(April 11, 2011 at 1:47 pm)Carnavon Wrote: Getting down to it, the chances are 50/50 that a soul exists after death (although near-death experiences suggests odds in favour of a soul seperate from the body).
Just because something is either one thing or the other it dosen't mean its 50/50. Either a soul exists or it dosen't, but as there is zero evidence for one I'd find it hard to say it's 50/50. Either a giant space elephant lives on the other side of Jupiter or it dosen't but I don't think any of us would say it's 50/50.
Near death experiences are impossible to verify and as such are unreliable at best. When the brain shuts down it releases large amounts of Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) a powerful hallucinogenic which is the best explanation I've heard for what people later describe as out of body or near death experiences.
