I feel like if you want to believe in life after death, reincarnation is probably the only way it would work out.
You have to think about what life is, it's just consciousness and that's basically just electrical impulses and shit like that--things like a soul that lives on eternally, that's a little unfeasible to me, but I think if you think of yourself as simply matter then matter cannot be created or destroyed and there is a slim possibility that some part of your being comes back in some other way throughout the existence of the universe.
I think technology can make a sort of extended life after death possible, shit like keeping the brain alive, and you if we understand the brain more, you could probably create a Matrix sort of scenario, which is kind of scary in a way, but I dont biologically think an afterlife is naturally possible.
This is definitely the age old question though, I mean theyve had to come up with things to explain why an afterlife, if it exists, wouldnt apply to something like a dog.
I think questioning it at all comes down to having a larger brain and the upper brain that other animals dont really have, that's capable of cognizance and realizing itself, and consciousness and shit like that. Every animal has an inherent fear of death, a hardwired sort of self-preservation it's just that humans ended up becoming smart enough to ask questions like "How did we get here," "Where are we going," "I think, therefore I am; so what happens after I die?"
I mean it's like what are "you"? Are you a brain in a shell? I mean a human biologically is just a bunch of organs interconnected that work together doing their own individual thing, like a heart will beat as long as blood pumps through it -- like the things are all almost independent but rely on each other right? Youre kind of more than just parts, but when you inspect it, youre kind of just a bunch of parts that work together to achieve something more.
Im kind of a fucking idiot.