This very subject has been the thrust of my work for the past several years.....
Peter
Peter, the older I get and the more that I see and experience, the more I become convinced that we are all part of the same thing, not simply that we share the environment on the spacecraft, but that the chemicals that bind us are the common thread which moves us along from one incarnation of experience to the next.
It seems both practical and realistic that human today means grass or twig, fish or fowl tomorrow. Nothing is really wasted, just used to make something else: we, our constituent chemicals, are actually recycled whether from ashes in the air or dust in a coffin; at one stage or the other it all moves along to become the next thing. I think that's really quite comforting, though not too sure about being somebody else's source of heating one winter... of course, it leaves the spiritual component adrift, doesn't it?
And that's the beauty of it: as far as my imagination allows, I don't see that spiritual part being subsumed into something else - once me, I think that's who I remain. I hope my late wife remains who she was, and that the magic continues in perpetuity. It was as if we had always known one another, right from our very first date as schoolkids. It just felt natural and totally normal, as if we'd been pals all of our lives - though actually, we hadn't even exchanged a word until I asked her out. Interesting life, this is.
;-)
Rob C
