eh

Well that site does have a messageboard full of believers, if you care to kick them around. It might be fun.

Pomp

Aquila ka Hecate,

Do the soulists propose that the soul leaks away slowly to wherever it goes at death? Over a period of years?

Again, I'm answering as I think a soulist would, so take this with a grain of salt.

Imagine that you are a pilot flying an incredibly complex aircraft. You have an immensely fine degree of control over the plane. Now, imagine that a gremlin had found its way into the mechanisms behind the control panel and is slowly tearing them apart, leaving you with a progressively diminishing ability to make the aircraft do what you want it to. I'd guess that a soulist might liken a failing brain to an aircraft being destroyed by such a gremlin, and a soul to the pilot.

Again, I don't believe in a soul because I haven't seen any evidnece that requires such belief, but I don't think that the argument from brain decay works against the soulist.

nixon

Got a different one for you: Picture that your unconcious mind is actually external to yourself. When you remember things, a copy goes into "hyperspace". This "hyperspace" is a physical area shared by all thinking creatures who can store and retrieve data from there. When people die they stop inputting to and outputting from "hyperspace", but the data they have already inserted into "hyperspace" and their personal method of formatting that data remains to be retrieved by others-if they can. I theorize that this is not always possible since everyone thinks differently than everyone else. Not to mention that it becomes a lot easier to access this "hyperspace" if you know about it.

No way I know of to prove this theory, but it sure sounds good since it solves these problems:

?)Is there something bigger than me?
a)This "hyperspace" with all those minds thoughts in it could certainly be thought of as "bigger" than any one mind. One could even stretch and call it the "essence" of God, although my theory includes no creator or overseer of this space.

?)Is telepathy for real?

a)This would explain how we sometimes seem to read each others minds. It also explains a little understood phenominon that people who know each other well will arrive at same thought processes in the same way often. At the same time, if one cannot figure something out, the other usually can't either. This is indicative of sharing information. Since they are not physically telling each other, this theory could explain the comunication involved.

?)As the worlds body of knowledge increases, why isn't it any harder to teach the children all this information now than it was a hundred years ago?

a)The children are learning a lot from "hyperspace" too. When a concept is presented by someone who actually understands it, the ability to recieve the rest of the conceptual data is enhanced via "hyperspace". I think this might explain the difference between a really good teacher and a so-so one, even though both might know the subject matter well.

?)Why does it seem like totally unrelated people often come up with the same new ideas at the same time?

a)One actually thought it up, the other got it from "hyperspace". As kooky as it may seem, the originator may not get the credit since the other person can recieve the idea at the speed of thought.

Keep in mind it's just an idea. I do think it is the most likely way, if any way were to exist, to retain a persons life here on Earth.