Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor

Oh.

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Oh.

Yeah. Yeah. I think about this in a few different ways. I think about the idea that death is something we have to contemplate. We don't get out of doing it. And a lot of really smart, really wonderful people have gone before us who've thought about it and come up with ideas around God and the afterlife and in multiple religions, in multiple cultures, in multiple times in history.

Yeah. Yeah. I think about this in a few different ways. I think about the idea that death is something we have to contemplate. We don't get out of doing it. And a lot of really smart, really wonderful people have gone before us who've thought about it and come up with ideas around God and the afterlife and in multiple religions, in multiple cultures, in multiple times in history.

Yeah. Yeah. I think about this in a few different ways. I think about the idea that death is something we have to contemplate. We don't get out of doing it. And a lot of really smart, really wonderful people have gone before us who've thought about it and come up with ideas around God and the afterlife and in multiple religions, in multiple cultures, in multiple times in history.

I don't need to know whether that's true or not to be able to see whether it's helpful or not. And I can say a couple of things. Religion often offers a community, a social support, which we've just been talking about, is so vitally important. So that's one function that it serves outside of belief, really, to some degree.

I don't need to know whether that's true or not to be able to see whether it's helpful or not. And I can say a couple of things. Religion often offers a community, a social support, which we've just been talking about, is so vitally important. So that's one function that it serves outside of belief, really, to some degree.

I don't need to know whether that's true or not to be able to see whether it's helpful or not. And I can say a couple of things. Religion often offers a community, a social support, which we've just been talking about, is so vitally important. So that's one function that it serves outside of belief, really, to some degree.

I mean, not outside of it, because obviously you fit with these people because you belong with them, because you have a shared belief, right? Right.

I mean, not outside of it, because obviously you fit with these people because you belong with them, because you have a shared belief, right? Right.

I mean, not outside of it, because obviously you fit with these people because you belong with them, because you have a shared belief, right? Right.

I think one of the things that's really challenging, one of my graduate students now, a professor at Emory University named Roman Politsky, looks at this idea of spirituality and religion and notes that while it can be very supportive for people who are grieving, it can also be a moment where our beliefs are challenged. how could God let this happen? How could a benevolent God let this happen?

I think one of the things that's really challenging, one of my graduate students now, a professor at Emory University named Roman Politsky, looks at this idea of spirituality and religion and notes that while it can be very supportive for people who are grieving, it can also be a moment where our beliefs are challenged. how could God let this happen? How could a benevolent God let this happen?

I think one of the things that's really challenging, one of my graduate students now, a professor at Emory University named Roman Politsky, looks at this idea of spirituality and religion and notes that while it can be very supportive for people who are grieving, it can also be a moment where our beliefs are challenged. how could God let this happen? How could a benevolent God let this happen?

Those sorts of things. And what he finds is if you think about sort of spiritual quest or existential quest, that the loss of someone close to you is often this turning moment and that that actually can be incredibly difficult and sort of add a whole layer of stress and disruption in grieving. So it isn't

Those sorts of things. And what he finds is if you think about sort of spiritual quest or existential quest, that the loss of someone close to you is often this turning moment and that that actually can be incredibly difficult and sort of add a whole layer of stress and disruption in grieving. So it isn't

Those sorts of things. And what he finds is if you think about sort of spiritual quest or existential quest, that the loss of someone close to you is often this turning moment and that that actually can be incredibly difficult and sort of add a whole layer of stress and disruption in grieving. So it isn't

universally good to have religious beliefs or community because we can find ourselves at odds suddenly with what we believed before. But I think about it in one other way as well. So, you know, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool neuroscientist. I think that when I fall head over heels for this person, that that becomes encoded in my neurons, I also think that that's proof that they are everlasting.

universally good to have religious beliefs or community because we can find ourselves at odds suddenly with what we believed before. But I think about it in one other way as well. So, you know, I'm a dyed-in-the-wool neuroscientist. I think that when I fall head over heels for this person, that that becomes encoded in my neurons, I also think that that's proof that they are everlasting.