Quote from elementalblood

But I don't believe in "souls," mostly due to the popular interpretation of a soul being that only humans possess them. Either everything that lives has a soul, or nothing does. It's my opinion that they don't exist, so they don't "leave" or "cease to exist" after I die.
Th ...

how can you not believe in "souls" ? evidence being that, provided the right conditions, you can grow any organ from stem cells in labs...which means, it is possible to grow a healthy, pumping heart or even a healthy complete body but its impossible to put life to it no matter how much you try; the body will remain devoid of a soul...like an empty vessel

how can you not believe in "souls" ? evidence being that, provided the right conditions, you can grow any organ from stem cells in labs...which means, it is possible to grow a healthy, pumping heart or even a healthy complete body but its impossible to put life to it no matter how much you try; the body will remain devoid of a soul...like an empty vessel

We're all products of stem cells, though. I don't believe in souls because...I don't believe in them. There's no reason for me to either. I mean, when would we obtain a "soul?" What defines it? Why do we believe one exists? I don't know the answer to these questions, but I'd like to know the answer to the third the most. :/

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Quote from sarah-eats-cupcakes

how can you not believe in "souls" ? evidence being that, provided the right conditions, you can grow any organ from stem cells in labs...which means, it is possible to grow a healthy, pumping heart or even a healthy complete body but its impossible to put life to it no matter how much you ...

Define "soul" first. And you can "grow" a body with a "soul"; it's called a clone.

^^I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge:

1. When the egg is fertilized by sperm (in humans; every living creature has its way of starting).

2. Non-physical objects contained in living beings.

3. 'Cause believing in souls is better than thinking we end up as water.

[img]http://i43.tinypic.com/351e59t.jpg[/img]

which means, it is possible to grow a healthy, pumping heart or even a healthy complete body but its impossible to put life to it no matter how much you try; the body will remain devoid of a soul...like an empty vessel

Source? I'm almost certain that's never happened outside of fictional media.

"It is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science."

Quote from Seijurou

^^I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge:

1. When the egg is fertilized by sperm (in humans; every living creature has its way of starting).

2. Non-physical objects contained in living beings.

3. 'Cause believing in souls is better than thinking we end up as water.

There are some things that makes no sense with your answer.

1. Clones don't require fertilization so does that mean clones have no souls? What about Prokaryotic cells that reproduce through binary fission?
2. So what is the purpose of this non-physical object and why do we need it?
3. We don't end up as water since only hydrogen and oxygen can form water. If you mean becoming insignificant after death then consider this fact: You are but one person on a planet of over 2.5 billion people, revolving around a star that has billions more like it in a galaxy which has billions more like it in the observable universe. You are already quite insignificant, why fight it?

Quote from Damnedman

Quote from Seijurou

^^I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge:

1. When the egg is fertilized by sperm (in humans; every living creature has its way of starting).

2. Non-physical objects contained in living beings.

3. 'Cause believing in souls is better than thinking we end up as water.

There are some things that makes no sense with your answer.

1. Clones don't require fertilization so does that mean clones have no souls? What about Prokaryotic cells that reproduce through binary fission?
2. So what is the purpose of this non-physical object and why do we need it?
3. We don't end up as water since only hydrogen and oxygen can form water. If you mean becoming insignificant after death then consider this fact: You are but one person on a planet of over 2.5 billion people, revolving around a star that has billions more like it in a galaxy which has billions more like it in the observable universe. You are already quite insignificant, why fight it?

Quote from mattai

Source? I'm almost certain that's never happened outside of fictional media.

Plus, I have already said that 'every living creature has its own way of starting.' I am pretty sure there is a book out there of each one you are having doubts with.

2. Purpose: Giving life. Need: To live/feel.

3. You are missing something here. She said before that she believes we end up as water or clouds. She was talking about the body solely, which is kind of true, because after many years, it turns to oil that when burned becomes clouds then water & the cycle starts, except I don't think of the body as me. It is merely a shell. Also, I am not fighting anything. I don't let myself fret over things I can't (or sometimes can) change. By the way, you're kind of killing off 4.5 billion people there, although you did remind me of that movie with Tom Cruise & Jamie Foxx.

[img]http://i43.tinypic.com/351e59t.jpg[/img]

There's nothing.
Reincarnation is impossible too, for all those who think that's a possibility. I mean, by the standards of evolution we all began from a prokaryote, or some prokaryote-like-creature. How would reincarnation work then, if this sole life form produces billions of living organisms? Are we all fragments of a soul of this prokaryote? It's fun to think about but impossible, as most after-death ideas are.
We just have to make the best of what time we have here.

