Does the Soul Exist? - Robert Burton

[CitizenZon3]

if you count 1 2 3 10 11 12 13 20 then 4+4 is not 8 because 8 does not exist.

[makasaka]

I don't know about you but i really belive the (human) brain is a really advanced machine. So advanced that it can keep a soul within and control it and even reducing the souls activity by 80% I think there's a alien race out there somewhere that genetically modified ous. That's why we sleep for example. And it's why the moon doesn't spin, It's why NASA blur all the close up pictures of the moon for the public domain. That's why area 51 exist and that's why there are 159 levels of "top secret"

[andenandenia]

"The soul is a lazy explanation of the universe's most amazing creation."

"The soul is not magic but a magnificent deillusion, caused by indoctrination and fear of loneliness." -Albert Einstein

[TheScoops41]

To all good hearted decent people,keep your free-will as always wise and good and to always remember

...just walk in tune with yourself and others around you, do not run or fall behind, you will be just fine, if anytime in pain then carry it for those who need your strenght the most, there are many wee secrets but this is up there with the most importance, ... keep smiling :-)

[TheScoops41]

Does the soul exist? to me its like saying do i see colours or does the sun exist.. or am i really here typing this, im just a regular down to earth guy who has a million words to type,yes i know there a soul existence that can be proved but its not for me to convince you as im just stating my own thoughts,do not be afraid of it, its when we are at our pillows at night do we think the most, going to sleep comes natural without knowing your doing it, a key point we all ignore or take for granted.

[epicness586]

@TheScoops41 are u british? cuz u spelled color with a u

[TheScoops41]

Choose free-will for what is for the good and best by you and to others and i promise you will be just fine, Only the clear mind of honesty and unconditional love can lead.. of what i know religion is not or will never be part of it as in time the trouble and despair made is rotten at the core, how would you feel if someone cause harm to others using your name?? anyway but if one or two true phrases stand out its these two,any person without sin can cast the stone, judge?? then be judged.

[TheScoops41]

never fall behind yourself or even to run far in front of yourself, its simple fact to always walk beside yourself, if a person falls in the street is it on instinct for you to rush over with a helping hand?? if so then thats all you need to know when it comes to worrying about how much the heavens see good in you, if you were to laugh or smug a smile as you walk on by or to step over the unfortunate person who fell in the street.. its then you have something to worry about.

[TheScoops41]

when i was a child i often disappeared into my own thinking, oneday i was watching ants on the ground and the wonder of how something that small with a pin prick size brain can do all what they do, from the hill in Belfast from where i was standing did i discover the truth that the size was so unimportant as from my height looking down at the ants was more or less the same of distance as i looked to the motorway seeing wee small cars going by with to my eye the same pin prick brain inside.

,

[TheScoops41]

if you get this wee sum right i promise you will feel and learn something new,so.. does the soul exist? why ask? if you ask then you more hope it does than believe, I myself am just a down to earth person who i guess was born with different feelings and senses etc, i just know things and for the love of me i dont know how or why.. i just do. There is many simple things around us that we take for granted that will provide answers, but its from the inside out is where you must start.

[TheScoops41]

lots of things are so open yet so hid when it comes for people seeking re-assurance of a soul or a life after, more can be gained by just going forth being at peace with yourself than to make a stress on something thats going to happen anyway..ie death. .. Write this down on a bit of paper 2+2-20=222 and by using one stroke such as this wee mark.. ( - ) in anyway shape or angle to make that sum right, infact use as many wee strokes of your pen or pencil as you wish,

[TheScoops41]

The feeling we get as if we have lived a life before in a past time is simply the genes past on from someone in the family you will find from who is your double whom you find also that they themselves are a double of somebody who in turn is the double of someone within the family tree, and by the time we are now i guess hundreds of doubles and resemblances within a family tree past on and to come will in turn tell you this..as its more or less the same gene carried on , past memory

inheritance?

