Matter/energy can't be created or destroyed, just change states. So we will still "exist" forever, however any sort of continuing consciousness is pretty unlikely. But fear and our egos don't let us rest at ease with that.

All of the particles making up our bodies/minds also used to be part of other creatures and things. People wonder, what will it be like after we die? To which I offer, what was it like before you were born?

That's a simple version and the Universe likes simple. However, there are effects from Karma. For instance, people who have been hypnotically regressed to a previous life report they were hanged as a Republican. In this life they seem to have back and neck problems that nobody can fix.

Nope...I realise its not your own theory, but I’m not on the same wavelength on this I’m afraid. I don’t believe there’s any connection between one person dying and another being born, unless genetically they are related of course. I don’t believe sleeping and dying are in any way compatible as when we sleep our brain is still active..we just aren’t usually aware of it, whereas when we die it’s because our brain has ceased to function.

We do get reincarnated. Well, not "we" as in our consciousness/ our self; but, when we die, the energy and atoms that gave us form continue on-- becoming part of other life forms (plants, animals, bacteria etc); and, perhaps, even non-living things.

There are over 7 billion people on the earth. Ten years ago there were 6 billion. Where did those extra billion come from. Aliens maybe ?

WTF,
A) when one goes into R.E.M. sleep ( aka Deep sleep) the Conscious mind/brain switches to a kind of 'stand-by' mode while the Sub-Conscious mind/brain takes over and sorts through and collates the information , etc, gained during the waking period previously experienced.
B) Neural pathways, synapse, etc, are being constantly built, amended and re-wired every day of your life,
C) an Unborn child from approx. the 2nd-3rd week of the Second Trimester already has in place a rudimentary Brain to Spinal Chord to Nerve to Muscles system in place and is already developing an awareness of itself, its immediate surroundings, etc, etc,
D) as is often the case in some people, they waken and feel that they have either, not slept, have only slept for a very short time or have been asleep for a very long time, this usually occurs because instead of the Conscious part of the brain/mind has either, not gone into a deep enough stand-by state, has gone too deeply into that state or has not gone into 'stand-by' at all,
E) even when one wakes the memories, etc, from the days, weeks, months, years, etc, are still with you UNLESS you have suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury, Severe Amnesia, Cardio-Vascular Incident such as a very severe Stroke or ruptured brain embolism, etc,
F) Very few anaesthetic drugs actually affect the memory, one in particular, called Medazelan, does suppress the memory partially and only suppresses the actual memory of the medical procedure that the patient needs to undergo at the time.
Medazilan is widely prescribed and used with young children and teenaged patients who need to undergo such cancer treatments as Bone Marrow Biopsies, etc., just as Amethocain is used to anaesthetize, locally, the area/s where injects, etc, are going to be given.
Ergo, no-one actually 'dies' when they sleep and is re-born anew when they wake, that IS just a myth.

I just can'''t accept that a part of me can exist without my brain and body. There is no evidence that humans even have a spirit or soul. Like most of the scientific world, I am no dualist. To believe such a thing would require an act of faith. Consciousness is brain matter that allows us to notice our thoughts and feelings.

Another straw to grasp at in the futile hope that our little lives won't end.

One man's crazy is another man's sane.

To the author of the original post: No, you’re not going crazy! You’ve probably always been this way ...

(Besides: During most phases of sleep and other forms of unconsciousness and semi-consciousness, a lot of brain activity is going on. We just don’t remember it, or the memories are hard to retrieve.)

Nope not crazy, it is just not very easily proven with reality. Religions have the same problem.

There is no second or after=life of any sort. When a human being dies, it ceases to be a living organism and immediately begins to decay. If not embalmed, that corpse ceases to exist at all within weeks. The human mind, and human awareness, cannot and does not exist outside of the living human brain. Both are simply gone upon death of the body and mind. The only "recycling" is of individual atoms and molecules, which have no awareness.

This makes little sense. More humans are born than die at any given time. Just look at human population counts over the ages. So unless the dead are splitting into 1.n the math gets screwed up real fast. Basic elementary school maths is all you need for all of life's big questions.

It's all conjecture, not valid, and yet possible or probable, it sucks not knowing for sure. Something to mentally play with.

Yes, I believe that fits the definition of going too crazy. Why do we have to seek such convoluted and baseless theories just to continue protecting ourselves from feeling the fear of dying?
That is why I said in one of my first posts in this site, that being an atheist is to be brave because we accept that life is just this, without the protective net of a god, and without the irrational comfort of an after life.
Everyone can think and believe anything they want, but constantly trying to escape the fear of dying does nothing to elevate us toward self actualización.

What is there to distinguish the fetus that is 'you' from any other fetus?

It's as good as any I heard. When my.son was were told me we were black before. He said I was his best friend's mother and he wanted me to be his mother this time. He spoke of it at the Montessori school, and other weird things. when he was 5 or 6 he didnt mention it. Until he heard me telling my best friend I had to miss her party. my daughter had a fever and didnt want to get her grandson sick, but disappointed he wouldnt meet her son Corey. Roark said I know Corey, and I told him he never met him. He said, Uh I've known him about 600 years. I was like huh, and he went on to say Corey was his best friend and I was his mom.

My thoughts on reincarnation are similar to my.thoughts if Jesus existed or was god. The existence or non existence makes no difference to me. I used to have out of body experiences when in my teens and as a young adult. I didnt know what it meant, but the experience of being me without my body added to my not believing the religion dogma I was taught made sense. A lot was missing. Nice someone else has some "crazy" thoughts.

I guess you could look at it like this as a matter of personal perspective, but what this guy suggests is not radical or different. People die and people are born, completely normal. The speculation is that one specific event is linked to another specific event, based on nothing I can see. He or she isn't crazy. I'd suggest the term underdetermined. Too many unknowns, not enough equations.

Yeah, they are going crazy. The brain is highly active during the sleep cycles (APA define four BPA five, but in essence very similar). It has to keep us alive and process what has gone on since it last had an update or defrag.
During sleep we also have to be aware for dangers, thus we move through stages of sleep until we are woken or have processed everything.
We also sleep to physically rest and repair ourselves.
Rebirth? Hmm, interesting approach. If thought and our 'souls' are energy, and energy cannot be destroyed but only transfered in nature, then perhaps at least part of us could be reborn... But probably not.

I’m agnostic and don’t know what happens, but it seems logical for me that there is some transfer of energy when one life pops, or fades, out of existence.
But I’ve said this differently once before on this site and know most disagree I’m happy to put off dying as long as I can and find out then.

Theories on reincarnation are all bullshit, you die, that's it, get over it

The fact ; is that it's none of DAMN business
is ther heaven " none of DAMN business "
reincarnation " none of DAMN business "
Return to Dust " none of DAMN business "
Anything else " none of DAMN business "

My business is ; how do i interect with our planet (even including people) on a subject to subject basis .

Where did that 'swap' come from? I see nothing in the story to support that. I know that some religions, such as Islam, indeed compare the state of sleeping to (a temporary) death. [agnostic.com] ?

It’s a neat thought.