Go to work, send your kids to school;
Follow fashion, act normal;
Walk on the pavement, watch T.V.;
Save for retirement, obey the law.
Repeat after me: I am free.

I believe that once you're dead, you're dead. But I wonder how that feels though. I mean, how does it feel to be "nothing" and feel nothing? I wonder how someone can simply cease to exist? Man, I wish I knew. :L

(&Even though I believe that you become "nothing" after death, I hope that isn't the case. I wish we could live on in some sort of way. Maybe be reborn in a different world or universe? Or maybe wander the Earth as we wish? The only things I do not want is to cease to exist, forget everything, and to be reborn [not into this same planet at least]. The thought of the after-death scares me and intrigues me more than death itself.)

Nothingness is probably the most plausible option, since our bodies mostly exist of nothing anyway. Our body consists of cells and fluids, which consist of molecules, which in turn consist of atoms, which consist of protons electrons and neutrons, which are said to consist of even smaller particles; so, in between all those tiny units of mass there is a lot of nothing, much more than there is mass.

[img]http://i1179.photobucket.com/albums/x392/WandereroftheDeep/higurashiimage1-1.jpg[/img]

Quote from mattai

Source? I'm almost certain that's never happened outside of fictional media.

here..
man regrows finger tip after stemcell treatment
stemcells used to rebuild a man's damaged heart
paralyzed woman starts walking again after stem cell treatment to regrow her leg muscles
if you want more you can google stemcells and you'll find many similar stories
it is possible to grow new organs but about the growing a complete body part...yeah i was wrong, it hasnt happened(yet) i asked my teacher today and she said that its very hard to grow new brains out of stemcells but theres a high possibility of it happining in the future(like thousands of years from now) so i guess that makes my whole argument pointless....sorry
seems like in last year's bio class she was talking about growing a complete body out of stemcells theoretically but i got confused and took it seriously....sorry @elementalblood

Quote from Seijurou

Quote from Damnedman

Quote from Seijurou

^^I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge:

1. When the egg is fertilized by sperm (in humans; every living creature has its way of starting).

2. Non-physical objects contained in living beings.

3. 'Cause believing in souls is better than thinking we end up as water.

There are some things that makes no sense with your answer.

1. Clones don't require fertilization so does that mean clones have no souls? What about Prokaryotic cells that reproduce through binary fission?
2. So what is the purpose of this non-physical object and why do we need it?
3. We don't end up as water since only hydrogen and oxygen can form water. If you mean becoming insignificant after death then consider this fact: You are but one person on a planet of over 2.5 billion people, revolving around a star that has billions more like it in a galaxy which has billions more like it in the observable universe. You are already quite insignificant, why fight it?

Quote from mattai

Source? I'm almost certain that's never happened outside of fictional media.

Plus, I have already said that 'every living creature has its own way of starting.' I am pretty sure there is a book out there of each one you are having doubts with.

2. Purpose: Giving life. Need: To live/feel.

3. You are missing something here. She said before that she believes we end up as water or clouds. She was talking about the body solely, which is kind of true, because after many years, it turns to oil that when burned becomes clouds then water & the cycle starts, except I don't think of the body as me. It is merely a shell. Also, I am not fighting anything. I don't let myself fret over things I can't (or sometimes can) change. By the way, you're kind of killing off 4.5 billion people there, although you did remind me of that movie with Tom Cruise & Jamie Foxx.

1. Dolly the sheep? First mammal to get cloned?

2. Feeling is caused by electric signals sent from nerve cells and is interpreted by the brain. That's why there can be errors when interpreting these signals, such as feeling pleasure instead of pain. This is not caused by the soul unless the soul is your brain.

You throw out the word life yet you don't define it. The interpretation of life is such a controversial subject (hence the debates on pro-life/choice, euthanasia, etc) that it should not be used as an argument unless you clarify what you mean when you use it.

3. Well her being wrong is a problem, eh? Here's a small science lesson. As human beings, although we are composed of around 60 - 75% water, the rest of our body is composed of carbon and other essential elements. Due to the conservation of matter, those elements isn't going anywhere (short of annihilation with antimatter, radioactive decay for some, nuclear fusion/fission, etc). Burning oil creates a combination of carbon and oxygen (ie carbon dioxide and ozone), not just water which is why there's the big fuss about global warming and whatnot. My bad about the current population (had a brain fart lol), but my point is stands.