[TheScoops41]

instincts are more of a imprint than to learn so who put them there, a car with all its parts wont move until steered and drove, or did the egg come first?.. the butterfly has not the shortest life within the world as most people think.. truth is the butterfly has the longest life of the insect world, does the tissue inside make emotions? when we are truly at our lowest then why on imprint do we turn to seek soul comfort??

[trento654]

@3TllM that would be better

[MyMusiclover28]

Scientist are bent on trying to explain away the unexplainable... they are actually conducting experiments to prove that we do NOT have free will and that our neurons dictate all our actions... Really??? If we believe we have free will, we also have to believe that the basis of free will are NOT corporeal. That means that free will is a cause, NOT an effect and as such, if free will exists, it's basis must be incorporeal. If we take out the corporeal only the incorporeal is left = Soul ...Peace

[painkillerzman]

@MyMusiclover28 "Scientist are bent on trying to explain away the unexplainable" given our tremendous advances in all fields of science during the 200 years, we might not even know what we can and cannot know yet.

Knowledge of what lies beyond our solar system was once thought to be unknowable. Maybe you think the knowledge regarding souls is unknowable but you don't actually know if it's knowable or not, nobody does *yet*.

[MyMusiclover28]

Scientist are bent on trying to explain away the unexplainable... they are actually conducting experiments to prove that we do NOT have free will and that our neurons dictate all our actions... Really??? If we believe we have free will, we also have to believe that the basis of free will are NOT corporeal. That means that free will is a cause, NOT an effect and as such, if free will exists, it's basis must be incorporeal. If we take out the corporeal only the incorporeal is left = Soul ...Peace

[MazeleyFanClub]

What the hell does this have to do with science. This is nothing but liberal atheist ranting. Science is about FACT, not BELIEF. I don't CARE that you BELIEVE there is or isn't a soul, GTFO of the lecture hall and stop passing off your own beliefs as "science." You can no more disprove a soul than disprove god. Even if you make an artificial intelligence. Go watch Star Trek TNG "The Measure of a Man" where this question was already fully explored with no conclusion possible.

[painkillerzman]

@MazeleyFanClub Since there is no conclusive evidence of the evidence of God or of souls, it is irrational to believe they do. You do not need proof to lack a belief in a god, but you need proof to believe in a god. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Skepticism is the only possible, rational, approach when it comes to the supernatural.

[DoctorSargeMD]

It has been proven that souls actually have weight. Scientists found that during the exact moment of death the body loses 3/4 of an ounce while laying on a scale. And dont comment that they probably crapped themselves because if they crapped it would still be on the scale and the weight wouldnt change.

[jalen441]

@DoctorSargeMD That myth is based on tests performed in 1907 by Dr. Duncan MacDougall. He performed this experiment on 6 terminal patients, and his results varied greatly from person to person. 2 or 3 of the tests didn't even yield usable results, as he admitted. His instrumentation was not reliably accurate, and he had a desired outcome. Classic confirmation bias. In short, that experiment yielded no significant results, though he apparently killed 15 dogs and weighed them as a control.

[DoctorSargeMD]

@jalen441 Each of his patients actually did except 1 or 2 I believe and that was from human error. Most people claimed that the patients lost weight due to them losing their breath when they died, however Dr. Duncan MacDougall placed a healthy man on his special bed/scale and told him to breath out all the air he could, but the scale did not change one bit. But this is a useless arguement that i think should better be left alone considering what im saying wont change how you think about this.

[jalen441]

@DoctorSargeMD Even if all six had similar results, it wouldn't change the fact that his test sample was too small to draw any meaningful conclusions, and that his experimental procedure was weak at best. He didn't come close to the rigorous standards needed to be seriously considered. To claim it as proof of a soul shows either ignorance of the scientific method or intellectual dishonesty. What you or I think is immaterial, the evidence just isn't there.

[painkillerzman]

@DoctorSargeMD Mabye the subject drew its last breath, exhaling a certain quantity of air and humidity which does have weight, but I'm just speculating.

