Is Alzheimer's disease the proof that most people live in false hope?

Question

The degredation of the mind due to Alzheimer's disease proves that the mind and, resultantly, the human consciousness are both transient things.

Does this prove that most preconceived notions of an afterlife are fundamentally flawed? Most people believe that we will be able to perceive, evaluate and understand any kind of afterlife that may exist.

But clearly, as Alzheimers proves, the mind cannot possibly survive without a functioning human body. It is a possibility that a kind of eternal soul lives on, but, surely, if the consciousness dies then the thing that makes you an individual, self-aware human will cease also.

Opinions?

Answer 1

Alzheimer's is a physical manifestation of a deteriorating physical 'thing' and has nothing to do with philosophy as I see it .
Losing ones self awareness in my opinion dose not cancel ones soul. Alzheimer's destroys the brain -the body cannot exist with out at least a partially functioning brain.
My mother died of the effects of Alzheimer's and would react to discomfort until the end but did not seem to be aware of self or even of light and dark.
Perhaps her soul---her self died long before her body died.

Answer 2

My Grandmother survived with fully functioning and physically capable body with Alzheimer's Disease for more than 20 years.

My Mother, currently has been living with Alzheimer's for 26 years. Only recently, has she been physically limited in capacity, now bedridden.

Before her strokes, my mother was so physically fit (even after surviving breast cancer - which she is a survivor of because she 'forgot she had a mastectomy' - which would otherwise be traumatic).... that we had to place her in a LOCKDOWN facility, because she would 'escape' the Alzheimer's Center. My grandmother did the same thing... they found her running on a freeway on-ramp into oncoming traffic.

The idea proposed that the mind cannot survive without a physically functioning body has been disproven with both my grandmother and mother.

I believe that the mind deteriorates due to this dreadful disease from a myriad of things, aside from basic genetics and health.

I don't know if the notions of an afterlife are fundamentally flawed by what you mentioned, however, I do believe there is some sort of a peaceful 'closure' of sorts for the individual affected by 'revisiting the past' cerebrally.

As the disease progresses (and it affects each individual differently - i.e. no specific order) - the Alzheimer's victim goes through anger, rage, violence, depression, regressing to childhood, forgetting current life - almost living in a 'past life' state. I've seen my mother as 5 year old child. I've seen her as a teen and young adult - in random stages of this disease.

In this process, I believe that mentally getting closure on various emotional issues helps expedite the disease on certain levels, readying the physical being for death and (afterlife, if you believe).

I think self-awareness never ceases - even with the disease. My grandmother was very introspective - very aware of everything she was feeling anytime she was feeling it. Even right up until she was eventually physically disabled, she was consciously aware of what she was feeling - or what individuals would trigger certain emotions. She may not have remembered specific things like names, geography or whatever in terms of where she was and what was happening, but she was very aware of what she felt at the time based on the situation presented.

Answer 3

What "false hope"? Are you one of those people who oddly assumes they're going to live forever?

We're mortal, physical beings, so things fall apart and eventually die. This is just a temporary existence.

However, though I believe we have souls and there is an afterlife, I don't believe that our current minds/consciousness are what constitute our souls. [Good lord, I don't want to go through eternity with obnoxious neighbors who can't grasp the concept of turning down their stereos after 11:00pm.] I think our souls are somewhere inside observing things we do, but they're not controlling things. Frankly, I have a hunch that when we're released from our bodies our souls have a momentary feeling of delight [relief?] in finally receiving confirmation that there IS an afterlife, but that we don't subsequently dwell on what happened during our lives.

Answer 4

I think "spirit" is a totally different thing than body or consciousness, and that the spirit exists forever. Whether it's karma, the breath of life, angels or whathaveyou... spirit remains throughout the universe, and more. It's inside of us and in all living things as well, almost a foreign concept.

It's even still in that person you mention who has Alzheimer's, a truly difficult disease... yet the person's spirit remains. Even after confusion, disorientation and death. I don't care where the spirit goes (I don't go for images of heaven and hell), but I know it lasts forever, and has been forever before a portion went into a lovely person now with Alzheimer's. That person realizes spirit still, somehow.

Best of all, and take it easy, rest...

Answer 5

Why couldn't a mind survive without a body? Look at Stephen Hawking....his body is a waste, but he's one of the most brilliant minds since Einstein.

Answer 6

In terms of reasoning, the onus is on others to prove the existence of an afterlife.