Discussion and investigation into the persistence of individual consciousness beyond death continues. The subject remains unresolved.
One of the problems is the extreme subjectivity of the "contact".
To provide a small measure of objectivity, we suggest the creation of an "Afterlife blockchain" system.
The premise is simple. An individual places a piece of information in a secure, non-public location ("box") which could be on a website or newsgroup. This could be a word or phrase, a picture, or a sound file. The important point is that the item should be non-obvious to both the sender and recipient and should not relate to any aspect of their personal histories or interactions; for example, names of pets, relatives, or workplaces would be deprecated.
They then inform those they intend to attempt to contact of the details of the location, but no information about the item itself.
If a designated contact believes they have received a message ("I thought I heard Jane's voice singing 'As time goes by'") , they post the information in the specified location. A disinterested third party, preferably a bot, compares the details of the reported contact with those in the previously filed "box". Doubtful cases are referred for scrutiny by a human.
Should the match be deemed "close", the results are released into the public domain. The prior creation of the "key" in a secure location gives some confidence that the outcome is not a result of random chance.
At a simple level this could be done by simply placing the information in a sealed envelope "to be opened in the event of alleged contact" which is then given to a third party with no knowledge of the content.
Suggestions as to how this system can be made rigorous, and resistant to manipulation or abuse (since the whole area is notorious for fakery, crime and exploitation), will be given due consideration.-- 8th of 7, Feb 09 2020 I just use our "Cardinal Couples" visits as signs of the afterlife. It's never failed. When it's a male who has passed the beautiful scarlet male cardinal is there, in the morning, the day after. If it was a female the less brilliant cardinal arrives in a day or so and sits by herself on our front tree.
Never fails. And when I was working with Alzheimer's residents that was a lot of birdwatching, let me tell you.-- blissmiss, Feb 09 2020 [blissmiss] - that's nice.-- DenholmRicshaw, Feb 09 2020 // If it was a female the less brilliant cardinal arrives in a day or so and sits by herself on our front tree //
Does the Pope know about this ?-- 8th of 7, Feb 09 2020 //Suggestions as to how this system can be made rigorous, and resistant to manipulation or abuse (since the whole area is notorious for fakery, crime and exploitation),//
By not running it?-- pocmloc, Feb 09 2020 [Max] would you mind encrypting a random word, pasting the text, and then giving one of us the private key? Then if you die you can try your hardest to tell one of us what the word is. In three months the private key can be released, and if the decrypted text matches that's decent evidence.-- Voice, Feb 09 2020 I'm not sure if there's WiFi where I'm likely to end up.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 09 2020 You don't mean... wales ?
How horrible...-- 8th of 7, Feb 09 2020 Tontine^2020-- reensure, Feb 10 2020 Of course, any deceased person who *truly* had the ability to communicate with the living would just pass unnoticed as a Human Resources Manager.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 10 2020 Hah. Sense of Humor still intact, a good sign.-- blissmiss, Feb 10 2020 Think wider than our universe's tiny now.
It will be hard to send the information from a new where as a new entity. An imagination strong enough to jump the empty, can surpass the infinite.-- wjt, Feb 15 2020 random, halfbakery