This is a lengthy thread, so i don't know if my commentary will be unique or not.

Maximum comprehension of science and of the cosmos greatly diminishes apprehension about mortality. When you see the earth as insignificant as a grain of sand on an anthill, a human life seems unfathomably irrelevant.

Of course, even a scientifically-rooted mind is not impervious to the spectrum of emotion native to human existence. We have a mental advantage over animals, but often a seemingly disadvantageous emotional status. The complexities of human emotion can be crippling; it seems like it would be easier if we were more inclined to follow no more than our fight-or-flight instincts.

I for one have no expectations when I die. If I retain any form of consciousness after death, it would be a pleasant surprise. If I had nothing more than the memories I made during mortality, I would have a blissful eternity.

I've vaguely felt that all human consciousness is homogeneous, viz. that at one point all our thoughts and emotions and consciousness was one defined entity, and will at some point be restored to one great whole. Perhaps heightened consciousness is similar to raw matter; eons ago it was a condensed whole, gets dispersed during a prolonged temporal existence, and is ultimately re-condensed to a perfect, refined form.

It reminds me of the literal state of Israel. It was once a centralized group, then was scattered in a diaspora, and according to divinely revealed promises, will be gathered together whole, in a more excellent state because of refinement, persecution, and individual strength (no I don't mean when the U.N. tried to make a nation of Israel after WW2, I mean when the messiah restores them). K i could go off all day. I'm not actively religious, but i believe in much of what religion is based upon