I am a theoretical physicist and currently Director of 
June 14, 2006
The dubious appeal of immortality
During the time I was a Christian, I took it for granted that immortality was not only a Good Thing, it was the thing that mattered most. The idea that if one believes in Jesus (or in some other way meets the needs of Christian doctrine), one is saved and has eternal life is a central tenet of Christianity. The formulation "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life" is something that any Christian can recite. It makes up the famous verse John 3:16 which you will often see written on a bed sheet and draped over railings at big sporting events. (This passage is so familiar to Christians that I was able to type it out accurately after all these years without even looking it up.)
What is surprising is that despite all the emphasis on going to heaven as the main point of living, the Bible contains very few actual descriptions of the place and what people there actually do. Even the good folks at Rapture Ready, who are counting the minutes until the world ends and they get taken up, admit that they don't have much data on this key question. Their page What Heaven Will Be Like is very brief. (Disturbingly, for me personally at least, it says that in heaven the laws of physics do not apply. Why is this information not given to students when they are deciding what to major in? In the unlikely event that I am raptured, all my years of study and work will have been wasted and in heaven I will have to learn a new trade.)
The one really concrete description comes from (where else?) the Book of Revelations and it says that everyone in heaven will live in a place called New Jerusalem, which consists of a cube of side 1,500 miles. Although large (roughly the size of the moon), it should be easy to visit friends since the Rapture Ready website says that people in heaven will be able to travel instantaneously, presumably because of their ability to circumvent the laws of physics that are such restrictive nuisances for us on Earth.
Islam is more detailed than Christianity in its descriptions of heaven. Ibn Warraq writes in Virgins? What virgins? that the Koran gives the following description:
What of the rewards in paradise? The Islamic paradise is described in great sensual detail in the Koran and the Traditions; for instance, Koran sura 56 verses 12-40 ; sura 55 verses 54-56 ; sura 76 verses 12-22. I shall quote the celebrated Penguin translation by NJ Dawood of sura 56 verses 12-39: "They shall recline on jewelled couches face to face, and there shall wait on them immortal youths with bowls and ewers and a cup of purest wine (that will neither pain their heads nor take away their reason); with fruits of their own choice and flesh of fowls that they relish. And theirs shall be the dark-eyed houris, chaste as hidden pearls: a guerdon for their deeds... We created the houris and made them virgins, loving companions for those on the right hand. . ."
So basically heaven for Muslims consists of your choice of food and drink and sex, with no negative after effects. Ibn Warraq's article describes Muslim commentators who go into even more great detail about the sexual pleasures of heaven, seemingly written exclusively from the male perspective.
I wrote previously that asking questions like where heaven is located and how it is related to life on Earth can make belief complicated because of the scientific problems it creates. First off, how come we cannot detect heaven's existence although we are now able to probe the far reaches of the universe? Is heaven in some parallel universe, with impenetrable barriers? But they cannot be totally impenetrable since people can get there from here. Since most people believe that people in heaven can see and hear us as we go about on Earth, that means that light and sound waves can travel from Earth to heaven, crossing the barrier. So must it be a one-way barrier? How would such a barrier work to prevent two-way transmission? (This is again the kind of question a physicist would ask, because I have trouble accepting that the laws of physics don't apply in heaven.)
But another problem is: what is it about heaven that is supposed to make it so attractive? Most people, even if they have no explicit model to work from, envisage eternal life in heaven as where everything is very pleasant and discouraging words are never heard. But surely if everything is perfect, and people in heaven live forever experiencing neither pain nor sorrow, it also has to be dull?
And that is the key problem. I cannot conceive of any way of conceptualizing heaven that is not also mind-numbingly boring. The only way to overcome that is to think that our personalities in heaven also change so that we never get tired of unchanging perfection. ("Wow, this grape is delicious! Wow, so is the next one! And the next one!...") But then people become boring.
For example, suppose you are an avid golfer and your vision of heaven is where you can play everyday in perfect weather. Does being in heaven mean that you hit perfect shots each time? But if you do and your opponent does too, wouldn't that take the fun out of the game? Golf is trivial, but I cannot think of anything at all that would not get tedious very quickly if one was assured of constant success. Pleasure in life goes along with failure. Take away failure and pain and loss and I am not sure what pleasure means.
