Does anyone think aliens might upload our souls/consciousnesses when we die?

[iridescentrae]

Some of us? Do you think some of us go to “heaven?” Some to “hell?” How should we behave to maximize our chances of a heaven or rebirth?

[Ozzie guy]

I doubt aliens would care, if you had resurrection tech would you bother resurrecting some mammal in Africa that you have never seen before?
If you are religious follow what the religion says.

[funkervogt]

Does anyone think aliens might upload our souls/consciousnesses when we die?

No one knows.

I've long had a theory that explains why aliens don't talk to us. They are so advanced that they have discovered some other plane of existence, or some broader truth about consciousness that results in them having a totally different view of things. For example, maybe they've proven that reincarnation exists, or that heaven and hell are real, or that consciousness actually exists outside of the bodies of organisms and only temporarily resides in them--like a radio playing music that comes to it in the form of electromagnetic transmissions from somewhere else--from birth to death, before moving on.

If any of those things were true, then it could explain why aliens don't interfere with Earth. Whatever suffering we go through thanks to our animalistic nature and poor medical technology is a vanishingly small fraction of the life experience of an immortal soul, and perhaps a necessary phase a soul must go through to achieve enlightenment.

How should we behave to maximize our chances of a heaven or rebirth?

Be kind to other sentient life forms.

[iridescentrae]

I doubt aliens would care, if you had resurrection tech would you bother resurrecting some mammal in Africa that you have never seen before?

I would view it as my ethical duty to save as many people as possible with the resources that I had. That might result in some judgement, like viewing who would be useful to society or even one individual, perhaps as a research partner, friend, or even mate. Wondering if anyone’s ever calculated the odds.

[iridescentrae]

Does anyone think aliens might upload our souls/consciousnesses when we die?

No one knows.

I've long had a theory that explains why aliens don't talk to us. They are so advanced that they have discovered some other plane of existence, or some broader truth about consciousness that results in them having a totally different view of things. For example, maybe they've proven that reincarnation exists, or that heaven and hell are real, or that consciousness actually exists outside of the bodies of organisms and only temporarily resides in them--like a radio playing music that comes to it in the form of electromagnetic transmissions from somewhere else--from birth to death, before moving on.

If any of those things were true, then it could explain why aliens don't interfere with Earth. Whatever suffering we go through thanks to our animalistic nature and poor medical technology is a vanishingly small fraction of the life experience of an immortal soul, and perhaps a necessary phase a soul must go through to achieve enlightenment.

How should we behave to maximize our chances of a heaven or rebirth?

Be kind to other sentient life forms.

I think it’s more likely, mathematically, that they a) save us all b) save some of us c) hold a trial and determine if some of us deserve punishment and some of us reward.

What do you think different types of society would do? What do you think is the most likely type of society that is watching us, if any? A galactic federation? A libertarian one? A democracy? One that believes in punishment? Reward? Just wondering how people think the math works out on that (since they’ve calculated habitable planets, etc.).

[Yuli Ban]

I certainly wouldn't bet on it.

[raklian]

Consciousness isn't something that we can transfer from one body to another. If we posit that consciousness is fundamental to all matter, how do we draw the boundary that defines our own consciousness from the rest? That's a problem we must solve if we want to start thinking about switching bodies.

[iridescentrae]

Gradual replacement using artificial neurons? Teleportation? I just assume that the science/technology is there, we just don’t have access to it.

[Jakob]

Doubt it's possible, bodies decay pretty quickly. I'm sure any useful information in the brain would be lost within days or even hours.

[BaobabScion]

This is similar to the plot of a SF series called Riverworld. In that series, when people die on Earth, their minds are transferred by a race of aliens to a planet called Riverworld where they are given new bodies and resurrect out of the world-spanning rivers every time they die. People from all eras of history coexist on the planet, and the planet itself is a few times larger than Earth.

[funkervogt]

Relatedly, I've got an unproveable theory that intelligent aliens have been present on Earth for thousands or even millions of years, and that they use machines disguised as small animals and even inanimate objects to watch what's been happening here. Among other tasks, they've been collecting DNA from humans and other organisms. Somewhere, they have a database containing the full genomes of quadrillions of individual organisms, mostly long dead.

If they wanted to, they could use the database and cloning machines to "synthesize" anything in the database, including dinosaurs, the "missing link" hominids, famous people who recently died, and most humans who are currently alive.

The aliens must also have a master database containing genetic info for every organism they've encountered across the galaxy (or universe?), all admixtures therein, and any unique organisms they've designed and manufactured in their labs.

[raklian]

Relatedly, I've got an unproveable theory that intelligent aliens have been present on Earth for thousands or even millions of years, and that they use machines disguised as small animals and even inanimate objects to watch what's been happening here. Among other tasks, they've been collecting DNA from humans and other organisms. Somewhere, they have a database containing the full genomes of quadrillions of individual organisms, mostly long dead.

Is that why flies squat on our and other organisms' feces?

This is a serious question. Honestly.

[funkervogt]

Relatedly, I've got an unproveable theory that intelligent aliens have been present on Earth for thousands or even millions of years, and that they use machines disguised as small animals and even inanimate objects to watch what's been happening here. Among other tasks, they've been collecting DNA from humans and other organisms. Somewhere, they have a database containing the full genomes of quadrillions of individual organisms, mostly long dead.

Is that why flies squat on our and other organisms' feces?

This is a serious question. Honestly.

Even if my theory is right, only an insignificant fraction of flies are actually alien robots. Like, not even 1% of 1%. That means flies squat on feces for natural reasons unrelated to DNA collection.