How can communication with ancestors be explained without magic?

The world I'm currently writing is an alternative Earth with Space Age tech that advanced much faster than our Earth because of Ancestral Guidance:

1. In the middle of every graveyard, there is a patch of special material (called Pactite). Once a person is buried in this graveyard, his memories and brainpower become eligible for Guidance.
2. Upon the birth of someone with a Guidance-eligible Ancestor, one of their ancestors randomly gets assigned as their Guide. From this point on, they are bonded until death (exceptions apply, see below) in an Ancestral Bond.
3. A person with a Guide can mentally talk with their Guide and ask them to do things within the power of the Guide, but they do not have direct control over the Guide. the Guide has heightened senses with reduced limits and can think independently of the Guided one, but cannot directly interact with the world or other ancestors.
4. At the age of 12, a ritual involving the ingestion of Pactite empowers the bond between the Guide and their Guided One into an Ancestral Pact. This pact has the following consequences:
   • The Pacted obtains direct control over the ancestor's senses and mental acuity.
   • The Ancestor remains as a voice inside the head to give advice.
   • The Ancestor can directly communicate with other ancestors nearby.
5. Further ingestion of Pactite gives a temporary second Guide for 24 hours, but with a recovery period of 3 days involving reduced effectiveness of pactite ingestion and severe withdrawal symptoms. Ingesting Pactite while having the temporary second guide has a 50/50 chance of either making the second guide permanent or destroying all existing bonds permanently.

This Ancestral Guidance is essentially the gimmick of the world, but my problem is that I'm hoping to create a world where everything is explained through technology, and having your ancestors around kinda implies an afterlife, which I don't want. The Pactite started around 1300 BCE through alien intervention, so I don't mind having ultra high-tech solutions that would be impossible for that tech level, as long as they actually address the fact that memories and personalities from the deceased can be passed on.

I've read How could ghosts be explained without an afterlife?, and it kinda works, but it doesn't go far enough. This is more than just random traces of people remaining behind. This is about an entire imprint of the deceased applying itself to their offspring.

I have considered a solution like Assassin's Creed handles this, where your genetic code contains the memory of ancestors, but I don't like the major plothole where even memories after conception are passed on, and where you can even have memories from siblings passed on.

posted almost 8 years ago

Nzall‭

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