Anyway, you are jumping to conclusions too quickly, is there any actual evidence that this lost of weight is directly or indirectly linked to a supernatural phenomenon, let alone this particular one ? I think not, the possible hypothesis are endless and "souls' seem to be one of the least likely.

[DoctorSargeMD]

@painkillerzman The scale was calibrated with all the air.What I mean is that the Air in our out of the body wouldnt affect the weight, especially by 2 ounces. And what other supernatural phenomenon would the loss of weight at the exact moment of death is there other than the soul leaving the body and why is the soul the least likely?

[DoctorSargeMD]

@painkillerzman The scale was calibrated with all the air.What I mean is that the Air in our out of the body wouldnt affect the weight, especially by 2 ounces. And what other supernatural phenomenon would the loss of weight at the exact moment of death is there other than the soul leaving the body and why is the soul the least likely?

Oh and read the book "The Stiff"

[painkillerzman]

@DoctorSargeMD I don't know anything about this study (as I said, I was just posing an hypothesis), it might not have been very rigorous, it might not even exist for all I know. I'd like a link or something.

But if the scale was set not to take in account the loss of air through exhaling it must therefor be set in an airtight area (which is unlikely, considering the risk of asphyxia, even if the person was dying they probably would not have done it) which means ... (To be continued).

[painkillerzman]

@DoctorSargeMD (Continued) that a soul, if indeed material, would be trapped in this airtight zone, just like the air and would not affect the weight of the dying subject in the same way you suppose the air did not affect the weight of the dying subject.

[DoctorSargeMD]

@painkillerzman If the soul was released from the body it would not be confined in an airtigh space, but ascend to heaven

[painkillerzman]

@DoctorSargeMD If souls have weight, then they are material and would therefor be confined in an airtight space. If they are not confined in the airtight space, they are not material and therefor do not have weight. Either way, this experience does not prove anything about the existence or non-existence of the soul.

[DoctorSargeMD]

@painkillerzman If the soul was confined in your body then how would it have escaped instantly? If you know atoms you know they have space in them. Everything is made up of space. If its possible for the soul to pass through this space then it is possible for it to escape your body and the airtight space. The reason why im talking about the soul having weight is because no one has thought up of something else it could have been so far. Im just talking as if the soul did exist, which it may

[painkillerzman]

@DoctorSargeMD As I said, if it has weight, it's material and CANNOT escape air tight conditions. If it's immaterial, it DOES NOT have weight. EITHER WAY this experiment does not prove ANYTHING about the existence or non-existence of a soul.

The soul MAY exist but there is NO CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE that it does, therefor ASSUMING THAT IT EXISTS IS IRRATIONAL.

(I tried to make it as easy to understand as I could...)

[DoctorSargeMD]

@painkillerzman If you paid attention to what I wrote I said thats what I would think IF THE SOUL DID EXIST due to this experiment. I NEVER said that this was conclusive evidence,

[lizazoon]

A debate about the soul is useless. How can one prove the existence of something immaterial ? The only thing believers can stand on is faith. For non-believers the non-existence of a human soul is as evident as the non- existence of a soul in a car engine.

[unlyckystrike]

Why can`t the soul be physical? Isn`t electromagnethic energy physical you mean?

[rey982]

Life is meaningful. Soul survive us all.

[kadnam222]

E=mc square...

then according to einstein our brain is just an elictrical signals...

its not real...

its only a perception by our souls...

our souls are the reality but our brains are the illusion

its not the opposite

[LIGHTRONIX]

@kadnam222 wow what you said is really interesting. how does that work? I've always kind of thought that way.

