What reason do we have to believe that such a thing as a soul exists? [Spirituality & Religion]

@hertoy

But wanting something to be so is not sufficient reason to believe that it [i]is[/i], yes?

I understand the fear of oblivion but that can't tell us anything about reality.

@Pikachu Don't misunderstand, it's not fear. It just removes all meaning from our existence if no residual memory remains after death.

@hertoy

Well i suppose in an ultimate sense it does.
But my answer to that would be "so what?"

Out lives still have meaning to us and the people around us.
Why should it be important that your life have higher meaning?

@Pikachu I understand both sides of the debate on a intellectual level, but my heart feels like there must be more...

@hertoy [quote]A serial killer and Mother Theresa[/quote]

That's not as strong a contrast as you might assume

@hertoy

Yeah, but our hearts are idiots lol.

I agree. I WANT to believe that i go on after i die, that my loved ones don't disappear.

But what i [i]want[/i] to believe is not sufficient reason to believe that thing,

@newjaninev2

lol burn on mother theresa

@hertoy [quote]if no residual memory remains after death[/quote]

"All of us are creatures of a day; the rememberer and the remembered alike. All is ephemeral—both memory and the object of memory. The time is at hand when you will have forgotten everything; and the time is at hand when all will have forgotten you.
Always reflect that soon you will be no one, and nowhere."

[i]Marcus Aurelius[/i]
(The Meditations)

@newjaninev2 In his day they thought the Earth was the center of the Universe.
Today basic scientific knowledge would be magic to Marcus. I base my gut feeling on Quantum theory of entanglement....

@hertoy could you explain how you combine the idea of souls with quantum theory ? It sounds interesting

@ai12ci45lef000 Part of quantum theory includes entanglement of atomic particles across huge distances in time & space, yet when one is altered, the other one changes in the same way...instantly. Another words everything is somehow connected to everything else regardless of distance and even time. Our conciseness is energy...and energy can't be destroyed, so therefore our thoughts and experiences will continue to exist long after our death.

@hertoy [quote]energy can't be destroyed[/quote]

Conservation of energy doesn't mean that energy must retain its current form

@newjaninev2 That is correct.

@hertoy which means that your conclusion (our thoughts and experiences will continue to exist long after our death) is a [i]non sequitur[/i]

@newjaninev2

I'm not sure that's his conclusion so much as it is his hope.

@Pikachu We understand so little of this quantum world we can't predict even the possibilities of what might occur, let alone the specifics of an after death memory. I'm just finding a glimmer of continuation of our existence... even a billion years after death.

@hertoy

one can always hope

@hertoy [quote]so therefore our thoughts and experiences will continue to exist long after our death.
[/quote]

Sounds interesting. So do you think if somehow we can back it up and shift it to a new body, we would be alive again?

@SW-User No, not at all. Just supposing that our essence of mind will continue after death. Can that mean it might be reassembled somehow, someday,

Maybe...but not by Earthly beings, something more Universal...

@newjaninev2 Mother Theresa, as you well know, is not a sympathetic figure. Her actions have consigned thousands of poor women in India to abject poverty and suffering @hertoy