The idea that we can somehow 'survive our own deaths' (it sounds more ridiculous each time I hear it) is part of Cartesian Dualism. Descartes reasoned that the mind was made up of a 'non-physical' (again, a silly term) substance. It it used to reason souls, and it is the idea behind those switch movies whereby one person's mind can inhabit another's body. For a long time I was into a philosophy that professed that our consciousness will be preserved by other advanced civilizations through out the universe at the moment of our deaths, as consciousness was the highest value in the universe. I really liked that idea, I still do. We can speculate on all sorts of exotic ideas about if there is experience after our physical deaths, but all we know to date indicates there is nothing. Realizing this has really lit a fire under my ass (you mean this life isn't just a dress rehearsal, and it's all I'll ever have? Shit, I'd better get a move on and appreciate everything NOW!) Children are natural dualists, but I think it's proper, even noble, that we grow out of it...