[kadnam222]

@LIGHTRONIX everything u see,hear,touch...is a delusion created by ur brain its not real i mean its just electrosignals..

the only real thing in you is ur soul

i recommend u watch a series called -

Holographic Universe(search it on youtube)

[tallliza]

@kadnam222 I wish you could accompany me the mornings that I volonteer in a home for the elderly. There is a section of people who can`t help themselves anymore, some of them incontinent, who have to be cleaned up. The smell is really divine. When you see those miserable human wretches, i often ask myself, where is this loving god, ? Where is this human soul ? Whre is this perfect creation. It just doesn`t make sense.

[painkillerzman]

@kadnam222 Energy is equal to mass times the speed of light squared, therefor "our brain is just an elictrical signals" ? I'm not sure I quite get you.

And do you have proof of your claims regarding the illusory nature of what we perceive to be reality ? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence (which I highly doubt you possess).

[DaAlphaOmega]

Maybe the soul is just a concept which our brain has accepted,if we were born in a world without spirituality or religion would we even be talking about this?

[wdeadman49]

God loves all of his creation and we forever live!....the only difference is...we keep reincarnating back as we want it on our contract with Him in order for our lessons to be learned until they are all learned then we are promoted to the next level on the Other Side spiritually. There are lies told of no afterlife but I promise you that the minute you all non believers die, you will then know that there is life after death..

[J0EH3AD]

@wdeadman49 I know this is stupid question: Do you have a proof? I ask this because I know you dont have it.

You are just letting out empty words.

[wdeadman49]

@J0EH3AD Proofs are all over the place concerning the after life. There are quite a few people who died from different places all over the world who came back within 30 minutes to an hour of visiting the Spirit World and proved that the Afterlife existed. I had the same experience and through meditations you can see if you can tap on that higher level of consciousness like I do all the time, you will see more than you ever could concerning the Other Side. Nothing is impossible to our God!

[J0EH3AD]

@wdeadman49 I am very glad you told about this meditation experiences. You just run on my pitchfork :-D I was doing this absolutely daily for 5 years in a row-joining the bliss. I am serious. Then once I realised I dont need to meditate, the pure bliss comes just from gathering knowledge (for me). Those are just emotions, but I can still feel them whenever I want! I know what your talking and I grow exactly from this stuff - these are my roots.

(I know you, you´re me years ago :-)) )

[wdeadman49]

@J0EH3AD keep it up. Meditations really put us at bliss if we know how to do it in a proper way. Well man, stay blessed and don't loose your focus. Blessings!

[TuscanWonder995]

People, we all die, and never come back to life once we're dead... People who know us die... They die with the memories and experiences shared on this earth.... after that, only tales of our lives exist until even that is forgotten or somehow lost... it is the way things are... So take a chill pill and accept the "truth".. your truth and mine

[OneBlessedBe]

@TuscanWonder995 .....Stop your nonsense my friend...there is life after death and I myself had a near death experience and it told me all about the Other Side and my family and friends who died before that have gathered there who have crossed over...you sad fool.....lol

[barca911]

@OneBlessedBe I believe you

[wdeadman49]

@barca911 well thanks ...it's the truth and I just wanted people to know that so they don't get freaked out and worry about moving on when their time come. It's very comforting even myself when I found out about it all. It sometimes make me think about leaving but I can't just do that without the normal way when my own life is over. Thanks for the comment. Have a blessed day!

[J0EH3AD]

@OneBlessedBe I had also near death experience. It was beautiful it told me that there is nothing - just endless calm sleep.... Those who talk about gods, feelings, seeing past ones - their brain is only playing tricks when it is dying.

The moment when you lose counsciousness you wont ever know.

[OneBlessedBe]

We are made of matter and energy by God. The human soul lives on forever and it cannot be destroyed because it belongs to God. The physical body will be destroyed and decayed but the spirit or the soul lives on. There is truly life after death and if you know how to meditate and pray, answers will be given to you for those who are really seeking the truths of the existence of mankind and the cosmos. God is the only answer to all the confusion that the world is trying to look for.

