Reprinted from Huffington Post 9-Aug 2013
What do you think happens when your time runs out [death]? Does it all go black or something else? — R.B.
My short answer is death is the end of consciousness, of existence. I do not believe there is anything beyond — no heaven or hell, no returning of the spirit, no reincarnation. I don’t believe those things because the evidence for those claims is poor. The evidence is strong, however, that our brain is responsible for our “consciousness,” so when the brain is deprived of the means to function, the sense of self is gone as well as our physical functions ceased.
To some people that seems so cold, final, and unsatisfying. It’s none of those things to me. While I don’t place a spiritual meaning on death, I have a humanist view of it. So here is the longer answer.