h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

With an ageing population the prevalence of Alzheimer's Disease will probably grow. There have been several documentaries over the past year which have set me pondering on the subject. The disease often gets referred to as "the living death" as victims seems to die a little each day and eventually they seem to lose their identities completely.

Where does the "spirit" of the person lie during this confused period? Does the confusion carry over into the afterlife? Or does the very nature of this disease prove that our personality and memories are locked into our brains, which when damaged lose the bits containing our personality/memories, thus proving there is no spirit to go on to an afterlife/heaven? Or perhaps I'm confusing the terms spirit/identity/personality too much.

I'd be grateful to know what others think.

Hi Nightowl,

I agree, this does seem to be a problem for 'dualism' - the belief that mind and body are separate. Other similar problems would be any personality change caused by physical trauma (most famously Phineas Gage: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage). And, of course, all the advances in neuroscience that locate things such as memory in the physical brain.

The only counter-argument I can see is that some people believe in the existence of a physical afterlife, where people are 'made anew' (i.e. physically) by God.

Gif