I'm quite obviously copying the format of the title of the "does god exist?" thread, but this is a very similar question, only about the soul.
When I say soul, I mean the thing that many religions and belief systems say moves on after the body dies. I'm not referring to any specific religious belief, nor about any specific afterlife. We're merely discussing the existence, or lack thereof, of the soul.
I'm on the fence right now between skepticism and belief regarding the soul. I've questioned many of my other beliefs and found them lacking, so have discarded them. The soul is one of those more precious beliefs that I'm reluctant to discard, yet can see no satisfactory evidence for its existence. It's certainly frightening to think that there might not be a soul, but emotion has no place when trying to determine the truth.
Does the soul exist? Why or why not?
Does it follow the laws of physics? Why or why not?
If so:
- What is its energy source? We know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed, and that any kind of work takes energy, so the soul must have some source of energy in order to supply it with energy and thus preserve its existence.
- Of what is it composed?
- How did it come into existence, and can it be dispersed?
If not, why not? What excludes it from the laws that everything else obeys?
If the soul exists, why does the consciousness of an individual seem so attached to the brain? I mean, if one has brain damage, their consciousness seems to be affected. Their personality may change, or they may lose their memory. In fact, it is known, or at least suspected, where certain things such as personality lie in the brain.
I'd like this thread to remain civil. I just want evidence, but not to be attacked, obviously. Also, I don't think the scientific method should be discarded, as so many who hold such beliefs seem to be willing to do. The scientific method is the one tool we have for gaining new knowledge that by its nature updates itself as new data are discovered and integrated. Also, unless you are a physicist who has explicitly studied such subjects, please don't invoke quantum mechanics, string theory, or any other scientific theory that the average person is likely not to be very familiar with, because you probably misunderstand it or are easily distorting it to your own uses that probably do not actually fit the theory.
Other than that, I'd love to hear any ideas or discussion of the above questions.