous, unconscious state where there is likely an amplified visceral awareness of our collective aspect. There's no sense of time, no sense of responsibility, no conflict, euphoric feelings of connectedness, and also a notion of being or knowing all as the sense of self is lost. Sound familiar? The idea that afterlife is an eternal bliss may stem from the experience of right-brain processing as consciousness is lost during the death process.

Why Transcendence?

Another common belief is that death is a gateway into a transcendent state, a kind of enlightenment. This is similar to the concept of paradise except it is more egocentric and likely related to the notion of life phases. It seems to me to begin with an association between birth and death. Like what comes after death, what comes before birth is a mystery to us. We enter out of that obscurity into the living world which we can say is a 'higher' state of consciousness. This may lead to the thought that death is actually a kind of second birth into a more highly conscious state. But then there is also this notion that I think relates even more directly (especially prevalent in religious ideals developed in patriarchal societies) that the goal of life should be to overcome one's carnal nature, i.e. the body. Hence with that type of puritanical framework it makes sense that someone free of their 'lower' fleshly form would be in a superior state.

Why Reincarnation?

This concept seems to have somewhat different roots than the ideas of paradise or transcendence. I think all of these narratives are generally developed in part to ease the fear of death. But with reincarnation, it seems to stem from our sense of recycling and patterns in nature. We see how life dies and is reborn with the turning of the seasons, and how in reproduction the individual perpetuates its form via lineage. We are all composed of DNA that's been recycled and repurposed from the beginning of life, and so in a way we are like the continued existence of our ancestors which 'advanced' from brainless microbes to human intelligence. And as the primary survival mechanism for humans is our capability to learn and develop a greater understanding of reality, it'd make sense that we'd compare the individual lives of creatures, their habits and adaptations, to lessons. What has the butterfly to teach us? The cat? The monkey? I think the narrative of reincarnation reflects an older interpretation of reality, one that predates agriculture and acknowledges humanity as subject to nature's overarching patterns. While Christianity (one of the most recently developed religions) tends to deny human's common evolution with other animals, and claims the 'soul' is a uniquely human thing, older doctrines such as Buddhism are the opposite with belief in reincarnation and the transferable soul. It's interesting to note how human thought became more and more egocentric over time.

[Alana]

Chiron,
As someone who has struggled with an overwhelming fear of death due to the unknown and uncertainty of afterlife, or what's next? - this was comforting to read. The psychological perspective offered insight on a different level than religion I've delved into. I'm intrigued to learn more about this, and hopefully, it will slightly ease my fears. Thank you.
It's hard for me to wrap my mind around heaven/hell dichotomy or reincarnation without consciousness. Without consciousness, there is a requirement for faith in something greater. The psychological concept of consciousness in others projecting the dead as 'pseudo-creatures' is interesting - and from a psychological perspective, sort of makes sense.

[Aletheia]

@Alana
I'm glad you found insight and comfort in my post ^^
I think the narratives of afterlife religions create can indeed be double-edged swords. Because fear of the unknown is often not about ambiguity itself, but about those 'what ifs' we project on the situation. Also as you indicate, the idea of an unknown mode of existence after death raises the question of potential suffering, so believing in an afterlife isn't necessarily comforting.
It can certainly be an effective tool of control though, to motivate ppl with that sort of fear, i.e. hellfire :/

Without consciousness, there is a requirement for faith in something greater.

I'm curious about this thought. Why would that be? Do you mean that without the capacity for someone to perceive in a conscious manner that they would have to be guided by an intelligence/force outside themselves? Can you elaborate on your thought?

The psychological concept of consciousness in others projecting the dead as ‘pseudo-creatures’ is interesting – and from a psychological perspective, sort of makes sense.

Yeah it is interesting isn't it? I think there's probably something like that going on, Jung's description of archetypes is essentially that we create and perpatuate certain psychic forms in this way. I also have experimented with servitors and egregores, psychic beings generated by a group via occult rituals. It seems to me that these beings can exist, but they are like archetypes, an effect of the collective libidic energy of the group. As soon as the group stops believing in them, their forces no longer manifest in the world.

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