The only thing that I personally can see that is good about immortality is that I may learn the answers to some difficult and unanswered questions that may elude me in my lifetime: Is quantum mechanics the ultimate theory or is there a deeper underlying theory? What exactly happens when the quantum wave function collapses in its interaction with the observer? How can one unambiguously draw the quantum/classical system boundary? How does the brain produce consciousness and the appearance of free will? Why do so many people find Julia Roberts attractive?
So basically, my own idea of heaven is to have the equivalent of unlimited high-speed internet access and subscriptions to science journals. But even that would be boring if I had to wait around a long time for Earth-bound scientists to find (if they ever do) the answers to those questions. On the other hand, if people in heaven already know the answers to these questions and told me as soon as I got there (not that there's much chance of that), then there would be nothing to look forward to.
I can think of many, many things that would be wonderful to experience for a very short time but all of them would bore me totally if they went on indefinitely. It reminds me of the time, soon after high school in Sri Lanka, when I had a temporary job working in a chocolate factory. I was told that we could eat all the chocolates we wanted and since I loved chocolate, this sounded like heaven, and everyone envied me. But after a week of eating chocolate, I was sick of it.
I am becoming convinced that we have pleasure on Earth precisely because it is unpredictable and transient, it is mixed with pain and failure, and we know that everything, including our lives, will eventually come to an end. We experience happiness and pleasure at moments in time, but for those moments to occur they must be preceded by periods of anticipation, disappointment, and failures. Take those things away and there is no pleasure either
It amazes me that I never asked any of these questions or thought of any of these things until now. Even during the many years I was religious, I never questioned then what form eternal life would take and whether it is such an unequivocal Good Thing after all. This is surprising because I was always curious about other things and trying to make connections.
Is there something in the way we are taught our religious beliefs that gently steers us away from these questions because they are so problematic? Why had I never probed deeply into what heaven might be like?
In the next posting, I will look at what research in cognitive science says about why we don't ask questions or look for answers to certain questions, even when it might seem obvious that we should do so.
POST SCRIPT: Our tax dollars at work in the DHS
Ray LeMoine writes about his weird experience at the hands of Department of Homeland Security officials on his return to the US after traveling in the Islamic world.
Comments
I thought Heaven was about the joy of communing with God... all the "earthly" pleasures are supposed to pale in comparison. Which would certainly be boring to watch, but presumably it wouldn't be boring to be a part of.
Yes, communing with god is often featured as a big attraction, but I find it hard to imagine how that would work in practice. After all, there would be a lot of people doing the same thing. And what does "communing" mean actually? God delivering noon-stop funny monologues to an adoring audience, somewhat like a late night TV show host?
If communing means chatting of some sort, what could people chat about for eternity?
I can't help but think that after the initial feeling of "Wow, so that's what god is like!" communing would also become rather boring, no?
Isn't "wine without a headache or loss of reason" just grape juice?
As for "Why do so many people find Julia Roberts attractive?" I have an answer: 42.
(maybe you're asking the wrong question)
The Bible does not teach that only believers experience immortality. The Bible clearly teaches that each of us has an eternal soul. Our consciousness will go on being after our death. What belief in Christ promises is that after our death we will be given entrance into Heaven rather than Hell. Even if Heaven isn't all that great, I would rather experience an eternity of boredom than an eternity of torment.
The question should be do we all have an eternal soul as described in the Bible? Belief in Christ (or anything else) will not change this fact. Either we all have an immortal aspect and something will happen to us after this life ends, or our consciousness just ends when our bodies give out.
Bob,
If everyone has an eternal life, then I am not sure what the meaning of John 3:16 is.
But actually that is not the point I was trying to make in this post. I should have been clearer that I was comparing the merits of eternal life in heaven (supposedly the desired state) with the atheist's view that everything ends with death. It seems like a toss-up to me. I agree with you that eternal life in hell (if it is as advertised) is a poor third.
I am thinking that next week, I will have series of posts on the question of the existence of the soul and free will (a point you made in a comment to a previous post). As you point out, these are the more fundamental issues. Thanks for stimulating my thinking!
John 3:16 (and other verses) are why I was careful not to use the phrase 'eternal life' in my comment. Life in this instance connotates a postive existance as opposed to a negative one.
If we read a little further on, verse 36 explains how someone who doesn't believe will exist experiencing with the wrath of God.
