RE: The Soul
May 17, 2011 at 10:08 am
(This post was last modified: May 17, 2011 at 10:12 am by DeistPaladin.)
I may be opening myself to ridicule here but I'm open minded to the possibility of "souls" existing, by which I mean some sort of X-factor at the core of our self-awareness and experience.
The brain and how it works has always been a fascinating topic for me. I remember watching this one documentary about how the brain restructures itself according to the needs of the user (studies on people who've worked different jobs that require different skill sets). It makes me wonder exactly what that "user" is.
That said, if souls do exist, they clearly depend on the brain for sensory input and memory storage and access. I remember one experience in my younger days when I was waking up in an unfamiliar place and, being fuzzy headed from the previous night, for a split second I couldn't remember where I was or how I got there. It felt like I was searching for some "file" in this computer we call a brain. This experience underscored for me how memory is external to our experience, stored and accessed in the brain much like a hard drive. It can be lost prior to death due to injury, illness or other factors.
From this basis alone, I had to conclude that a heaven-like afterlife was extremely unlikely. If injuries to the brain can cause loss of memory, how can we retain our memories when the brain is completely destroyed by the process of death? If our existence continues after death, it won't be one where we remember this life.
We also depend on the brain for sensory input. Hormones and other factors give us impulses. Other documentaries on the brain and our behavior that I've seen reviewed case studies of people experiencing inappropriate feelings of rage or loss of the sex drive due to brain injury. Still, we can sometimes work against our impulses if we can summon enough resolve. The men in both cases studies I just mentioned realized their impulses or lack thereof made no sense and were able to seek help. I'm inclined to see self-determination as steering a sail boat at sea. You're dependent on the winds and tides but sometimes you can work within them to take the boat toward your goal.
If it turns out that there is some kind of energy or whatever that is that x-factor, "soul" for lack of a better word, than they can be studied and we'll better understand their properties one day. If not, it still might be useful to use the word "soul" as a metaphor for the very real process of our self-awareness.
The brain and how it works has always been a fascinating topic for me. I remember watching this one documentary about how the brain restructures itself according to the needs of the user (studies on people who've worked different jobs that require different skill sets). It makes me wonder exactly what that "user" is.
That said, if souls do exist, they clearly depend on the brain for sensory input and memory storage and access. I remember one experience in my younger days when I was waking up in an unfamiliar place and, being fuzzy headed from the previous night, for a split second I couldn't remember where I was or how I got there. It felt like I was searching for some "file" in this computer we call a brain. This experience underscored for me how memory is external to our experience, stored and accessed in the brain much like a hard drive. It can be lost prior to death due to injury, illness or other factors.
From this basis alone, I had to conclude that a heaven-like afterlife was extremely unlikely. If injuries to the brain can cause loss of memory, how can we retain our memories when the brain is completely destroyed by the process of death? If our existence continues after death, it won't be one where we remember this life.
We also depend on the brain for sensory input. Hormones and other factors give us impulses. Other documentaries on the brain and our behavior that I've seen reviewed case studies of people experiencing inappropriate feelings of rage or loss of the sex drive due to brain injury. Still, we can sometimes work against our impulses if we can summon enough resolve. The men in both cases studies I just mentioned realized their impulses or lack thereof made no sense and were able to seek help. I'm inclined to see self-determination as steering a sail boat at sea. You're dependent on the winds and tides but sometimes you can work within them to take the boat toward your goal.
If it turns out that there is some kind of energy or whatever that is that x-factor, "soul" for lack of a better word, than they can be studied and we'll better understand their properties one day. If not, it still might be useful to use the word "soul" as a metaphor for the very real process of our self-awareness.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