[TuscanWonder995]

@OneBlessedBe Everyone will die one day.... And when your day comes, it will be your last... in this world and in the unknown infinitude of the universe... your body and brain, and hence your "soul" and "personality", will all shut down and cease to exist... You will be no more... ..... .... ... I know I know.... it's hard, but you'll understand one day....Till then, keep telling yourself you'll see God

[bugsy30000]

Its interesting because we are made of matter and energy,and we know that neither of them can be destroyed.Only transformed.

Maybe our consciousness(soul),moves on.

If anyone has any ideas on this..

[wdeadman49]

@bugsy30000 True!, but who created matter and energy? God did! He created the cosmos and all living things including planets, the moon and sun by just the words of his mouth! Jesus actually created them under the direction of God the Almighty! This is why no one from Anaximander to Pluto or a modern scientist or a philosopher can comprehend or know of God's marvellous works and wonders but those who are on a higher level of consciousness with great faith to see and believe! God does exist!

[wdeadman49]

Ho can another human being tell another human being when we all came down here without knowing where we came from?...Read Genesis chapter one of how God created the cosmos and us! Men always tell their own beliefs and theories because they want praise from the world but God is alive and He created the mind, the soul and the body of a human being and that's how we existed!! SCIENCE IS GOOD FOR SOME THINGS BUT IGNORANT ABOUT GOD'S CREATION! WHY?...because God is God and He created us!

[ClumsyRoot]

That's an assertion, not an argument.

All the zealousness in the world is no substitute for actual evidence.

[shiddy67]

@wdeadman49

Tell it to PatCondell.

[TuscanWonder995]

@wdeadman49 You're stoopid

[OneBlessedBe]

@TuscanWonder995 ...STUPID COMES FROM IGNORANCE OF YOU AND THE REST OF MANKIND WHO HAS NO KNOWLEDGE WHATSOEVER OF THE SCRIPTURES AND PRAYERS AND MEDITATIONS THAT TELL THE TRUTHS OF GOD AND CONFIRM THAT WHAT I SAID IN MY PREVIOUS COMMENT IS TRUE!....So sad how many have been brain washed by many...be wise in your learning and never forget that no one will give you true answers but God and those who love and know Him as He is.!!

[MultiTrollHunter]

@wdeadman49 shut up you deluded idiot

[wdeadman49]

@MultiTrollHunter YOU DELUDED FOOL! GET OUT OF YOUR STUPID COMFORT LYING ZONE AND BELIEVE OR I'LL MAKE YOU BELIEVE IN A PAINFUL WAY...YOU SAD SAD SAD...FOOL!! LMFAO

[MultiTrollHunter]

@wdeadman49 Nice trolling

[J0EH3AD]

@wdeadman49 Yeah please help me. I want to be religious but I cant - too much education. I want to be as stupid as religious. Can you help me with that? You seem very experienced...

I want to step out of my lying comfort zone to see the truth of GODS, yeah, masturbate with them...

[wdeadman49]

@J0EH3AD YES MAN! Masturbate with your lame hands first and leave aside your confusion and your mind clutter, clear your mind then stay calm, relax and listen to the right answers LOL

[trento654]

i just want to live on after death

[wdeadman49]

@trento654 and you will

[DJQB031]

Interesting.

[sweetness2follow]

either we have a soul and are therefore important or we dont and just think we are. That saved a stupid lecture.

[TheMorbidAtheist]

yeah, believing in a soul is wishful thinking and the unacceptable of mortality

[Anekantavad]

Who is the "we" who thinks something at all? :-)

[SynerJetics]

Fuck this idiot.

[pinochska]

elbow from the sky to religion right at the end of it..!

[Redfingers]

What an utterly brilliant lecture. I sure feel enlightened now that it's been revealed that we either have a soul or we don't. Or we might not know at all.

Hot fucking damn, what a lecture.

[opti95]

@Redfingers don't you find it entertaining though, because basicly everything thing in life boils down to

" we might not know at all."

