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00:00Pearly gates, angelic choirs, a godly ascension, and blissful reunions with loved ones.
00:07The Christian picture of heaven is well known throughout the Western world, regardless of
00:11whether you believe.
00:12A day of judgment, the weight of the soul, being welcomed inside, or being cast back
00:18down to earth.
00:19There are also shared themes across all religious versions of heaven, which almost always infer
00:24that only the very best of us will make it there, and it's been this way for thousands
00:29of years.
00:30But even after all this time, is this promised paradise just a comforting myth?
00:35Or actually, could there really be more to it?
00:38This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question, do we go to heaven
00:43when we die?
00:46Do you need the big questions answered?
00:48Are you constantly curious?
00:49Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?
00:52And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!
00:56The idea of heaven varies widely across cultures and religions.
01:00For some, it's a physical place of eternal reward.
01:03Often it can only be reached by successfully navigating a series of divine trials.
01:08But when you get there, it's perfect.
01:10You're conscious, aware, and you're surrounded by the people you want to be with.
01:14There's bountiful food, music, fun… it's just the best place.
01:19The Abrahamic faiths, including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, often present heaven as
01:24a breathtaking realm of splendour and joy.
01:27With glistening cities of gold, lush gardens teeming with life, and the constant presence
01:32of a loving God.
01:34But what's key is that this view of heaven is always primarily fuelled by faith.
01:38It's the wonderful place you go to after you die.
01:42But since no one alive has ever died before, at least not permanently, no one can ever
01:47truly say that they've ever been, or that they know what awaits.
01:52This kind of heaven is always apparently in our future, but is never in our past.
01:56It's always in our imaginations.
01:58It's never drawn from experience.
02:01With this in mind, there are some more metaphysical understandings of heaven that, while still
02:06not scientifically sound, imply that the unknowableness of it is really all part of the charm.
02:13In various guises, there are claims that heaven, when we get there, will really be a state
02:18of pure consciousness, a merging with a higher power, or even a move to a different dimension
02:23or a parallel world.
02:25In some Eastern religions, like Buddhism and Hinduism, it's a concept that's perhaps
02:30a little more nuanced.
02:32Heaven is, in general, pitched as a pervading feeling of bliss, which in itself is the reward
02:36for a life well-lived.
02:38Or in models that include reincarnation, for many lives well-lived.
02:42There is still a considerable degree of faith required here, but this kind of heaven is
02:46at least seemingly achievable based on the universe as we know it.
02:50It's one reason why, at times, esteemed scientists have seemingly spoken in favour
02:56of, say, Hinduism… including, most famously, the American astronomer Carl Sagan.
03:02But when it comes to heaven outright, science doesn't usually have a great deal to say…
03:06other than it doesn't exist, because there's no evidence.
03:09Traditional science struggles to measure the immeasurable, and that's what heaven
03:13ultimately is.
03:14You can't prove it, so science can never really back it.
03:18Or at least, that's the way it has typically been throughout history.
03:21In more recent years and decades, though, the rules of the game have seemingly changed
03:25for scientists.
03:27So much so that now, perhaps even heaven isn't entirely off the table.
03:32Belief in the multiverse is about as scientific a belief as you're ever likely to encounter.
03:36We do not know that the multiverse exists.
03:39We have never discovered a parallel world.
03:42But increasing numbers of scientists insist that it and they are real.
03:46As we've seen multiple times on this channel, multiple universes could be possible in any
03:51number of ways.
03:52For example, they might erupt as offshoots of quantum events, endlessly splitting along
03:57an infinite timeline of possibility, as per the many worlds interpretation.
04:02Or they might be hiding beyond the boundaries of our known universe, quietly existing in
04:07huge but isolated cosmic bubbles, as per eternal inflation.
04:11But, and for the most part thanks to the unknown elements of the multiverse, some have mused
04:16whether heaven might also be possible within it.
04:19Given that heaven clearly means different things to different people, is the multiverse
04:23the perfect structure to house our many paradises, along its limitless reach?
04:29For many, and with the multiverse simmering along in the background, the answer could
04:33lie within the ever-enigmatic realm of consciousness.
