Oblivion is a rational conclusion for lack of confidence in a supernatural system. If there is no basis for spiritual interactions then what you're left with is that big meaty lump in your skull. So before it was there, you didn't exist, after it's gone, you won't exist. Both are cases of non-existence, so to be dead is the same as before you were alive.
But that 'rational' conclusion is riddled with assumptions.
Most notably, that we know anything about before we were alive. The only conclusion I can come to about before I was alive is that I have no memories of it.
I agree that the brain and the mind are strongly linked, but to say one causes the other or vice versa is impossible at the moment. Yes, it's a safe assumption to say if the brain changes, so does the mind. But what's to stop the brain from reforming? Afterall it won't 'go', merely change shape and evidence suggests come back in a few googelplex years. That's a massive extrapolation with our limited knowledge of the laws of physics, but an equal one to saying we'll cease to exist.
This is funny....... you ask about unobserverable things and I think of the Atom, and you think of Spiritual stuff. Interesting. Cuz I gotta tell ya, I don't believe in Atoms, either!
Except, the atom is observable.
Not directly observable, but their effects can be seen. Some spiritual things can be disproven, but only the ones that need to be observable in order for them to be true.
Haha, likewise. I came into this thread thinking of Dark Energy, Dark Matter, the Higgs boson/field, gravity, and time. I realized it was spiritually centered and quickly got bored.
Those are all very observable though. It would have been false advertising to put them in this thread.
I suppose 'unobserved' would have been a better word.
This isn't spiritually centered. None of the examples I gave in the OP are anymore spiritual than physics.