[checkunderyourbed]

The real question here is if our mind and our brain is of one body and if not which has the greater control. I lean more toward the brain>mind stance. Our mental states revolve around the physical states of our brains first and foremost. People suffering from long periods of drug abuse destroy the physical states of their brains and in doing so they also manipulate their mental states. Mental diseases are often visible in brain scans. Often the afflicted brain has physical abnormalities.

[yousufbadar]

Not sure what the video was about, i thought it was about a scientific discussion about 'soul'. i would love to know if this is any breakthrough on the science of 'soul'. thanks.

[pete975]

You think I am a fundamentalist?

If it does not matter then what is the use in treating physical disorders of the brain with medicine or surgery? Should these be better treated with prayer?

Of course belief about what is true does not really matter, the facts of the matter remain just that, facts of the matter.

[loftyblond]

Why would it be so hard to prove that 2 + 2 = 4? Just take 2 marschmallows, add 2, and count the number you get.

[pinochska]

hahah thought the same just with apples

[666norton420]

just google 2+2=4 proof.

it takes pages and is considered "higher level math".

we can just cognitively understand the problem, so it's simple for us to conceptualize how the problem works out.... but if you want to "prove" it mathematically....

;d

[GuppyPal]

Does a dog have a soul? Does a lamprey have a soul? Does an ant have a soul? Does a bacterium have a soul? Give me a break.

[youngschwartz]

This is an annoying video.

[simplic10]

Message: Consciousness isn't explained yet. Therefore it's inexplicable. Give up. Anyway, it's sacred.

He gave the two positions as mind=brain, or mind>brain.

There is a third possibility which is less of a caricature: mind arises from brain, but is completely dependent on it. I think stating the materialist position as mind=brain is misleading. It's like saying my computer equals Mac OS X.

[1RadicalOne]

"It's like saying my computer equals Mac OS X. "

That's a good analogy. The mind may well be independent of the brain insofar as to how it operates, but it still relies on the neural hardware. If souls really existed, brain damage would not be as devastating as it currently is.

[simplic10]

To be honest I'm still stumped at how anyone even takes the alternative seriously. It's not even wrong - just incoherent.

So your mind is independent of your brain. But your mind controls your brain. How? Magic?

As always the real enemy here is wishful thinking with a good dose of solipsism. 'I'm far too important to be "merely" material.' This is the same impulse that rejected heliocentrism a priori because we were too important not to be at the centre.

[alexmigda]

this guy is bullshit

[kid29a]

this is just ridiculous. These "sensations of knowing all" are just hallucinations during some extreme states of brain. Besides... assuming that mind is supernatural really gives you nothing like saying - we don't care, it's beyond us. It's better to assume the opposite and then examine what it is. 2 + 2 = 4 because 2 = 4 - 2 and so 2 = 2 lol guy is pathetic.

[aladinclip]

nobody assumes that "2+2=4"

it is a convention, we convened to that...it could have been "3 + 3 = 2" if we haved chose that convention...and decided as a grounde-base to calculate forward.

so, it is a misconception in this man` logic and his arguments.

[666norton420]

i'm not sure i know what you're saying.

3+3=2?

not sure what planet you're on... though it wouldn't matter, as math is a universal truth.

;d

[arequipa1]

souls=scientific.

[Transcentity]

souls=religious myth

[Bobbiethejean]

No.

[arequipa1]

bobbie, you're a clown. i saw the comment you posted earlier. silence.

[Bobbiethejean]

I don't think you're in a good position to be assessing anyone's intelligence, not if you're contemptibly stupid enough to think that souls are scientific.

For something to be scientific, it must be testable, falsifiable, and predictable. Souls fit NONE of those criteria. Fail.

[arequipa1]

oh you stupid child.

my comment was actually experimental because i wasn't able to post another comment and wanted to make sure i could actually post.

FAIL. now mind your own damn business you snot.

[Bobbiethejean]

Lol. You're mad because you just got pwnt. How adorable.

[arequipa1]

wrong. i don't even believe what i wrote. unfortunately that isn't getting through to you because you're dense.

