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It would really depend on the mechanism Isaac Send a noteboard - 12/04/2011 06:28:24 AM
Keep in mind that the soul as something tangible and physical is not really a rare concept. Also, people are pretty used to new bits of science being proclaimed as proving or disproving some philosophical concept and both scientist and layman are usually skeptical of such assertions. As a Christian and a scientist, I can't really imagine any biological or even physical component to my 'soul', and generally when I try to think along those lines I just assume even if God needs to store my brain on actual physical hardrive so to speak, he could probably slap it onto the event horizon of a small blackhole with room to spare. And for that matter, a lot of Quantum Mysticism varieties, along with speculative Hard Sci-fi, revolve around just such concepts, one of the leading candidates for WIMP Dark Matter is after all a Planck Mass Black Hole, and that sort of data storage should rise with the square of mass or the square of radius, same thing in this case, very compact and the WIMP version assumes it basically doesn't interact with anything. Whichever, known science already has plenty of explanations which cover a lot of previously mystical concepts, and its rarely had much impact other than to spawn newer mystical concepts and maybe to serve as a feather that broke the camel's back for a few people leaning away from religion. I can't recall anything specific that made me an atheist as a kid, or agnostic later on, or Christian these days that has anything to do with science. And what you're suggesting for your thought experiment here is basically 'proof of soul' and we have nothing to compare that too historically, excepts endless examples of this or that person claiming some new bit of science proved/disproved God. So I can't see something like that causing a crisis of faith, anymore than if I told people, quite truthfully, that their entire life in excruciating detail beyond anything they could hope to remember could be stored on the surface of an object smaller than a proton. And that would probably elicit no more response than "Wow, even better than my iPod!" The brain itself already serves as a pretty good biological equivalent of what many have considered a soul throughout history, it hasn't really rocked the boat much.
The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.
- Albert Einstein

King of Cairhien 20-7-2
Chancellor of the Landsraad, Archduke of Is'Mod
This message last edited by Isaac on 12/04/2011 at 06:30:58 AM
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Questions about souls... - 12/04/2011 03:06:54 AM 2240 Views
Re: Questions about souls... - 12/04/2011 03:23:00 AM 1213 Views
All right. - 12/04/2011 05:50:08 AM 1187 Views
Re: Questions about souls... - 12/04/2011 06:27:14 AM 1169 Views
It would really depend on the mechanism - 12/04/2011 06:28:24 AM 1057 Views
You assume we all know, and agree on, what "soul" means. - 12/04/2011 08:42:47 AM 1092 Views
It is what hope, which is a thing with feathers, perches on. - 12/04/2011 07:32:07 PM 1157 Views
But seriously, what does it do? - 12/04/2011 11:01:58 PM 1151 Views
It makes poems pretty. - 13/04/2011 07:00:03 PM 1173 Views
Re: Yeah, exactly. - 15/04/2011 02:43:24 AM 1140 Views
Just going off the 'reborn' thing.. - 12/04/2011 08:53:28 AM 1071 Views
Hm. - 12/04/2011 03:22:01 PM 1193 Views
Agreed. - 12/04/2011 05:49:11 PM 1040 Views
it wouldn't change much for me, but I'm pretty flexible in my spiritual beliefs - 12/04/2011 04:23:34 PM 1185 Views
This. *NM* - 13/04/2011 04:15:11 PM 624 Views
Re: Questions about souls... - 12/04/2011 05:44:53 PM 1250 Views
What a fantasy. - 12/04/2011 07:57:38 PM 1106 Views
What happened to two? *NM* - 12/04/2011 08:20:41 PM 628 Views
Thanks, I fixed it. *NM* - 12/04/2011 08:29:20 PM 638 Views
Your comments, or mine? - 13/04/2011 01:24:53 AM 1580 Views
You get one guess. - 13/04/2011 07:09:01 PM 1302 Views
One dismissive answer deserves another. - 24/04/2011 12:54:44 AM 1198 Views
I'm a Christian who is partial to reincarnation, so I do not think much would change. - 12/04/2011 06:21:36 PM 1142 Views
*is disappointed* *NM* - 12/04/2011 08:01:05 PM 564 Views
You'd be surprised how frequently I get that from both sides. - 12/04/2011 08:22:24 PM 1122 Views
I bet you do! - 12/04/2011 08:47:59 PM 1087 Views
Re: I bet you do! - 13/04/2011 04:02:07 AM 1100 Views
Does it really? - 24/04/2011 01:09:34 AM 1024 Views
OMG! - 14/04/2011 06:19:50 PM 1113 Views
Go expand his worldview. *NM* - 14/04/2011 06:56:03 PM 589 Views
I think we are similar in some respects philosophically. - 13/04/2011 05:59:38 AM 1076 Views
Who says.... - 13/04/2011 07:11:24 PM 1034 Views