John 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Pema Chödrön describes what you described from a different angle in her book "Awakening Compassion". She talks about a room where everything is exactly the way you want it to be, with the music you want, the temperature you want, the food you like. In this room, you only have to talk to people you agree with. In her words:
"There's only one problem with this room. You find that as you stay in there, the outside becomes more and more threatening to you. Maybe you have to go out ... and you find when you go out there ... everything is much more irritating, much more prickly, and in fact you find that when you get back in your room ... you're actually allergic to the world, and you don't want anything to come in, and the threat of something coming in begins to make you uncomfortable. ... It begins to feel like prison in there."
"This is a good description of ego."
"[This room] is not productive of awe, or wonder, or curiosity, or inquisitiveness. It's not productive of tolerance. It breeds bigotry, racial hatred, religious bigotry, it breeds all kinds of just wanting it more and more your way, and everybody else just becoming an enemy."
So--is Heaven your ego?
well, until now I never wondered what eternal life is like. if I knew the answer, I would be already dead, I suppose.
Carl,
Heaven=ego?
I don't know about that, partly because I do not have a firm grasp of the concept of ego. In fact, while I was enjoying your excerpt from Chödrön, I was startled by the sudden introduction of ego. I would not have even considered the possibility that her room was like an ego.
Mano,
You might find some of the ancient Orthodox Christian ideas on heaven interesting. For one thing, Orthodox don't talk about it much because as you say, there's just not much Biblical evidence to go on (and what there is came from a guy who was probably hallucinating!). The belief is that we will be *fully* in communion, in harmony, with the infinite God, who is so "other" than we that words simply cannot explain or describe. I've thought about these issues myself, and it seems to me that infinity sounds "boring" because of our own limitations of perception and imagination, not because of God's potential.
CS Lewis's conception of heaven, introduced in the Narnia Chronicles, is perhaps useful: every ring of the real kingdom is larger and more real than the one before. "Like an onion," said Mr. Tumnus, "only every ring is bigger as you go in." (Actually I don't remember if it was Mr. Tumnus.)
Theodora,
I think that, as you say, the only way out is to postulate that we are incapable of understanding the nature of heaven.
But how willing are people to invoke this idea for so many, many things? At some point, doesn't it make more sense to say that it is simpler to assume heaven does not exist?
What i found interesting is you veered off to the christians view of heaven and basicly stated how boring it would be.It leads me to believe you feel the islamic ideal of heaven has to be the proper one because it's so galic (for some anyway).I am not harping on this view and perhaps i even feel that maybe you are not really able to ask into much more detail or even wonder if heaven in the islamic ideal wouldn't be boring.I mean drinking, eating and sex.Whats the difference than on earth?Wouldn't that be boring?
I believe God to have shown us more of the wicked that was in store so as to stay away from it.Maybe even that heaven would have been too good to believe is an option.
If you have undeniable faith and have paid attention and seen prophecy fullfiled then wouldn't you believe your Gods words? Why would he really have to prove how great heaven is? He was crucified,died put into a tomb and arose from the dead.I believe God.I believe moses went to the top of the mountain to recieve the ten commandments and came back down with his beard white as snow.The creator of all that is says heaven will be paradise unfailing.What is good is that we can ask these questions.God himself said that if someone comes in my name question him,he should know my words,my works.The book of Enoch speaks of heaven many times.
Sopposedly the streets of heaven will be of pure gold and the gates (Four of them) will be made from one pearl each.Personaly i do not need gold and pearls to be happy i am not much of a materialistic person.Maybe thats why they cover the streets? Maybe they cover the streets meaning all in heaven will have the same.The thing to notice in the last few sentences is the mentioning of streets.
It is great to ask such questions and debate ideals.In reality that may be part of Gods plans.to talk and debate and to find the answers and love one another along the path."to kill one man is as if to kill all of humanity". "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son and he who believeth in him shall not persih but have ever lasting life".Muhammad said the first quote if i am correct,some would debate whether this means the umma,or muslims only or all men.The second quote was Jesus being crucified for all mens sins and defeating death.Some would say that Jesus was never crucified and that Judas or someone else was switched with him to take his place.These are all great for debate,to learn and to find answers.
I am sorry if i got off topic a bit but life is a highway and i am no perfect man.While the path to God may be a straight one i am only mortal and walk the path of learning and being a scientist maybe the path you walk isn't so straight itself.The neuro pathways are many,so goes the mind.
In peace.