[Bobbiethejean]

No. I figured you were trolling from the start. I'm neither dense nor stupid, if I do say so myself. But I do enjoy a good troll now and then. Though you were rather a lame troll. Not very entertaining. D-. Remember, you must FLAIL and use more random insults.

[arequipa1]

i wasn't being a troll. dense.

[Bobbiethejean]

Yeah you were and you still are. You posted a ridiculous comment to elicit negative responses. Then when you get them, you namecall and generally act like an ass.

That's the classic definition of a troll.

[arequipa1]

i don't really care one way or another.

i do think you're a stank ho, though.

enjoy!

[Bobbiethejean]

Classic troll. You still get a D- though. Not very entertaining. Stank ho? Really? That's the best you've got? You have failed at your duties as a troll. Here's how it's done, my good sir.

You're a talentless, Mc Donald's cashier-manning loser with no prospects for the future and a vernerial diseased noodle dick that you haven't stuck in a real vagina since moving out of your mom's house, if hers can even be called "real" with all that lard around it.

See? Now THAT's a proper trolling.

[arequipa1]

lmao...what a loser. go make some more "art."

[Bobbiethejean]

Mad because I got skills and you got ills.

Loser troll is a loser.

[arequipa1]

you spend too much time online.

i'm off, got things to do. by the way, your "painting" sucks.

[Bobbiethejean]

It's my day off. I'm watching youtube vids and I keep getting your retarded comments. Kinda annoying actually.

[666norton420]

how is it arequipa1 is sitting here, "debating" with you, yet you are alone in spending "too much time online"?

that's kinda like the tea pot calling the kettle stupid.

;d

[milkboneunderwear]

A great video to play the game 'find the fallacy'. This video is a rich source of fallacies.

[pete975]

But it really does matter and so does the debate.

A bland dismissal of the topic is what really doesn't matter

[Bobbiethejean]

UG! The full lecture is TERRIBLE! That clown at the beginning is a nasally, blathering doofus and the biatch immediately following is drier than the offspring of what would happen if Ben Stein fucked a swath of the Sahara. Jesum-lord mercy, they need to work on their presentation.

Charisma; it's not just something stoned hippies name their children. Though I must commend them; they've managed to embarrass atheists, scientists, and artists all in one go! Bra-fuckin-vo!

[rednecktrucker1969]

they embarrass scientists because of the delivery was dry? Or did I miss something in your comment?

[Bobbiethejean]

I didn't say the whole thing was dry, I said the presentation was bad. Watch as much of the full lecture as you can and you'll see what I'm talking about.

[martiangrundy]

In my experience most of the folk who believe in souls haven't even thought about it, in any depth.

When do we obtain the soul?

Where is it?

Does a soul need a brain? (at conception and until a brain develops, no soul?)

Do animals have souls?

If yes, which animals, where does it stop, why, insects, vertebrates?

If no, why not, are we not just animals too?

There are so many to answer, and it really just makes no sense at all.

It's merely a fluffy, soft, "I'm more than a meat computer" delusion.

[Smaug84]

Yeah. There's a video series on transhumanism called Technocalypse. In one of the vids they talk about an experiment that was done in which a monkey's head was transplanted onto another monkey's body. It was a success, though the monkey ultimately died due to complications resulting from the surgery.

So either the soul rests in the brain, the body can live without a soul for a certain amount of time, or the soul is a figment of the human imagination.

[ArkAngelSlave]

We are just animals. Every animal has a special ability we happen to have conscieness of our surroundings, and are able to use that consciencess to be able to create tools to help us survive, just as a ant is programed to look for food.

[MysteryManoLove]

No we dont, religion and science are non-overlapping magisteria. Science is completely irreconcilable with religion and visa versa. To say that people have souls when the sperm enters the egg is rediculous, how do they know this? They believe it, they don't know it, their religion tells them it's true.

