And it's the one unknown all of us will face.

這是我們都會面對的未知領域。

So, what if our existence wasn't temporary?

如果我們的存在不是暫時的？

What if there was life after death?

如果死後還有生命？

How long can your brain live after you die?

你的腦袋在你死後可以活多久？

Could your loved ones still communicate with you?

你的親人們還是能跟你溝通嗎？

And does your body contain the zombie gene?

你的體內有殭屍基因嗎？

This is WAHT IF, and here's what would happen if there were life after death.

這是 WHAT IF，我們要來看如果死後還有生命會發生什麼事？

According to a study in the year 2013, 72％ of Americans believe in an afterlife.

根據 2013 年的研究，72% 的美國人相信死後世界。

And some people, like Professor Robert Lanza, have proposed a theory that death is just a figment of our imagination.

有些像 Robert Lanza 教授的人提出理論說死亡只是我們虛構的想像。

The theory states that death has no actual boundaries that define it, and therefore, it just isn't real in the sense that you've been trained to accept.

這個理論認為死亡沒有明確的範圍定義它，因此這不是我們真正被訓練來接受的感覺。

We perceive the sky as blue, but if the cells in our brain changed to make us think the sky was green, our perception of reality could all be faulty programming.

我們認為天空是藍的，但如果我們的腦細胞改變，讓我們覺得天空是綠的，我們對現實的認知就會變成完全錯誤的編碼。

So, is the sky blue, or is it all just in our heads?

所以天空是藍的，還是這只是我們腦袋認為的？

If our final moments on Earth are all just an illusion, does that mean you can come back from death?

如果我們在地球上的最後一個畫面只是虛像的話，不就代表你可以死而復生嗎？

At what point do you stop living and become dead?

你在什麼程度會停止生存和變成死人？

First, remember that death is a process, not an absolute.

首先，記得死亡只是過程，並不是一定的。

And for 95% of people, the process starts when the heart stops beating.

對 95% 的人來說，死亡是從心臟停止跳動開始。

After that, your breathing stops and your muscles lose tension.

之後你的呼吸停止，你的肌肉失去緊緻。

It's just a matter of time before your brain shuts down, but you're not on the other side yet.

這只是你腦袋停止運作的時間問題，但你還沒到死後世界。

A study called AWARE⏤AWAreness during REsuscitation⏤looked at thousands of survivors of cardiac arrest who had been pronounced dead.

一項叫認知和復活的研究，簡稱 AWARE，觀察上千位心跳中止過且被宣布死亡的存活者。

Some of the people interviewed recalled the exact moments of their death, and they reported seeing and hearing the events leading to their resuscitations.

有些受訪者回想得起來他們死亡的當下，他們說可以看到和聽到帶領他們去復活的徵兆。

How is that possible?

怎麼有可能？

Well, it turns out that your brain can remain alive for up to 10 minutes after your heart stops.

結論是你的腦袋可以在你心跳停止後，繼續活躍長達十分鐘。

That means you might hear the doctor declaring you dead.

就代表你可能聽到醫生在宣佈你的死亡。

9% of people who had a near-death experience described floating above their body, tethered by an invisible string.

9% 有經歷過瀕死經驗的人形容那就像從他們身體裡飄出來，被一條隱形的細繩拴住。

While you might hear everything going on, your body would remain dead without oxygen or blood pumping to your organs.

你可能會聽到所有的事，不過你的身體沒有氧氣和血液打入你的器官，仍會維持死亡。

But what would be going on inside you?

但你體內會發生什麼事？

Well, while rigor mortis sets in and your muscles begin to stiffen, other cells would just be getting to work.

死後僵直會讓你的肌肉開始變硬，其他細胞會開始工作。

Over the next 12 hours, your body would start to shut down fully.

12 小時過後，你的身體會完全停止運作。

And during this time, some genes stimulate inflammatory cells called glial cells to clean the inside of your brain.

在這段期間，有一些基因叫神經膠質細胞會刺激炎性細胞清理你的腦袋。

These cells would continue to expand and thrive while your body grows colder and your other systems shut down.

當你的身體越來越冷而身體其他系統也停止運作，這些細胞會繼續延伸跟成長。

These "zombie genes" would grow arm-like appendages and develop while the genes in your brain disintegrate.

當你腦袋裡的基因衰變時，這些「殭屍基因」會像軍隊般附著在器官上並成長。

But once you're dead, would your loved ones ever be able to communicate with you again?

但當你死亡時，你的親人們可以再次跟你溝通嗎？

Before the development of infrared photography, seances were common among family and friends who wanted to speak to their dead loved ones.

在紅外線攝像技術發明以前，降神會是家庭跟朋友間很常用來跟死去親人對話的媒介。

Now, we have the technology to prove a fake spiritual encounter, but since we don't have definitive proof of life after death, it's understandable that many people find peace in the thought of talking to their dearly-departed.

現在我們有科技來證明假的撞鬼經驗，但因為我們沒有死後生活的確鑿證據，所以許多人透過與他們離世的親人對話，來找到平靜是可以理解的。

But what if we did have prove of what happens after death?

但如果我們對死後的世界有證據呢？

I mean, if we could prove that something else was waiting for us after we leave our bodies, our perceptions of this life might grow dim.

如果我們可以證明在脫離肉體後有其他東西在等待我們，那我們對生命的認知就會變得黯然。

But the end of our lives may not be a spiritual experience at all.

但我們生命的結束可能不會是超自然的經驗。

Instead of seeing a white light, you might see ones and zeroes.

你可能會看到 1 跟 0 而不是白光。

Ray Kurzweil, Director of Engineering at Google, predicts that we could upload digital copies of our brains online.

Google 工程部經理 Ray Kurzweil，預測說可以把我們的腦袋複製成數位，並上傳到網路上。

If your consciousness was uploaded into the cloud, your mind would live on as long as the server lasts.

如果你的認知被上傳到雲端，你的心智就可以活得跟伺服器一樣久。

So, you might wanna think of paying for some backup storage.

所以你可能會想付一些錢買備用儲存空間。

If we could prove there is life after death, you might view yourself and your life with a renewed sense of wonder and appreciation for what you have now.

如果我們可以證明死後的世界，你可能會對你自己和你的人生有全新的驚訝感，以及感謝你現在所擁有的。

But what if you didn't have the time to appreciate your life on Earth?

但如果你沒有時間感謝你在地球上的人生呢？

What if you only lived for 24 hours?

如果你只能活 24 小時呢？

Well, that's a story for another WHAT IF.

那是 WHAT IF 的另一個故事了。