04:36We know our bodies do not continue after death, no matter what their religious depictions
04:41might offer, because we have boundless physical proof.
04:44When things die, they decompose until eventually there's nothing or almost nothing left.
04:49The physicality of what makes us us is irredeemably lost.
04:53But the topic of consciousness, or what some call the soul, is far less straightforward.
04:59Is consciousness a physical product, created solely by the workings of the brain?
05:03Or is there something else that's shaping everything we feel within ourselves?
05:07This is by no means a modern problem, and has been debated since at least the time of
05:11ancient Greece.
05:12From the point of view of heaven, however, the true nature of consciousness could provide
05:16some answers.
05:17First off, if it is a physical product of the brain, a brain that will decompose post-death,
05:23then clearly that would mean that heaven doesn't exist.
05:25When the brain dies and disappears, so does everything else it's capable of conjuring
05:30– including the concept of heaven.
05:33Here though, we might at least have an explanation for how the idea of heaven may have arisen
05:37Over countless studies, many have suggested that the sensation of going to heaven – as
05:42in, the white light and euphoric feeling that many report during a near-death experience
05:47– might simply be the brain's final, glorious surge of activity before it shuts down forever.
05:52An in-built response to the ultimate trauma of death that humans have always felt… and
05:57that has gradually been shaped into the picture of heaven, as it's told by religion.
06:03Meanwhile though, and even if consciousness isn't a physical product, perhaps there
06:07are some routes toward it still providing a meaning for heaven.
06:10Bio-centrism is a controversial theory, but in short, it claims that consciousness may
06:15exist independent of the body.
06:17For advocates, it could be more like an energy that channels through us during the period
06:22in which our bodies are alive, but when that period ends and our bodies die, our consciousness
06:27lives on elsewhere.
06:29In some visualisations, it's as though it floods back out into the universe, having
06:34spent a lifetime cooped up inside us.
06:36If this were ever scientifically confirmed, which it hasn't been so far, then could
06:40that process double up as heaven in reality?
06:44No matter how it's generated, though, one final way in which the true consciousness
06:48could be key is as a host for heaven.
06:51While we may not have definitive proof of this place that we're all supposed to be
06:54striving for, many report experiencing moments that feel transcendent or heavenly throughout
06:59their waking lives.
07:01These moments might occur during acts of kindness, whenever you strike up a profound connection
07:06with others, or simply when you witness the beauty and wonder of nature.
07:10Anecdotally, these are often said to leave the experiencer feeling lighter than usual,
07:15or feeling as though they've briefly seen themselves as though from the outside… so
07:19could it be that it's this level of contentment that really represents what heaven is?
07:24The German philosopher of the Enlightenment period, Immanuel Kant, was one who championed
07:29finding moral goodness within yourself.
07:32He believed, to some degree, that it's our actions that determine whether we experience
07:36heavenly or hellish states during our lifetime.
07:40Kant was a controversial figure in many ways, and a lot of his philosophy was seemingly
07:44guided by the Western religions of the day… but could his ideas be taken to mean that
07:49we might just as well enter heaven while we're living, as we would when we're not?
07:54That ultimately, it's all just in our heads?
07:57What's your verdict?
07:59Is heaven a real place, a state of mind, or simply wishful thinking?
08:03Is it somewhere we go when we die?
08:06A form that we take when our bodies give out?
08:08Or could it be found even long before we've breathed our last on Earth?
08:13For now, it's a question that's simply impossible to answer without factoring in
08:17faith.
08:18From a purely scientific point of view, because there's no proof for it, we might say that
08:23no, we don't go to heaven when we die.
08:26But the contemporary counter-argument might just as well point out that, in an era of
08:30the multiverse, parallel worlds, and the general weirdness of quantum mechanics, is a transcendental
08:36realm – better than anything we've ever known – really quite such a far-fetched
08:41jump to take?
08:43What do you think?
08:44Is there anything we missed?
08:45Let us know in the comments.
08:46Check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you subscribe and ring the bell
08:51for our latest content.