[LeGioNoFZioN]

and on balance to say there is no soul when a sperm enters an egg is also ridiculous since science cannot prove it, so therefore they are irreconcilable and one should stick to ones specialty and not expand into areas one knows nothing about.

[MysteryManoLove]

Can you prove ghosts? Can you disprove ghosts? But to say that they both weigh the same in an arguement is false too. To base it on the assumtion of some filthy text some thousands of years ago written by people weather there is a soul or not is not scientific either. I admire the nerologists attempt but it falls short. What is a "soul"? How do you define a "soul"? It's not even really a proper scientific question until you can properly and completely define it or it's not science.

[LeGioNoFZioN]

agreed, so souls are not scientific, so asking a question about their existence when science can not speak to it is in effect a waste of breath and attention when other more serious topics can be addressed, wouldn't you agree ?

[MysteryManoLove]

It's like saying, "people said that we had a soul before so we can't completely rule it out".

[Bobbiethejean]

All the brain's workings can be accounted for scientifically. Furthermore, there's no evidence for souls.

When and how would they enter the body? Where do they reside and how could we even suss that out? What functions do souls perform? Why don't souls take over when a person becomes brain dead? How do souls function in someone suffering MPD or schizophrenia? Can souls be killed?

If you want to believe in souls, fine. But that's no more legitimate than believing in fairies or magic.

[HomieVidz]

@Bobbiethejean so because you dont know the answers to your questions, souls dont exist... ok gotcha

[Bobbiethejean]

@HomieVidz I didn't say there are definitely no souls. I said there is no evidence of souls. Show me evidence, REAL genuine evidence, and I'll believe in souls. Extraordinary claims (such as the existence of souls) require extraordinary evidence (of which there is none).

[HomieVidz]

@Bobbiethejean yet.

[Bobbiethejean]

@HomieVidz Humans have existed for 200,000 years. In that time we have found incontestable proof of evolution, gravity, tenets of quantum mechanics, some aspects of string theory, thermodynamics, and conservation of energy. We even have a decent handle on the very new science of abiogenesis which describes the chemical origins of life. We know there are vast galaxies beyond our own that must, by the very nature of probability contain life.

Yet still no sign of souls or magic or gods. Curious.

[HomieVidz]

@Bobbiethejean yes 200,000 years, all of the discoveries that you stated werent discovered in the first year of the 200,000 years, they were discovered through out the entire time line, u think that there will be no more discoveries in the future? before gravity was discovered there were people like u saying "oooh gravity? no proof" till someone came along and proved it. gravity has been around since the discovery of it, just like the soul.

[HomieVidz]

@HomieVidz gravity has been around Before* the discovery of it***** sorry

[Bobbiethejean]

@HomieVidz People like me work diligently to search out the truth no matter how painful, no matter how uncomfortable, no matter how contrary it may be to what we presently hold true. Gravity is demonstrable, the soul is not.

If it makes you happy to think there is magic and souls, go ahead. But you can't prove it. And since you're the one making the claim, the onus is on you to prove it, not on me to disprove it.

[HomieVidz]

@Bobbiethejean lol i dont believe in magic. let me ask u a question, what happens after we die?

[Bobbiethejean]

@HomieVidz Pfft. Fuckall if I know. Maybe there is a heaven. Maybe it is the Elysian Fields. Maybe some ethereal being tells us it was all a big joke. Maybe we get cake.

More likely, the molecules that make up our bodies disintegrate into the surrounding environment. The natural components that enable our brains to compute thoughts, emotions, and sensory input dissipate. Our bodies break down and we become what we were before we were born - nonexistent.

But no one knows and no one can know.

[Atheistprimate]

This guy fails in the first 30 seconds, if the mind is more then the brain then why do brain injuries permanently damage the mind?

How can that be hard to understand?

[Bobbiethejean]

I didn't hear him assert that. I heard him posit a dichotomy: either the mind is the brain or the mind is more than the brain. Maybe one of us misheard? *relistens*