Glenn used to say the reason you can't really imagine yourself being dead was that as soon as you say, 'I'll be dead,' you've said the word I, and so you're still alive inside the sentence. And that's how people got the idea of the immortality of the soul - it was a consequence of grammar.
In Margaret Atwood's novel "The Year of the Flood," the character Glenn presents an intriguing perspective on the concept of mortality. He suggests that the reason people struggle to envision their own death is tied to language itself. When one contemplates the phrase 'I'll be dead,' it inherently includes the word 'I,' indicating that the speaker is still present in the thought, thereby preserving a sense of existence.
This observation leads to a broader discussion about the immortality of the soul, which Glenn posits arises from this grammatical structure. Essentially, our ability to articulate our thoughts about death reinforces the idea that we continue to exist in some form, contributing to the belief in an eternal soul. This notion intertwines language, philosophy, and spirituality, illustrating how our methods of expression shape our understanding of life and death.
