but I have issues with the separation between something "natural" and something "chemical"
it's a good point. I guess there would need to be studies done on the phenomenology and exact effects of 'natural' vs 'man-made' substances.
But from what I've read, there does seem to be a marked difference in kind between experiences on DMT/psilocybin and experiences on MDMA/ LSD etc.
the complexity of it all just turns into "something" that carries on when we are gone.
I agree with you that it seems common sense and intuitive that consciousness ceases as living systems die...
But
there is a theorem in quantum physics called the
no-hiding theorem that states that information is never lost at the quantum level.
Also, there is
quantum entanglement (groups of particles which were once interacting or in proximity will always remain 'tied' to each other in the sense that their states cannot be described independently of each other -- so if one of two particles that were once entangled is sent to the other end of the universe, then if you can observe the state of one, you can immediately know that state of the other (which seems to violate the principle that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light...well, it seems that information can..)).
If you also accept something like a copenhagen interpretaion of quantum mechanics or a von-neumann-wigner 'consciousness collapse' interpretation (basically that conscious observation is needed to determine the states and properties of quantum systems), then it would all seem to imply that at the quantum level, the billions of neuronal connections (that created the conscious self at a higher level), will always be connected in some way, and that the information stored (i.e. memories) by that higher ego can never be ultimately 'lost', even after the brain no longer exists.
Of course this is just speculation and I may be talking nonsense, but I think things might not be as straightforward as born > consciousness > dies > that's it.forever. But it could be and you may be right.
probably shouldn't try to participate in these kinds of debates at the moment.
Sorry of I am not making any sense and are derailing your thread
I liked what you had to say. Don't apologize. It all made perfect sense.