we die? And yet despite it being a worldwide,  universal curiosity, it's also a question that  

remains (in many ways) as unanswered today as  it has been for thousands of years before now.  

Our many advancements in science and technology  haven't really brought us any closer to finding  

out the truth… so even the most bizarre  theories can't be totally discredited.

This is Unveiled and today we're exploring four of  

the strangest theories on  what happens when we die.

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Studying what happens after death is a nearly  impossible task, with most scientific methods  

either falling short or failing to even begin.  Researchers can't observe the afterlife by  

sending a probe there; we can't find answers by  peering into someone's mind; and science can't  

even stage experiments direct, because having a  control group would require effectively killing  

the participants - which, to put it mildly, is  unethical. The closest anyone can really get to  

discovering (on a scientific basis) what happens  when we die would be by accidentally studying a  

dying person's brain before, during, and after  they pass. I.e., they'd have to have been inside  

something like an MRI machine (by chance)  at the exact time they died. And this did  

in fact happen in 2022, when an elderly man had  a heart attack while his brain was being scanned.  

We took a closer look in another recent video (so  be sure to check that out after this) but the main  

lesson learned in this particular case was that  there is neurological evidence that your life  

does flash before your eyes. But, still, as this  is just one case, academics are wary about drawing  

too wide a conclusion from it. All of which means  that science in general cannot say with certainty  

about what comes next... which leaves room for  many competing theories, ideas, and beliefs.

First, we head back to the Aztec Empire,  a reasonably short-lived but still majorly  

influential civilization in Earth's history.  For a time, Aztec rule dominated large parts  

of Mesoamerica, producing key advancements  ranging from roads, to medicines, from written  

law to poetry. On the darker side of the Aztec  story, however, there's a now infamous practice  

of human sacrifice. It's thought that thousands  were killed every year to appease the Aztec gods,  

with some estimates reaching as high as a quarter  million sacrifices made annually. It's further  

thought, however, that the sacrificial victims  themselves believed they had a bright afterlife  

ahead of them… because the Aztecs deemed it was  how you die, and not how you lived, that would  

most determine what happens to your soul. Warriors  who died in battle, women who died in childbirth,  

and victims of sacrifice, for example, were  promised afterlife honors… like being responsible  

for the raising of the sun. It was said that they  would then turn into beautiful creatures, too,  

like hummingbirds or butterflies. Meanwhile, in  some circumstances, including in accidental death,  

another version of paradise awaited. If you were  fortunate enough on Earth to live to old age,  

however, that would also be unfortunate… because  you'd have just earned a ticket to the underworld.  

People who died of natural causes were thought  to go on a grueling, years-long journey into the  

deepest depths of the afterlife where they would  be forced to serve the Aztec god of the dead. We  

can clearly see, then, how science has turned this  particular belief upside down in the modern world.

Next, and to another civilization  somewhat preoccupied with death;  

the Ancient Egyptians. For them, the process of  death (which doubled up as something of a trial)  

was an extremely important and detailed event that  the living were a part of as much as the deceased…  

and, so, the highest-ranking figures especially  were afforded all the rites and rituals possible.  

After mummification, it was said that the dead  individual, perhaps a pharaoh, would ride a boat  

through the underworld. The unsavory inhabitants  of this place included frightening, reptilian  

creatures and fire-breathing dragons... but the  dead could sail past. After next arriving in the  

land of the dead, Duat, a slightly more welcoming  place, it was said that the recently passed must  

then remember and recite various, specific spells…  and only then were they able to finally move into  

the judgment room. Now, the belief was that their  literal heart would be weighed against a feather  

of truth, with the case of the dead presided  over by the Gods above. If the scales fell equal,  

then that person was granted immortality in the  afterlife. But if the scales didn't match, they  

were to be devoured by a part-hippo, part-lion,  part-crocodile demon called Ammit - otherwise  

known as the eater of hearts. The living could  help the dead toward the better outcome, though,  

by burying them with valuables, leaving offerings,  and writing spells on their coffins. But still the  

worst fate in Ancient Egypt was to not have a  chance of an afterlife at all. Those who were  

deemed to have disobeyed the pharaoh were met  with a fearful “double death” by decapitation,  

with the idea being that this prevented you from  even having the opportunity to live forever.

Today, we can speak so vividly about Egyptian  beliefs because they left relatively detailed  

records, but that's not the case with all groups…  and one culture that's popular now despite  

fewer surviving records is the Norse vikings.  Nevertheless, what is known is that the Norse  

also placed a high value on how someone died,  with the ultimate goal being to die in battle  

so that you'd be taken to Valhalla, rather than  the frosty world of Hel. Here, you could expect  

to meet with the other gods, to eat, drink, and  battle some more… and all in preparation for the  

true end of the world, occurring long after  your own demise, Ragnarok. But, to the Norse,  

dying could lead someone down multiple paths, too…  an idea perhaps related to the belief that the  

soul had different parts, as well. A dead person  could end up in a number of separate locations,  

then. They could die and remain on Earth,  inhabiting their coffin or their house,  

or they could find themselves transformed into  an especially malevolent spirit known as a  

Draugr. There were more positive options, though,  including the possibility of being reincarnated  

upon death… and perhaps even returning to  Earth as one of your very own descendants.

But finally, and today's last “theory” isn't  from an ancient culture or specific civilization;  

rather, it spawned from a particular and  much-adapted short story written by the US author  

Andy Weir. It's called the Egg Theory and the idea  borrows from certain other popular concepts in  

major religions, like God and reincarnation, but  presents a unique perspective on them. The story  

follows a character who dies and meets with  God, at which point he's told something strange;  

that time is only a construct and a human  invention, and therefore that it isn't real.  

But that reincarnation is real, and according  to the Egg Theory it happens every time you die.  

This means you can be reincarnated at any time  throughout history, and as any person. In fact,  

you eventually will be reincarnated as any  (and every) person, because the Egg Theory  

says that there's actually only one soul  in the entire world, and it's your own.  

In essence, the idea is that everyone who has ever  been alive has also been the very same person,  

reincarnated into every life possible billions and  billions of times over. Every person you've ever  

helped has been yourself, then, and every person  you've ever hurt has also been you. And there's a  

reason for this reincarnation as well. In the  story, God tells the recently dead character  

that their constant respawning enables them  to mature enough to become the next God  

themselves. Broadly, then, it's a particularly  thought provoking version of the afterlife,  

because it presents an entirely new perspective  to everyone's living lives. At one point in time,  

as per the Egg way of thinking, you've  been Cleopatra, Gandhi, Albert Einstein,  

Abraham Lincoln… and you've also been every  single person you've ever hated or loved.  

As well as every single person  you've never actually met before.

It's important to note that the word theory  is used here in a general sense and not a  

scientific one. To a scientist, a theory is  a well-tested set of explanations for the  

natural world that have repeatedly been shown  to be consistent. But here, a theory is more  

a guess or idea that someone or some people  have about something unknowable. Ultimately,  

there are no strictly scientific theories about  what happens when someone dies, because there's  

no way to know or test it. That massive mystery  might always be there for us... but still, we'll  

forever try to make sense of it. So, which of the  ideas in this video are you most intrigued by?

What do you think? Is there anything we missed?  Let us know in the comments, check out these other  

clips from Unveiled, and make sure you subscribe  and ring the bell for our latest content.