Is there some form of existence after death, or is the notion a product of wishful thinking about our own mortality? These questions have fascinated humans for millennia. Many approach the concept of an afterlife as a religious one, but in a recent Intelligence Squared debate, a physicist and three medical doctors put faith aside to debate life after death from a scientific perspective. In an Oxford-style debate, they faced off two against two on the motion "Death Is Not Final," considering the concepts of an afterlife as well as near-death experiences. In these events, the team that sways the most people by the end of the debate is declared the winner. Before the debate, the audience in New York's Kaufman Music Center voted 37 percent in favor of the motion and 31 percent against, with 32 percent undecided. After the debate, 42 percent agreed with the motion, while 46 percent were against, making the team arguing against the motion the winner of this particular debate.
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