The jury is still out on whether life after death is real, even though most of the world’s religions claim to know the answer. Scientifically, there is very little evidence of the human spirit living on outside of the body. And yet, some people claim to have caught a glimpse of the afterlife, having gone through so-called near-death experiences (NDEs).
According to Mr Nye, most people imagine life after death involves our spirits taking on an idealised version of ourselves from our past.
However, Mr Nye argued this is highly improbable because most people tend to die at an old age, making it unusual for the spirit to not resemble us at the moment of our death.
He said: “Everybody is going to die. I have never met anyone who is not going to die.
“I’ve never met anyone who is of a certain age who’s not already dead. It sucks!
“Now here’s the evidence for why I don’t believe in an afterlife.”
“And so watching ourselves die is to me, overwhelming evidence that there is no life after death.
“There’s certainly no — it doesn’t seem to be any reason to think that when you die, you go back to your optimum age at your optimum athletic ability in your optimum intellectual sharpness.”
Mr Nye added: “Evolution, if it were an entity, doesn’t really care about you, man.
“You had your kids, your genes are passed on and you expire.
“You lose your faculties as you run out of steam and that’s just how it is.”
According to Manchester Metropolitan University Neil Dagnall and Ken Drinkwater, there is no definitive answer for why some people claim to have seen the afterlife.
However, the researchers said ongoing studies will shed more light on the phenomenon.
In a 2018 article for The Conversation, they said: “Whether paranormal or not, near-death experiences are extremely important.
“They provide meaning, hope, and purpose for many people, while offering an appreciation of the human desire to survive beyond death.”