Abstract

Ancient theories of life after death involve souls and gods. Reincarnation theories say an immortal soul travels from one mortal body to another. Lives are shaped by karmic laws, which may be retributive or progressive. Resurrection theories say that persons are bodies. After you die, God will revive your body, or reassemble it from its atoms, or recover it from information stored in the divine memory or your soul, or replicate it in another universe. Modern afterlife theories rely heavily on ideas from computer science. Life after death involves simulation, promotion, uploading, digital ghosts, and recursive self-improvement. The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics entails that some versions of your life never die.