Discussion Do you think you have an immortal soul?

[Anonymoususer1234]

My sister says that everyone has a soul that goes with them when they die. But when she's pressed about it she can't answer even the most basic questions.

Questions like: "Where do souls come from?" or "How are they different from the brain?" or "Why do you think you have a soul? Is there any kind of evidence?"

She always changes the subject or says that I have an obligation to respect her beliefs. But I value intellectual honesty more than I value "respecting beliefs".

That said, I was wondering what you guys think? Do you believe in an immortal soul?

 

[crimsonpool]

sort of? i believe in reincarnation but i honestly couldn't tell you how a soul is different from your brain or anything like that. my only reasoning is personal experience and just more "i hope they're real" rather than "i'm sure they're real". i understand why other people dont believe in souls though, i wouldn't be surprised if once you die that's it

 

[TheSpookyNameGuy]

No i don't, if anything i could see life happening over but that's the only one i can say perhaps to.

Just because I'm here from the void, the big bang if you will.

I believe im already dead and my life is solidified, what i am now is a snail trail of something long past.

I just imagined i was real and in control for all those years.

 

[Forever Sleep]

I'm kind of on the fence really. I had a spiritual upbringing (rather than orthodox religious) and lost quite a few members of my family in early childhood. So- I suppose ideas about the soul and afterlife used to be comforting. Plus- I feel like there are mysteries on this earth. Maybe one day science will explain them. I don't know. Maybe part of our emotional make up is to be delluded by ideas of magic and mystery. There's stuff I sort of believe in but can't explain. I suppose people who truly believe tend to go on their feelings/ gut instinct rather than facts.

Maybe in that way- it's more like emotion- like- logically and rationally explain the feeling of love. I'm not sure that we can. We can probably say what we find appealing about someone and what the emotion feels like to us but there's that something extra that's hard to put into words. Why do we feel more connected to some people/ places/ things rather than others? Is it ALL just a simple process of exchange? I don't know- it's hard to describe.

My Nana was kind of a white witch- she definitely had intuition about things. Like- where does that come from? I've had a couple of experiences I couldn't explain: This random thought to hide something when we went out once. I ignored it because it seemed irrational- after which someone destroyed a part of it. I also had a dream that then happened for real. I know they're not exactly 'soul' related but they're time related and kind of weird.

Some other relatives of mine did that Ouija board and apparently 'got through' to a distant relative. My Grandma was the only one who recognised the name and she withdrew from the rest of it but according to her- the answers were accurate. My family aren't the sort to lie about stuff. My Dad also said he saw the ghost of my Great Grandmother when he was a child and I supposedly saw my Mum. (She died when I was 3.) Still- supposedly, it's not uncommon for children to 'see' dead relatives. I don't know. I know I can hallucinate though- mostly just after waking up my mind will 'see' stuff in the room that isn't there.

I guess I've always liked the idea of soulmates too- people you are destined to meet and feel like you have been connected to for some time. Still- I hate the thought of reincarnation!

But yeah- I don't really see much science behind it. I believe a scientist (Duncan Macdougall) tried to weigh the soul once... It's 21g apparently... but I think that was discredited! People often talk about energy transference- that energy can't be created or destroyed- only transfered. Still- I see our energy as being linked biologically to our brains and bodies which do transfer their energy when we die by rotting into the earth and feeding the insects, or feeding the flames in cremation.

I suppose logically and scientifically speaking- I just don't see it. I think it makes more sense that- seeing how huge the human ego is- we tell ourselves these stories because we can't handle being mortal. Still- for me- there is this other part of me that loves the romanticism I suppose of spirituality.

 

[Davey36000]

You are it.

 

[bellinda]

I do not believe in a soul and haven't since I was young. Life is linear: you're born, you live, and you die. What is the soul? Is it your mind? Is it some magical force keeping you alive (hard to believe when you've studied biology and understand the biological processes down to the molecular levels). We are a human, a living system, just like any other complex living being.

 

[GreyCTB]

Yes, I believe in a soul due to all NDE related research I have read about. There are some phenomena which suggest that human consciousness does exist outside of the body, for example patients who undergo life threatening surgery and see the surgeons operating on them while they are anesthetized, etc. These are well established phenomena that happen to people of all ages and cultures, and cannot be explained with purely materialistic reasoning, leading me to believe that human beings do have a soul.

Asking somebody specific questions like where souls come from is like asking someone that lived before microscopes were invented how atoms or molecules work. Maybe they would have had evidence or reasoning to point towards atoms/molecules existing (and some did) but science wasn't far enough to fully explain it back then. Nobody could have known how they worked entirely until we had microscopes and other advanced enough devices to inspect it. IMO the same is true in this day and age for the human soul