The 2021 Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies (BICS) Essay Contest
What would it take to prove life after death?
A millionaire offered $1.8 million for the best evidence that consciousness survives death, drawing over 200 essays from 38 countries.
In 2020, aerospace entrepreneur Robert Bigelow founded the Bigelow Institute for Consciousness Studies with a bold mission: to scientifically explore whether human consciousness continues after physical death. The following year, he launched one of the richest essay contests in history, challenging scholars and researchers worldwide to present evidence for survival 'beyond a reasonable doubt'—the same standard used in criminal courts.
Key Findings
- The contest attracted 1,300 applications and 204 completed essays from 38 countries.
- The judges were so impressed by the quality that they struggled to select just three winners, eventually awarding prizes to 29 essays.
- The winners were celebrated at a gala in Las Vegas in December 2021.
What Is This About?
The institute invited researchers to submit essays arguing that human consciousness survives physical death, using the strict legal standard of 'beyond a reasonable doubt.' Seven judges from academic and research backgrounds evaluated the submissions over five months. They initially planned to award $950,000 in prizes, but the quality of entries prompted them to nearly double the prize pool to $1.8 million.
Descriptive report of an essay competition where authors submitted arguments for survival of consciousness, judged by a panel of seven academics and researchers using legal standards of evidence.
204 essays were received from 38 countries; 29 were awarded prizes after a five-month judging process; judges found the quality so high they increased the prize pool from $950,000 to $1.8 million.
How Good Is the Evidence?
204 essays from 38 countries—compared to typical academic conferences in parapsychology which might attract 50-100 submissions, this represents an unusually large international response to a specific research question.
Supporters see this as legitimizing survival research by attracting serious academic attention and significant funding to a marginalized field. Skeptics note that an essay contest evaluates arguments, not evidence, and that the 'beyond reasonable doubt' standard was applied to written arguments rather than to replicated experimental data. Critics also question whether financial incentives might bias submissions toward sensational rather than rigorous claims.
Mainstream: Essay contests are useful for generating hypotheses but don't constitute scientific evidence. Moderate: The contest successfully identified rigorous arguments for survival that deserve further empirical testing. Frontier: The high participation and quality suggest mainstream science is overlooking compelling evidence for post-mortem consciousness.
Many assume this study proves consciousness survives death. In fact, it only reports on a competition where people argued for that position—the study itself doesn't validate the scientific claims in the essays.
To scientifically establish survival of consciousness would require replicable experimental evidence under controlled conditions, not just persuasive arguments. This study meets the criterion of engaging many researchers (204 submissions) but does not provide empirical validation of survival claims.
BICS was founded in 2020 to communicate, facilitate, educate, and organize scientific research and exploration into the survival of human consciousness (SOHC) after permanent bodily death.
Stance: Mixed
What Does It Mean?
Like a science fair where students compete to prove a controversial theory, but with million-dollar stakes and PhD-level evidence standards.
Scientific consensus requires empirical evidence tested against controls, not just well-argued essays—quality of argumentation alone cannot substitute for experimental data.
Understanding Terms
What This Study Claims
Findings
The prize money was increased from $950,000 to $1,800,000 due to the high quality of submissions.
strongBICS received 204 essays from 38 countries for the essay contest on evidence for survival of consciousness.
strongMethodology
Essay contestants were challenged to present evidence for survival of human consciousness after death 'beyond a reasonable doubt.'
strongInterpretations
The judges found the standard of essays so high that they had difficulty choosing three top winners and eventually selected 29 essays for prizes.
moderateThis summary is for general information about current research. It does not constitute medical advice. The scientific interpretation of these results is debated among researchers. If personally affected, please consult qualified professionals.