So then my question is.... - 13/04/2011 07:08:42 PM 1030 Views
Because I believe that Jesus was an incarnation of the λόγος. - 14/04/2011 12:36:36 AM 1062 Views
*heh* - 14/04/2011 04:12:32 PM 1177 Views
I think I answered it pretty clearly in my post title. *NM* - 14/04/2011 06:59:47 PM 645 Views
Actually, you didn't. - 15/04/2011 12:12:42 AM 1131 Views
Re: Actually, you didn't. - 24/04/2011 09:04:04 AM 1113 Views
I think that, like a lot of other people responding, I would want and need more information. - 12/04/2011 07:13:14 PM 1062 Views
Speaking of the agnostic/atheist thing - 12/04/2011 07:40:04 PM 1122 Views
99% that there is no God... - 12/04/2011 08:08:42 PM 1167 Views
Technically, no, atheists simply lack belief in a God. - 12/04/2011 08:19:15 PM 1104 Views
Whoah there, - 12/04/2011 08:26:43 PM 1086 Views
Okay, I have to admit I wasn't expecting to get called out on that. - 13/04/2011 04:03:08 AM 1192 Views
no I think that's just the literal definition... - 12/04/2011 11:19:18 PM 1023 Views
Isn't that what "technically" would imply? - 13/04/2011 04:04:42 AM 1218 Views
It certainly doesn't mean you can't make conclusions. - 12/04/2011 08:09:41 PM 1187 Views
Re: Campbell: - 12/04/2011 08:42:09 PM 1178 Views
Self-identification is an interesting point here. - 12/04/2011 09:00:46 PM 1127 Views
Re: Agree - 12/04/2011 09:22:22 PM 1116 Views
Answers. - 12/04/2011 09:05:38 PM 1076 Views
That's not a compelling counter-argument for me. - 12/04/2011 11:22:21 PM 1251 Views
Never mind. - 12/04/2011 11:34:46 PM 1052 Views
be sure to post if it does happen *NM* - 12/04/2011 11:56:17 PM 580 Views
Have you had any vivid dreams that came true? - 13/04/2011 01:16:59 AM 1019 Views
My mom used to have dreams like that, usually about relatives. - 13/04/2011 02:25:45 AM 1212 Views
I can easily believe that. - 13/04/2011 06:14:51 AM 1027 Views
Minivans can fit lots of useful stuffs, like furniture. *NM* - 13/04/2011 03:47:04 PM 641 Views
So can gas-guzzling SUVs, and full trucks. *NM* - 13/04/2011 05:13:20 PM 593 Views
for that matter, you can fit a surprising amount even in a baby truck! *NM* - 13/04/2011 06:36:58 PM 575 Views
I'd find it quite comforting - 12/04/2011 07:40:09 PM 1050 Views
Well, as I said in my census form on Sunday - 12/04/2011 08:36:05 PM 1211 Views
Pythagoras was a total nut. - 12/04/2011 10:05:42 PM 1170 Views
True - 12/04/2011 10:13:43 PM 1062 Views
It would upset my belief in science - 12/04/2011 09:39:39 PM 1215 Views
There's so much wrong with that statement. - 12/04/2011 09:55:45 PM 1191 Views
If science proved there really was an Easter Bunny would it affect your believe in science? *NM* - 12/04/2011 10:30:09 PM 685 Views
*is both bored and annoyed* - 12/04/2011 11:03:10 PM 1079 Views
right. - 12/04/2011 11:18:31 PM 1278 Views
and what if science proved that science was false? - 12/04/2011 11:48:32 PM 1158 Views
I think that's kind of the point; it can't. - 13/04/2011 01:33:44 AM 1028 Views
Did you read my original post? - 13/04/2011 03:13:34 AM 994 Views
I did, yes. - 13/04/2011 03:32:18 AM 1037 Views
Yes it would upset my belief in science, why is that so hard to accept - 13/04/2011 01:56:59 PM 1146 Views
What's a soul? - 12/04/2011 10:51:39 PM 1064 Views
I can only give you my personal take. - 13/04/2011 01:47:39 AM 1194 Views
so did this guy took a railroad spike through the head - 13/04/2011 01:58:52 PM 1209 Views
Nah, he just got someone else's added to him. But now Ruin can influence him. *NM* - 13/04/2011 06:38:31 PM 648 Views
Thanks a lot - 13/04/2011 07:02:29 PM 1070 Views
No. - 23/04/2011 09:15:16 PM 1085 Views
but we know personality can be draticaly altered by physical means - 24/04/2011 03:28:36 AM 1400 Views
"We" don't know that; that's the problem. - 24/04/2011 07:02:49 AM 1228 Views
Can one have an identity without memory? *NM* - 13/04/2011 03:46:16 PM 610 Views
Sure. - 23/04/2011 08:53:51 PM 914 Views
Re: My question about souls: who will save your souuuuls? *NM* - 13/04/2011 04:04:21 AM 612 Views
I would becoming interested in tracing people's souls across time/space - 13/04/2011 04:00:51 PM 1068 Views
Re: I would becoming interested in tracing people's souls across time/space - 14/04/2011 03:29:55 AM 1147 Views
Sorry :-) - 14/04/2011 10:15:30 AM 1156 Views
Interesting concept.... - 13/04/2011 07:28:42 PM 1048 Views
Heh. Loose faith. - 14/04/2011 02:32:27 AM 1047 Views
It kinda still works though....doesn't it? - 14/04/2011 04:14:19 PM 1067 Views
it does work. well in fact! *NM* - 24/04/2011 03:24:25 AM 589 Views
Oooh... - 14/04/2011 04:31:30 AM 1130 Views
Who says..... - 14/04/2011 04:26:31 PM 1185 Views
Wow, thanks for all the responses!! - 14/04/2011 03:42:38 AM 1192 Views

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