HAVE YOU EVER THINK WHAT WILL HAPPENS WHEN YOU DIE?

In 2014, the Telegraph polled UK citizens, and just under 60% said they believe some part of us lives on. In the U.S., a Pew Research survey found that 72% of Americans believed they go to heaven, where people who have led good lives are eternally rewarded, while 54% of U.S. adults replied that they believed in hell, where people who have led bad lives and die without being sorry are eternally punished.

People believe that after death, they might be ensconced in some cloud-strewn paradise or, if they don't adhere to the ethics prescribed by their chosen religion, they might face eternal hellfire and the prospect of groveling to a bearded red man. The body experiences various types of death, including brain death, cardiac death, clinical death, and biological death.

Physicians know you're dead because the heart stops beating and there is no longer any electrical activity in your brain. Cardiac death means the heart stops beating and blood no longer flows through your body. People who have suffered cardiac death but have been brought back to life have said they were aware of what was going on around them.

If you get to the light and pass through, this is known as biological death, which is game over, the final whistle, and you're dead as a dodo. Once you're no longer with us, your muscles relax, and your sphincter will also release gas and cause a stink.

Men may even ejaculate, and women may give birth after death if they were pregnant. Coffin birth occurs when gases in the abdomen squeeze the newborn into the world, and noises may be emitted from the mouth as air escapes. Nurses and people working close to dead bodies have regularly reported hearing alive-sounding moans and groans coming from dead bodies.

In the aftermath of death, the body undergoes several stages of decomposition. The first stage is called "livor mortis," which causes dark purple color in parts of the body. This process begins with a cooling down called "algor mortis" or "death chill." The next stage is "rigor mortis," where calcium enters muscle cells and causes them to break down without blood flow, leading to bacteria growth and decomposition.

The skin recedes, giving the impression of growth, loosening, and blistering appear on the body. The next stage is putrefaction, where bacteria and microorganisms feast on the body. The smell is unholy and the soft tissues become liquefied, leaving bones, cartilage, and hair strong.

If the body is embalmed and buried, decomposition may be a slow process. Above ground, the body will be a liquefied mess within about a month, feasted on by insects, maggots, plants, and animals. Underground, it might take 8-12 years before the body is reduced to nothing but a skeleton. After around 50 years, even bones will become part of the Earth.

The rate of decomposition depends on various factors, but some people report a near-death experience as black emptiness with no thoughts or consciousness. French philosopher Rene Descartes believed that the soul was separate from the body, and perhaps something lingers on when we die.

Friedrich Nietzsche's concept of eternal recurrence suggests that all existence or energy in the universe will continue to repeat itself ad infinitum. This idea is similar to the Buddhist belief of the "Wheel of Samsara," where souls and lives begin a cycle again after death, called reincarnation. Some believe this cycle is connected to de ja vu. Buddhists believe that achieving nirvana can end this cycle. The question remains whether we will make our way to heaven after our bodies stop working, or will we be taken into paradise, filled with excellent food and beautiful maidens? Or will we simply seed the Earth, with our souls serving as a worldly fancy to distract from our cosmic insignificance and feelings of futility.