Stephen Hawking believes 'digital' brain can provide form of 'life after death'

Stephen Hawking has claimed that the brain could exist even without the body, but the thought of an afterlife is a fairy tale.

During the premiere of a documentary film, titled ‘Hawking’, which is based on his life, the 71-year-old theoretical physicist said that he’s of the opinion that the brain is like a programme in the mind, which is like a computer, so it’s theoretically possible to copy the brain on to a computer and provide a form of life after death, the Guardian reported.

The author of A Brief History of Time, however, asserted that his previously described procedure is way beyond our present capabilities.

Hawking, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21, added that he believes that the conventional afterlife is a fairy tale for people who are afraid of the dark.