If death is a destination, why are we alive?

Picture the arrow of time, from the beginning of the universe, until its supposed heat death. Assuming we adhere to the notion that we have just a solitary existence, with death marking an absolute end where our consciousness fades into oblivion without any possibility of resurgence. Then why are we alive?

Imagine a scenario where you spend roughly 80 years alive (if you are lucky), and you are dead for the remainder of time, then why are you in the state of being alive? Statistically speaking, this does not make any sense. We should all be in the state of being dead, with very large odds around 99.9999...%, and in second place in the state of being non-existent with very small odds 0.0000..1%. Only at third place, the state of being alive, which is simply indistinguishable from zero in terms of odds, considering the age of the universe, how long the universe will last, and the average human life span.

So why are we alive, experiencing life? For most people, the solution is “because I am alive now”. Well, this is not a solution, because when estimating odds, time is not a factor. So the probabilities stay the same. You should be dead, not alive. For me, this is a clear paradox that most people ignore, don’t realize, or don’t bother to think about.

In this short article, I want to give some hypothetical solutions to this paradox. First, let's start with the intra-universe solutions to the paradox, meaning solutions that do not require another world or universe to explain life after death, only what we know to be true, this universe.

We live the same life an infinite amount of time

Infinity is way bigger than the age of the universe and its estimated lifespan, and could be a possible solution to the existence paradox. This means that we are living the same life on a loop for eternity. And in a sense, this means that we most likely are not living our lives for the first time, which unfortunately implies that we do not actually have freewill. Meaning that all the actions that we are currently doing have already been done, and we are simply reliving them. Note that this might explain the “déjà vu” we often get in life.

As dark as this scenario seems, in my opinion, it is way better than an eternity of non-existence. At least we get to experience again and again some of the joys life has given us.

Another interpretation of this infinite loop theory, is that indeed we relive the same life, However, we still have freewill, and we are able to go for different choices. But this falls into the many-worlds interpretation theory, and will require other universes.

We live different lives

Another solution to the paradox is reincarnation, as in coming back to life in different life forms. Reincarnation was proposed as a solution for life after death in many religions and cultures, and quite frankly is an elegant solution to the paradox of existence, giving the nature of the universe and how energy is always transformed and not destroyed nor created.

However, this solution raises a question. Why am I human in this life? Since if reincarnation is real, and I could be any creature here on planet earth, why am I currently one of the least probable creature in terms of odds? If we actually have the odds in perspective, you, reading this article, should be an insect or a simple microbial life form and not a human, and for many successive lives (for a long, long time).

So ask yourself, why are you a human in the first place? For me, this can be explained by an inter-universe solutions to the existence paradox.

We are experiencing this universe as a human

Call it what you want, simulation, game, another dimension. It doesn’t matter, what matters is that this is not base reality, and is simply another construct that we get to test. Therefore, in order to get the full experience, we are born into it with no memory of whom we truly are, and as a sentient intelligent being (on a planet with life, like earth) to get the best out of the experience and contemplate life through its lenses.

This solution to the existence paradox aligns with experiences reported by people that got through near-death experiences or out-of-body experiences. Where they tell us that the mind or soul is not part of the physical human body, and that consciousness continues after death. So in a sense, we are immortal beings, with infinite amount of lives.

In conclusion, we are most likely beings experiencing a human form, otherwise we should simply not exist, especially as humans.