Soul

[hockeychick38]

Growing up in an IFB church, I was always taught that each person has a soul, and after death each person's soul is destined for either heaven or hell.

I recently read the book "The Blank Slate" by Steven Pinker. http://www.amazon.com/The-Blank-Slate-Mo...837&sr=1-1 Interestingly Pinker tries to explain away the idea of a soul. He suggests that there are scientific explanations for things we used to attribute to the "soul." For example, morality, ethics, personality, etc., can be explained by how our brains are wired, rather than a spiritual force. Therefore death is the end. No afterlife, nothing.

It hit me hard. I guess I just never thought about it that way before. I'd love to hear other people's opinions. Apart from IFB/Christian beliefs, is there any reason to believe we have souls?

[Phase]

There is a quote about this that I like.

Quote:"It’s this expandable capacity to represent reasons that we have that gives us a soul. But what’s it made of? It’s made of neurons. It’s made of lots of tiny robots. And we can actually explain the structure and operation of that kind of soul, whereas an eternal, immortal, immaterial soul is just a metaphysical rug under which you sweep your embarrassment for not having any explanation.”
― Daniel C. Dennett